DEFINITIONS:
LEED Certification
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. HBS is committed to LEED Gold Certification for all new construction and major renovations. There are currently (5) LEED certified buildings on campus and (2) pending certification.
Water Conservation
We are implementing water conservation efforts throughout campus such as dual-flush toilets, ultra low-flow urinals, and low-flow sinks and shower heads. Low-flow shower heads have already been installed in all MBA dormitories, reducing flow from 2.5 to 2.0 gallons/minute, saving approximately 300 gallons a year.
In addition to reviewing opportunities inside the buildings, a state of the art landscaping irrigation system was installed in 2004. A computerized system runs lawn sprinklers, using a weather station to monitor humidity, wind speed, ground moisture, and rainfall. The system operates only when water is needed, saving about 4 million gallons of water over traditional timer systems.
Lighting Upgrades
Lighting retrofit projects have been completed in 24 buildings on campus. These retrofits include replacing old inefficient light fixtures with high-efficiency lamps/ballasts, installing occupancy sensors and day light harvesting. A campus-wide upgrade of all 400+ exterior lighting fixtures to meet LEED requirements and improve campus safety is currently underway. In addition, 52-watt blue lights have been replaced by 2.6-watt LCD blue lights on all campus security phones, saving 14,000 lbs. CO2/year,
Occupancy Sensors
Both lighting and mechanical system occupancy sensors have been installed on campus. Most lighting retrofits on campus incorporate an occupancy sensor to shut off lights when a room is empty. In our campus housing facilities we have tied fan coil units into occupancy sensors so that the fan coil shuts off when a student leaves the room for an extended period of time.
Continuous Commissioning
Continuous Commissioning is the systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and reporting on building control points to optimize the performance of building systems. The monthly reports identify issues such as inefficient reheat coils, outside air dampers that are stuck open, air handling unit scheduling issues, economizer cutoff setpoints, etc. We are reducing energy consumption and improving comfort in buildings where we are utilizing this information.