Seventy two projects are registered for LEED-certification and 13 are certified in Tarrant County, a number that has significantly risen from only a couple in the area, said a panelist in Wednesday’s discussion about LEED projects on campus.
The two LEED-certified buildings on campus are Scharbauer Hall and the Mary Wright Admission Center.
Moderator for the panel discussion Amanda Childress-Kannan said Scharbauer Hall is gold-certified, and the admission center is still in the certification process.
Harold Leeman, associate director for major projects and facilities planning on campus, said Dean of AddRan College Andrew Schoolmaster was concerned the budget for the project wouldn’t allow Scharbauer Hall’s classrooms to be built the way he envisioned them.
“You need to push forward and we will get the budget down,” Leeman said to Schoolmaster.
Leeman also said it was important for everyone, from the dean of the school to the students, to get behind the project from the beginning.
“You have to have a good attitude, and at TCU the attitude started at the top,” Leeman said. “The chancellor said, “I want my buildings to be silver-certified.'”
Panelist Harold Hebson, senior vice president of Linbeck, said he sees Chancellor Boschini’s passion is generated as a result of the student’s passion.
“I think the students are interested in [green buildings] and the chancellor is interested in what the students are interested in,” Hebson said.
Leeman said the cost of building a LEED building can be more than a normal building, but energy cost savings are greatly reduced and make the extra money spent on construction seem less of a big deal.
“The LEED framework provides a consistent standard to identify and impliment practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions,” Childress-Kannan said,
The Executive Director for the North Texas U.S. Green Building Council, Childress-Kannan said, LEED is flexible enough to be applied to almost any building type.
According to the U.S. Green Building Council website, LEED can be added to existing buildings by improving whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues, recycling programs, exterior maintenance programs and systems upgrades.
In new LEED construction jobs, the buildings are focused on reducing and efficiently using water use and by using recyclable materials such as existing walls, floors and roofs, according to the UGSBC website.
According to the USGBC website, LEED-certified are designed to lower costs, reduce waste, conserve energy and water, be healthier for occupants and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
