Sustainability & LEED

LEED Projects

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED provides a framework for building sustainable buildings, cities, and communities. 

Current Projects - under construction

USF Honors College

The USF Judy Genshaft Honors College, an example of green building, is pursuing LEED Silver* Certification. The project team integrated early to make informed decisions regarding energy and water-related systems. Sustainable design includes a landscape designed with native Florida vegetation and irrigation resulting in an 86% reduction of outdoor water use. Recycling storage bins are located within the facility simplifying and organizing the collection of paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, and metal. Energy-efficient lighting, lighting controls, and HVAC systems are designed to reduce power usage by 24%. Enhanced commissioning process to Increased energy efficiency and effectiveness is achieved through the Enhanced commission process. within the building. Enhanced commissioning demonstrates USF’s commitment to procuring an unbiased, third-party expert to aid the review of building plans, and inspect systems to ensure that everything is designed and functioning as intended. Construction management best practices ensured high-level air quality. A 41% reduction in indoor water use for the building was achieved through the selection of low-flush toilets, urinals, low-flow faucets, and showerheads. Located within the campus core, forty-four short-term bicycle parking and four long-term bicycle parking spaces are provided for regular building occupants, including one shower with changing facilities. Sited with 80% open space, the new Honors College provides space with social areas around the building for students, staff, and teachers. Eighty-four percent of the open space is vegetated with landscape areas that accommodate outdoor social activities.

USF Wellness Complex Phase 1

USF Football Training Facility

The new Athletics Indoor Performance Facility at the University of South Florida will serve as the  indoor practice facility for the University’s Intercollegiate Athletics program. The building is a 1 story, 90,840 square foot metal building with an accessible mezzanine for the team to help continue to grow the program. Some of the main features of the building include; an indoor practice field with artificial turf, a multipurpose lobby that also functions as a meeting and presentation space, a small video editing suite, restrooms, storage, and support space.

The building primarily consists of a pre-engineered metal building with an insulated metal panel envelope and band of translucent polycarbonate panel to allow for significant amounts of daylight inside. Daylight levels were modeled and tracked so that players do not need lights on for standard daytime conditioning. Brick, insulated metal panel, and curtain wall clad the lobby / multipurpose space and support spaces on the south side of the building. Overhangs were designed to help shade the polycarbonate bands and reduce unwanted solar heat gain, and conditioning will be delivered through an efficient custom air rotation unit. Site intervention is minimal, but the addition of native plantings will provide natural shade and stormwater collection areas will be incorporated along the east side.

LEED Projects - Completed

USF Health Morsani College of Medicine + Heart Institute 

An innovative, new teaching and research environment, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute is located in downtown Tampa, Florida. 

The newly constructed eleven-story high rise tower is the home to the Morsani College of Medicine, the Heart Institute labs, Clinical Trials/Care unit, medical library, dining, faculty offices and the future Taneja College of Pharmacy.

The Morsani College of Medicine provides a stimulating, engaging learning environment for today’s medical students with two large 200-person auditoria, a mix of classrooms, small group study rooms designed to facilitate active, hands on learning.   Learning through informal collaboration and gathering is aided and encouraged by the planned and deliberate inclusion and design of intertwined diverse spaces. 

The Heart Institute will focus on cardiovascular (CV) research targets new methods to diagnose and treat CV disease and risk factors. The Institute emphasizes biological systems research applicable across all disciplines that contribute to CV disease. 

LEED v4  BD+C: NC certification pending
Completed in 2021
GSF:  395,120
Case Study (PDF)
Tour Map (PDF)
Tour Narrative (PDF)

USF Residential Village Master Site

The project used the LEED master site process as a streamlining tool for the documentation and review process of all buildings within USF Residential Village boundary.
Scorecard

The FIT

  • LEED v2009 BD+C: NC Gold
  • Completed in 2017
  • GSF: 15,853
  • Public Assembly: Recreation
  • Scorecard

The HUB

  • LEED v2009 Core and Shell:  Gold
  • Completed in 2017
  • GSF: 16166
  • Public Assembly: Other Assembly
  • Scorecard

Beacon

  • LEED v2009 BD+C: NC: Silver
  • Completed in 2017
  • GSF: 81,010
  • Lodging: Dormitory
  • Scorecard

Endeavor

  • LEED v2009 BD+C: NC   Silver
  • Completed in 2018
  • GSF: 85,388
  • Lodging: Dormitory
  • Scorecard 

Horizon

  • LEED v2009 BD+C: NC:  Silver
  • Completed in 2018
  • GSF:  103,654
  • Lodging: Dormitory
  • Scorecard

Pinnacle

  • LEED v2009 BD+C: NC: Gold
  • Completed in 2018
  • GSF: 89,670
  • Lodging: Dormitory
  • Scorecard

Summit

  • LEED v2009 BD+C: NC  Gold
  • Completed in 2017
  • GSF:  103,683
  • Lodging: Dormitory
  • Scorecard

USF Health-New Eye Institute

The USF HEALTH EYE INSTITUTE RELOCATION project consists of the interior build out of new patient care, research and educational facilities located in the Morsani Center for Advanced Health Care – MDH building, on the University of South Florida, Tampa Campus.   Programmed space for the relocation of the Eye Clinic has three main components:

  • Clinical service areas in MDH Level 4 including patient testing rooms, patient care rooms, procedure rooms, and research labs;
  • New office space in MDF Level 1 for faculty, staff and students;
  • Relocation of the Clinical Research Center to MDH Level 4.

Construction was completed with minimal impact to other building occupants or the existing Derm/Path Lab on Level 4. 

  • LEED v4 ID&C CI: Certified
  • Completed in 2018
  • GSF:  27,750
  • Scorecard

USF Tampa Library Remodel PH2

The USF Library originally designed and constructed as part of A Vision of a Contemporary University  in 19761.  The 5th Floor interior renovation, LEED Commercial Interiors project exemplifies the vision of education, learning, and research in the 21st century.   The new learning areas will provide 400 individual quiet study space on the 5th floor of Library for students meeting current trends in learning and the incorporation of technology.  Embracing LEED v4 opportunities, the re-visioning, re-imagining, and re-purposing of the 5th floor library project benefited from the framework and goals defined by LEED v4, Integrative Project Planning and Design.  This collaborative design process includes a shared value process working with the design and construction team, library staff and the primary occupants, the USF students to meet the built environment design needs of a current and future generation of scholars.

  1. Cooper, Russell M., and Margaret Barrow Fisher. The Vision of a Contemporary University: A Case Study of Expansion and Development in American Higher Education, 1950-1975. Tampa: University Presses   of Florida, 1982. Print.

USF Health Student Center

Marshall Student Center

USF Sun Dome Arena and Convocation Center

The USF Sun Dome, a multi-purpose facility, originally constructed in 1977, is home to USF Men and Women’s basketball. The existing facility underwent a major renovation in 2011. Reused and incorporated in the new, multi-functional design, included at minimum fifty-five percent of the facility’s walls, floor, and roof. Demolished, construction waste deemed recyclable from this major renovation project, sorted and separated at the construction site, reduced waste from local landfills. By means of this construction management best practice, ninety-one percent of the demolished, recyclable waste became available for converting in to new products.

USF Health Morsani Center for Advanced Health Care 5th & 6th Floor

USF Health’s Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare is a six-story building located on the northwest quadrant of USF’s Tampa campus. The construction project represents an interior tenant build-out of floors five and six, certified within the LEED rating system of commercial interior space, (LEED CI). Clinical lab spaces, procedure, exam, waiting, and therapy rooms incorporate the design of sustainable solutions providing a high-performance sustainable interior. By incorporating sustainable design principles, the clinic subscribes to a healthy and productive place, serving its patients, faculty, and staff who work within this clinical setting.

Chowdari Golf Practice Facility

Located at USF’s golf course “The Claw,” the Chowdhari Golf Training Center is home to USF’s intercollegiate athletic golf teams  The 5,000 square foot, freestanding, one-story sports training facility integrates practice, meeting, locker, changing rooms, and equipment storage for the women’s and men’s golf teams and coaching staff.

Interdisciplinary Science Building I

The Interdisciplinary Science Teaching & Research Facility (ISA), designed to promote interdisciplinary research and teaching, provides large multi-user interdisciplinary-shared core facilities.  The building includes two (2) 300-seat classrooms and two (2) smaller classrooms to support student enrollment needs for today and future needs.

Teaching laboratories for the departments of Physics, Biology and Chemistry provide space for interdisciplinary laboratory courses in Biophysics and Biotechnology as well as more traditional upper and lower division courses.  The collaborative space in this building promotes interdisciplinary research and teaching. 

Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS)

The Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) is a 90,000 square foot, three-story medical conference facility located in the downtown Tampa district.   Designed to bring together and foster a collaboration of professionals across the healthcare disciplines, who share common interests in educational research, the facility elegantly incorporates surgical skills laboratories, a simulation center/virtual hospital, auditorium, educational center, research and innovation laboratory, serving the Tampa Bay community as a center for research in healthcare education within one, interactive location. 

Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center For Global Solutions 

Embodied, embraced and enclosed by the walls of the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions facility, programs focused on USF’s diverse and committed outreach into Global Initiatives reside along with many administrative functions. An uncommon water conservation feature incorporated into the building system is the implementation of a thirty-thousand gallon, underground cistern, capturing rainwater and condensate. Captured rainwater and condensate is treated and introduced into the building as non-potable water used for flushing of the toilets. The facility’s landscape represents Florida’s true and historic past, furthering water conservation goals by use of native, adaptive and inherently drought resistant plant species. The preservation of open space, permeable paving and natural habitat provide passive solutions in managing Stormwater within the project site and reducing run-off. The generation of hot water is achieved with solar energy, originating from the facility’s roof top solar collectors.