ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — A group of on-campus students at Minnesota’s largest private university have new bragging rights: They can truly say they live in one of the country’s greenest residence halls.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded its highest environmental rating – the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification – to the University of St. Thomas’ Tommie East Residence Hall. The building is the first in the Midwest to certify platinum under the LEED v4 new construction rating system in its category, the sixth in the U.S. and seventh in the world. It marks another step in the university’s larger plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.

LEED is the world’s most widely used green building rating system.

St. Thomas opened the five-story, 139,300-square-foot residence hall – which can house up to 260 students – last fall as part of many transformative upgrades to its St. Paul campus. Designed by ESG Architecture & Design, and constructed by Ryan Companies, it received high marks for several features, including:

• Energy efficiency above industry standards
• Electric vehicle charging stations
• High-efficiency appliances and low-flow water fixtures
• Green space access
• Underground rainwater infiltration

“Preparing our students to be sustainability leaders is central to the university’s mission to advance the common good,” said Amir Nadav, assistant director of campus sustainability. “Tommie East reflects the university’s commitment and provides a unique opportunity for students to live in, and learn from, a high-performance building. We hope students’ experiences at St. Thomas will empower and inspire them to champion sustainability in their own lives and future careers.”

Tommie East is certified using LEED’s Building Design and Construction: Multifamily Midrise rating system for new construction.

Over the past decade, St. Thomas has reduced carbon emissions by 37% by implementing energy conservation measures in new and existing buildings. As part of its larger sustainability initiative, the university is designing all new buildings larger than 25,000 square feet to a minimum of LEED Silver standards. It also calls for integrating sustainability into its residence halls by reducing waste, conserving energy and water, and measuring its progress.

St. Thomas also achieved a STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) Silver rating in 2018, is listed on the Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges, and has received three marks of distinction from the Climate Leadership Network.

CONTACT: Vineeta Sawkar, [email protected]

SOURCE University of St. Thomas