SOU green buildings project in full swing, improving campus sustainability

SOU has walked its talk on sustainability over the past three years, completing eight new green building projects – with four of them including new solar arrays. The Sustainability at SOU program is committed to promoting an environmentally friendly culture and implementing more sustainability features campus-wide.

“It’s really important for us to demonstrate new ways of doing things to build a better world to live in,” SOU Sustainability and Recycling Manager Becs Walker said in an interview with SOU News.

The Student Recreation Center on campus has abundant sustainable features throughout the facility, including brand-new solar panels, electricity-free workout machines, and fully paperless operations – exchanging paper towel dispensers for air hand drying units in all bathrooms, and using reusable cloths for cleaning the equipment. The SRC has been awarded LEED Gold certification, which is a green building certification system that assesses things like air quality, energy use and overall sustainability. SOU has a goal to reach at least LEED Silver or the equivalent on all buildings on campus.

There are three buildings on campus that currently fall under the “net-zero” category, meaning they create more energy than they spend: the Athletics Storage at Raider Stadium, the Farm’s Storage Barn and the Outdoor Program Equipment Storage Building. None of the three buildings have heating and cooling units, which greatly lowers the energy cost. They also feature new solar arrays, generating energy to power the buildings’ electrical equipment.

SOU has spent the last four years hard at work trying to reduce the energy cost and increase sustainability across campus, and the efforts aren’t done. Britt Hall is currently being completely remodeled, with new sustainable features in mind – and has a LEED Silver certification pending. There’s been a long standing goal to promote sustainability in all ways at SOU, whether it’s through education, campus life or facilities.

Please enjoy this video tour of the SRC’s sustainability features, led by Director of Campus Recreation Hugues Lecomte, and Sustainability and Recycling Manager Becs Walker.

Click here to learn more about campus sustainability, and all the work being done to keep the campus green.