U.S. Green Building Council Certifies University at Albany’s Paine and Zenger Residence Halls as LEED Gold

The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded LEED Gold certification to the University at Albany and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) for Paine and Zenger residence halls, located on the university’s Colonial Quad. LEED is the world’s most widely used green building rating system, delivering a comprehensive framework for green building design, construction, operations, and maintenance.

Originally built in the 1960s, the residence halls were selected for a complete gut renovation to provide housing choices that would fit contemporary student needs. The project, which scored 63 LEED points for building design and construction, was completed in 2024.

UAlbany, one of four “university centers” in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, is a public research institution offering 50+ undergraduate majors and 150+ graduate majors to 17,000 students. Paine and Zenger residence halls feature new living spaces and amenities for 173 students; the increase in bed count and additional single-occupancy units support year-round utilization goals. In addition, the renovation helped advance DASNY’s goals of financing and constructing sustainable and resilient science, health, and education institutions that help New York thrive.

Erdman Anthony provided commissioning services for the 82,000-square-foot renovation, meeting the LEED requirement for fundamental commissioning and verification in the energy and atmosphere category. The firm’s enhanced commissioning services earned additional points during the LEED rating process.

The residence halls’ commissioned systems included a roof-mounted energy recovery ventilator, a variable air-volume air-handling unit for the common wellness and fitness area, a dozen variable air-volume terminal units, over 100 fan coils, hot water heat exchangers and pumps, domestic hot water distribution, lighting, life safety controls, and numerous other systems critical to the facilities’ function. Commissioning confirms that systems were installed, functionally tested, and capable of being operated and maintained in conformance with the owner’s needs and design intent.

Learn more about LEED here.

Learn more about the project here.