The Board of Visitors discussed sustainability initiatives and the progress on current and planned University renovations Friday at a meeting of the Buildings and Grounds Committee.
Mark White, associate professor at the McIntire School of Commerce, presented the University’s progress on sustainability initiatives to the committee. Overall water usage has decreased by 4.5 percent since last year, and 32 percent since 2009.
Another success was the recent implementation of an environment and sustainability track within the University’s Global Studies major. He said 45 students have already enrolled in it.
The University was also designated as a Green Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education last year, one of nine universities in the country to receive a distinction that recognizes institutions for sustainability efforts.
Updates on the completion of Gibbons House dorms and Wilson Hall renovations, as well as projects still in pre-construction phases, were delivered by Colette Sheehy, the University’s vice president for management and budget.
Large-scale renovations to Gilmer Hall and the Chemistry Building are still in the design phase, Sheehy said. An early-stage rendering of a proposed glass exterior for Gilmer Hall was presented to the Board. Sheehy said the project was a “top priority in funding from the state.”
Projects still in the planning phase include a renewal of Alderman Library and solutions to space issues in the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the McIntire School.
Sheehy spoke briefly about the Rotunda renovation schedule. While the entire project is expected to be completed during the upcoming summer, she said the exterior portion of the renovation should be finished in time for the Class of 2016’s graduation.
“We firmly believe that by the time Final Exercises arrive the scaffolding will be down,” she said.
The committee unanimously approved a motion to renovate researcher housing and replace a greenhouse at the Blandy Experimental Farm, a University-owned research facility about 90 miles north of Charlottesville.
The Board also welcomed the University’s newly appointed architect, Alice J. Raucher, who comes to the University after an eight-year tenure at Yale University, where she served most recently as senior architect, major projects planner and chair of its Design Steering Team.
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