Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Botanical Garden’s Education Center is N.C.’s first state-owned Platinum building

The North Carolina Botanical Garden’s Education Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has earned the highest level awarded for green buildings. The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program recently awarded the building platinum certification. LEED is the nationally accepted certification program for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. The Education Center, dedicated in 2009, is the first building on a UNC campus, the first state-owned building in North Carolina and the state’s first public museum and outreach center to earn LEED platinum status.

“The platinum certification is the culmination of the dreams and years of hard work of many individuals,” said Peter White, director of the garden. “Furthermore, the $12 million in funding that made this possible came from our donors and supporters. No public money was used for construction. It is our gift to the state and people of North Carolina. Both the Education Center and the surrounding gardens demonstrate our unique mission in environmental sustainability.”

The Education Center, designed by Frank Harmon Architects of Raleigh, consists of three major sections connected by covered breezeways. Inside are an exhibit hall, a botanical art and illustration gallery, four classrooms, a “Green Gardener” reference library and information desk, conference and seminar rooms, and an auditorium/banquet hall. Daylighting and the use of materials with little or no indoor air pollutants contribute to a healthy, comfortable atmosphere for workers and participants in the many public programs offered in the center.

The vision of a state-of-the-art green facility to house the educational and public service activities of the garden was launched in 2000 with a generous bequest from longtime garden volunteer Katherine “Kay” Bradley Mouzon. More than 500 other donors have contributed to the project. Carolina students supported the construction of the geothermal heat-exchange system through a grant from the students' own Renewable Energy Special Projects Fund.

The LEED rating system promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in key areas: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation in design. Points for achievement in these areas were awarded to the Education Center after the USGBC’s review of records kept during design, construction and inaugural operation of the center last winter.

An integrated collection of green features resulted in the Education Center receiving platinum certification:

  • Most materials used to build the 31,000-square-foot structure came from within a 500-mile radius.
  • Wood for the window trim and baseboards came from trees that were cut down from the original building site.
  • Portions of the wooden flooring came from a house in Hillsborough that was being torn down.
  • 96 percent of construction waste was recycled, leaving only 4 percent by weight for the landfill.
  • Eight cisterns (seven above ground and one below) collect rainwater to be reused for irrigation.
  • The elevators use no hydraulic fluid and have only energy-efficient traction motors.
  • The parking lot’s porous paving cleans stormwater before it enters neighboring streams.
  • Photovoltaic panels collect and store sunlight that is used to generate 7.5 percent of annual electricity needs.

Photos: http://152.2.194.2/netpub/server.np?find&site=Luminosity&catalog=catalog&template=view.np&field=itemid&op=matches&value=8162

http://152.2.194.2/netpub/server.np?find&site=Luminosity&catalog=catalog&template=view.np&field=itemid&op=matches&value=8163

N.C. Botanical Garden website: http://ncbg.unc.edu/

N.C. Botanical Garden contact: Laura M Cotterman

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

Changing Climate Means Changing Oceans
"Talk of the Nation" National Public Radio
Scientists who study the oceans say the effects of climate change are already being seen in the world's oceans. From acidification and warming temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice loss, Ira Flatow and guests look at how the oceans are changing with changes in climate. (John Bruno, marine ecologist and associate professor in the department of biology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill was a guest on this show.)
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Friday, January 21, 2011

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

UNC Engineers Without Borders set benefit dinner, auction
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Daniel A. Okun Chapter of Engineers Without Borders will hold its 2nd Annual Benefit Dinner and Auction from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Feb. 5 at the Morehead Planetarium. The event will include a seated dinner, an open wine bar, live entertainment and both a silent and live auction with items such as artwork and handmade crafts from project countries, artwork and jewelry from local artists, hotel stays, airline tickets and gift cards for a variety of local businesses.
Click here to read more.

'Building Blitz' puts up houses in a hurry
The Chapel Hill News
...More than 280 UNC students, faculty and staff spent last weekend nailing up walls, lifting trusses and putting together the pieces for two houses for lower-income UNC employees and their families. The UNC Habitat group gives each volunteer one nail painted Carolina blue to use while assembling the exterior frame. As it's used among the dozens of others, the blue nail reinforces the message of unity behind each house.
Click here to read more.

Roses & raspberries (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
Roses to Habitat for Humanity of Orange County and the UNC student group that partners with it, for tackling a project even more ambitious than the ones Habitat customarily takes on. The UNC group and local Habitat chapter are in the midst of an initiative called Build a Block, a push to build 10 homes in 10 months.
Click here to read more.

Bit of Carolina blue nails it for Habitat homes
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
When Latesha Foushee moves into her new house this spring, there will be blue nails in the beams and signatures on the studs. Her 1,100-square-foot, three-bedroom house is one of the latest built in Chapel Hill by Habitat for Humanity of Orange County and its partner student group at UNC-Chapel Hill. More than 280 UNC-CH students, faculty and staff are spending this weekend nailing up walls, lifting trusses and putting together the pieces for two houses for lower-income UNC-CH employees and their families.
Click here to read more.
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-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu