How is Lincoln Hall Going Green?

The newly reopened Lincoln Hall has been renovated to show that stewardship of the environment and energy savings is a top priority at UIC. So what’s different in Lincoln Hall and how is it saving energy? The biggest energy-saving feature is the geothermal system. The Lincoln Hall geothermal system is a method that uses water to heat and cool the air in the building. This is accomplished by pumping water through pipes buried underground (below the open space near University Hall, to be exact). The pipes use the earth’s natural ground temperature, along with heating or cooling assistance from equipment in the building, to maintain a constant temperature of 73? F year round in Lincoln Hall. A geothermal system already in place and running in Grant Hall has seen a 50% decrease of energy consumption since its implementation in the fall of 2007. The aim is to have Lincoln, Grant and Douglas hall running all on the same geothermal system, which was expanded to accommodate all three buildings during the Lincoln Hall renovation. [READ MORE]

What is LEED?

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC).  It provides third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts3.

In order to qualify for LEED certification buildings must comply with all prerequisites and obtain a certain number of credits.  A designation of certifified, silver, gold, or platinum is assigned based on the number of points awarded by the certifying agency.

The credit system is divided up under a number of categories; Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation in Design and Regional Priority.  For more details of the individual credits and how to earn them go to http://www.usgbc.org/.

MythBusting LEED Construction Costs & Benefits

In general, more efficient and innovative products are more expensive, but this extra expense is usually regained in the savings that will be recouped from reduced electricity, gas and water bills as well as maintenance costs. Also this extra cost depends on many factors, including a project’s type, scope, and location; how many credits are pursued; and the experience of the team.

On average, LEED-Certified, -Silver, or -Gold projects can add anywhere from 1-4% to the total construction cost, while a LEED-Platinum building can add anywhere from 4-8% to the construction cost.  Despite this initial additional cost, green buildings yield a number of additional benefits and savings that are highly desirable to long-standing institutions like UIC.

Buildings are designed to meet many requirements, such as aesthetic, accessibility, and fire codes.  More and more buildings are also designed to be green – that is, to reduce their impact on the environment.  Since buildings use 48% of energy in the US, as well as the resources to build them such as wood, metal, brick, concrete, and glass,  green building design aims to reduce our demand for resources before, during and after construction.  The average green buildings saves 30%  in energy, 35-50%  less carbon dioxide emissions, 35-50% in water consumption, and 50-90% savings in waste costs.

Green buildings also increase productivity and human performance.  Students were 15-26% faster in reading and math tests and 7-18% higher in test scores, when compared to conventional buildings.  Office workers were 6-12% faster in processing calls and 10-25% better at memory and mental tests.1 Imagine the benefits to UIC if we boasted a campus that helped our students, faculty and staff learn, work, and perform better simply by the design of its buildings!

How do you know if a building is truly green?  There are several rating systems available that provide third-party verification, such as LEED® and Green Globes.  The University of Illinois has decided to adapt the LEED silver standard for all construction and remodeling projects over $5million and to strive to meet those standards for projects under that amount.

Tips on Saving Energy At Home

This morning, Today Show financial Editor Jean Chatzky showed viewers how easy it is to save a lot of money on your utility bills simply by unplugging many of your household items. Not only do these actions reduce your energy costs, but that reduction in energy consumption also reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Have you had any luck shaving down your electricity bill at home? Let us know in the comments!

Watch Bioneers Speakers This Weekend

Bioneers is a unique annual conference that brings some of the best minds in the environmental and sustainability movement together every year.  It takes place in California, so we don't expect everyone here in Chicago to make the trip!  However, the organizers do their best to let people all over the world take advantage of the excellent presentations at the conference.  We just got an email from Bioneers telling us about a few of the keynote presentations that will be available for viewing online live as they happen:

We know that not everyone could make it out to San Rafael or to one of our 19 Beaming Bioneers sites, so we've decided to do something unprecedented this year and bring part of the conference to you.

For the first time ever, we will be offering a live webcast for free of two of our keynote speakers on each day of the conference, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 

On Friday:
·      Sarah James will report from the Arctic on climate change and its impact on indigenous people.
·      Michael Pollan will speak on reforming our broken industrial food system and what it means to for our health.
This webcast will begin Friday, starting at 11:30 AM PST.

On Saturday:
·      Jason McLennan will talk about living buildings and the future of architecture.
·      Lily Yeh will recount her experiences with the Rwanda Healing Project. 
This webcast will begin this Saturday, starting at 9:00 AM PST.

On Sunday:
·      Jerome Ringo will address the reality of green jobs in our re-made economy.
·      Annie Leonard will help us find our way beyond the Age of Stuff.
 This webcast will begin this Sunday, starting at 11:30 AM PST.

In addition, on both Friday and Saturday at 4:30 PM PST, we will be webcasting a panel and workshop on sustainable social media, in partnership with InfluenceXchange.

To view these live streaming webcasts, just go to this web address:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bioneers-conference-09

These amazing presentations will be live, so don't miss it!

What do you think about Bioneers and the Beaming Bioneers conferences?  Let us know in the comments.