UNC Charlotte Office o

Built Environment

The UNC Charlotte built environment continues to expand to accommodate new growth. UNC Charlotte is now the fourth largest of the 16 institutions within the University of North Carolina system and the largest University in the Charlotte region.

UNC Charlotte is making a commitment to understand the impacts of constructing, refurbishing and maintaining its built environment and aims to reduce the negative impacts associated with this process.

Built Environment best Practices:

Sustainability Practice	Yes
LEED new construction	P
Green Cleaning	P
Construction recycling	P

1.1 Maintenance and Operations

Within maintenance and operations, there is an effective resource recycling program. The most common recycled materials are; paint, construction debris, metal, paper and wood waste. There is no system to date based on environmental priorities or issues to guide the preventative maintenance system, such as LEED EB. See Appendix 3

1.2 New Construction

UNC Charlotte has added an estimated 1.6 million square feet of space excluding parking decks since 2000. The new Student Union on which construction started in June 2007 is the first new building to incorporate LEED principles in the design process. However, it is not a designated LEED project.

The Bioinformatics Building under construction in the Charlotte Research Institute is the first new construction building on campus designed to attain LEED Silver Status.

1.3 Master Planning Process

The long-term sustainability strategy of the built environment is addressed in the UNC Charlotte Master Plan.

1.4 Green Cleaning

“Green Cleaning is defined as cleaning to protect health without harming the environment. A Green Cleaning program goes beyond chemical and equipment choices. It includes policies, procedures, and training and shared responsibility efforts that minimize the impact of cleaning materials on the health of building occupants and protect the environment as a whole.

Current products, processes and procedures aren’t necessarily bad, but newer technologies and processes make it possible to clean effectively, efficiently, and with less impact on health and the environment. And to be clear, green cleaning is more than switching a few products; it’s about effective cleaning to create healthier buildings and at the same time reduce environmental impacts.” (Green Cleaning Network 2008)

As the health and environmental benefits of green cleaning have become more evident the awareness of green cleaning processes has grown and been adopted by many educational institutions.

A green cleaning program has health, safety, social and environmental benefits. The typical benefits are improved indoor air quality, a reduction of chemical residues, reduced waste, a reduction in toxicity leading to improved air and water quality. An effective green cleaning program may lead to reduced absenteeism, better morale, and increased productivity for students, staff and faculty.

Housing and Residence Life Green Cleaning Program

The Housekeeping Department of Housing and Residence Life is a campus leader in implementing a green cleaning system. They continue to improve their approach by analyzing new methods of cleaning and new products. Outlined below are some of the green cleaning procedures adopted by this department.

·Bucket less mopping system has reduced the use of water by 62 gals a day.

·The use of concentrated chemicals has reduced spending by about 30%

·Housing is using all micro fiber and bottle recycled mops, micro fiber dust mops, and cleaning cloths; these help contain the dirt and remove more dirt from the building. Micro fiber cloths can be washed at least 500 times.

·Extended entrance matting program to include recycled matting at all entrances up to 27’ in some areas. Hepa filter vacuums reduce partials from the air.

·Energy efficiency replacement system. Hot water heaters, stoves and refrigerators are replaced with energy efficient models

Facilities Management Green Cleaning

A key driver of the Facilities Management Green Cleaning Program is to obtain LEED points for buildings being constructed to the LEED Standard, in addition to the health and environmental benefits accrued from such a program. Highlights of the program are:

Cleaning products are Green Seal approved

·Reviewing products for greener options such as looking at non-metal interlinking floor finish, non-butyl wax stripper as well as floor and carpet cleaning equipment that uses less water. (Boost auto scrubber and Stride micro-fiber carpet machine)

·Vacuums with HEPA filters and lower noise output

·An entrance door mat replacement program

·In restrooms: hands free paper towel dispenser which regulates paper flow (paper towel usage down 25%)

·Coreless toilet paper (no paper waste)

·Green Seal hand soap (Aero blue foam soap)

·Trash can liners made up of reprocessed resins

·Using Microfiber cloths, wet mops, and dust mops

·Instituted a bucket less mopping system