UWM hosts a discussion on a System-wide green campus initiative

by Laura L. Hunt

Associate Professor James Wasley and Harvard University's green campus coordinator Leith Sharp spoke at the UWM symposium as well as at the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance conference.

UWM has what it takes to join the national green campus movement, says president of the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance, a group dedicated to improving the environment by efficient use of materials and building design.

"There's more interest in green architecture now, then when I came here 10 years ago," says Wasley, also a UWM associate professor of architecture. "It corresponds to students who are gravitating toward the European standards of building. Europeans have the long view."

Faculty from across disciplines at UWM joined representatives from 10 other Wisconsin universities at a spring symposium that explored ways to put sustainable policies into campuses across the state, but also to "instigate a green campus movement."

Held at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, symposium attracted participants from seven UW institutions and three others - MATC-Milwaukee, Northland College in Ashland, and the College of Menominee Nation in Keshena. Members of the State Division of Facilities Development and the UW System Administration also attended.

The scope of the symposium, which was organized by Wasley, covered not only energy efficiency issues, but also those of indoor air quality, use of recycled and nontoxic materials, and reduction of environmentally unfriendly by-products.

"The ultimate goal is to expand UW's leadership capacity in environmental sustainability," says Wasley, "especially at its four-year campuses." At UWM, he adds, the research and resources are already coming together. Some of the more innovative sustainable projects include:

• The UWM Great Lakes WATER Institute has received a $100,000 grant from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to install a ‘green roof' on part of its building at the east end of Greenfield Avenue. Green roofs filter impurities from rain water before it is slowly released into a river, lake or sewer. The roofs reduce the amount of stormwater runoff in urban areas and also helps ward off accumulations of carbon dioxide that can happen in cities during the summer.
• The Milwaukee Idea House, a prototype house that will be healthier, more durable, and cheaper to operate and maintain than the current housing stock, is currently being built at 727 S. Bruce St. Designed by UWM students, it incorporates a variety of green features, including use of a ground source heat pump for electricity to heat and cool the house. Innovative technologies promise to keep the home's heating costs to just $100 a year. The home's construction is a partnership with Wells Fargo Bank, We Energies, Metro Milwaukee Sewage District, IndependenceFirst and several other community groups.
• Research into using fly ash as an alternative filler in Wisconsin's foundaries is ongoing.
• Ethanol (85 percent) and natural gas are used as alternative fuels in all its fleet vehicles.
• A UWM faculty member provides energy efficiency consultation for the new green visitor's center at Milwaukee's Schlitz Audubon Nature Center.
• New buildings on campus are fitted with energy efficient devices such as sensors that turn off lights when no one is in the room.

John Berges, an assistant professor of biosciences, told the assembly that once universities adopt and publicize an official statement committing themselves to environmental sustainability, action follows. That's what happened at Queen's College in Belfast where he taught before coming to UWM last year.

"We have the responsibility to embrace green campuses," Berges said. "Universities are huge consumers.... We can lead by example and educate the public as we put new technologies into effect."

Leith Sharp, director of the Harvard Green Campus Initiative who spoke at the symposium, said the process of institutional change will be necessary to make the conversion to a truly green campus. The process would involve giving the environmental coordinator access to all levels of the campus, gaining support of the management, and forging partnerships with both students and community groups. Sharp, says universities should try to integrate sustainable elements into four sectors of the campus: curriculum, research, operations and community relations.

The event was co-sponsored by The Milwaukee Idea Office and the Campus Design Solutions Initiative, the UWM Milwaukee Energy Group, Johnson Controls Corporation, Workshop Architects, Inc., and We Energies.

###