Energy & Green Buildings
Butler prioritizes building and managing campus infrastructure for reduced energy and environmental impacts. That’s why Butler requires that all University appliances must be Energy StarTM rated, which are estimated to consume 10 to 50 percent less electricity than standard appliances.
Butler’s construction standards specify that all new construction projects follow the lighting guidelines of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 189.1, which includes the utilization of high efficiency lighting and using occupancy sensors whenever appropriate. All lighting is LED for new construction and renovation of existing buildings, hallways, or rooms, as well as for outdoor lighting projects.
Other building and energy related initiatives include:
- Heating provided via several high-efficiency water boilers throughout campus
- Water chilled on-site to provide air-conditioning for most of the buildings on campus, either via the central chilled water plant or within each individual building
- Installation of dual-pane windows designed to reduce heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer by up to 50%
- Replacement of old fume hoods in campus laboratories to green fume hoods, which use a new filtering technology that allows exhaust to be filtered and recirculated back into the lab to save energy
LEED Silver is the minimum Butler standard for all new construction and major renovations, but Gold or higher is achieved when possible. Even small renovation projects on campus incorporate the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) sustainability concepts.
As of 2019, Butler has seven LEED Gold buildings, and you can view them at the link below.