Last week, The Michigan Daily highlighted the University’s strides toward a greener campus. In June 2010, the University implemented a LEED Silver standard for all new construction projects on campus. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and is a special certification given only to environmentally sound buildings. The results have been tremendous, considering that large-scale projects, such as the C.S. Mott Children’s and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital and the Ross School of Business, have achieved this acclaimed, environmentally friendly standing. That being said, the University would do itself a disservice if it chose to look only at future buildings’ carbon footprints, while ignoring those already in existence.
Credit must be given when due, and the University’s LEED initiative should be viewed as a great first step. The new hospital’s LEED Silver certification is inspiring — a green roof, no-wax floors and a plethora of recycled materials used during the construction process. These measures have led to energy savings, efficient water usage and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
While nothing can be taken away from what the University has accomplished, simply requiring LEED status for new buildings is too restrictive. The University should now turn its attention to existing buildings on campus in order to truly be a leader in sustainability.
There are countless ways to improve existing buildings on campus. In fact, the U.S. Green Building Council has an 84-page document on this very topic. As it turns out, many of the buildings on campus are currently in an advantageous position when it comes to getting certified. Going the extra mile is not only an obtainable goal, but also a necessary one.
Items such as the smoking ban, automatic light sensors and recycling options have given many University buildings a head start to achieve LEED accreditation. Each one of these green-minded innovations is on the USGBC’s project checklist for LEED certification of existing buildings. With a little tweaking here and there, the University has the capability of becoming one of the greenest campuses in the nation.
The University should focus its funding on LEED points that are either cheaply achieved — such as using environmentally friendly cleaning products and fertilizers — or have a direct impact on energy costs, including low-flow water fixtures, heating reduction and electricity reduction measures.
Many of these steps will require a large amount of capital, but the USGBC claims that the pay-back period for LEED certification ranges from three to 10 years. For an institution as large as the University, this is a more than acceptable range — keeping in mind that once pay-back is achieved, the annual savings in energy reduction can be viewed as an income of sorts.
If a mere 34 of the possible 85 LEED points are met, the University would have another innovative bragging point for prospective applicants and donors.
Though LEED certification is a great goal to have in mind, it is not the end-all, be-all of green living. Some of the buildings on campus are over 100 years old, and it may not be possible to implement such a rigorous system. But that does not mean nothing can be done. The University should view the USGBC’s guidelines as a blueprint for a possible best-case scenario and attempt to apply its concepts pragmatically.
There are many simple fixes that could do the trick. Turning off the lights in the upper levels of Angell Hall at a reasonable hour or ensuring that classrooms are of an appropriate size for the number of students in a course could significantly lower electricity costs and carbon emissions. Low-flow fixtures are a proven method of saving money on water costs and reducing the amount of wastewater produced.
The University has an obligation as an institution to implement this sort of progressive thinking. The steps are already in place to proceed into a sustainable, greener world. A little improvement paired with critical cost-analysis could go a long way in saving some scratch and helping the environment.
Joe Sugiyama can be reached at jmsugi@umich.edu or on Twitter @JoeSugiyama.