The renovated Savage Arena earned a gold rating for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards from the U.S. Green Buildings Council.
Fans checked out the renovated Savage Arena when it opened Dec. 3, 2008. That night, the Toledo men’s basketball team downed UMass, 57-56, on a tip-in shot at the buzzer.
“It’s a world-class facility,” said Michael Green, director of energy management at The University of Toledo. “We were targeting LEED Silver and were pleased the team was able to get the gold rating with the renovations and improvements we made to the arena.”
The arena, which opened as Centennial Hall in 1976, was renovated in 2008 as part of The University’s Building Champions Campaign.
The University achieved the gold rating because of a number of energy efficiencies in the renovated facility.
The electric heating elements under the old court were replaced with a hot water system. And the air handlers that bring in fresh air from outside have new carbon dioxide sensors that open them only as needed based on the size of the crowd, Green said.
Recycling as many of the materials as possible during demolition and construction played a role, as well as using as much natural light as possible and installing motion sensors to control light and temperature in individual rooms to power down when unoccupied, Green said.
And Savage Arena dedicates parking spots for energy-efficient vehicles.
“The University has a commitment for all of our building projects to be as energy efficient as possible and to see that effort rewarded for Savage Arena with a LEED gold certification is certainly a point of Rocket pride,” Green said.
The renovated Memorial Field House also achieved the LEED gold rating in 2009.
The University is investigating a LEED platinum rating for the Fetterman Training Center and a “net zero” rating for energy use, which would put the center in a group of fewer than 100 such facilities in the country.
The gold ranking is the second highest in LEED’S four-tier green building rating system, which ranges from basic certification to platinum status. UT seeks at least LEED silver ratings for all construction projects.
