New York University
OP-1: Building Operations and Maintenance

NYU has a range of policies and programs in place to tackle issues of sustainability in our buildings. NYU owns or operates more than 100 buildings that amount to over 12 million square feet of building space. These are all subject to university commitments such as the ACUPCC and Mayoral Challenge carbon reduction agreements, contracts with janitorial staff to provide green cleaning and other services, and university-wide policies and guidelines such as the Design Standards and Guidelines (available at http://www.nyu.edu/sapd/design/guidelines.html) and the Energy and Engineering Standards (attached above), which each govern both construction and building operation.

More specifically speaking to the criteria STARS raises in the Credit Info:

* Impacts on the surrounding site - NYU only builds on existing sites (e.g. in Manhattan) and always receives the LEED development density credit for building in a highly urban, connected area with plenty of access to goods and services, high walkability, and other metrics indicating minimized environmental impacts from site selection.

* Energy consumption - NYU has installed smart energy meters in all buildings, is actively engaged in a program of audits and recommissioning, performance benchmarking, and a consistent trend of energy reduction through efficiency and conservation retrofits that has yielded a 20%+ cut in greenhouse gas emissions from buildings in just four years -- without including an additional 20%+ from the new cogeneration power plant which has come online in 2011. See the Climate Action Plan for details about our projects to reduce energy consumption in existing (and new) buildings.

* Usage of environmentally preferable materials - building materials are specified and designated in detail within NYU's Design Standards and Guidelines, and this type of information is provided to Project Managers, architects and contractors as needed.

* Indoor environmental quality - Environmental Health and Safety proactively manages IEQ, investigating all air, water, noise, or other quality complaints from building residents, and reporting these publicly. NYU has committed to Green Seal standards for cleaning products, uses LEED-preferable carpeting and other fixtures, and is using increasing amounts of low-VOC paints, sealants, and adhesives in building construction and renovation. The university works with science laboratories and art facilities, in particular, to manage indoor environmental air quality and disposal concerns.

* Water consumption - NYU has retrofitted water faucets and showerheads in residence halls for 12,000 students, and has put in place low-flow fixture standards for all residential space. NYU uses only drip irrigation for the few maintained landscaped areas on the urban city campus, and generally plants drought-tolerant naturalized or native species that need little water.

Though NYU has not retroactively pursued LEED Existing Building Operations and Maintenance certifications for our 100+ existing buildings, the university is operating and maintaining this building stock at a level that would exceed standards to achieve LEED certification, based on a close review of points and requirements in that system.

NYU has also committed to LEED-Silver or better certification of buildings as they are renovated or constructed.