University Sustains Strategy for Green Building

By Brittney Dunkins

The university earned LEED Gold certification for the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum—marking the university’s 11th LEED project across three campuses.

According to Nancy Giammatteo, director of facilities planning and design review in the Division of Operations, the green building strategy has been integral to university practices since GW established a focus on sustainable building in the 2007 Campus Plan.

“It started to change when [George Washington] President [Steven] Knapp came to the university and made sustainability a priority,” Ms. Giammatteo said. “Now, we start thinking about it from day one of design for each project. We are able to save a lot of energy and a lot water and help the university’s bottom line.”

The U.S. Green Building Council created LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, 15 years ago. It has become the industry standard for green building and design, Ms. Giammatteo said. The system assesses each project based on sustainable approaches to water efficiency, energy use, air quality, waste management and other features.

For example, Ms. Giammatteo said that the university has excelled in water use reduction—typically conserving 40 percent more water compared to similar buildings in the area. Features such as green roofs with vegetation and rainwater cisterns reduce storm water runoff, which can contribute to waste contamination in the Potomac River when D.C.’s combined sewer system overflows during heavy rainfall.

Additionally, lighting controls and the “skin” of the building, including windows, the roof and walls, are designed to maximize energy efficiency.  The Smoke-Free GW campaign has contributed to improving air quality and the university’s urban setting offers more access to public transportation.

There are four building projects in development—the Science and Engineering Hall, District House, SEH 7^th and 8^th floors and the Hall on Virginia Avenue—that are targeting LEED certification.

George Washington Today rounded up the university’s 11 LEED-certified building projects.

Milken Institute School of Public Health, 950 New Hampshire Ave. NW LEED Platinum (2014) The 115,000-square-foot facility was GW's first project to receive the highest LEED certification. Payette Architects and Ayers Saint Gross collaborated on the $75 million building design.

South Hall, 2135 F St. NW LEED Gold (2010) GW's first LEED-rated residence hall was built in 2009 and houses up to 450 fourth-year students.

West Hall, 2100 Foxhall Road NW LEED Gold (2010) The suite-style residence hall was the first LEED-certified residence hall on the Mount Vernon Campus

Lafayette Hall, 2100 I St. NW LEED Gold (2012) The Foggy Bottom Campus residence hall was renovated and reopened during the fall 2011 semester and houses up to 126 students.

Charles E. Smith Center, 600 22nd St. NW LEED Gold (2012) The Colonial sports hub was renovated in 2011 to update the arena, locker rooms, Colonials Club, training and sports medicine areas and other spaces.

Ames Hall, 2100 Foxhall Road NW LEED Gold (2012) The former residence hall was converted to an academic building in 2011 that includes water bottle filling stations, a green roof and other sustainable features.

The Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics, 2000 G St. NW LEED Gold (2014) U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor helped commemorate the opening of the clinics last January. They were founded in 1971 to help students develop legal skills through service to the community.

Walter G. Ross Hall 5th and 6th floor, 2300 I St. NW LEED Gold (2014) The Research Center for Neglected Diseases of Poverty is a 35,000-square-foot lab space with 104 workstations, a microscope room and tropical life cycle where parasites can be cultured.

George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, 701 21st St. NW LEED Gold (2014) Set to open in March 2015, the museum will house nearly 20,000 objects from the Textile Museum, Albert H. Small Washingtoniana and GW collections.

conservation and collections resource center, Presidential Drive and George Washington Blvd., Ashburn, Va. LEED Silver (2014) The sustainable, 22,000-square-foot facility stores the collections of the George Washington University Museum and the Textile Museum.

G Street Garage and Law Learning Center, 2000 block of G St. NW LEED Silver (2014) The green project is home to one level of learning space for GW Law School and four levels of underground parking.

LEED Certified Buildings at GW are represented in this graphic.