Keeping Humber green
That shiny glass building in front of Humber College is doing much more than bringing up Humber’s aesthetic appeal according to the facilities management department. It’s actually increasing Humber’s sustainability by lowering the school’s carbon footprint.
Students walk by the glass building everyday and similar to second year Humber student, Karlee Marra, they probably do not know much about what the building is going to be used for.
“I see that building everyday when I come to school and I could still not tell you what it is going to be used for. Even my mom asks me and I can never give her an answer,” said Marra.
Marra believed that the building was going to do more harm than good on the environment because of the amount of construction that is being put into it.
“When I look at all the big construction machines they have while working on this building, I just thought that it would be causing more air pollution.”
Associate director in the facilities management department at Humber, Scott Valens, says that the glass building will be used as a new learning resource commons.
“All student services are going to be moved into that facility,” said Valens.
This includes everything from a new library, aboriginal center and human resources.
The building is to follow leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) requirements, more specifically LEED silver.
“You can write a book on the detail that is required in order to get a LEED silver rating. There could literally be hundreds of pages of information on what is being used in the building in order to get a LEED silver rating,” said Valens.
To achieve this rating Valens says that there will be a green roof on the link building attaching to the main Humber building. Valens continues to say that there will also be solar panels on the roof for solar power.
High efficiency lighting such as motion sensor lighting will also be used in the building according to Spencer Wood, associate director of maintenance and operations at Humber.
“You’ll see all windows along the front of the building so those rows of lights are all daylight sensors. They will turn off when they are not required,” he said.
Even things such as the ventilation system are very carefully designed.
“The system that delivers the ventilation is the biggest energy user and it has been very carefully designed for efficiency,” Wood said.
Reducing energy on campus is the main piece that the facilities management team is going after.
Wood said that Humber plans to reduce their energy consumption 40 per cent by 2018 and they are half way there from when they started in 2005.
Valens said that students could help Humber with this reduction by recycling.
“Being very careful about how students deposit their waste and recycling would have a huge impact on sustainability,” he said.
Valens said that this is done through education and training.
“As people get used to recycling it becomes second nature to them. It becomes second nature knowing what bucket to throw your paper into and which one is for glass and plastic.”
When told about the steps that Humber was taking in order to be more sustainable, Marra said that the buildings alone wouldn’t do the trick. The students have to pitch in and do their part to help as well.
“I will definitely be more careful about where I put my garbage. I think that all students should be reminded to recycle so that we can all have a cleaner environment.”
About the Author
Jessica Cecchin Third year Media Studies student at the University of Guelph- Humber. I am looking to go into radio broadcasting after graduating from university.
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