The green building industry is seeing continued growth. That’s affecting higher education as colleges build new or retrofit old facilities, and as they prepare students for the green workforce.
Ryan O’Neill, associate director for client solutions at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides insight about trends, tariffs, training and more.
This Q&A comes from the current issue of the Community College Journal, published bimonthly by the American Association of Community Colleges.
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What trends are you seeing in green building, particularly in the higher education sector?
We are seeing continued growth of green building and LEED certification within the higher education sector. This appears to be driven by a few factors, including student interest in attending schools committed to sustainability, college and university net zero or decarbonization goals, and the cost efficiency of high-performing buildings, allowing institutions to save money on operations. With green building’s unique ability to support each of these factors, it is no surprise the market continues to increase.
What does it mean to have a LEED-certified building and why is that something to strive for?
LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a globally recognized symbol of excellence in green building. The core of a LEED-certified building undergoes a third-party review to ensure cost savings, lower carbon emissions and a healthier environment for the places we live, work and learn. LEED’s global sustainability agenda is designed to achieve high performance in key areas of human and environmental health, acting on the triple bottom line — putting people, planet and profit first.
If a college can’t afford to build an entirely new building, are there ways to retrofit or remodel current buildings to make them more green (and provide cost savings)?
This is a very common concern for many colleges and universities. We have programs for all building types and phases, including new construction, major renovations, commercial fit outs, existing buildings and more. However, the two most applicable offerings for the situation described would be LEED Existing Building Operations and Maintenance at the individual building level or PERFORM at the portfolio level.
The LEED for Building Operations and Maintenance (O+M) standard emphasizes performance strategies and outcomes by improving building operations and policies. This can allow for substantial improvements to be made to existing buildings at minimal cost. This provides better energy efficiency along with the associated cost savings and extends the usable life of the building.
PERFORM is a new offering developed to support sustainability planning, analysis, improvement and performance verification at the real estate portfolio scale. While many organizations have ambitious sustainability targets, there is an overall lack of tools and resources to drive performance improvement and validation across their portfolios. PERFORM assists organizations and portfolios in setting goals, measuring progress towards their goals and obtaining third-party certification to verify these impacts.
Will tariffs impact the cost to build green?
Like many other industries, tariffs and potential tax changes will impact the real estate and construction industry as a whole. Despite the current challenges, we continue to see momentum for green buildings to grow and are seeing indicators that organizations that have incorporated better buildings in their business plan are sticking with it. For example, states and localities across the U.S. continue working toward better buildings, as is the higher education sector. They see the benefits of high-performing buildings, including lower utility costs, occupant comfort and higher property value. Additionally, many are seeing how green buildings are incentivized through programs that offer attractive funding options for LEED-certified projects.
Community colleges often are training current and future construction workers, electricians, HVAC technicians and others needed in the building industry. What are some of the special skills these workers should have to be prepared for green building?
The training and education of incoming professionals is of the utmost importance. While there are many needed skills, a first step would be understanding how their trade impacts the whole project. A successful project needs all trades to work in concert for the best outcome. LEED v4 added a credit for the integrative process, and LEED v5 has doubled down, expanding this category to include four new prerequisites. These credits and prerequisites focus on a collaborative approach, including all stakeholders in the early phases of a project’s design, ensuring positive outcomes and limiting issues that could otherwise not be found until later in the process.
Credentials are also helpful in validating a professional’s field expertise. LEED credential denotes proficiency in sustainable design, construction and operations standards. More than 203,000 professionals have earned a LEED credential to help advance their careers, showcasing knowledge, experience and credibility in the green building marketplace.
Real-world experience and skill development are also critical to career development. Recognizing this need, the USGBC supports upcoming professionals by offering programs such as LEED Labs. This program is a partnership between the USGBC and academic institutions to provide a multidisciplinary immersion course utilizing project-based learning to educate students within a real-world project. As an added benefit, students enrolled in LEED Lab will be prepared to sit for the LEED AP credentialing exam and will have access to discounted pricing.
