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Commitment to green building: 29 LEED Gold or Silver with 4 newly certified buildings

leed-gold-sealBy Susan Meikle, university news and communications

Four buildings at Miami University have been recently certified as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold or Silver rated.

Miami’s LEED-certified buildings now total 29: four LEED Gold and 25 LEED Silver.

They account for 28.3% of the gross square footage of buildings on the Oxford campus.  

Minnich and Scott halls, which reopened in fall 2018 after major renovations, were certified LEED Gold in September.

Presidents and Withrow Halls, new residence halls that opened in fall 2018, were certified LEED Silver in June.

Cody Powell, associate vice president of facilities planning and operations, said "We are very pleased to add these four buildings to our growing list of LEED certified buildings. These represent both new construction and renovation of existing facilities — and the University's commitment to improving the sustainability of our built environment." 

scott-hallLEED Gold: Minnich and Scott halls highlights 

Energy and Atmosphere: 44% improvement on baseline building energy performance rating over a non-LEED building.

Materials and Resources: 95% (Minnich) and 55% (Scott) reuse of existing building structure; 75% diversion of construction and demolition debris from disposal in landfills; 20% regionally extracted, harvested, recovered or manufactured materials.  

Water Efficiency: 40% reduction in baseline indoor water use. 

LEED Silver: Withrow and Presidents halls highlights:presidents-hall-tree

Top: Scott Hall; bottom: Presidents Hall. Moving the former varsity tennis courts to build this Presidents hall allowed the large sycamore tree — nearly the state-champion size— to thrive (photos by Scott Kissell).

Energy and Atmosphere: 26% (Withrow) and 28% (Presidents) improvement on baseline building energy performance rating over a non-LEED building.

Materials and Resources: 75% diversion of construction and demolition debris; 10% (Withrow) and 20% (Presidents) regionally extracted, harvested, recovered, or manufactured materials. 

Indoor Environmental Quality: 90% of occupied space has quality views.

Water Efficiency: 40% reduction in baseline indoor water use; Presidents Hall additional 50% reduction in potable landscape water use.

Miami has been committed to achieving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold or Silver certification for new buildings and major renovations since 2011, as part of Miami’s 2011 and 2016 Sustainability Commitments and Goals

LEED green building principles include the design, construction, operations and maintenance of resource-efficient, high-performing, healthy, cost-effective buildings. 

Stanton hall, currently undergoing renovation and scheduled to reopen in fall 2020, is also aiming for LEED Silver certification.

Refer to the Sustainability website for a list of Miami's Gold and Silver LEED-certified buildings.  

Follow Miami University Sustainability on Twitter @MiamiOHSustain