Sessions explore environmental sustainability issues, goals for 'green campus' initiatives

UNO students, staff and faculty constructively expressed their opinions and ideas about UNO's environmental issues at two Johnson Controls Sustainability Navigations Sessions, which took place in the Milo Bail Student Center Dodge Room on Feb. 13.The event was organized by Clayton Miller, an architectural engineering graduate student, and facilitated by Clay Nesler, the vice president of innovative service for Johnson Controls. It focused on sustainability issues that face UNO.

Environmental sustainability is the practice of meeting present needs without affecting the future generations' ability to meet theirs. The question that was presented at the session was whether UNO was sustainable and what could be done to make UNO "greener."

The hosting company, Johnson Controls, is a business that focuses on "helping clients develop strategic plans focused on sustainability issues," Nesler said

The sustainability navigation session was conducted in two parts.

First, there was an evaluation of the sustainability issues on campus, including meeting environmental standards, maintaining healthy indoor and outdoor environments as well as maintaining a higher standard of energy efficiency. Attendees evaluated these by ranking the importance of issues to UNO as well as the value and efficiency of UNO in handling the issues.

Afterwards, attendees were given the opportunity to give feedback and make suggestions about how UNO can make itself more sustainable. Nesler pinned up a large poster that had the attendees' 12 biggest issues written on it. They then used sticky notes to write ideas on how UNO can do a better job with the issues and what they felt was the best solution.

The sessions were brought to UNO after Clayton Miller had gone through a similar experience at the U.S. Green Build Conference in Denver, which focused on environmentally friendly engineering.

"It will provide data to influence the administration on student and faculty views on where we are in regard to sustainability issues," Miller said.

The event resulted in a better understanding of what students, staff and faculty see as the biggest issues that face UNO. Among them are the university's ability to reduce energy use in all of its operations, the efficient use of energy to reduce energy costs and getting the administration's support on funding sustainability projects.

The information gathered from this session will be used to help the administration make the campus more sustainable as well as to help make students more aware of what they can do to help.

John Amend, director of facilities management and planning for UNO, said students should be more conscious of energy consumption and environmental issues.

"Instead of driving on campus they can use mass transit or just the shuttle system to get to class," Amend said. "These issues affect students the most in the future and they have a responsibility to pay attention.