No comprehensive study has been done within the higher education sector to see if Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification makes sense economically. This study helps fill the gaps in the literature by providing construction costs and energy and water costs for a sample of campus LEED-certified buildings within the United States. Finding out if campus greening makes sense economically from a full lifecycle standpoint can help address possible upfront green premium barriers. This study found that there is an upfront green premium for LEED-certified campus buildings. However, when looking at LEED-certified campus buildings from a building lifecycle perspective, financial results were favorable.
","abstract_html":"<p>No comprehensive study has been done within the higher education sector to see if Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification makes sense economically. This study helps fill the gaps in the literature by providing construction costs and energy and water costs for a sample of campus LEED-certified buildings within the United States. Finding out if campus greening makes sense economically from a full lifecycle standpoint can help address possible upfront green premium barriers. This study found that there is an upfront green premium for LEED-certified campus buildings. However, when looking at LEED-certified campus buildings from a building lifecycle perspective, financial results were favorable.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hopkins, Erin Ann"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"PhD Higher Education Leadership, Management, Policy","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Education Leadership, Management and Policy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Joseph Stetar, Ph.D","Robert Kelchen, Ph.D","Christopher Tienken, Ed.D"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-12-17T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-12-17T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:32:59Z","subjects":["LEED","green building","lifecycle analysis","green premium","green building operating costs","Educational Leadership","Environmental Design","Higher Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2064","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Joseph Stetar, Ph.D","Robert Kelchen, Ph.D","Christopher Tienken, Ed.D"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hopkins, Erin Ann"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-03-18T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education Leadership, Management and Policy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["PhD Higher Education Leadership, Management, Policy"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["LEED","green building","lifecycle analysis","green premium","green building operating costs","Educational Leadership","Environmental Design","Higher Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2064"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["No comprehensive study has been done within the higher education sector to see if Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification makes sense economically. This study helps fill the gaps in the literature by providing construction costs and energy and water costs for a sample of campus LEED-certified buildings within the United States. Finding out if campus greening makes sense economically from a full lifecycle standpoint can help address possible upfront green premium barriers. This study found that there is an upfront green premium for LEED-certified campus buildings. However, when looking at LEED-certified campus buildings from a building lifecycle perspective, financial results were favorable.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["LEED Certification of Campus Buildings: A Cost-Benefit Approach"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Joseph Stetar, Ph.D","Robert Kelchen, Ph.D","Christopher Tienken, Ed.D"],"dc:creator":["Hopkins, Erin Ann"],"dc:date.available":["2015-03-18T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["No comprehensive study has been done within the higher education sector to see if Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification makes sense economically. This study helps fill the gaps in the literature by providing construction costs and energy and water costs for a sample of campus LEED-certified buildings within the United States. Finding out if campus greening makes sense economically from a full lifecycle standpoint can help address possible upfront green premium barriers. This study found that there is an upfront green premium for LEED-certified campus buildings. However, when looking at LEED-certified campus buildings from a building lifecycle perspective, financial results were favorable.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2064"],"dc:subject":["LEED","green building","lifecycle analysis","green premium","green building operating costs","Educational Leadership","Environmental Design","Higher Education"],"dc:title":["LEED Certification of Campus Buildings: A Cost-Benefit Approach"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education Leadership, Management and Policy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["PhD Higher Education Leadership, Management, Policy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:32:59Z"}