Now is it just me or did we blink and it became October? I was thinking that as I was walking out of my last class this past Monday. I mean 2017 just flew by. That being said, when I walked out of Building 3 the first thing I saw was the construction of the new Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Education Facility. I was reminiscing back to when there was a huge parking lot there and that didn’t seem like too long ago but here we are and it says construction will be done by 2019.

A current look of the construction process!

2018 is less than 3 months away. Let that sink in.

I then finally took the time to read all of the panels that are considered the “sustainability story” of the building. I know right….”Go home, Andrea” but it was actually quite interesting. If you haven’t stopped to read, here are the snippets!

1. Sustainability at the Universities of Shady Grove:

• Water Efficient landscaping: 50% less water needed to irrigate
• Reduce energy consumption by 22%
• A good portion of the materials and resources are recycled
• More efficient indoor environmental quality

2. What is LEED®?

It must follow sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, material & resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation in Operations & Regional Priority guidelines. This building is striving to reach the minimum of LEED® Gold Certification.

3. Integrated Design Process: the entire building project team came together to discuss all possible outcomes of this project. They imagined and evaluated major design, performance, functionality, and cost issues.

4. Construction and Pollution: BSE construction provides different methods for containing storm water runoff and pollutants from construction.

• Silt fencing and booms
• Curb inlet protection – a filtering device to remove debris and pollution from entering the stormwater piping.
• Stabilized Construction Entrance (SCE) – a barrier that keeps dirt in construction site and prevents it from entering our streets!

5. Storm water Design

• Use of bioswales and rain gardens
• Eliminating pollution from stormwater runoff
• What is Bioswale? It is a method of replicating the natural site hydrology processes and managing onsite runoff!

I know 2019 sounds like a long time from now but so did 2018. Now we’re less than 3 months away! I don’t know about you but to think all of that is being taken into consideration to make sure we meet the LEED® standards is incredible! I’m excited to see the final project, are you?

Thanks for reading!

Note: All information was found on the panels by the BSE construction site and their sources were usgbc.org and LinkedIn.