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Bentley's Leed Certification

Updated: Dec 6, 2018

After taking a tour of Bentley's new hockey arena for my Global Climate Change course, I reflected on its features and the technology required to make an ice rink sustainable.

Guest Lecture by Amanda King, Bentley Platinum LEED Building


Bentley’s Office of Sustainability, composed of two staff members and five student employees, is headed by its Executive Director, Amanda King. According to this office, sustainability can be encompassed by economic, social, and environmental impacts. Connected to every aspect of a business’ people, planet, and profit is the environment. A healthy environment is a minimum requirement for society to survive and especially to thrive. A healthy human population is also necessary for a booming economy because, without one, the economy would cease to exist. Since these factors are so important for growing businesses, Bentley has made sustainability a priority within its mission as a way to teach its students valuable, ethical, and socially responsible lessons which will prove to be necessary in the future. To do this, the Office of Sustainability works with operations to improve the sustainability and carbon footprint of the University, with academics to teach students the value of sustainability and environmentally friendly thinking, and with career services to show students how they can apply their sustainable coursework to their business careers in the future. The office’s ultimate goal is to provide Bentley and the world with sustainability minded graduates after they finish their Bentley career and to make Bentley a carbon neutral institution by 2030. Some strategic goals it has already reached and surpassed was a 15% reduction in water use as well as a 5% reduction in employee drive-alone commute trips. By 2020, they also hope to divert 60% of the school’s waste and reduce 70% of its carbon footprint. Other accomplishments include the gold rating from the sustainability tracking, assessment, and rating system, President Larson’s signing of the presidents’ climate commitment, and the platinum rating from Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design of the new ice hockey arena.


The arena is a particularly astonishing accomplishment since ice hockey arenas particularly emit a lot of carbon. Bentley was able to build a platinum arena by increasing the efficiency of all the technology within the arena and then adding 1400 solar panels, providing 40% of the buildings annual electricity and cutting its carbon footprint by half of what it otherwise would have been. The bathrooms have a lighter stream as well as waterless urinals to save water. In terms of energy, the arena has heated floors in key areas since this uses less energy than space heaters while also being more aesthetically pleasing. The actual ice within the rink is kept frozen by pipes flowing with glycol which is then covered by insulation and cement. The ice is then overlaid on top of the cement to significantly reduce the possibility of the it cracking. The generators that cool down the glycol actually produces an impressive amount of heat which is recycled by the building into the floors and to heat the water, reducing heat waste. Since the cool air from the ice and hot air from the floors produce high amounts of relative humidity, a dehumidifier is required so that it does not rain within the building. The lights inside also automatically adjust to accommodate the amount of sunlight entering the arena. The arena’s efficiency has been awarded energy reduction prizes by Bentley’s gas contractors. The building also ensures that the outside ecosystem stay intact by having bricks outside that allow for the permeation of water so rain run off does not overwhelm the wetlands and having slot windows and informational signs that show students the area that must be so carefully protected.


While I was disappointed that it was necessary to convince certain people of the profitability of sustainability for them to become convinced of its necessity, I was surprised to learn that the original goal for the arena’s certification was just silver. The Office of Sustainability was able to calculate the most long-term profitable choices which actually were also the most sustainable choices. This is important for certain businesses that do not understand the importance of sustainability in all aspects. To be truly successful in the long-term, companies need to recognize that environmentally friendly decisions will be necessary to keep the world they conduct business in healthy as well as keep their profits positive. Once more companies start to view sustainability as an opportunity instead of a hassle, we might be able to survive global warming.

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