The building blocks of a healthy campus

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[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/ARCS.jpg” caption=”McMaster’s new Sustainable Building Policy will apply to all new buildings and renovations on campus, including McMaster’s Athletics & Recreation Centre and Stadium, one of several projects currently underway on campus. “]McMaster is providing the building blocks to a healthy environment through a new Sustainable Building Policy.

“We want to ensure McMaster is on the leading edge of sustainable building development,” says Tony Cupido, director of physical plant. “We've developed a policy that will provide a sustainable framework so that when we're designing and operating our buildings we're keeping the future and the environment in mind.”

The policy will apply to all new buildings and renovations on campus. All products used in future buildings – from flooring to lighting to mechanical systems – must meet or exceed the silver level rating of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a green building rating system used to assess the environmental sustainability of buildings.

The policy also aims to inform, support, and promote sustainable building principles and benefits; implement sustainable building principles in all new and existing buildings to achieve measurable life cycle cost savings; develop new facilities to comply with the requirements of the Natural Resources Canada – Office of Energy Efficiency Commercial Building Incentive Program; and evaluate and change, as appropriate, University processes to promote development and operation of sustainable buildings.

“We're sensitive to the fact that there are limited resources available and each building takes hundreds of different products and fabricated processes to build it,” says Cupido. For example, why use oak wood products when we could use a naturally renewable wood product like bamboo. As well, we must take advantage of natural light, natural ventilation or renewable energy.”

While McMaster is one of the first Canadian universities to implement a Sustainable Building Policy, and employ the LEED rating system, Cupido says it as a growing trend. “I predict that in five to 10 years all municipalities, universities, school boards and hospitals will want to incorporate this,” he says. “We are becoming one of the first universities to implement this. We want to be seen as a leader in demonstrating that McMaster is committed to protecting the environment.”