Green Building Services

In October 2009, the Harvard Office for Sustainability’s Green Building Services (GBS) team completed an 8 hour Direct Digital Controls (DDC) training delivered by Harvard Facilities Maintenance Operations (FMO). Digital controls and a Building Automation System (BAS) allow operators to control their buildings in an efficient manner.

The DePace Lab in the Systems Biology Department at Harvard Medical School recently achieved LEED (“Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design”) Gold certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. This makes the DePace Lab the first LEED certified wet lab at Harvard!

With the certification of the Faculty of Arts and Science's Zhuang Lab, Harvard now has 20 new construction, major rehabilitation, and interior renovation projects certified by the U.S.

The ground behind Andover Hall has been shaking off and on for months. A backhoe moves chunks of earth by the bucket load. Men and women in hard hats and jeans yell over the sounds of thundering machines and grinding metal. One year ago, Rockefeller Hall was home to a community of Harvard Divinity School (HDS) students, a refectory, and a few meeting rooms.

“Rock Hall” - the nickname for John D. Rockefeller Jr. Hall at Harvard Divinity School (HDS) - looks just like what it is: a spare, elegant building in the Modernist tradition.

But its straight lines, wide windows, and understated functionality nicely conceal what it has become: one of the most energy-efficient buildings at Harvard.

The six solar thermal panels on top of Blackstone North are up and running. Unlike photovoltaic panels which generate electricity, the solar thermal system generates domestic hot water for all of Blackstone, home of University Operations Services. Inside each panel, fluid circulates through tubing and is heated by the sun.

A recently renovated office suite at Harvard Law School (HLS) has been awarded a Platinum rating, the highest possible certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system for Commercial Interiors.

In the private property sector, commercial tenants pay market rent and are responsible for their own utilities. Harvard Real Estate Services (HRES), however, is bound by federal guidelines to set “break-even” rents. HRES rents are equal to costs, which include maintenance, operations, and utilities. Therefore, both HRES and the tenants have a stake in keeping those costs down.

People who drive to the Holyoke Center for work, a doctor’s appointment, or a jaunt in Harvard Square, might take the parking garage for granted. It’s safe, convenient, and always open. And that means its 120 light fixtures burn 24 hours every day of the year.

Until the summer of 2008, the three kitchens and basement hallways of the Harvard Faculty Club were lighted like most other commercial kitchens: with four-foot standard 30 Watt T8 lamps and standard efficiency electronic ballasts.