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Show 5 Thursday, DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE INVESTIGATES CAMPUS CONSERVATION June 14,2007 High costs deter U from certification Campus chooses state efficiency building standards over LEED Rochelle McConkie ASST. NEWS EDITOR Moving forward with a growing list of construction projects, U administrators have been particular when deciding which structures will be built to satisfy strict environmental and energy standards. Although some projects will be built based on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, a certification reserved for the most eco-friendly buildings, the U will follow a state-designed plan to make buildings greener, shying away from LEED certification because of high costs '.: .liif'-'."• LEED is a national building energy-efficiency standard established by the U.S.Green Building Council. Buildings achieving LEED status are given points based on the sustainability of the site, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, water efficiency and indoor environmental quality. Buildings that won't be LEED certified: involved. "The issue with LEED is it costs money to become certified," said Mike Perez, U associate vice president of facilities ***** ?HOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TYLER COBB/ management. LEED is a national building-energy efficiency ranking program established by the U.S. Green Building Council. The Health Science Education building is the only LEED-certified building on campus. The Sutton Geology and Geophysics building is currently being built to LEED standards. Wayne Peay, director of the health sciences library, said making the Health Sciences Building LEED efficient added $140,000 to a $4O-million price tag. Peay said the U could have Marriott Library USTAR Building Park Building College of Law College of Nursing Campus Learning Center College of Humanities IT/Data Center Student life center Milton Bennion "Haft Orson Spencer Hall Chemistry Building!. •"'; . V *>• •-; V;^;-V v v > ^ 4- Buildings that will be LEED certified: Health Sciences Education Building (silver status) ", '•'.'''f1 ;i; -• ;:j^ Sutton Geology and Geophysics Building (being built to gold status)_ Utah Museum of Natural History (will be built to silver status) : ^ $ 4 Buildings that might be LEED certified: School of Business (possibility of being renovated to LEED standards) ARIANA TORREY/77if Ddily Uioh Chroniclr saved money on the project if they had followed LEED standards from the beginning instead of making the decision after the design process had begun. In order to certify the Health Sciences Education Building, the construction process was altered. Workers could not smoke or eat on the site. Recycled materials were used and more than 70 percent of the waste from construction was recycled. Energy-efficient lighting systems, shades and glass were implemented. Before construction was complete, the See LEED Page 6 771.- Djsly U:a Water conservation gaining momentum Problems with sprinkling system still exist on campus Dustin Gardiner NEWS EDITOR When a drought hit Utah in the late 1990s, Sue Pope starting pressing the U to replace its water-needy evergreen lawns with drought-tolerant xeriscaping. Pope, grounds supervisor at the U, said some administrators were originally cool to the idea of replacing lawns with more arid looking shrubbery and rocks. "I think the administration was hesitant to go in that direction," she said. "It wasn't quite reinforced and supported." Fast-forward to 2007 and water use at the U has gone down dramati- cent years, Pope said more can be cally. While there are more buildings on done. campus today, the U's water demands In May, the U signed a "Smart Sprinhave dropped by 15 percent since kling" pledge sponsored by the Utah 2001—from 1.54 billion gallons to 897.8 Rivers Council stating that it would million gallons in 2006. limit water use further. As part of the agreement, the U has Pope" says the U has taken a more conservation-minded approach to committed to install a new and more its water use and xeriscaping is now efficient central sprinkling control sys. . .- . , a priority. She said 100 acres of cam- tem. pus have been switched to low-water Pope said one the largest obstacles plants. to further conservation is the current "It was a hard concept to sell at the sprinkler system, which she says lacks beginning," she said. "People weren't sensors to shut the system off if a wasold on the idea (of alternate landscap- ter main bursts. ing)—some still aren't," "Old galvani2ed systems are still in Bryan Nelson, director over build- the ground that are very inefficient," ingsand grounds for plant operations, she said. said the drop in water use is the result With the new system in place, Nelof water-wise landscaping and im- son expects to see water use drop provements in sprinkling systems. again by about 15 percent. But because "We've been more aggressive in our the grounds department doesn't have the funds to pay for the full installalandscaping and controls," he said. Although progress has been made to decrease campus water use in re- See WATER Page 6 Cutting the flow all measurements in gallons of water TREVOR DOPP/TA* Daily Utah Chronicle Ufindingunique routes to sustainability Ana Breton ASST. NEWS EDITOR Sure, most universities have a recycling program. But what are colleges across the nation doing to become eco-friendly in ways their fellow universities have not? That's the question many schools, including the U, are asking in what has become a race to turn universities across the nation "green." Besides securing $310,000 for a new recycling program, U administrators, student government leaders and student groups are coming up with creative ways to become environmentally conscious. In the past year, the U signed a pledge to conserve water, trimmed more than $1.2 million from its utility bills after cooling and heating systems were tightened after hours, created a student group with the aim of making the campus eco-friendly and is in the process of creating a new office dedicated to campus sustainability. The U also hosted a regional conference in the spring that gave other universities from Utah, Wyoming and Idaho a behind-the-scenes opportunity to see how the campus was slowly turning green, said Lindsay Clark, who co-founded the Sustainable Environments and Ecological Design student group. "A lot of the people (from other schools) were saying, '(The U) is way ahead of us,'" said Clark, who graduated last spring in French and environmental studies. "It was a great opportunity to get them motivated." Still, the U has a long way to go. Universities throughout the United States are on their way to becoming more environmentally friendly—or at least some have found unique ways to get there. California State University, Chico, completed its first sustainability assessment: a research project completely produced by graduate and undergraduate students, according to Chico Statements, a magazine at CSU. The university has also creat- How campus is becoming more eco-friendly In the last year, the U has: > Secured $310,000 for a new recycling program > Signed a "Smart Sprinkling" pledge to conserve water > Trimmed more than $1.2 million from its utility bills > Hosted a regional • conference in the spring that gave other universities from Utah, Wyoming and Idaho a "behind the scenes" opportunity to see how the campus was slowly ' "going green" •• > Created a Sustainable Environments and Ecological Design student group, which aims to make the campus more eco-friendly ed projects like the Green Dorm Demonstration Program, which will involve building new dorms made out of recycled lumber and using energy-efficient light bulbs and appliances. CSU also participates in the Green Cup Card project, where students can accumulate points every time they use a reusable > Been in the process of creating a new office dedicated to campus sustainability cup. The university is also developing a campus website for sustainability. It is building a new administration building that will be completely green, said Joy Boone, who works with the recycling program at CSU. See GREEN Page 6 |