Press release authored by Austin Energy.
At St. Edward’s University in Austin, students are witness to the Catholic university’s commitment to protecting the environment through sustainable development as the campus grows along with the city.
At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, in the Ragsdale Center, Mabee Ballroom at St. Edward’s, 3001 S. Congress Ave., the university will receive 3-Star Green Building Ratings from Austin Energy for two recently completed projects on campus.
“These two projects demonstrate the commitment of St. Edward’s University to a green and sustainable campus, and also provide many educational examples of how sustainability can be closely related to our daily life,” said Schiller Liao, Facilities Project Manager at St. Edward’s.
Rather than use treated water for irrigation, for example, rain gardens surrounding the South Building absorb and filter rain water runoff. Drought-tolerant landscaping around the UFCU Alumni Gym also thrives in natural conditions without a permanent irrigation system.
These water-saving features reduced irrigation by an estimated 65 percent or about 110,000 gallons of water during the month of July.
Additionally, renovation of the UFCU Alumni Gym reused 90 percent of the existing building structure. Building parts that were retained include the structural columns, roof trusses and bar joists, the concrete slab and masonry walls.
Nearly 90 percent of construction waste was recycled or salvaged, diverting over 1,200 tons of waste from the landfill.
The projects are also energy efficient using lighting and heating and air conditioning systems that reduce peak energy demand by 27 percent and total energy use by 20 percent.
“What better way to teach our next generation of leaders to protect the environment by practicing the principles of sustainability,” said Kurt Stogdill, Austin Energy Green Building and Sustainability Manager. “St. Edward’s has demonstrated that the classroom for green building and sustainability is all around us.”
View the certificate for the John Brooks Williams Natural Science Center – South here, and the certificate for the UFCU Alumni Gym here.