UC Santa Barbara's Kohn Hall, home of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
Kohn Hall, named for UCSB's Nobel Prize-winning physicist Walter Kohn, received the LEED Silver certification in the Existing Building category. LEED is the USGBC's rating system for designing and constructing the world's greenest, most energy-efficient, high-performing buildings.
"By taking advantage of interior day lighting and natural ventilation, as well as efficient cooling provided by the campus chilled water loop, Kohn Hall saves thousands of dollars in energy costs annually and is one of UCSB's least energy-intense buildings," said Jordan Sager, UCSB's LEED program manager. "In fact, Kohn Hall is in the 92nd percentile for energy performance, as demonstrated by a U.S. Department of Energy benchmarking analysis."
Kohn Hall is one of 15 UCSB buildings to have piloted the campus's commingled recycling program, and has increased its waste diversion rate dramatically as a result, Sager said.
With this certification, Kohn Hall becomes the sixth campus building to be certified through the LEED Existing Building Portfolio Program, a collaborative initiative between UCSB and the USGBC that aims to assess and certify 25 campus buildings over a five-year period.