The Oaks dining center is the latest building on the Bowling Green State University campus to receive
recognition for its green design. The Oaks was awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Gold status by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification
Institute.
This is BGSU’s fourth LEED-certified building. The Stroh Center has LEED Gold status and The Wolfe Center
for the Arts and Carillon Place Dining Center are LEED Silver buildings.
LEED is the nation’s preeminent program for design, construction and operation of high-performance green
buildings.
The dining center was built with sustainability in mind. Seventy-five percent of the construction waste
was recycled; all building materials used were purchased within a 500-mile radius; Ohio barn wood was
utilized in the flooring, millwork and wall treatments, and the construction used less structural steel.

Additional "green" features that helped The Oaks earn LEED certification include a green roof
with herbs, vegetables and a live roof panel system; solar energy panels; electric catering vehicles;
water conservation, including storm water reclamation for use in the bathrooms and landscape irrigation;
tray-less dining; and educational components, which include an informational hallway on the ground floor
and tours of the roof and the building.
"First of all to get a LEED Gold building on your campus is a great accomplishment and to get a
dining center is practically unheard of," said Nick Hennessy, campus sustainability coordinator.
"It’s so great to have something that’s both functional and educational in the sustainability area.
There are so many sustainability experiences and examples in the building, it’s bound to be an
educational experience regardless if people walk through the educational hallway or not. It’s a living
laboratory for sustainability that you can eat in."
Hennessy said they also ran a very successful composting program at The Oaks from March to May.
The dining center is managed by Chartwells, a division of Compass Group, which provides dining services
for over 210 colleges and universities around the country.