The SUNY Oneonta Physical Science Building held its ribbon cutting in early 2017, but now there’s another reason to celebrate the project. The building has just received LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a widely used standard to rate buildings for sustainability in their design, construction, operation and maintenance. To achieve the gold rating, the project had to pass an independent audit of several dozen features and attributes.
Examples of sustainable features in the building include energy efficient windows, lighting fixtures and daylight sensors; low-flow fixtures that reduce water consumption by more than 35%; and an energy dashboard that displays real-time energy and water consumption to provide data for promoting conservation efforts. In addition, the project was credited for recycling or salvaging about 50% of waste from construction activities.
LeChase was agency construction manager for the $27.5 million building renovation, which provided new, state-of-the-art teaching and research space for the college’s Anthropology, Chemistry & Biochemistry and Physics & Astronomy departments.
