Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 58.08
Liaison Andrew D'Amico
Submission Date March 13, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Princeton University
OP-4: Building Design and Construction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.28 / 3.00 Patricia Devine
Sustainability Architectural Engineer
Office of Capital Projects
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have any building space certified under the following green building rating systems for new construction and major renovations?:
Yes or No
LEED or another 4-tier rating system used by an Established Green Building Council (GBC) Yes
The DGNB system, Green Star, or another 3-tier GBC rating system No
BREEAM, CASBEE, or another 5-tier GBC rating system No
The Living Building Challenge No
Other non-GBC rating systems (e.g. BOMA BESt, Green Globes) No

A brief description of the green building rating system(s) used and/or a list of certified buildings and ratings:

Princeton has pursued two LEED certifications:
The High-Performance Computing Research Center was certified as LEED Gold.
The 701 Carnegie Building was certified as LEED Gold.

Additionally, many University buildings were constructed to be LEED equivalent, although they are not certified. A sampling of these buildings include:
Andlinger Center for Energy of the Environment – LEED Silver Equivalent
Lakeside Graduate Housing – LEED Silver Equivalent
Frick Chemistry Building – LEED Silver Equivalent


Total floor area of eligible building space (design and construction):
1,213,100 Square feet

Floor area of building space that is certified at each level under a 4-tier rating system for new construction and major renovations used by an Established Green Building Council::
Certified Floor Area
Minimum Level (e.g. LEED Certified) 0 Square feet
3rd Highest Level (e.g. LEED Silver) 0 Square feet
2nd Highest Level (e.g. LEED Gold) 167,100 Square feet
Highest Achievable Level (e.g. LEED Platinum) 0 Square feet

Floor area of building space that is certified at each level under a 3-tier rating system for new construction and major renovations used by an Established Green Building Council::
Certified Floor Area
Minimum Level ---
Mid-Level ---
Highest Achievable Level ---

Floor area of building space that is certified at each level under a 5-tier rating system for new construction and major renovations used by an Established Green Building Council::
Certified Floor Area
Minimum Level ---
4th Highest Level ---
Mid-Level ---
2nd Highest Level ---
Highest Achievable Level ---

Floor area of building space certified Living under the Living Building Challenge:
---

Floor area of building space that is certified at any level under other green building rating systems for new construction and major renovations:
---

Floor area of building space that was designed and constructed in accordance with green building policies or guidelines but NOT certified:
1,046,000 Square feet

A copy of the guidelines or policies :
The date the guidelines or policies were adopted:
March 1, 2006

A brief description of the green building guidelines or policies and/or a list or sample of buildings covered:

Princeton University Facilities Department Design Standards Manual ensures that every new construction and major renovation achieves campus sustainability goals including significant energy cost reduction versus comparable off-campus buildings. These standards require Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) of major building systems, as well as consideration of the building's educational and research potential in sustainability problem solving.


A brief description of how the institution ensures compliance with green building design and construction guidelines and policies:

Princeton University employs a dynamic design and review process between its outside consultants and internal technical teams. The Facilities Design Standards Manual (through which the design teams are contracted to comply) prescribes a series of review meetings with internal and external team members to review the project status and ensure compliance with the standards and integrative design process. There is also a sustainability charrette early on in the process which is followed up by a series of LCC, envelope and energy model workshops.


The website URL where information about the institution’s certified buildings and/or green building design and construction guidelines or policies is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The DSM guidelines are updated biannually.


The DSM guidelines are updated biannually.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.