The Campus Planning Committee has adopted a Sustainable Development Pattern amendment with a goal of putting the University among the nation’s leaders in planning and development.
In addition to that action, the CPC has also requested funding for a new administrative position, designed to help with planning and development compliance issues.
The committee, at a conference held Wednesday through Friday, discussed ways of conducting sustainable campus development, an approach that emphasizes environmentally friendly techniques and conservation of limited resources.
Committee members addressed features that make a college campus more sustainable, including recycling programs and energy-efficient buildings. Following those practices on campus can mean a variety of benefits, including long-term cost savings and cleaner air.
The first major action taken was the adoption of a Sustainable Development Pattern amendment to the University’s Long Range Campus Development Plan, the policy framework that guides all building and other development-related activity on campus.
While the plan does address energy conservation, the committee determined last year that it needed updating to emphasize relatively new methods of sustainable practice, such as alternative energy sources.
The Development, Policy, Implementation and Transportation Subcommittee of the planning committee began drafting the development pattern last year. After researching developmental policies from other universities and gathering input from University faculty, students and staff, the subcommittee compiled the amendment.
The development pattern, if effectively implemented, will place the University among the national leaders in sustainable development on campus, according to the CPC.
“We decided that it was important for the University to play a leadership role in this area,” said Dean Livelybrooks, chair of the DPIT Subcommittee and a physics instructor at the University.
Livelybrooks said the idea for the amendment was sparked when someone noticed that the roof over the new tennis courts might be a good place to put solar panels. He believes that such ideas ­­ using space that is already available to increase campus sustainability and reduce costs ­­ are crucial to the success of the development pattern, since the up-front costs of its policies can seem high, particularly to potential critics of the plan.
However, Livelybrooks is convinced that the development plan will save the University money in the long run.
“The initial cost of implementing these guidelines may be higher, but the long-term savings are going to offset that,” he said, adding that increased efficiency in energy use will be the primary reason for those savings.
Committee members raised and addressed several concerns about how to implement the plan effectively. One concern is a question of changing attitudes ­­ getting people to think environmentally by default, rather than by force.
“The goal is to ask ‘How can we become more sustainable?’ rather than ‘How sustainable have we become?’,” said Christine Thompson, a planning associate with the University Planning Office and a CPC member.
Another major concern is simply bringing attention to the plan. Carole Daly, regional director for the University development in southern California and a CPC member, said there is a general lack of awareness.
“It’s not that people don’t want to comply,” she said. “They just don’t know that the policies exist.”
Giving the development pattern some “teeth” by making its guidelines enforceable may present the biggest challenge to the plan’s success. Ambiguous wording in the developmental pattern was revised at the meeting and replaced with more specific language, and the committee discussed a system of incentives for those who strive to comply with the new standards.
Additionally, new construction projects on campus will be held to national sustainability standards set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The planning commission also approved a letter to University President Dave Frohnmayer requesting funding for a new administrative staff position ­­ a manager who would work with architects, faculty, user groups and all others involved in developmental projects on campus to ensure development pattern compliance.
“We need someone who can run in all the different circles on campus,” said Livelybrooks.