The Office of Campus Energy and Sustainability (OCES) is proud to announce that Wishnick Hall is the first Illinois Tech building to become LEED Gold certified.
LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is a universally recognized standard for measuring building sustainability, developed and operated by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
The LEED project team worked diligently to demonstrate Illinois Tech’s continuous commitment to sustainability by maintaining and/or implementing a variety of environmentally friendly policies and operating practices in Wishnick Hall, including but not limited to:
- Operating the building in a way that is more energy efficient than 89% of buildings of similar type across the nation.
- Validating that over 75% of regular building occupants use alternative transportation to commute to campus (including students, faculty and staff).
- Implementing a 25’ no-smoking perimeter for all campus buildings.
- Utilizing landscape and roofing designs that minimize energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and other impacts of the heat island effect.
- Making sustainable purchases of light bulbs, furniture and electric-powered equipment.
- Auditing the waste stream and reusing durable goods within the building to minimize landfill waste.
- Implementing green cleaning practices for custodial services and indoor pest management services.
- Installing new air filters that improve air quality and reduce operating costs.
- Auditing water consumption and installing efficient plumbing fixtures and fittings.
This project was managed by Suzane Carneiro, a student project coordinator in OCES, working under the direction of the director of sustainability. The success of the project was a direct result of the support and diligence of many Illinois Tech staff and faculty, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Brian Bozell – resource efficiency manager, Campus Utilities and Energy
- Suzane Carneiro – project coordinator, OCES
- Darlene Coleman, contract manager, Facilities
- Matt Cusack – area manager, Facilities
- Anthony D’Amato – vice president and general counsel
- Cathy D’Amico – department administrator, Biomedical Engineering
- Frank Fiorito – director, Purchasing
- Kevin Gallagher, director of facilities maintenance management
- Dion Manly – director of sustainability and financial and business analyst
- Stephen Pepper – assistant director of sustainability, OCES
- John Wachowski – field operations and warehouse supervisor
- Bruce Watts – vice president for administration
- Renee Weaver – administrative associate, Biomedical Engineering
OCES would like to thank all participants in the project, including the individuals listed above and all Wishnick Hall building occupants. OCES recently began working towards LEED certification for the John T. Rettaliata Engineering Center, and expects to complete certification efforts on that building by the end of 2017. The Robert A. Pritzker Science Center is next on the list, with an estimated certification timeframe of fall 2018.
If you have any questions about LEED or USGBC, please visit their website (www.usgbc.org) or contact the Office of Campus Energy and Sustainability (campussustainability@iit.edu).