Lipscomb University has begun construction on its second LEED-registered building, a nursing academic building expected to be complete for the fall 2012 school year.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in March 2000.

Administrators expect Lipscomb's new 24,800-square-foot nursing building to be the second LEED-certified building on campus. The $8.5-million project must be registered with LEED before the project begins and then must earn a specific series of points during construction in order to be certified at the silver, gold or platinum level.

A three-building complex including the Burton Health Science Center makes up Lipscomb's first LEED-certified building. Burton reached gold-level status during construction and was Tennessee’s first LEED-certified higher education academic building at that time.

Officials have designed the nursing building to achieve the silver level, earning points for sustainable methods such as recycled-content building materials, low-emission paints and adhesives, energy-efficient windows and roofs, ground-sourced geothermal energy infrastructure and other innovations in sustainable design.

"Every new or renovated building on campus in the past five years has focused on two primary principles: providing healthy working and learning environments and expressing Christian leadership through sustainable practices," said Dodd Galbreath, director of Lipscomb's Institute for Sustainable Practice. "The new nursing building will demonstrate the university's continued investment in cost saving and building standards that are responsible and benefit all creation."

As of October 2011, there were 119 completed LEED-certified building projects in Tennessee, with 33 in Nashville. Upon completion, the Lipscomb nursing building would be the seventh higher education building project in Nashville to be LEED certified.

The new nursing building will feature a 16-bed training area that resembles a hospital floor and is equipped with lifelike patient mannequins that can be programmed to simulate a variety of illnesses and responses. The building also includes an assessment skills lab with a 12-station unit that will be used for nursing, pharmacy and other health sciences students to practice their physical assessment and diagnostic skills plus immunization training, safety training, CPR certification and other vital skills.

The nursing building is just one of the recent green construction projects Lipscomb completed or began during the summer of 2011.

The completed renovation of Fanning Hall, a student residence hall, not only brought new sustainable operations to the more than 50-year-old residence hall, but it also resulted in hundreds of furniture items donated to charitable organizations and storm relief agencies all over town.

The $5.3-million reconstruction of Fanning Hall, included many sustainable design features such as new toilet and faucet fixtures, reducing the gallons of water used by approximately 2.5 million gallons per year over the life of the building; high-efficiency replacement windows; exterior doors were replaced with insulated materials and the roof was completely redone, which will help avoid energy leakage and weather intrusion.

The biggest recycling project of all was re-using the existing structure of the building instead of demolishing the building to construct a new one. All furnishings were donated to local churches, charitable organization and storm relief agencies. All metal from the construction debris was recycled and up to 60% of debris was diverted from going to landfills.

Finally, the university "remodeled" a stormwater detention basin, retrofitting it with a large decorative fountain and "spongy" landscaping, while maintaining its primary function as storage for excess floodwaters.

The detention pond has now been dubbed the "Lipscomb Lake," and it is surrounded by a park-like landscape incorporating native plants, a walking path, xeriscaping and an additional rain garden basin. The future rain garden will be the first of a series of planned rain gardens on campus that will absorb more water into the surrounding landscape while filtering out the contaminants in run-off water from parking lots.

In recent years, Lipscomb University has enacted specific sustainable practices that establish a new standard in Christian service. The change began with the creation of the Institute for Sustainable Practice in fall 2007, followed shortly by several construction projects that integrated sustainability into facility designs -- The Village, a student housing complex; renovation of the Burton Health Sciences Building; construction of the Thomas James McMeen Music Center; and renovation of the Willard Collins Alumni Auditorium.

All these facilities also use ground-sourced, geothermal heating and cooling systems which save 50-70 percent in energy costs over traditional systems which are highly variable to outdoor temperatures.

Lipscomb University

Lipscomb University

Lipscomb University is a Christian community of scholars, dedicated to excellence in learning, leading and serving, where students prepare for success today, tomorrow and forever. This principle is carried out in the classroom and in the broader community through our service-learning program and numerous humanitarian trips in the U.S. and abroad. Lipscomb offers 98 fields of undergraduate studies, including majors in the liberal arts, business, biology/pre-med, computer science, education, engineering and nursing. Master's degrees are offered in 33 areas of study including accounting, business, Christian ministry, conflict management, counseling, education, exercise and nutrition science, psychology, sustainability, and theological studies. Doctoral degrees are offered in pharmacy, education and, beginning in Fall 2011, in ministry. Located in Nashville, Lipscomb draws on the city as its campus and the world as its classroom. Study abroad opportunities are offered in Vienna, London, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Buenos Aires as well as other international destinations. Lipscomb's intercollegiate athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division I level.

Within our faculty and staff are a number of experts in a variety of areas including sustainability, business ethics, veterans education/Post 9-11 GI Bill, political commentary, societal issues, civic leadership, community engagement, Latino education, and pharmacy and health sciences among others.

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