The UChicago Child Development Center on Drexel was officially certified LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council at the end of September. The University now has five buildings that are LEED Gold, an accomplishment achieved within only four years. Other Gold certified buildings on campus are the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts (2013), Chicago Theological Seminary (2012), Searle Chemistry Laboratory (2010), and 6045 S. Kenwood Building (2009).
The University of Chicago and the Medical Center jointly funded the child care center, which is operated by Bright Horizons and serves 124 children. Completed in April, the project team worked diligently to achieve LEED certification by incorporating elements such as radiant heating in the floors, a green roof, and other sustainable, energy efficient building systems. The LEED rating system scores buildings in five major categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. Ultimately the child care center earned 62 out of a possible 110 points, satisfying the criteria for gold.
The University of Chicago's LEED building policy requires all new construction and major renovations over five million dollars to achieve at least LEED Silver certification. We currently have 4 buildings in the LEED pipeline, including Laboratory Schools' Earl Shapiro Hall, Adaptive Reuse of 5757 South University Avenue, Campus North Residence Hall and Dining Commons and the William Eckhardt Research Center.