Originally published on Green Building Elements By Nicholas Brown.
The US Green Building Council of Kentucky has awarded LEED Silver certification to The Nucleus building of the University Of Louisville in downtown. This is decent, as the LEED certifications are Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum (remember that certifications in general are not common).
The building, which is located at 300 E. Market St., has environmentally friendly features such as a smart Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, energy management systems, motion-sensing lights, and motion-sensing plumbing in all restrooms.
Motion-sensing plumbing saves water because people tend to leave pipes on until they have finished washing their hands. Motion-activated taps shut off while people are soaping up their hands and come back on when they put their hands back under them for rinsing, so water is only used when it is actually needed.
One of the greatest fractions of the average person’s energy usage is due to waste (especially because they didn’t remember to turn off devices such as light bulbs, TVs, air conditioners, heaters, stereos, computers, fans and much more).
A typical 16″ to 18″ fan will consume 50 to 100 watts, while a 30″-40″ tv will consume over 100 watts. Add the 60 watts your computer consumes, a few hundred watts for the light bulbs throughout the house, and you’ll see the problem.
Motion-sensing lights are activated only when people are in the room, as people tend to leave lights on when they aren’t using them. “The LEED designation for The Nucleus follows gold LEED certification for U of L’s newly completed student recreation center on the Belknap Campus. The university has eight LEED-certified buildings, according to the release, and another two are expected to receive LEED certification.”
“Responsible growth continues to be our goal at U of L,” university president James Ramsey said in the release, “and having these buildings achieve LEED certification shows the university’s commitment to long-term sustainability, carbon-footprint reduction and environmentally friendly development.”
Source: Louisville Business First.
