Infrastructure and Sustainability

Infrastructure

Developed first-time, long-term strategic space plan for physical growth and secured necessary city approvals
Among the important facilities created at NYU during Sexton’s presidency:
- The first new dedicated science building at NYU in 30 years – the NYU Center for Genomics and Systems Biology on Waverly Place
- Built 433 First Avenue, a 170,000 square foot facility that houses the College of Nursing, expanded facilities for the College of Dentistry and a space for the University's bioengineering program
- The Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life, which added new classroom space, musical practice space, meeting space, and provided a home for NYU’s communities
  of faith
- Built Furman Hall at the Law School, the first new building in lower Manhattan to break ground after 9/11
The University has invested over $3 billion in capital improvements to the Washington Square campus, with significant attention to deferred maintenance:
- 90% of general purpose classrooms newly constructed or renovated
- 700,000 square feet of space added or renovated for science
Across its New York campuses, NYU has added approximately 2.0 million square feet since 2002 and renovated existing properties to house new academic initiatives and strengthen existing programs.
Among the major projects that fueled the academic expansion at NYU were new homes for the following schools/departments:

English (Greene Street)
Jazz Studies (Third Avenue)
Philosophy (Washington Place)
Linguistics (Washington Place)
Teaching and Learning (East Building)
Media, Culture and Communication (East Building)
Sociology (Puck Building)
The Institute for African American Affairs (IAAA), Africa House, China House, and the
Asian/Pacific/American Institute (APA) in Washington Mews.

Programs in the social sciences, humanities, and the arts found new homes at 20
Cooper Square.
Faculty offices and research centers for the School of Law were built at Washington Square North and Wilf Hall.
Faculty research laboratories in Arts and Science and at the Tandon School of Engineering
were renovated

Bobst Library (six of Bobst Library’s 12 floors have been renovated: Brine Commons and the Barbara Goldsmith Preservation and Conservation Department were created on lower levels 1 and 2; 1st floor and mezzanine were renovated and Mamdouha Bobst Gallery opened; floors 4, 5 and 6 were renovated to create a research commons for 21st century scholarship, with collections, technology, study rooms, and configurable spaces for maximum productivity)
19 University Place
5 Washington Place (multi-year renovation / upgrade of historic building)
10 Washington Place (multi-year renovation / upgrade of historic building)
Barney Building (Einstein auditorium, multiple floors)

Since 2002, on the Washington Square campus:

Built a state-of-the-art co-generation plant to provide electricity, heating, and cooling to many campus buildings, thereby:
- Decreasing NYU’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30%
Overall energy consumption has gone down by 32%
Created a Climate Action Plan with the goal of achieving Climate Neutrality by 2040
Instituted many campus-wide sustainable measures, including:
- Re-lamping with energy-efficient bulbs and ballasts in over 50 buildings
- Installing 4,700 occupancy sensor air conditioning and heating controls
- Installing 4,500 occupancy sensor lighting controls
- "NYUnplugged," a residence hall energy conservation competition
NYU received a STARS Gold rating in 2011 from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
To date, there are eight LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) buildings in NYU’s portfolio
The Sierra Club recognized NYU as one of the top 20 eco-enlightened universities, or “Cool Schools,” in the United States for 2010 and 2011.
Instituted NYU Green Grants to support campus sustainability initiatives, including:
- NYU Urban Farm Lab
- NYU BikeShare launched in 2010
- An annual end-of-school-year program to divert solid waste from landfills