The University of Oregon deserves praise for recently earning a ‘B-‘ from the Sustainable Endowments Institute. The grade was the average of ratings given across eight categories that assessed the University’s overall efforts to become more “green.”
Most of us can think of specific ways that the University’s efforts to promote a more sustainable existence. One of the “green” aspects of the University that draws the most praise and attention is the Lillis Business Complex, a building that actually helped the University earn an “A” in the “green building” category.
If we can trust the vision promoted by the University administration, innovative buildings such as Lillis and the Living Learning Center are part of a larger effort to transform the entire school into a campus that meets the needs of and reflects the concerns of the 21st century. Possibly the biggest concern that faces us early in this century is global warming, and such a problem has to be faced with structural and behavioral changes that are exemplified by the design and construction of these two buildings.
And if the University can serve as a model for functional sustainability by designing and constructing buildings that take conservation of energy and materials into account, it may serve as part of larger regional and global efforts to offset carbon emissions. Likewise, if the University consciously promotes this critical thinking process in its students as they make daily choices about transportation and other consumer behavioral and consumer choices, such as where to live and eat, that could truly have an impact on how larger markets view sustainable living.
However, we have to ask if this is all as transparent and self-evident as it seems. In addition to the new education building that is going up along Alder Street, the University will need to demonstrate a commitment to a sustainable reality as it moves forward with its new basketball arena.
In 2003 the University announced that Howe Field, next to McArthur Court, would serve as the location for a new arena and that it may have been completed as early as the fall of 2006. Plans have changed significantly since then, though we are seeing extreme similarity in the number of projected seats and of course the all-important millions of dollars of increased revenue for the athletic department.
We understand that there are many very important concerns that must be addressed when planning to build a huge sports arena, such as securing the land, raising the funds, designing it for the right capacity of fans and mix of uses, and negotiating with the neighborhood that will be most affected by it. However, the discussion about how this new flagship campus building will demonstrate the University’s dedication to environmental sustainability has been noticeably absent.
There may be considerable efforts on the part of the University’s administration and the architects to ensure that this new arena does exhibit a commitment to both a practice and ideology of environmental sustainability, but if they are part of the planning process, they have not been made apparent. Unfortunately the only sustainability that has recently been associated with the plans for a new arena is the athletic department’s financial independence.
If the University’s administration is truly dedicated to campus-wide environmental sustainability, they must make it known in the planning phases of all new buildings. Otherwise, “sustainability” and “green” will just be empty marketing jingles, and the new arena will be just as 20th century as Mac Court.
UO can be better at being green
Daily Emerald
November 11, 2007
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