Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.18
Liaison Michelle Patterson
Submission Date March 2, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Washington University in St. Louis
OP-4: Building Design and Construction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.26 / 3.00 Railesha Tiwari
Sustainable Design and Construction Project Manager
Faciliites
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space (include projects completed within the previous five years) :
1,063,580 Square feet

Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space certified Living under the Living Building Challenge:
0 Square feet

Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space certified at each level under a rating system for design and construction used by an Established Green Building Council (GBC) :
Certified Floor Area
LEED BD+C Platinum or at the highest achievable level under another rating system 311,000 Square feet
LEED BD+C Gold or at the 2nd highest level under another 4- or 5-tier GBC rating system 471,581 Square feet
Certified at mid-level under a 3- or 5-tier GBC rating system for design and construction (e.g. BREEAM, CASBEE, DGNB, Green Star) 0 Square feet
LEED BD+C Silver or at a step above minimum level under another 4- or 5-tier GBC rating system 59,000 Square feet
LEED BD+C Certified or certified at minimum level under another GBC rating system 31,286 Square feet

Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space certified under a non-GBC rating system for design and construction (e.g. Green Globes NC, Certified Passive House):
0 Square feet

Percentage of newly constructed or renovated building space certified under a green building rating system for design and construction:
82.07

A brief description of the green building rating system(s) used and/or a list of certified buildings and ratings:
The University has a LEED Silver minimum requirement for all new construction and major renovation projects. There are currently 24 LEED certified projects at WUSTL, including 4 Certified projects, 7 Silver projects, 11 Gold projects, and 2 Platinum projects. The University is also home to one of the world's first fully certified Living Buildings. Completed in 2009, the Tyson Living Learning Center is net-zero energy and net-zero waste water. International Living Future Institute Certified Living Building: Tyson Living Learning Center LEED Platinum: Lofts of Washington University Hillman Hall LEED Gold: Danforth University Center Genome Sequencing Data Center Brauer Hall South 40 House Phase 2 Preston M. Green Hall Family Learning Center BJCIH Knight/Bauer Hall McMillan Hall Addition 4515 McKinley New Rubelmann House LEED Silver: Village East Busch Hall South 40 House Phase 1 Umrath House Cupples II Umrath Hall Data Center LEED Certified: Rudolph Hall Seigle Hall 8th Floor McDonnell Hall BJCIH 5th Floor Orthopedics

Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space that is NOT certified, but that was designed and constructed in accordance with published green building guidelines and policies:
190,713 Square feet

A copy of the green building guidelines or policies :
The green building guidelines or policies:
Washington University's 2015-2020 Strategic Plan for Sustainable Operations outlines additional green building guidelines, including: a requirement that all new construction and major renovation should be 30% better than ASHRAE 90.1-2010, new construction will include building-level water meters, and new construction will include building-level energy metering. The strategic plan is available online: https://sustainability.wustl.edu/vision-progress/strategic-plan/

Do the green building guidelines or policies cover the following?:
Yes or No
Impacts on the surrounding site (e.g. guidelines to reuse previously developed land, protect environmentally sensitive areas, and otherwise minimize site impacts) No
Energy consumption (e.g. policies requiring a minimum level of energy efficiency for buildings and their systems) Yes
Building-level energy metering Yes
Use of environmentally preferable materials (e.g. guidelines to minimize the life cycle impacts associated with building materials) No
Indoor environmental quality (i.e. guidelines to protect the health and comfort of building occupants) No
Water consumption (e.g. requiring minimum standards of efficiency for indoor and outdoor water use) Yes
Building-level water metering Yes

A brief description of the green building guidelines or policies and/or a list or sample of buildings covered:
As part of our commitment to sustainability, Washington University has adopted a policy that, as a minimum, all new buildings and renovations will be designed and constructed to incorporate green building guidelines based upon the following: • Projects under $2 million Green Building Guidelines shall be practiced . Design and construction practices and all material selections and their installation shall comply in strict accordance with the US Green Building Council (USGBC). • Projects $2 - $5 million Green Building Guidelines shall be practiced and documented. Submission to the USGBC for LEED certification shall be optional, on a per project basis. Design and construction practices and all material selections and their installation shall comply in strict accordance with the US Green Building Council (USGBC). • Projects $5 million and above Green Building Guidelines shall be practiced, documented and submitted to the USGBC for certification and achieve a minimum level of LEED silver under the selected and most applicable rating systems determined for each project. Projects will be reviewed in detail on an individual basis seeking silver to platinum status. The level of potential achievement will be determined for each project during the conceptual or preliminary design phase after completing a Washington University LEED Scorecard. All material selections and their installation shall comply in strict accordance with the US Green Building Council (USGBC). See LEED Certified building list above.

A brief description of how the institution ensures compliance with green building design and construction guidelines and policies:
The University employs LEED® Accredited Professionals on all major construction and renovation projects exceeding $2M in construction cost. These individuals are tasked with ensuring that the projects in question meet LEED Silver qualifications and, where possible and appropriate, LEED Gold or Platinum. Most all of WUSTL's projects have been submitted under LEED-NC, adhering to LEED 2009 standards. In 2017, WashU hired a Sustainable Design and Construction Project Manager, Railesha Tiwari, for a joint position with the Office of Sustainability and Facilities Department. Her role is to foster sustainable design principles across all projects and help with not only achieving the university’s sustainable operations goals but to help set new goals that would make us leaders in sustainability among all educational institutions.

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The university has a firm commitment to green building design and construction. There are currently 24 LEED certified projects at Washington University, with several more under construction. In addition, the university has explored other building certification systems, including the International Living Building Institute's Living Building Challenge and GBCI's Parksmart program for parking structure design. Completed in 2009, Washington University's Living Learning Center meets the most stringent green building standards of the time, the Living Building Challenge. To achieve certification, a "living building" requires no more energy than it produces, requires no more water than it captures, and produces zero waste. The Living Learning Center was one of the first living buildings in the world. See https://tyson.wustl.edu/living-learning-center/ for more information about the Tyson Living Learning Center. In addition, a 273,889 SF parking garage is currently under construction and on track to be Parksmart certified. Parksmart is the world's only certification program that defines, measures, and recognizes high-performing, sustainable garages.

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