‘Greening of the IMU’ to improve sustainability

The Indiana Memorial Union will look a little greener this fall.

The IU Office of Sustainability received a grant during the summer from Duke Energy Foundation to improve sustainability at the IMU.

The initiative, the “Greening of the IMU,” will bring together IU students, officials and outside firms to look for ways to change the way the building is maintained and operated.

The $50,000 grant will be used to study how to improve energy conservation, water usage and recycling, said IU senior and Office of Sustainability intern Nathan Bower-Bir.

The primary focus of the initiative is to lay the groundwork for future attempts at sustainability on campus, Director of Sustainability Bill Brown said.  

“It’s really kind of the flagship of the campus,” Brown said. “We hope that once we run through this process with one building that it can be used as an example of a process that can be used for other buildings on campus.”

This “charrette,” or planning process, will help to collect data and determine the current energy use and waste disposal at the IMU and then find ways to reduce them, he said.

To do this, the group will use the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification system.

According to their Web site, the LEED green building certification system “provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.”

“It’s particularly good because it doesn’t just look at energy and water usage, but it also focuses on the human aspect as well,” Bower-Bir said. “What are the conditions inside the building for the occupants, and are they healthy and conducive to well-being and productivity?”

Brown is also using this initiative to help his students. His graduate class, Sustainability Leadership, will be assisting in the collection of data for the “Greening of the IMU.”

While the IMU currently has policies in place to increase recycling and food composts, these students and experts will be looking for opportunities to expand upon these procedures.

Examples include ways to increase natural lighting to preserve energy and working to secure local and organic food sources, as well as revamping the ventilation and water systems.

Brown said the choice to make the IMU the starting point of the initiative was obvious.  
Because of its large size and high student and visitor traffic, the IMU is the perfect candidate for the new greening initiative, Gary Chrzastowski, assistant director of facility services, said. Many students and visitors perceive it to be the focal point of IU.

Once the “Greening of the IMU” is completed, Brown said he hopes they’ll be better prepared to improve sustainability throughout the rest of campus.

“We’re all going to be learning the process and learning how to work on this so next time won’t need a $50,000 grant to pull it off,” he said.