Здание сельскохозяйственных наук Университета Кентукки получило сертификат LEED Gold

Martin-Gatton Agricultural Sciences Building achieves LEED Gold certification LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 13, 2026) — The University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton Agricultural Sciences Building has been certified as a LEED Gold building by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). This is the fifth building at UK to receive a LEED Gold certification. “This recognition demonstrates how our facilities can serve as living examples of the values we teach every day,” said Carmen Agouridis, Ph.D., senior associate dean of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE). “It is especially fitting that a building designed to model sustainability is home to our Natural Resources and Environmental Science program, where students are preparing to address some of the most pressing environmental challenges facing our communities, state and world.” The Agricultural Sciences Building’s LEED Gold achievement was driven primarily by energy performance, a result of coordinated materials and systems decisions that included high-performing windows, enhanced wall insulation, efficient lighting and optimized heating and cooling. The project’s score benefited from its campus location, with access to public transit and additional nearby resources that support credits related to landscape and transportation. This building also received high marks for a strong focus on the indoor environmental quality. “This building stands out as a first-class example of integrated high-performance delivery — where the design and construction teams pushed beyond typical practice to ensure energy, materials and occupant health outcomes were fully realized,” said Alejandro J. Medina, higher education client leader with BHDP Architecture, one of the project’s construction partners. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the USGBC’s rating system for designing and constructing environmentally responsive, energy efficient, high performing buildings. The six major environmental categories of review include: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design. Awards for Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels of certification are based on the total number of points earned within each LEED category. “Modeling environmental excellence is one of the guiding principles for our sustainability initiatives, and our portfolio of LEED certified buildings — dating back to 2010 — is an important and impactful example of our commitment to this principle,” said Shane Tedder, director of sustainability and assistant director of the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment. The $60 million, 66,000-square-foot building represents the Martin-Gatton CAFE’s first new campus building in decades, serving as a central hub for teaching, advising and student engagement. Recently opened, the building features 18 classrooms, dedicated study and collaboration spaces, and a range of student-focused services. “Designing a building to meet LEED certification standards is a team effort,” Medina said, adding that collaborators included BHDP Architecture, BC&E Engineering, CMTA Engineering, Bell Engineering and THP. “The construction manager, Congleton-Hacker, also played a pivotal role helping the team implement LEED requirements on site, coordinate trade participation and maintain a level of quality control and documentation necessary to achieve a gold certification.” In total, the university has 28 LEED certified buildings. Buildings with LEED Gold certification are: Martin-Gatton Agricultural Sciences Building, Gatton College of Business and Economics, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Davis Marksbury Building and UK Center for Applied Energy Research Lab 2. As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and healthcare. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $1.02 billion research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.