Rice University is committed to continuous improvement in reducing its ecological footprint, with the ultimate goal of designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining its buildings, grounds, and infrastructure in such a way as to be described as ecologically restorative.
As part of this process, all new on-campus buildings with anticipated design lives of more than 30 years shall be designed and certified to the latest edition of the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system at the “Silver” level at minimum. New buildings on campus with anticipated design lives of 30 years or less, as well as all off-campus facilities, shall be designed and certified to the level of LEED “Certified” at minimum.
Major renovations constituting at least an entire floor of a building, or more than 25 percent of the building’s square footage, or more than 25 percent of the building’s replacement cost (excluding infrastructure more than five feet beyond the building’s perimeter) shall be evaluated by Facilities Engineering and Planning for design and certification to the level of LEED “Certified” at minimum, and a recommendation will be made to the Vice President of Administration regarding the suitability of such renovation for LEED certification.
Certain buildings and renovations that are either of such type or scale to render them incompatible with LEED may be exempted from pursuing LEED certification at the discretion of the Vice President of Administration. Such buildings and renovations shall otherwise be designed and constructed in keeping with campus sustainable design goals and practices.
As the University considers new projects for development, campus sustainability goals shall be integral to the process of initial site selection and project evaluation.
Infrastructure and grounds projects shall be designed with the intention of meeting campus sustainability objectives in addition to cost, performance, and aesthetic requirements.
Building furnishings and finishes shall be selected with the intent of contributing towards healthful indoor environmental quality and minimizing waste.
All projects, regardless of size or type, shall seek to minimize construction and demolition waste and divert at least 50 percent of all materials by weight from the waste stream for recycling or reuse.
--adopted March 2008