Colombia. The environmental and social projects organized by Rochester College through its Sustainability Committee, such as planting in the garden, building a nursery of native plants with plastic bottles, adapting a nearby channel so that water can flow without barriers and the messages it disseminates through its social networks to create environmental awareness, earned him LEED recognition.
What makes Rochester a truly sustainable school? Low consumption of drinking water, it has an innovative wastewater treatment plant with which natural water bodies are not contaminated and water is recycled; low electrical power consumption; photovoltaic electrical power production in two 20 KW arrays; intelligent heating with solar energy of the two swimming pools and the two dressing rooms of the aquatic center. Indirect natural lighting and energy-efficient, mercury-free LED automatic lighting, plus a beautiful view from each classroom.
Likewise, it has temperature and air renewal for low CO2, all automatically controlled, acoustic insulation between spaces with floors, ceilings and acoustic windows, pedagogical furniture of reforested forests that facilitate conversation and interaction and painting and glues that do not pollute the air.
On February 6, in the facilities of the College, north of Bogotá, a ceremony was held not only to commemorate the 60th anniversary of its foundation, but also to receive from the hands of Dr. María Fernanda Londoño, Minister of Mines and Energy, the recognition for having consecrated itself as a school committed to the environment and the planet.
Juan Pablo Aljure, President of the Rochester Educational Foundation, spoke about the school's mission in these years."In 2000, the U.S. Council on Sustainable Construction established the Leed rating system as a way to define and monitor "green buildings." Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized certification system where verification is provided by third parties and measures how a building or community performs over time. The certification is obtained thanks to a constant monitoring of data that are important, such as efficiency in energy consumption, efficiency in water consumption, reduction of CO2 emissions, high quality of indoor spaces and healthy environments, management of resources and awareness of their impacts. The Leed suite of classification systems is designed to address the life cycle of buildings.
Each classification system provides a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building solutions. Leed points are awarded on a scale of 110 points, which are weighted to reflect their potential environmental impacts. A project must meet specific requirements and obtain a minimum number of points to be certified. The certification levels, based on the number of points, are: Certificate, Silver, Gold and Platinum and Rochester College is Gold certified."
"To achieve LEED certification, the institution had to meet and endure several requirements demanded by the USGBC. This information is related to the implementation of sustainable strategies in the project location, energy and atmosphere, water efficiency, materials and resources, indoor air quality, innovation in operations and regional credits. Each of the requirements had a series of criteria that should have concrete evidence about how the College project complies with the request of the USGBC in relation to mitigating the impacts on the environment during the construction of the buildings.
Once the construction was completed and we entered into operation, the Institution began to monitor and take data on its performance over time and to draft a series of sustainable documents and policies with which Rochester is responsible for its effectiveness in the implementation of the environmental management system. "
