Existing infrastructure on UD's campus is aging, unsustainable and in desperate need of a facelift. The aging lecture halls and dorms on campus are inherently less energy efficient than newer buildings. With limited room in Newark, there is not much space for UD to create new buildings that incorporate more sustainable practices or to build expansive green infrastructure. Most of the building's at UD are here to stay and must be adjusted to compensate for their energy inefficiencies if UD is to reach campus sustainability goals.

University sustainability rankings are prepared by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) which has provided a rating for 344 institutions. All of the comparator peer institutions on the list rank higher than UD. AASHE's STAR report breaks down the sustainability practices of each institution. In UD's STAR report, the school was graded a 0 out of 5 possible points in the "Building Operations and Maintenance" section of the report [2].

While there is no perfect solution to UD's building sustainability problem, there are many opportunities to improve energy efficiency. The implementation of green infrastructure in the spaces that are available on campus and building health monitoring may help reduce energy consumption. Perhaps the best solution is building retrofitting. Implementing newer energy saving practices into older buildings can bring them closer to the energy consumption levels of newer buildings.