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University’s master plan is going green

Written by Alexa Garcia-Ditta, The Shorthorn staff

Monday, 29 October 2007 05:05 PM

Blue and orange decorate all facets of the university, but administrators, city officials, academic departments and environmental service representatives have another color in mind — green.

The President’s Sustainability Committee met for the first time Monday to discuss ways in which the university can carry out its expansion through environmentally friendly avenues.

Committee co-chairs Jeff Howard, School of Urban and Public Affairs assistant professor, and Craig Powell, Environmental Health and Safety director, along with President James Spaniolo, challenged members to address campus energy efficiency and recycling, and Campus Master Plan sustainability.

“We are all stewards of the campus and the city of Arlington,” Spaniolo said. “But as we sit here in 2007, there is an additional sensitivity to be ever-conscious of doing what’s best, environmentally, for our campus. Our resources aren’t unlimited, and we have to take care of what we have.”

John Hall, administration and campus operations vice president, outlined ways in which the Campus Master Plan follows the university’s push toward becoming a greener campus. Hall said the university plans to add a vertical parking garage to eliminate surface parking and allow for more green space throughout campus, as well as adding green roofs to future construction projects.

“We are raising the bar to what we’ve already accomplished,” he said.

Campus Master Plan additions will also include more pedestrian walkways and landscape improvements, as well as college towns with restaurants and shops along UTA Boulevard and Cooper Street.

“We’re going to use development projects to try and encourage students to walk to their destinations rather than get in their cars,” Hall said.

Other university officials presented recycling reports and energy efficiency reports to committee members. David Hopman, landscape architecture program representative, proposed installing the first green roof in the Metroplex on a new university building.

Tim Yatko, School of Urban and Public Affairs graduate student, outlined his student project that will work closely with the committee in developing ways to address campus sustainability.

“We can throw money at the problem, or we can look at what causes the problem,” he said to committee members, encouraging the university to go beyond recycling paper and replacing light bulbs. “We can pick the low-hanging fruit, or we can go higher up than that.”

The committee will meet throughout the semester to develop a list of effective campus sustainability proposals.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 November 2007 03:59 PM )

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