Iowa State's design, construction and maintenance staff provides students, faculty, staff and visitors with sustainable facilities where they can learn, teach, work and engage with others. This commitment is driven by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a system that awards certified buildings with sustainability achievement levels of Silver, Gold and Platinum based on eight categories: location and transportation; sustainable sites; water efficiency; energy and atmosphere; material and resources; indoor environmental quality; innovation; and regional priority. With 23 LEED-certified buildings and counting, Iowa State now claims 49% of all LEED-certified buildings within the state's regent university system. Although not all projects are a candidate for LEED certification, Iowa State incorporates sustainable design and features into all of its construction and renovation endeavors.

In 2012, Iowa State hired a Coordinator of Sustainable Design and Construction to provide additional leadership related to LEED certification. The ongoing work of Planning, Design and Construction, along with maintenance teams employed by Facilities Services, also help ensure that all buildings meet LEED standards. These practices and guidelines include installing cost-saving LED lights, planting "living roofs" that reduce storm water run-off, using recycled-content materials such as carpeting, dry wall, ceiling tile and steel to construct buildings, and ensuring all campus buildings are operated and maintained under a standard campus-wide indoor air quality management system, as well as a green cleaning protocol.

For detailed information about our campus-certified buildings and their environmentally sustainable features, we invite you to explore our dedicated LEED-certified buildings webpage. See the dropdowns below to see how Design, Maintenance and Construction are making an impact within each of the three facets of sustainability. For information, contact the University Architect, Dan Sloan at drsloan@iastate.edu. 

  • Iowa State adopted the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system, encouraging more-efficient, and therefore cost-effective, buildings that require less energy to heat, cool and illuminate.
  • Iowa State strives to be as energy efficient as possible. Campus has more than 12 million square feet of academic, administrative and residential facilities on campus operating each day.
  • To help lessen the cost of illuminating campus, all traditional lighting is being replaced with more-efficient LED lighting. In addition, all current LEED-certified campus buildings, as well as those to be built or remodeled in the future, incorporate LEDs.

  • Design and Construction Services is reducing the number of oil-based products that are being used in its many construction projects and replacing them with recycled-content materials, such as steel (which is composed of at least 97% recycled content), carpeting, dry wall, ceiling tile, concrete and countertops.
  • Iowa State has more than 52,000 square feet of green roofs (also called "living roofs"), covered with vegetation like sedum, native prairie plants, succulents and chives, including the roofs of Troxel Hall and the Memorial Union. Green roofs offer many benefits to buildings, including natural insulation and rainwater absorption. In addition, the herbs and other culinary crops grown atop these living roofs are used by the test kitchen in the Student Innovation Center.
  • Most of Iowa State's major buildings have water bottle-filling stations, moving steadily toward the goal of all central campus buildings offering at least one filling station. These stations encourage users to utilize reusable containers and rely less on bottled water, resulting, on average, each filling station preventing tens of thousands of plastic water bottles from entering the waste stream.
  • Iowa State has three campus buildings that reuse rainwater to flush toilets: Biorenewables Research Laboratory, State Gym and Hach Hall. This reduces Iowa State's dependence on potable water for functions that do not require it.

  • Iowa State's commitment to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) initiated with the 2007 LEED Silver-certified Morrill Hall project.
    • Morrill Hall is home to many collections of artwork and was the site of the first dedicated commitment to the initiative of green cleaning, ensuring the preservation of invaluable educational collections through eliminating volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are harmful to delicate pieces of artwork and artifacts. Additionally, it makes it safer for custodial staff by reducing exposure to chemicals.
  • Iowa State uses perforated window shades as a way to reduce the use of electrical lighting and utilize natural lighting, providing both cost savings and health benefits.
  • Iowa State partnered with the City of Ames to incorporate sustainable principles into the LEED Silver-certified Ames Intermodal Facility, serving as a central hub for multiple modes of transportation offered to the Ames community, as well as providing a sense of community connectivity for Ames residents. 

On campus, it is of primary importance to build our buildings to be more efficient than code. LEED has pushed building codes to improve the energy efficiency of all building types, transforming the design and construction industry. Designers and builders are now aware of the effect space and materials have on occupants and are empowered to challenge the status quo, resulting in an impressive and innovative sustainably built environment.

Dan Sloan, University Architect