College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha

Business people generally aren’t exactly tree huggers. But as the state of the planet threatens to deteriorate further, there’s a growing need to make future business leaders more sensitive to environmental issues.

What better way to do that than to teach accounting, finance, marketing, banking, economics and real estate in a building built to be water and energy efficient? That’s exactly what’s going to happen at the corner of 67th and Pine next year.

Mammel Hall, the new home of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) College of Business Administration, will be the first Leadership in Energy and Design (LEED) certified building on the UNO campus and one of only four across the University of Nebraska system.

LEED is an internationally recognized certification system that measures how well a building performs on energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources.

In December, the project was listed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as a registered LEED project. The USGBC is a nonprofit organization committed to expanding sustainable building practices.

Curt Witzenburg of Holland Basham, architects for the project, said the goal is to obtain Silver LEED Certification. This is done in two parts, first by submitting construction documents to the USGBC, then, after construction is complete, submitting more documentation to verify that construction conforms to standards.

Plans call for very efficient glazing with high e-values, high reflectivity and low transmission. Six heating and cooling systems were evaluated based on initial and lifecycle costs. The selected system balances compliance with USGBC standards and with an acceptable pay-back period.

Landscape design will reduce water consumed for irrigation by 50% and will include some unique plant species that will reduce both water costs and maintenance expense.

About 20% of the rainwater that falls on the structure will be fed to basins and then allowed to percolate down below ground to recharge the aquifer and reduce demand on storm sewers.

As construction goes forward, aggressive waste management practices are being used to divert at least 75% of the construction waste to recycling, avoiding the landfill. Kiewit, general contractor for the project, uses several different dumpsters on the site to sort waste. Refuse haulers even pay rebates based on the recyclable value of the contents.

Dr. Louis Pol, dean of UNO College of Business Administration, has been leading the charge. “Lou has been a big advocate of pushing to do something different,” Witzenburg said, “something that is not currently on the UNO campus.”

I, for one, am looking forward to teaching in a building that displays respect for the planet and commitment to the community, thanks to the foresight and generosity of this city’s business leadership. It proves that we can make good business decisions, lower costs and be good neighbors all at the same time.

Our young people need more role models of this kind of behavior to understand that merely holding a belief in environmentalism and talking about it isn’t enough. It’s putting your values to work that counts.

You can find out more about this project at www.cba.unomaha.edu/mammel_hall and watch the work on the construction webcam.

Source Omaha by Design