<< BackGoing, Going Green!
Last year, we told you about all the school’s green initiatives – from more environmentally friendly toilets and lights to a greener Manifest. But the school isn’t stopping there. We’re getting so green the Grinch will be jealous (although judging by his personality, he would be anyway). There’s also a ton of ongoing projects, including: retrofitting lights; recycling paper, plastic and techno trash (batteries, discs, tapes, etc); installing motion sensor lights in the appropriate spaces; and using green cleaning supplies from Ecolab.
The fifth floor of 33 East Congress now has a green roof, which “has more of a utilitarian function as well as beautifying the roof for people who look out onto it,” said Joe Leamanczyk, project manager for the
Office of Campus Environment, which is anyone on the fifth floor and above in 33 East Congress.
Even though the roof help keeps the heat in, the school is also working with the
Clinton Climate Initiative to find out how to make the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems more efficient because they are “definitely the most expensive and cost prohibitive part of making a building more sustainable.”
Another green roof will grow atop the
Media Production Center, set to break ground this winter. The space is going to be an environmentally friendly by following LEED-certification standards like all new construction projects the school starts.
While the school continues the quest to be as green as it can be, keep the environment in mind when you’re on campus and at home. Turn off the lights when you leave the room, recycle your homework (after it’s graded, of course) and wear a sweater instead of expecting the school to jack up the heat.
-Morgan Phelps
Magazine Journalism