University Waste Reduction and Pollution Prevention Assistance Greening College Campuses through LEED Certification

Greening efforts on campus are often reported to enhance students’ performance in class and help higher education systems better equipped with a strong sense of sustainability. LEED certification program promotes the greening efforts on campus that can also affect surrounding communities. This chapter looks into these efforts and their consequences on and around campus. Two exemplary schools are selected based on their success in implementing LEED program into building construction and renovation and applying it to the pedagogy of education for sustainability and eco-friendly practices. Georgia Tech has successfully transformed its campus more walkable, bikeable using LEED as a tool for on-going operations and maintenance of the campus. LEED program is aligned with its more than 100 courses with a sustainability focus. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) successfully completed building renovation through LEED. The project is notable because of the reuse of existing structural elements rather tearing down and using new materials.

Keywords: Building renovation, Building reuse, Carbon neutral buildings, CO2 sensors, Green buildings, Green metric, HVAC, Irrigation, LEED certificate, Rain garden, Runoff water, Stormwater, Sustainability, VOCs.