LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. LEED is flexible enough to apply to all building types – commercial as well as residential. It works throughout the building lifecycle – design and construction, operations and maintenance, tenant fitout, and significant retrofit. And LEED for Neighborhood Development extends the benefits of LEED beyond the building footprint into the neighborhood it serves.
LEED buildings here at FGCU: AB7 and Biscane Hall
AB7 is an interesting story. This building is one point away from being LEED Platinum. Problem is, how to we get that extra point from a building that's already designed and constructed? One way we can do this is to set aside parking for hybrid cars on campus. What do you think? Should the university spend money on a new parking lot to get that extra point, or be satisfied with LEED Gold for AB7? President Bradshaw has promised to make every new building from here on out LEED-certified.
ReplyDeleteI do not think FGCU needs to spend the money for a parking lot exclusively for hybrid model cars. Bradshaw promised to make the buildings LEED certified which AB7 is, though it is not on the platinum level. I do not believe spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest in a parking lot for certain model cars is smart spending. For future buildings why not estimate the points towards LEED certification prior to building and do all that is necessary for platinum level.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shawna and I do not believe FGCU needs to spend funds on a parking lot for hybrid cars. It would be interesting to see with parking services how many actual hybrid cars we have registered and if a whole parking lot devoted to them would be worth while. If the building is already LEED certified, like President Bradshaw promised, why would we need to increase its standings? To me the title of Platinum would just be for show and I do not think it is necessary.
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