Eliot B House, South 40 House Phase II and College Hall recently achieved LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Gold is the second highest level of environmental certification awarded by the council.

The council (USGBC) gave Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification to the newly opened South 40 House Phase II, Eliot B House and College Hall. LEED Gold is one step down from LEED Platinum, the highest level of LEED certification.

The USGBC’s LEED program serves as a third-party program for evaluating the environmental friendliness of new buildings. To get the basic level of LEED certification, buildings must meet minimum standards in areas such as energy and water savings, improvements in air quality and reductions in carbon-dioxide emissions. The higher levels of certification—Silver, Gold and Platinum—have progressively tougher standards.

The University has touted the buildings’ closeness to public transit, their water- and energy-efficiency systems, and their use of local building materials as examples of their environmentally friendly features.

Campus environmental advocates took Thursday’s news as a sign that the University is making good on its commitment to sustainability.

“It’s really great that Wash. U. is showing commitment to the environment by getting this certification, and we’re lucky it’s a priority at this school,” said junior Heather Kryczka, a member of Green Action.

The University now has 12 LEED-certified buildings, six of which are LEED Gold. University officials in recent years have repeatedly said that they aim for new buildings to get at least a Silver rating.

“We’re really trying for Gold, but we have to reach Silver,” said Deborah Howard, interim director of sustainability.

In past years, three other residential buildings—Village East Apartments, Umrath House and South 40 House Phase I—received LEED Silver certification. Students and campus environmental groups praised the University in 2009 when it installed an 11,000-square-foot “green roof” of grass, native plants and soil on South 40 House’s roof.

The Danforth University Center, which opened in August 2008, has LEED Gold certification because of energy and water efficiency and the use of recycled materials. The academic building Seigle Hall, which also opened in 2008, has general LEED certification.

Of the 10.6 million gross square feet of land on campus, a total of 293,926 gross square feet in the University have general LEED certification, 249,892 gross square feet are LEED Silver, and 422,063 are LEED Gold.

The University is seeking Gold certification for Brauer Hall, the engineering building that opened in the fall of this year. The University also expects Cupples II Hall to get LEED certification after renovation work on the building finishes.

With additional reporting by Michelle Merlin.