Baylor, ARAMARK earn landmark LEED certification for existing buildings

Baylor University has become the first university in Texas to earn a coveted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for existing buildings.

Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary earned this award by meeting the stringent standards set out by the U.S. Green Building Council.

"Baylor is committed to sustainable construction and being a leader locally and nationally in earning LEED certification for existing buildings and new construction," said Dr. Reagan Ramsower, vice president for finance and administration. "I am delighted that Baylor has the first fully certified LEED designation in Waco and McLennan County."

The 66,000-square-foot structure was just two points away from snaring a "silver" rating, a step above certification, said Don Bagby, Baylor's director of facilities management. Buildings may earn additional points to achieve silver, gold or platinum status.

Truett is the sixth Texas building - and the state's first university - to get the LEED certification for existing buildings.

"This is great," Bagby said. "To be so close to silver at our first shot was exciting, and also to be the first university to get the certification in the existing building category."

Internationally, 235 buildings have earned the rating. And Truett is just the eighth higher education project in the world to earn certification.

A LEED certification is more difficult for an existing building to earn than for a new structure.

"It's far easier to design a green building from scratch than to go back and retrofit and modify an existing building to make it operate as a green building," said Bill France, operational excellence manager for ARAMARK Higher Education, who worked with Baylor on the project.

"The great thing about this was validating that good practices are already at Baylor," said Steve Guenther, ARAMARK's associate vice president for operational excellence.

"When you're talking about a building that's going to be around 50 or more years, we want to encourage people not just to build green but to keep it green," he said. "There's going to be ongoing positive environmental impact, benefits for building occupants and operating cost savings at the seminary - a significant return on the investment."

Baylor tackled its task at Truett in early spring of 2008.

"This means using energy and water efficiently, having a recycling program, paying attention to cleaning procedures and chemicals, changing or tightening the schedules of the heating and air conditioning systems," Bagby said.

Transportation figured into the equation, too.

"A building should be accessible as far as using walkways, having bicycle racks and being accessible to mass transit," Bagby continued. "We want to use energy wisely not only in the building, but in getting to and from the building."

Precision was vital for certification, said Ken Pollard, Baylor's physical plant director and ARAMARK resident district manager for facilities service.

More than 20 staff and faculty members spent hundreds of hours measuring, documenting and changing procedures. Pollard also led a team of three off-site ARAMARK employees and nine Baylor managers who oversaw grounds, energy, finances and customer service aspects of the project.

"Meters were installed, and inspections were made," Pollard said. "We weighed how much material was being recycled, how much water we used on the plants. We looked at places where we could use outdoor lighting instead of inside.

Housekeeping staff saw to it that green products were used and trash recycled. Truett personnel also monitored the number of people in classes and hours people were in the building.

Besides the environmental and money-saving benefits of earning certification, the achievement affects employee well-being. Guenther mentioned several studies showing that people have more positive feelings about work if they have natural light and the ability to see outside.

The LEED standards were developed in the late 1990s as a way to rate new construction.

"Everyone was claiming their buildings were green, but there were no standards, and there was a lot of skepticism," Guenther said. "The standards encouraged builders to work on things that were proven. Architects and contractors have a certain way of doing things, and human nature is to keep doing it that way. People may not change what they're doing without encouragement, even if it makes sense."

As respect for LEED standards grew, contractors and clients seeking renovation of existing buildings also wanted to join the movement. A category for existing buildings was established in 2004.

"This was a stretch on our people, but it was worth all the hard work," Pollard said. "Next year, we want to go even further and get a 'silver' [rating] for Truett."

June 23, 2009