LEED Certification of Campus Buildings: A Cost-Benefit Approach
type: CreativeWork
description: 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: 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.
author: Hopkins, Erin Ann
keywords: LEED, green building, lifecycle analysis, green premium, green building operating costs, Educational Leadership, Environmental Design, Higher Education
date published: 2014-12-17T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:32:59Z
provider: Seton Hall University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Seton Hall University