All about LEED, part I

LEED certification is all the rage these days. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. This is a construct of the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit organization. This certification can apply to both new and already existing structures. How does UVA benefit from being certified? Is certification an option or a requirement, and how is that rule determined? Does this buy carbon offsets elsewhere on grounds? These are good questions for future posts. At the very least, UVA can gain recognition as an environmentally-friendly corporation.

This week, employees of the contractor Barton Malow were testing the integrity of New Cabell windows. Why? Well, when the South Lawn is completed in approximately 2010, focus will shift to the interior renovation of New Cabell. This will include modernizing the space to incorporate new technologies as well as completely redoing the heating and cooling systems. The horrible eyesores posing as air conditions will disappear. In addition, one can only assume that those horrible floor-bolted desks will meet their maker. They'll have to travel back in time to 1950 to do so.

Photo by GFC, 2008.11.11

If the windows pass the tests, they can be kept. If they don't, they'll be recycled or compacted and put to use in other areas. The incentive to keep those windows is to help meet LEED certification requirements. Projects accumulate points based on how many materials they can reuse instead of just throwing them away.

For those who were in Cabell around 10am Tuesday morning, you may have felt the building rumble. A preliminary investigation uncovered a satisfactory explanation: it was the sound and force of a massive boom lift (also known as a cherry picker) rolling into place to hoist the window inspection team five stories into the air.