EFS Profiles
Two Directions: Facilities Management and Campus Planning
Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia
Purpose: Greening the Campus
Please note that the copyright for this profile is retained by the institution.
Facilities Management
Alternative Transportation
Emory University commits more than $1 million annually to an aggressive alternative transportation program to alleviate traffic congestion and improve air quality. A principal objective of the university's campus master plan is to create a pedestrian campus by replacing cars and concrete with green spaces and walkways, and moving parking to the campus perimeter. For the past five years, the university has moved quickly and vigorously to decrease its reliance on cars, and to form collaborative efforts with other groups to improve the environment in the greater Atlanta community. These efforts and results include:
- More than 1,200 employees participate in the MARTA (Atlanta Rapid Transit) subsidy program
- Nearly 400 employees participate in Emory's car- and vanpool programs.
- Georgia Power has loaned Emory President Bill Chace an electric vehicle for his use.
- The university's facilities management department has replaced thirty-one of its gas-powered vehicles with electric carts that are recharged at stations located around the central campus.
- Recently Emory, along with Georgia Power and Clean Cities Atlanta, received a $225,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund charging stations for electric vehicles.
- Emory is awaiting word on federal funding for a fleet of electric shuttles that, if funded, will position Emory as a national leader among universities and other large organizations in investing in new technology to improve air quality and the environment.
Emory Recycles
Recycling at Emory began quietly in the main Woodruff Library through an organization of environmentally concerned librarians. Their efforts of collecting and recycling white paper within the library soon caught students' attention. Led by an environmentally conscious student organization, Emory launched an official program in 1990, recycling white paper and aluminum cans. With the help of Emory's Student Government Association and College Council, containers dotted outdoor pedestrian areas. Serving students and faculty and staff, the program gradually began to expand throughout the campus, including residence halls, administrative and classroom buildings, and the student center. In April of 1998, Emory proudly celebrated the opening of its very own Recycling Center. This facility gives Emory Recycles the capacity it needs to further expand its services to the surrounding community. By forming partnerships with organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Wesley Woods Geriatric Center, Columbia Theology Seminary, Clairmont Place Retirement Community, and the Emory Clinics, Emory Recycles seeks to be a "good neighbor" to the community.
Campus Planning and Development: Consultation throughout the Process
Emory is a growing campus, with forty-three building projects (large and small) currently underway or planned. Challenges are faced because we are located in the middle of a tree-lined, residential neighborhood of Atlanta, adjacent to small commercial districts, several creeks and many woodlands, a dense group of hospitals, the federal Centers for Disease Control, and a railroad right-of-way.
Campus planning has developed a multi-stage process with consultation for the design and development of a new project. Environmental concerns are raised at several steps in planning and building for any new construction on campus. Stages of the process are:
- Project initiation and coordination with the Campus Master Plan (developed
1996-9) Master Plan guiding principles include:
"A shared ethic must be developed and adopted by the Emory community concerning its natural resources... Within this ethic the campus plan should identify the full and responsible capacity for growth within Emory's existing landholdings, then identify whether additional land holdings should be purchased for future development and/or to protect Emory's boundaries. In the end, we ... should treat Emory's natural features as amenities of its ultimate design..."
- Feasibility Study, which includes financial coordination with the Ways and Means Committee of the Board of Trustees, the Deans Council, and other senior administrative groups.
- Project Approval based on the feasibility study
- Project Programming, which includes coordination with campus and off-campus architects, building tenants, and other stakeholders
- Schematic Design, ultimately approved by the stakeholders
- Design Development
- Construction
At each of these seven phases of a project, many of the following sectors of the university are brought into consultation:
- Board of Trustees
- Campus Development Committee
- President's Cabinet and Deans Council
- Parking and Traffic
- University Senate Committees
- Campus Planning and Development Office
- Committee on the Environment
Advantages of this Consultation Process:
Environmental concerns can be raised at early stages of the planning process, sometimes leading to important changes in siting, building context, or design. Also, this open process allows for vigorous debate and the possibility of stakeholder buy-in, once decisions are made. As projects evolve, repeated consultations insure that all parties to the decision-making process can be apprised of changes made.
The LEED Rating System is now being integrated into decision making by the Committee on the Environment and other groups. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. It allows self-assessment for existing commercial, institutional, and high-rise, residential buildings. It evaluates performance from a "whole building" perspective over the building's life cycle, providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a "green building." LEED strikes a balance between known effective practices and emerging concepts, and has been useful in a wide range of discussions on the Emory campus.
For additional information:
Peggy Barlett
Professor, Anthropology Department
Emory University
1346 Avalon Place
Atlanta, GA 30306
Tel. 404-727-5766
Fax 404-727-2860
Email: pbarlett@emory.edu
This document was last modified on 02/20/2002 11:42:37
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© 2005 Second Nature, Inc.
