Campus Planning

Climate Change Affects Everything We Do

Image Leave a comment

It is difficult to overstate how critical climate change is, but we are fortunate that the campus – students, faculty, staff, activists, committees, community members – is fully engaged in addressing it.  We saw hundreds of UMass Amherst students join the global climate strike movement on September 20th.  We also see a sensitivity to sustainable development in all of the new construction popping up on campus.

The influx of new buildings and renovations reflect the Master Plan’s sustainability efforts and UMass Amherst’s commitment to achieving LEED-Silver or higher for all new construction and major renovations and to exceed the requirements of state Executive Order 484. That being said, UMass is passionate about being a green campus and proud of its achievements.  We want our students and our community to feel proud, too!

The Champion’s Center is the latest green building on campus to achieve official LEED Gold certification, adding up to a total of 14 GBCI LEED certified buildings on campus that account for 1.465 million GSF (over 10%) of the overall campus building area.  In an effort to inform current students, alumni, and the local public of the wide range and depth of work associated with our green buildings, Campus Planning compiled information on each project here: https://www.umass.edu/cp/green-buildings-infrastructure . Users can also explore the campus through the Self-Guided Green Building Walking Tour, either in person or digitally, and learn about the mindful building and planning strategies that each building has implemented. The digital map illustrates campus efforts to meet sustainability goals and acts as a resource for future students to learn about the major actions (i.e. building a building) integrated into the Climate Action Plan. Not only is the map an encouraging display of successful efforts, it is also a reminder of the critical nature of climate change and why UMA chooses to build mindfully.

Within some of these new LEED Certified buildings, and scattered across many existing facilities, there are places where our community of bright, bold, innovative thinkers are building a sustainable future. This includes the Pop-Up All Campus Makerspace in Agricultural Engineering Rooms 114 and 120 where the Do-It-Yourself movement is finding another home to create beautiful and useful things by reusing products and working with recycled materials.  Campus Planning supported this growing community by developing a Maker Network Map to highlight the many places on campus where DIY, sustainable and innovative solutions are made, including in the Student Union Craft Center, the Scientific Glassblowing Lab, the Studio Arts Ceramics classrooms, the Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication Lab (including 3D-printing), and more.

This is your campus – we want to help you find and explore all the resources that are available and to be proud of our community.  Please share your ideas to improve our campus and connect with us via Twitter, Facebook, and our webpage!

 

Madeline Szczypinski, Green Building Researcher, M. Arch 2020

Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, AIA, LEED AP BD&C, Senior Campus Planner

Campus Planning

Green Buildings Tour: Family Weekend Fall 2019

Leave a comment

Every semester, Campus Planning gives a Green Buildings Tour, free and open to the public to inspire students, faculty, staff, and the public to experience and learn more about the valuable green buildings on campus. This semester’s tour begins at 3pm on October 18th, a great way to kick off Family Weekend! Please RSVP on the Campus Planning Facebook event page.

The tour starts at Isenberg’s new Innovation Hub by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), and continues to the Olver Design Building (Leerz Weinzapfel), the Integrated Learning Center (Stantec, Inc.), the beloved Old Chapel (Finegold Architects),  South College (Kilment Halsband Architects) and concludes at the recently LEED Gold Certified Champion’s Center (JCJ Architecture).

Other sustainability events that weekend can be found at the UMass Events Calendar and Family Weekend events can be found here.

Map of Green Building Tour

Uncategorized

Earth Day 2019 – Spring into Science with a Green Building Tour

Leave a comment

Tour the green buildings of the campus’ science district! Ludmilla Pavlova, Senior Campus Planner, and Ted Mendoza, Capitol Project Manager, will lead a walking tour Friday, 4/26 from 3:30-4:30 pm of the Research & Education Greenhouse, the North Chiller Plant, and the new Physical Sciences Building.

Free and open to the public – RSVP at cli.re/6dpK5J!

Tour Schedule
3:30 – 3:35 PM – Meet at the Research & Education Greenhouses

3:35 – 3:50 PM – Tour the Research & Education Greenhouses

Most students have visited the Durfee Conservatory at some point, but what about the Research & Education Greenhouses?  Learn about the College of Natural Sciences LEED Gold teaching and research facilities!

3:50 – 3:55 PM – Walk

3:55 – 4:10 PM – Tour the North Chiller Plant

Get inside the North Chiller Plant, one of the two chiller plants on campus, and learn about the consistent, uninterruptible availability of chilled water, critical to buildings where research-intensive activity occurs. We use chilled water for comfort-related cooling (i.e. air conditioning), as well as chilled water service for research-focused, process-related purposes; for example to cool a laser or temper a chemical reaction. Engineering buff or not, the tour makes the sustainable aspects of this green building digestible and accessible to the general audience.

4:10 – 4:15 PM – Walk

4:15 – 4:30 PM – Tour the Physical Sciences Building

Recently certified LEED Gold, the PSB houses flex laboratories and office space for a wide variety of physics, computational, and synthetic chemistry research.  As part of the project, the existing West Experiment Station (WES) was disassembled, relocated, and rebuilt brick by brick. The rehabilitated structure now houses 20 faculty and graduate student offices from the departments of Physics and Chemistry.

UMass Campus Planning
Website I Facebook I Blog

Uncategorized

Talking Truth Series Fall Green Building Tours!

Leave a comment

Get the inside stories of the renovated Old Chapel, South College addition, Integrative Learning Center, and brand new Design Building! Ludmilla Pavlova, Senior Campus Planner, will lead a walking tours on Thursday, 9/14 and 10/5 from 4:00-5:30pm. As a bonus, we will be giving away miniature 3D printed models of the Design Building!

Both tours are free and open to the public; sponsored by Talking Truth: Finding Your Voice Around the Climate Crisis, a collaboration of UMass students, librarians, faculty, and staff. The theme of the fall 2017 series is “Our Campus, Our Home.” For more information, visit https://websites.umass.edu/talkingtruth/.

RSVP Here! https://www.facebook.com/events/130885690873011/

 

Tour Schedule
4:00 – 4:05 PM – Meet at W.E.B. DuBois Library lobby

4:05 – 4:20 PM – Old Chapel
Old Chapel RenovationNew renovations to the iconic structure include a new entry pavilion, double height entry lobby with an elevator, multipurpose space, and the unveiling of the existing rose window on the north elevation viewed from the Great Hall for the first time since 1936.

4:20 – 4:25 PM – Walk

4:25 – 4:40 PM – South College
South College Academic FacilityFrom 2015-2017, South College underwent a major renovation, restoration, and addition project. The existing structure was restored, and all major building systems were upgraded to meet code. A four-story, 60,000 S.F. addition was constructed on the west side of the building, housing common areas, faculty offices, and classrooms with state-of-the-art audiovisual systems. Together, The renovation and addition now serve as the primary home of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, including the departments of English, Philosophy, Art History, and Women, Gender & Sexual Studies.

4:40 – 4:50 PM – Walk

4:50 – 5:05 PM – Integrative Learning Center
Integrative Learning CenterThe four-story structure located in the center of campus provides 2,000 seats of new classroom space as well as space for several academic departments including Communication, Journalism, Linguistics, and Film Studies. Classrooms were designed to be fully equipped with newly developing educational technologies in addition to a number of the other digitally enabled learning spaces.

5:05 – 5:15 PM – Walk

5:15 – 5:30 PM – Design Building
Design BuildingThe Design Building is located on the southern portion of parking Lot 62 north of the Studio Arts Building and houses the Architecture, Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning, and Building & Construction Technology academic programs. The building is intended to showcase integrated design through a stacked courtyard surrounded by studios, classrooms, workshops, and offices

UMass Campus Planning
Website I Facebook I Blog

 

Exploring the Student Experience, Uncategorized

UMass Amherst Opens Doors to Green Buildings

Leave a comment

Get the inside stories of the renovated Old Chapel, South College addition, Integrative Learning Center, and brand new Design Building! Ludmilla Pavlova, Senior Campus Planner, will lead a walking tour on Thursday, April 13th. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP here! For more information, visit https://websites.umass.edu/talkingtruth/.

Tour Schedule
4:00 – 4:10 PM – Meet in W.E.B. DuBois Library lobby

4:10 – 4:25 PM – Old Chapel
Old Chapel RenovationNew renovations to the iconic structure include a new entry pavilion, double height entry lobby with an elevator, multipurpose space, and the unveiling of the existing rose window on the north elevation viewed from the Great Hall for the first time since 1936.

4:25 – 4:40 PM – South College Academic Facility
South College Academic FacilityFrom 2015-2017, South College underwent a major renovation, restoration, and addition project. The existing structure was restored, and all major building systems were upgraded to meet code. A four-story, 60,000 S.F. addition was constructed on the west side of the building, housing common areas, faculty offices, and classrooms with state-of-the-art audiovisual systems. Together, The renovation and addition now serve as the primary home of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, including the departments of English, Philosophy, Art History, and Women, Gender & Sexual Studies.

4:40 – 4:50 PM – Walk

4:50 – 5:05 PM – Integrative Learning Center
Integrative Learning CenterThe four-story structure located in the center of campus provides 2,000 seats of new classroom space as well as space for several academic departments including Communication, Journalism, Linguistics, and Film Studies. Classrooms were designed to be fully equipped with newly developing educational technologies in addition to a number of the other digitally enabled learning spaces.

5:05 – 5:15 PM – Walk

5:15 – 5:30 PM – Design Building
Design BuildingThe Design Building is located on the southern portion of parking Lot 62 north of the Studio Arts Building and houses the Architecture, Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning, and Building & Construction Technology academic programs. The building is intended to showcase integrated design through a stacked courtyard surrounded by studios, classrooms, workshops, and offices.

The UMass Amherst Libraries host a series of interactive climate change events. Now in its second year, the series is organized by Talking Truth: Finding Your Voice Around the Climate Crisis, a collaborative community comprised of UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff working together to integrate the intellectual, emotional and spiritual dimensions of climate change. The theme of the spring 2017 series is “Living and Working with Purpose in a Time of Climate Disruption.

Website
Facebook
Blog
Sustainable UMass

Uncategorized

New Green Campus Resources Now Available!

Leave a comment

After many years of hard work, we are excited to announce the launch of several new Green Campus Resources, available now on the UMass Campus Planning website.


The LEED Buildings & Green Infrastructure page contains a list of all campus LEED buildings and sustainable infrastructure projects. Click each project to explore an overview, sustainable features, LEED statistics, a green building brochure, videos, and articles.

 

Campus Sustainability Maps offer new ways to view project statistics and energy consumption through an interactive, GIS interface.

Click here to launch the Sustainability Explorer

The Sustainability Explorer provides information on campus sustainability initiatives. Projects fall under eight categories: advocacy, building, energy, food, landscape, recycling, transportation, and water. Zoom in and select an icon to view a description of each project and reveal additional information, including a project website, photos, and LEED scorecards. Zoom out to the campus boundary to view campus-wide projects.

The Building Energy Explorer calculates and compares the Energy Use Intensity (EUI) for UMass buildings and associates this data with a map to visualize and analyze energy consumption across the campus. The application includes navigation icons, printing customization tools, background information options, layers, and a legend in the upper-right hand corner.

The Frank A. Waugh Arboretum Map/Database and Campus Trees Database were developed by the arboretum to showcase the urban forest of the UMass campus and teach tree identification and appreciation.

 

Green Campus Policy Resources provide sustainability and energy conservation initiatives to campus staff, as well as designers and contractors working with the University.

·         Green Building Guidelines v2 and LEEDv4 provide a framework for approaching new construction and major renovation projects at UMass Amherst that are undergoing LEED v4 certification by focusing the conversation on those green building aspects that are most important to the campus. They are intended to be the beginning of a dynamic conversation between designers, environmental consultants and constructors, university stakeholders, and users of new high performance buildings.

·         Energy Modeling Guidelines were developed in 2015 as a resource on how to: i) generate energy models for campus buildings; ii) provide quality assurance review of current energy models; and iii) share UMass Amherst energy modeling input parameters with project design teams for them to establish a baseline building energy profile.

·         The Building Measurement, Verification, Coordination and Template Plan was begun in 2013 and finalized in 2015 as a resource to project teams that undertake the measurement and verification of building systems during the first year of occupancy of a new building and renovation project, particularly projects undergoing LEED certification.

·         Green Building Guidelines 2013 provide a framework for approaching new construction and major renovation projects at UMass Amherst that are undergoing LEED certification by focusing the conversation on green building aspects that are most important to the campus. They are intended to be the beginning of a dynamic conversation between designers, environmental consultants and constructors, university stakeholders, and users of new high performance buildings.

Please use these materials as a resource, and share them with friends, family, colleagues, and students. Go UMass!

Campus Planning, Systems

Designing Tomorrow’s Campus: Resiliency, Vulnerability and Adaptation

Leave a comment

UMassChangeModelThe World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities held  September 14-16 at MIT will focus on designing tomorrow’s campus for resiliency, vulnerability, and adaptation.  Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Senior Campus Planner, and Dennis Swinford, Director of the Office of Campus Planning at MIT will be presenting a case study of 15 years of sustainability action at UMass Amherst and discussing how Campus Planning supports a framework to meet greenhouse gas emissions goals over the next 15 years.  Below is a summary of their recommendations:

1. Process, Governance and Internal Leadership:

  • provide comprehensive and integrated strategic, academic, financial & physical plans
  • design an inclusive and transparent planning process
  • integrate Sustainability Reporting systems into planning efforts
  • ensure the continuity and consistency for SD decision
  • develop incentive structures to support progress on sustainability goals

2. Research and Data:

  • ensure cross-departmental engagement in capital project planning that identifies important sustainable development issues
  • develop and apply a rigorous carbon budget for campus development
  • leverage the academic curriculum for project-based learning, operations research and the campus as a living laboratory

3. Leadership for Society:

  • advocate for full commitment to sustainable development and greenhouse gas reduction goals
  • model governance/negotiation strategies to resolve conflicts and pursue smart growth
  • place local/institutional decisions into a regional/ global framework of resiliency activity
  • practice what is taught by leading the change effort to connect academic and physical planning toward meeting the triple bottom line.

https://sustainability.mit.edu/wssd2016

Campus Planning, Landscape, Systems, Transportation, Uncategorized

Draft UMass Green Building Guidelines LEEDv4 for Public Comment

2 Comments

Green Building Guidelines Draft LEED v4

The University of Massachusetts is dedicated to sustainability in all aspects of Campus Systems. For the past year and a half the Green Building Subcommittee of the Chancellor’s Sustainability Committee has been working with Campus Planning to develop an updated version of our Green Building Guidelines for UMass. Since the University is committed to achieving or exceeding LEED Silver certification for all new construction and major renovation projects, we must continue to evolve and improve our approach to sustainable building to continue to provide innovative design solutions for the future of the flagship campus.

When the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) released the latest version of LEED (v4) in 2014, UMass took the initiative to update the existing campus Green Building Guidelines. The new iteration of the guidelines aims to clarify changes between the previous version (2009) and version 4, as well as provide context and recommendations specific to UMass for each LEED credit.

Sustainable Landscape at Southwest Residential Area
Sustainable Landscape at Southwest Residential Area

The Green Building Subcommittee  has released its Green Building Guidelines Draft LEED v4 for public comment until April 30, and is excited to invite the broader campus community to provide feedback.  The subcommittee took a credit-by-credit approach to analyzing campus infrastructure, policies and practices as they pertain to green building and LEED certification.  For this most recent iteration of the Green Building Guidelines, each credit has been revised and re-written to align with the most recent version of LEED v4.

If you are a UMass student, faculty or staff member, project manager or a consultant who works with Campus Planning and Design & Construction Management or other units within Facilities & Construction Services, please review the document and let us know what you think by April 30!  We value input from our community as we continue to build a beautiful and sustainable campus.

Campus Planning

Campus Green Building Resources: LEED and Beyond

Leave a comment

UMass Amherst is a STARS Gold institution that has received numerous awards for its sustainability efforts in higher education.  To celebrate the  physical elements of the campus sustainability achievements, and to inform campus staff, faculty and students how to support green building projects,  Campus Planning and Design & Construction are sponsoring a presentation on Campus Green Building Resources: LEED and Beyond.

Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Senior Campus Planner will review the commitment UMass Amherst has made to sustainable design and construction and the range of sustainability/LEED resources available to campus staff, faculty and students as they work on planning, designing and constructing a sustainable campus.  The presentation will also assist staff in navigating the LEED rating systems, provide an in-depth review of campus-wide programs and practices that support LEED building certification, and will encourage discussion of what additional resources are needed to facilitate on-going renovation and modernization work that supports a green campus.

In order to accommodate participant schedules, the same presentation will be offered on two different dates as follows:

Monday, October 26, 1:00 – 2:30pm in Campus Center 917

Friday, October 30, 9:00 – 10:30am in Campus Center 911

Campus Planning, Exploring the Student Experience

Student Experience Master Plan Begins!

Leave a comment

UMass Amherst has begun its Student Experience Master Plan with Cannon Design / Brailsford and Dunlavey. The plan will create a vision to comprehensively improve the quality of life for all our students.

When students seek assistance with learning, leadership or life skills they deserve a comprehensive response and support from campus staff that spans organizational boundaries and maximizes available assets – including support programs and physical space – in a manner that reinforces our commitment to them and their long-term success on campus and in life. The Student Experience Master Plan vision and planning process aims to support academic and student life strategic planning that maps a strategy for how this can happen on our campus.

SEMP

The project was initiated by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life and will be guided by a Steering Committee that is comprised of students, staff and faculty. This committee met on November 18, 2014 to start the project and review the proposed process and timelines, and to discuss how best to engage the campus in strategic planning for the future of the student experience on campus. Members of the campus community can view the presentation on Google Drive: http://ow.ly/EGiLZ  (please make sure that you are not logged in with a personal Google account before you click on the link – the link requires that you login to your @umass.edu Google Apps account; and note that the presentation is rather large, so please select Download to save the file on your device).

The consultants will be conducting facility tours in December, visiting Student Affairs and Campus Life departments and getting to know other student resources on campus.  Then at the start of the spring semester they will conduct Open Forums to reach out to the campus community and get feedback from students,  staff and faculty.  Come back to this blog periodically to check in on our progress!

Creating a Culture of Planning