UF looking to increase number of energy-efficient buildings

UF wants to increase its number of energy-efficient buildings.

The university currently has 77 buildings that meet the minimum energy-rating standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. By 2019, it plans to bring that number to 82, Dustin Stephany, UF’s LEED building coordinator, wrote in an email.

“The goal is that students learn the importance of sustainability and what their role is in addressing it while they are here at UF,” he said.

The LEED system is the most commonly used green-building rating system in the world, according to its website. It has four levels of certification to measure a building’s green features — Platinum, Gold, Silver and Certified.

The LEED has a list of standards buildings must meet. The level of certification depends on how many standards the building meets.

Some of the requirements to become a certified building include that it complies with federal, state and local building-related environmental laws and regulations, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

The university’s next project is the Career Resource Center, which is being renovated and is supposed to be completed by June. It will be UF’s 78th LEED-certified building. All new and renovated buildings on campus must meet the minimum LEED standards, Stephany said.

After renovations, Norman Hall will receive certification upon its completion in July 2019, Stephany said.

UF is also constructing three buildings that will go through certification: Wertheim Hall, the Institute of Black Culture and the Institute of Hispanic and Latino Culture. These are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019.

The buildings help UF reach sustainability goals, such as carbon neutrality and zero waste, and help directly slow down the impacts of climate change, Stephany said.

Beth McGee, 40, a UF fourth-year interior design doctoral candidate, said she passed the LEED-certification exam, which tests knowledge of green-building practices, and hopes to see UF do more to promote sustainability.

“Sustainability is integral to our future,” she said. “I think that more campus-wide knowledge of initiatives that we have is important for students to understand the moral imperative of sustainable action.”

UF’s Clinical and Translational Research Building has achieved LEED certification, an award for sustainable buildings.