Sustainable Land Development Today - September 2007 - (Page 20)

EDUCATION Sustainable Reality Sets In Universities are staying ahead of the curve when it comes to teaching sustainable development techniques. By Rob Kundert A snap shot of three university campuses shows a burgeoning interest by both students and faculty for sustainability and environmental issues. Dr. Ernest Yanarella, Professor of Political Science and Director of Environmental Studies at the University of Kentucky, has had 37 years to watch the waves of attention paid to the environment ebb and flow in this country. Yanarella is a principle investigator of a grant to better integrate sustainability into its undergraduate curriculum. He says that green approaches to building and land development will ride a rising tide of interest. Out of necessity it is attaining its own sustainability. “I think that the issues of the environment and concerns over sustainability will simply not go away. We’re fated to live in a century where global environmental problems are going to increasingly come to the fore,” he said. “As a result, the colleges of architecture and engineering are increasingly integrating sustainability issues into their curricula, often times at the introductory level.” Dr. Pete Melby, Professor of Landscape Architecture at Mississippi State University, said interest on campus in sustainability is on the rise in his field and in building management, and it is drawing increased attention from those in civil engineering. Many see it as a new frontier for creativity. “That’s one of the reasons students are excited because they see a whole new paradigm waiting to be developed that is not traditional,” he said. Dr. Jorge Vanegas, who spent a dozen years at Georgia Tech before moving to Texas A & M as Director of the Center for Housing and Urban Development in the College of Architecture, said in the early 90s a review of courses at his former university would have resulted in few that contained the word, ‘sustainable.’ Today, a survey done at the university will reveal dozens of courses that explicitly address that in many ways. A simple search of the internet on environmentally conscious design, environmental manufacturing, clean production, and other green issues produces wide ranging results. “What has happened, in my opinion,” relates Vanegas, “is you are seeing a ‘push-pull’ move toward an increased awareness towards an increased understanding and increased embracing of the shift that sustainability demands of the people.” generates new knowledge and disseminates it through published papers and other means. Then there are the actual facilities. “Universities are uniquely poised to serve as living laboratories for sustainability,” he said, by constructing buildings and other features that exhibit sustainable principles for students to observe. Finally, campuses can drive home points on green practices by walking-the-talk. “You have student groups that are using the campus as a laboratory, a showcase for things like recycling, sensors for lights and indoor environmental quality,” Vanegas said. Melby and a group of his colleagues at Mississippi State, working with the university and the State of Mississippi, constructed a 25,000 square foot landscape architecture and landscape contracting facility, the Center for Sustainable Design, which opened in 2002. By incorporating such things as south facing glass coupled with big overhangs, “it uses 70 percent less energy than the two academic buildings on either side of it,” illustrates Melby. “The winter sunlight hits the side of the building and warms it, but the summer sunlight doesn’t hit the south side of the building,” he said, because of the overhangs. “If you keep the sun off the building it will be 8-10 degrees cooler.” Heavily insulated, with high ceilings, reflective roof and concrete floors, On Campus There are four entry points for sustainability into academic life, according to Vanegas: curriculum, research, campus facilities, and the implementation of sustainable practices by the institution. Curriculum conveys the information to students through courses and certificate programs. Research creates and 20 September 2007 Sustainable Land Development Today

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Land Development Today - September 2007

Sustainable Land Development Today - September 2007 Contents Our Voice: Teaching and Learning Your Voice: Reader Response Editorial Board A 52-Mile Taking Fiber to the Front Doors of America Educators Incorporating Sustainability Land Planning: The Truth about Sprawl Irrigation: Communication Key Wastewater: Many Challenges Determine Sewer Options Regulation: Changing by State, Region, and Municipality Risk Management: Construction Defect Claims Recommended Reading Products/Services Showcase Advertiser Index Calendar Classifieds The Last Word

Sustainable Land Development Today - September 2007

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