Sustainable Design & Construction at Yale

UniversityJuly 2009

Accepted Measures of Sustainabity

1. LEED Rating– Certified– Silver– Gold– Platinum

2. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions– Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (MTCDE)– Carbon Neutral = Zero CO2 emissions– Measure Energy Use as proxy for CO2

• ASHRAE 90.1 Energy Modeling

LEED• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

– Sustainable building rating system – Administered by the US Green Building Council– Provides Standard for measuring sustainability results

• Rates performance in 6 categories– Sustainable Sites– Water Efficiency– Energy and Atmosphere– Materials and Resources– Indoor Environmental Quality– Innovation and Design process

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction

• October 2005, Yale committed to reducing greenhouse gas emission to 10% below 1990 levels by 2020

• 43% reduction in emissions, while at the same time increasing the campus square footage by 15%

Status of Sustainability in New ConstructionMay 2009

• LEED Rated Buildings:– Malone Engineering Center, Gold, met ASHRAE 90.1– Class of 1954 Chemistry Research Building, Silver, 30% below

ASHRAE 90.1– Sculpture Building, Platinum, 30% below ASHRAE 90.1

• In Progress:– Kroon Hall/Svc. Node, seeking Platinum, 50% below ASHRAE 90.1– Social Science Academic, seeking Silver, 30% below ASHRAE 90.1– Art and Architecture, Seeking Certified, 20% below ASHRAE 90.1– Stoeckel Hall, seeking Silver, 30% below ASHRAE 90.1– Health Services Center, seeking Silver, 30% below ASHRAE 90.1– Greenberg Conference Center, targeting Gold, 30% below ASHRAE

90.1• Other

– SPP Cogeneration, no LEED target, will reduce emissions by 27,000 MTCO2E/yr

Analysis

• Energy savings

• Carbon emissions reduction

• Yearly cost savings

• Life cycle cost

• Benchmarking

Energy Savings

CO2 Emissions Reduction

Cost Savings

Benchmarking

Yale’s Projects vs. ASHRAE 90.1

45% Below ASHRAE

30% Below ASHRAE

5Gold Gold/

PlatinumPlatinum Silver/

GoldSilverSilverLEED

Rating

LEED 2009

• Harmonization– Prerequisites and credits the same across all

rating systems– 110 possible points

• Weighting of Credits better reflect impact on GHG Emissions

• Regionalization– Extra points for achieving specific credits

LEED Submission

Design Development

Construction Documents

Procurement ConstructionPlanningSchematic

Design

LEED 2015

2013 2014 2015

LEED 2.2+ LEED 2009 LEED 2012

2009 2010 2011 2012

2011 20122007 2008 2009 2010

2016 2017

20172013 2014 2015 2016

2007 2008

6-month transition period

LEED VERSION CHANGE IN PROGRESS

Sustainable Building Design & Construction Committee

• Developing standards for all building projects, not just new construction• Integrated Design• Uniform approach• Look beyond Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

– Water Conservation

– Resource Management

– Storm Water Management

– Air Quality

– Land Management

• Addressing LEED revision frequency• Provides for project specific guidance to Planners and PMs• Planning for Post-Occupancy

– Continuous Commissioning

– Verification of performance

– Record keeping and documentation

– Benchmarking

Sustainable Building Design and Construction Committee

Yale’s Sustainable Strategies

• Energy and Carbon Emissions– Insulation, thermal mass, shading– Heat recovery with coils, heat pipes, and enthalpy

wheels– Ground source heat pumps– Efficient ventilation systems using displacement

ventilation, natural ventilation, and improved control technology

– Renewable energy: photovoltaic, wind power, fuel cell– Commissioning

Yale’s Sustainable Strategies

• Storm water retention and reuse• Grey water systems• Low flow fixtures• Dual flush toilets and waterless urinals• FSC Certified wood• Construction waste recycling• Recycled and recyclable materials• Locally sourced materials

Lessons Learned Early

• LEED Gold can be achieved without addressing Energy– USGBC plugged this hole in 2007

• Sustainability planning early in the project yields better results

• Labs represent a huge opportunity for energy savings

Lessons Learned Later

• Difficult or impossible to successfully ADD sustainability to an existing design

• Unusual concepts can work, but require more effort– GSHP– Displacement Air– Green Roofs– Solar Design (Heat AND Light)

• What works in one project can not be universally applied to all projects

• The Sustainable Construction job isn’t over when construction ends

What is the Cost of Green Architecture ?

Lessons Learned Later

Lessons Learned Later

• Integrated Design– Holistic approach to design– Sustainability is a factor in every design decision– Design is a joint effort between technical specialists– Interactions between building systems and their effect on

performance is known and addressed– Requires communication and respect across design disciplines– Requires common design goals