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Washington University in St. Louis’ goal is to serve as a national leader in green building design and operations.

2015 Strategic Plan for Sustainable Operations

Objectives & Progress

Buildings that achieve leading third-party certification

Washington University received its first LEED project certification in 2004 and adopted a LEED Silver minimum standard in 2010 for new construction and major renovation projects.

As of 2023, we completed a total of 35 LEED certified projects, 23 of which have exceeded LEED Silver, including 13 Gold and 9 Platinum certifications. The LEED Silver standard has been instrumental in achieving 3.25 million square feet of LEED certified space, more than double the total in 2015.

Thirty percent of university-owned space on the Danforth and School of Medicine campuses is now LEED certified. WashU is also home to one of the first Living Building certified projects, one of the most stringent green building certifications in the world.

Staff sustainability knowledge and skills

As of 2019, 75 Washington University employees have attained at least one sustainability accreditation. This includes 18 LEED Green Associates, 20 LEED Accredited Professionals, and 37 International Facility Management Association-Sustainable Facility Professionals (IFMA SFP).

Our objective is to foster sustainable design across all projects by empowering our staff, faculty, and students to pursue relevant accreditations, providing them with the most current knowledge on sustainability principles. This people-centered strategy supports our commitment for Washington University to serve as a national leader in green building design and operations.


Highlights

Energy Efficiency

Design Strategies

Adaptive Reuse

East End Transformation