h .. RYAN KAMPHUIS campus@tec newsnt.com UTSAV GANDHI Tuesday, january 25, 2011 I TechNeWS The challenge of building green at IIT By Joseph Clair DIRECTOR OF OCES The HT Campus Sustainability Plan sets targets for performance across several areas of university operation. Among these, the green building commitment stands as the most chal— lenging, but also the most beneficial. Reducing emissions and energy waste, stormwater run— off, and solid waste all benefit the environment around the campus. Creating a more sustain— able built environment directly benefits the members of the HT community and improves the conditions in which we learn and work. Although many green building standards and rating systems exist, the US Green Build— ing Council (USGBC) has developed the most utilized and respected in the LEED Green comfort, lighting quality and resource ef— » up ficiency, all of which add value to buildings; however, the process of verifying that green building strategies have been utilized adds a cost not usually covered in most construction or operations work. This added cost has raised questions as to whether the value associated with following green building strategies justi— fies the cost of documenting, testing and veri— fying system operations. Research continues into this issue, and the Campus Sustainability Plan establishes that transparent reporting of performance is critical to a real sustainability program. Without the ability to have infor— mation reviewed and verified, owners leave themselves open to claims of “greenwashing”, or claiming “green” without truly making the effort to accomplish the performance improve— ments. Office of Campus Energy and Sustainabil y Building Rating System. The system covers five areas of building design: site planning, water use, energy and emissions, materials, and in— door environmental quality, and offers four levels of certification based on the number of green strategies implemented. In addition, the USGBC has adapted the system to cover build— ings at different stages of development: new construction, neighborhood development, commercial interiors (small tenant renova— tion), and existing buildings operation and maintenance. Because of this flexibility and scalability, the working group that developed the green building commitment for the Cam— pus Sustainability Plan recommended that HT use LEED as the basis for the target, and that HT commit to meet the third highest level of certification (Gold) in all new construction and in the operation of seventy—five percent of existing buildings. The improvements associated with green building operation affect air quality, thermal The Facilities Department at HT will de— velop standards and guidelines for greening buildings in order to improve the ability of the university to provide ongoing maintenance of campus buildings. These standards will reflect the commitment to hold the university to the standard of care developed by entities such as ASHRAE and lES that develop standards for indoor comfort, health and lighting levels. Rooting our standards in the work of these industry—recognized entities strengthens our commitment, and provides a link for students between what they learn in the classroom and what they see in campus operations. HT must work diligently if it wants to achieve its goal of becoming the most sustain— able urban university campus in the United States, especially when it comes to greening buildings. With a spirit of innovation and ex— cellence, HT will find a way to make the cam— pus a greener place to study and work. / //M r/ S. IIT Undergraduate Research Day Undergraduate Research Day is an opportunity to showcase the outstanding research performed by IIT undergraduates both on- and off-campus.It will be held in the MTCC on Tuesday, February 1, 201 1 from 12:30-2:00 PM. Students who are currently involved in research or who performed research this summer are encouraged to present a poster of their work. Expenses for printing posters will be cov- ered by Undergraduate Affairs. Posters will be judged by IIT faculty in order to provide awards to the top posters in each college (CSL, Armour, etc.). Students interested in presenting should submit the title of their research poster and the authors to the Office of Undergraduate Research by Thursday, January 31, 2010. If you have questions, please contact the Office of Undergraduate Research at undergrad_research@ iit.edu. DEADLINES: Files due for printing: Friday, January 28,201 1 Titles due: Monday, January 31,2011 Poster Presentations:Tuesday, February 1, 201 1 COMPETITION: Awards will be given for the top posters within every college that has more than 15 posters presented. (First place: $150, Second Place: $100,Third Place: $50). Note: If a student has class during a portion of the schedule they can attend as they are available.