WCU receives its first US Green Building Council certification

Press Release

Western Carolina University

Western Carolina University’s Health and Human Sciences Building has become the university’s first structure to be LEED-certified for its comprehensive energy-efficient and environmentally friendly features.

The U.S. Green Building Council recently awarded the four-story, 160,000 square-foot building, which opened in 2012, LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, certification at the second highest possible level – gold. The certification was based on an assessment of the building project in five categories – sustainable site, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation in design.

“Our initial goal was for the building to be certified at least at the silver level, but as the design and construction process continued and new LEED points were defined, the architects worked very hard to gather information to obtain the gold certification,” said Galen May, university architect.

SHARE
About Carrie Eidson
Multimedia journalist and Green Scene editor at Mountain Xpress. Part-time Twitterer @mxenv but also reachable at ceidson@mountainx.com. Follow me @carrieeidson

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.