Background

In January 2007, the Board of Trustees resolved to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with campus operations to 10% below 1990/91 levels by 2020; and to adopt the principles of sustainability.

In fiscal year 1991, the College’s physical plant was about 1.9 million square feet. By 2007 the built area had grown to 2.4 million square feet, an increase of about 24%. Over the same time period, energy intensity (energy per square foot) increased 20%. Student population stayed roughly constant at about 2000, and the number of faculty/staff increased from 750 FTE to 990 FTE.

The net result of these trends — the college’s overall growth and the higher rates of energy consumption — was a 40% rise in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Since the adoption of the resolution, greenhouse gas emissions have declined significantly. The College has invested in energy conservation projects and electricity and steam metering systems, installed photovoltaic panels on the Library Shelving facility, and is working toward LEED certifying new building projects. Energy modeling, building systems commissioning, recycled waste management and other sustainable design practices are becoming regular practices on building projects. The College has also sought to use its buildings more efficiently; for example, in 2008 the campus was closed for a week during winter break saving 287 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, over 1 % of the College’s annual total.

To continue to make progress, Williams will need to find new ways to reduce energy use and will be confronted with some difficult choices. It is critical that the College not only build efficiently but also evaluate its needs with an eye toward reducing the size of its physical plant.

About the Building Policy

Generally speaking, the best, most sustainable way to handle construction is not to do it, but instead to change behavior and improve efficiency so that it’s not needed. However, that’s not always possible, and, especially in the realms of renovation and building retirement, not always so clear cut. This policy addresses situations for which construction has been deemed necessary and appropriate, but it should be noted that the first thing to consider for any project is how those needs could be fulfilled without construction.

This building policy serves three main purposes. First, it establishes constraints on the energy and emissions associated with building programs. Second, it articulates the ways in which Williams’ guiding principles of sustainability are realized in the realm of campus construction and maintenance, so that all involved in a project have a common understanding and objective referent. Third, it documents Williams’ practices and intentions in a form that can be shared with and publicized to other institutions, organizations, and individuals.

Many of the details of implementation are pushed out to the people with the contextual knowledge and subject matter expertise relevant to particular projects. This policy recognizes and relies on the good will and efforts of the individuals involved in every project. It does not close every possible loop hole, but instead creates a framework that will accommodate and adapt to changes in technology and situation over time. It is not a barrier to delineate all that is and is not allowed; it is a tool and guide to help Williams develop an efficient and sustainable campus.

The Policy Itself

Williams College incorporates the principles of sustainable design into the planning and construction of all building and renovation projects. This is achieved in the following ways:

1. Any building program reduces, or at least does not increase, the college’s annual energy-related (heating, cooling, and electric) emissions.
   1. This might be handled internal to a particular project (e.g. by mounting sufficient solar panels on the roof of a new building), or through a different project in the same program (e.g. using part of a project budget to put up a wind turbine elsewhere, or taking an old, inefficient building out of service).
   2. The planning and design phases of a program must include energy use (or change in energy use, in the case of renovation) estimates and goals for the finished structure(s), and the ways in which that energy will be supplied on an ongoing basis without increasing the college’s emissions.
2. The one-time energy and emissions associated with construction are monitored and minimized.
   1. This includes emissions associated with electricity, heating fuel, equipment fuel and all others fuels consumed during construction (and demolition).
   2. To the best of our ability, this also covers the emissions associated with the embodied energy of the construction materials, but this area is difficult and may be beyond our ability until better technology and governmental regulations are in place.
3. Construction conforms to accepted standards of sustainability.
   1. All new buildings are designed to very high standards of sustainable building practices.
      1. i. LEED Platinum (the highest / most exacting commonly used standard) or a comparable standard would be ideal, but there are situations where that’s not reasonable or practical, in which case LEED Gold (the next step down from Platinum) or something comparable could be used.
   2. Standards are pro-actively set at the beginning of projects.
   3. All new buildings must have an energy efficiency target set prior to building design.
   4. Renovations should, to the maximum extent that is feasible, lead to reductions in energy use.
4. A comprehensive energy and environmental assessment is a part of the final approval process for all construction projects. Projects that do not meet the above requirements are not approved.
5. The college creates or empowers a group or groups to determine, and if necessary develop, the various standards associated with this policy
   1. The ways in which energy assessments may generated
   2. The embodied energy model the college uses
   3. The set of sustainability standards used for construction and renovation
   4. Any others as needed
6. Building commissioning is conducted to ensure conformance of the building with design performance goals and on-going verification of performance is conducted to ensure building performance does not deteriorate overtime.
7. This policy and its associated standards are reviewed and if needed changed at least once every 5 years. Due to ongoing changes in technology and regulations, two points in particular that should be examined are
   1. Section 2, regarding one-time energy and emissions associated with construction
   2. Section 3.a, regarding which sustainability standards to use