FAYETTEVILLE : ‘Green’ focus of student housing
Posted on Saturday, September 29, 2007
FAYETTEVILLE — A large yellow backhoe scooped mounds of red dirt Friday at the future site of 50 apartments on the southeast edge of the University of Arkansas campus.
Workers with Flintco Inc. prepared to lay the foundation for the first of five structures to be built along Duncan Avenue over the next 10 months. Next fall, the site will be home to 200 college students.
Once complete, the Duncan Avenue apartments will be the only apartment-style student housing on the Fayetteville campus. It is also the university’s first project using new environmental building standards.
“This is our first Green Globes project on campus,” said Mike Johnson, associate vice chancellor for facilities.
Developed in Canada, Green Globes is a series of online criteria that guide builders in designing and constructing energy-efficient and environmentally friendly structures.
It’s part of the university’s efforts to become “a model for sustainability,” a goal identified by Chancellor John A. White in his 2007 State of the University address released for the first time in video format last week. A common term used in business, industry and government, sustainability refers to finding ways to operate without negatively impacting the environment and harming future generations.
The university must be “mindful of our responsibility to our environment and to our surroundings,” White said in the address. That means implementing the latest standards in “green design” for all new campus buildings, he said.
New UA construction projects have followed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design benchmarks since 2004, Johnson said. Better known by the acronym LEED, the standards are set by the nonprofit U. S. Green Building Council.
Green Globes is similar to LEED. Ninety percent of criteria between the two systems agree. But unlike LEED, Green Globes identifies wood as a renewable resource, Johnson said.
State law passed in 2005 requires all state agencies to use either LEED or Green Globes ’ “whenever possible and appropriate” for building projects.
The 60, 600-square-foot Duncan Avenue complex will include four three-story apartment buildings and a community building with a lounge, office and upstairs exercise room, said James Milner, construction coordinator with UA Facilities Management. Each apartment will be about 1, 170 square feet with two stories and four bedrooms.
Green Globes influenced everything from the wood frame to the type of siding used. The apartments will have energyefficient lighting, windows and insulation, said Randy Alexander, executive director of university housing. Carpets will be made from recycled materials, showers and toilets will be designed to restrict water flow, and the landscaping will use native plants that limit erosion.
The apartments also will contain Energy Star-approved appliances. Energy Star is a joint program of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U. S. Department of Energy that promotes the use of energy efficient products and practices. UA is the first higher education institution in Arkansas to become a partner in the federal program, Johnson said. The Duncan Avenue project is being done on a fast-track as the university rushes to keep up with high demand for on-campus housing, Alexander said. UA residence halls are at 97 percent capacity with a total of 4, 170 students this fall. The complex is projected to cost $ 16. 28 million from construction to furnishing. The energy-efficient materials and products are expected to save the university in the long run. “We really think there’s going to be a good payback with this,” Alexander said.
To contact this reporter: cpark@arkansasonline. com
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