Fall 2017 Semesterly Report Submitted to the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

The previous project description began with this statement: "The University has adopted LEED Gold certification as a part of their design standards on all new construction."  However, the Facility Standards and the Campus Master Plan were not aligned with each other.  During the update to the Facility Standards and update to the Campus Master Plan in 2017, the campus leadership determined that the appropriate requirement for new construction buildings is LEED Silver, to comply with minimum state legal requirements.

The 2010 iCAP included a focused effort on the use of LEED Certification to incorporate sustainable design in new capital construction on campus.  In the 2015 iCAP, campus sustainability advocates recognized that "While the utilization of current building certification programs such as LEED has helped raise awareness of sustainable building standards, the campus could accelerate progress in reducing building energy use by shifting to performance based building standards for new buildings and major renovations."  The 2010 iCAP LEED goals are documented here, for the archive.

2010 iCAP LEED Goals:

Require all new construction to be LEED Platinum certified by FY15:

The LEED certification requirements were increased in fiscal year 2011 to require Gold level certification for all new projects.  This has increased the visibility and sustainability of all new campus buildings.  There is a proposal from the 2010 iCAP to increase the certification requirement to Platinum level in fiscal year 2015.  This increase would require additional funding for new building projects, and in some cases there may be conflicts with building codes or campus Standards.  

Completed LEED Goals:

Incorporate LEED principles into Facility Standards:

The Facility Standards for campus have been updated to incorporate many LEED principles.  As of 2012, a building that meets all the Facility Standards, will qualify for a LEED Silver designation.  Additionally, new buildings, additions, or major renovations are required to meet LEED Gold certification.  The additional points to acheive LEED Gold are selected by the individual project teams, rather than prescribed specifically in the Facility Standards.

The 2010 U of I Facilities Standards have been published and are currently based on LEED Gold certification.  The U of I Facilities Standards require compliance with all 8 Required Prerequisites and several additional Credits listed in the LEED Rating System.  The Standards list some minimum technical requirements and make recommendations pertaining to energy conservation strategies, but allow the AE the flexibility to determine how the LEED Gold certification is obtained.

Require all new construction to be LEED Silver certified by FY10:

LEED Silver certification has been required for all new campus buidings since 2008, when the iCAP was signed. Thee are four levels of LEED certification: certified, silver, gold, and platinum.  Silver certification requires a mimum of 50 LEED points.  The Ikenberry Commons Student Dining and Residential Programs (SDRP) building and the phase A of the new residence halls in Ikenberry Commons is also LEED Silver certified.  This designation is required for all buildings that were planned or begun before 2010.  While many of the buildings planned at that time are completed or in construction, there are some future buildings planned before 2010, which will only be required to meet LEED Silver status.

Require all new construction to be LEED Gold certified by FY11:

With the successful attainment of LEED Silver certification for some campus buildings, the Campus advanced the LEED certification requirements to a minimum of Gold certification at the beginning of fiscal year 2011.  All projects which began the planning process after May 2010 are required to be LEED Gold certified.  To acheive LEED Gold, the construction or renovation project must qualify for a minimum of 60 LEED points.

Hi Pete and Shawn—

I have no significant zero-waste activity to report from the past week, except for some email exchanges related to finding takers for Starbuck’s coffee grounds. Two farms expressed interest, and I need to follow up with Rebecca Seymour at the Union to see what resources there are for delivering grounds to the farms. 

Best regards,
Marya Ryan
Zero Waste Coordinator

Hi Pete and Shawn—

Zero waste activities this past week were to 

• Read the SSC grant application related to getting a new baler to support expanded plastic recycling
• Update the glove recycling page of the iCAP portal
• Contact several local farms to see if they would like to receive used coffee grounds from the campus Starbuck’s 

Best regards,
Marya Ryan
Zero Waste Coordinator

The Sustainability Council meeting agenda is attached.  The key topic is the proposal for a second solar farm.