Hillsborough Community College is going for gold: Gold LEED, that is, at a new campus in Tampa Bay's SouthShore community. Constructed with recycled steel, outfitted with efficient daylight-monitoring lights, and bordered by a lagoon to collect rainwater for irrigation and plumbing, the small campus is expected to save 80% of its water costs and about $156,000 on lighting and utility bills. While certification is still under review, the college is confident that the buildings will qualify, as they were designed and built around the Gold guidelines. The three buildings will house classrooms, administrative offices, a nursing lab and a student union center when they open this summer.

Even better, HCC's President Gwendolyn Stephenson has committed to aligning every new construction or renovation project with U.S. Green Building Council guidelines, including an additional three buildings for the SouthShore campus. She says, "Colleges have to be thoughtful stewards of our planet's natural resources. We have a role in educating the public. I think we have to be role models."