As mentioned in my last posting, the Architecture Studies Library hosted a panel discussion following the global emergency teach-in on Tuesday. Speakers challenged the attendees to join the current green efforts on the UNLV campus, and to go beyond.
Alfredo Fernandez-Gonzalez of the School of Architecture and the Natural Energies Advanced Technologies Lab challenged the campus to calculate an ecological footprint by the end of 2007. Unless we know where we are currently, how can we document improvement? He also suggested that a task force be formed to develop a strategy to reduce UNLV's greenhouse gas emitting energy consumption by 50% within three years.
David Hassenzahl, Chair of the UNLV Environmental Studies Department, posed three challenges: UNLV to become a leader in creating a sustainable campus; the faculty senate advocate offsetting the environmental impact of all UNLV travel; and a sustainability coordinator be appointed for UNLV.
Many campuses are considering the same type of issues. Here are some web sites mentioned during the panel, for further reading on campus initiatives.
Association for the Advancement of Ssutainability in Higher Education. http://www.aashe.org/
Campus Climate Challenge http://climatechallenge.org/
American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/
Clean Air Cool Planet Campus Climate Action Toolkit http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/toolkit/
University Leaders for a Sustainable Future Talloires Declaration http://www.ulsf.org/programs_talloires.html
Comments (3)
The websites posted above are very helpful and provide a lot of information regarding Green Building, etc. However, is there a website out there that lists certain "Green" building materials that have been used? This would be helpful in choosing materials for School of Architecture projects.
Posted by Andrea DeHerrera | March 8, 2007 10:31 AM
Posted on March 8, 2007 10:31
I know that the school of architecture, specifically, if finding difficulty in figuring our ecological footprint so that we can reduce our energy consumption, but I would have to stress that if it should start anywhere, it should be in our universities. Students can talk about it in their classrooms and we can try to learn from things such as the teach-in, but isn't the best form of learning doing. If people have to interact with limiting their energy consumption then they can take that with us into the world beyond education, especially us as designers. I beseech our instructors not to ignore the challenge.
Posted by Candace Tackett | March 8, 2007 6:39 PM
Posted on March 8, 2007 18:39
In addition to several books on green materials [e.g. the ones on the ASL featured books page http://www.library.unlv.edu/arch/featured/featuredbook22.html] the Libraries subscribes to BuildingGreen Suite which includes the GreenSpec product directory. The database can be found in the Libraries database list at http://www.library.unlv.edu/search/databases/index.html
Thanks for asking! Jeanne
Posted by Jeanne Brown | March 16, 2007 12:05 PM
Posted on March 16, 2007 12:05