Oakland University Receives Latest LEED Certification

August 12, 2015 1774 Views College of Engineering and Mines, Eastern U.S., Howard Chong, Institute for Energy Studies, James T. Powers, LEED for Existing Buildings, North Dakota Higher Education Challenge Fund, remote, RLUIPA, Teaching Strategies GOLD

ROCHESTER, Mich. — Oakland University in Rochester earned its most recent LEED certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) in late July. Oak View Hall, the university’s newest housing facility, achieved LEED Gold status thanks to a number of green and sustainable design considerations.

Oak View Hall, built by Rochester-based Frank Rewold & Sons Inc., is a 500-bed housing complex that spans 164,724 square feet. The $30 million facility is home the university’s Honor’s College and includes a café, group meeting spaces and study areas in addition to suite-style housing. The hall welcomed its first student residents in August 2014, and less than a year later earned 63 points on the USGBC’s LEED check list, qualifying it for gold-level certification. LEED Gold-certified projects must score between 60 and 79 points out of a scale of 100. Projects earning 80 points or more qualify for LEED Platinum certification.

The highly efficient complex was designed by Neumann/Smith Architecture, with offices in Detroit and Southfield, Mich., and includes green features such as bike racks, preferred parking for low-emission vehicles and shielded light fixtures, according to a statement by the university. Additionally, it offers dual-flush toilets, low-flow bathroom fixtures and showerheads, and an enhanced refrigerant management system that consumes 18 percent less energy than a typical dorm building.

The project’s management of construction waste also earned LEED points. More than 95 percent of construction-related waste was recycled and approximately 15 percent of the total building materials were made of recycled content. Additionally, regionally sourced construction materials comprised roughly 20 percent of the total materials used.

The Masonry Institute of Michigan also recognized the facility with its President’s Award in April 2015.

Oak View Hall is one of several LEED-certified projects completed by Oakland University in the past several years. The university constructed a $62 million LEED Platinum Human Health Building in 2013, making it the first LEED Platinum facility on any Michigan university campus.

The five-story, 160,260-square-foot Human Health Building remains a model of innovation, efficiency and sustainability and began recouping costs immediately. The design incorporated multiple green and money-saving features from a geothermal heating system to a network of 117 solar thermal panels, which supply the building with free natural heat. Energy-reducing insulated cinderblocks provide an estimated 35 percent energy savings annually, while the rooftop photovoltaic solar panels supply roughly 3 percent of the building’s power.