The Carver-Hawkeye Arena Addition and Renovation project at the University of Iowa has earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.

The Carver-Hawkeye Arena Addition and Renovation Project included the construction of a practice facility immediately north of the arena for use by the UI's men's basketball, women's basketball and volleyball programs; renovation of the practice, fitness and weight-training facilities utilized by the UI's national championship wrestling program; renovation and expansion of other fitness and weight-training space in the arena used by the majority of Iowa's 24 sports teams; the renovation and expansion of locker rooms in the facility; and the renovation of existing and the creation of new office, meeting, and storage space for use by administrative and coaching staff of the UI Athletics Department.

“The department of athletics is very proud to have Carver-Hawkeye Arena reach LEED GOLD status," says Jane Meyer, senior associate director of athletics. "It is very important that the athletics program serve as a leader and support the sustainability principles outlined by the greater university. It is truly a win-win because we benefit by having a state-of-the-art and energy-efficient facility; and we assist the university in meeting its sustainability goals. Neumann Monson and Knutson Construction helped us achieve our goals by designing and building a great facility for our student-athletes, coaches, and staff to use and for the many Iowa Hawkeyes fans to enjoy."

Completed in 2011, UI Facilities Management partnered with general contractor Knutson Construction and design firm Neumann Monson Architects, to incorporate numerous sustainable principles, such as:

• Water efficient landscaping was utilized with no irrigation system installed
• Water use reduction beyond 40 percent
• Significant energy cost savings of 51 percent with a payback on incremental costs of just over eight years
• More than 20 percent regional and recycled content of the new materials installed
• As part of the renovation of the existing building, over 90 percent of the original structure was reused

The UI was also able to earn a LEED point for this project by dedicating renewable energy generated by burning biomass in the form of oat hulls at the main power plant to the building, which will not increase the UI’s overall energy consumption because of several conservation measures.

For more details about the project’s sustainable features, see its LEED scorecard.

To date, six UI buildings have achieved LEED Gold status and two have achieved LEED Platinum. LEED certification is one of the ways the UI is seeking to achieve its 2020 Vision goal of net-negative energy growth on campus. The UI has set a minimum standard of LEED Silver certification for all new construction and major renovations.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is the nationally recognized benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of eco-friendly, sustainable buildings. It provides independent verification that buildings are built in an environmentally responsible manner and measures sustainability in site selection, water efficiency, energy sources and consumption, materials and resources, air quality, and other environmental considerations.