#NewUniversityCenter: Fostering Sustainability
By now, the University Center’s unique sustainability features should be news to no one. The Leed Gold-rated building boasts an innovative lighting design, a rain catching green roof, strategically placed sensors that track temperature, and much more. It’s an urban environmentalist’s dream center—and sets the tone for future construction in a rapidly evolving city.
What many readers don’t know, however, is that the building was designed to grow with its students. That started months before the University Center even opened. A course from Parsons The New School for Design’s School of Art, Media, and Technology looked at what additional green initiatives could be added to the University Center in the coming months and years. Led by part-time lecturer Leif Percifield, “Collab University Center” asked students to work on projects that would build upon the center’s already-existing sustainability features.
Many of the designs were meant to impact the behavior of students living in the dormitories on the upper eight floors. MS environmental policy and sustainability management student Ian Jurgensen’s team project, for example, created a system that would track residents’ energy usage in comparison to their neighbors.
Learn more by watching a video recap of the course here.
Don’t forget! The University Center opens to the public this Saturday, January 25 from 12:00-4:00 p.m. Hope to see you there.