Harvard, the oldest university in the United States – founded in 1636, less than two decades after the Mayflower landed on nearby Plymouth Rock – has reached the historic goal of 50 LEED certified buildings. Covering some 1.5 million square feet, the Cambridge, Massachusetts institution became the first university to complete 50 LEED projects on its campus. The green buildings date back to a 2001 renovation. Certifications include new buildings and the LEED-CI designation for commercial interiors.
A recent story about the milestone in the Harvard Gazette states that the university has plans for roughly 3 million more square feet of building space to earn LEED certification, encompassing approximately 40 structures.
Harvard’s 50th LEED-certified building project is located in the Northwest Building. In order to reduce lighting costs and electricity consumption, “the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Zhang/Center for Brain Science Lab optimizes daylight and views [of the outside] and uses occupancy sensors to control lighting. A new ventilation system maximizes energy efficiency, adjusting temperature, airflow, and ventilation based on occupancy.”
Here are some highlights from the university’s green building program:
- Mather/Dunster became the nation’s first LEED-CI kitchen in 2006. The kitchen now features a composting machine, high-efficiency dishwashers, self-adjusting Melink exhaust hoods to ventilate cooking smoke, and a dish return that uses recycled gray water from the kitchen’s food grinder.
- The renovation of the 46 Blackstone complex, a former industrial site, was the University’s first LEED Platinum-certified project and one of its most ambitious undertakings to date. The brownfield project includes several on-site strategies to minimize pollution runoff to the Charles River, including a bioswale system that naturally filters stormwater runoff from an adjacent parking lot.
- The renovation of HGSE’s Larsen Hall First Floor classroom made it the first LEED-CI Platinum certified classroom in the world. Efficient lamps and fixtures with pre-set lighting scenes have helped reduced electricity use by an estimated 45 percent.
- The 2001 renovation of 42,000 square feet of space in Landmark Center became Harvard’s first LEED-certified project. More than 75 percent of workspaces have access to daylight and views, and the site now has efficient lighting systems and renewable bamboo floors.
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