The University of Wyoming has seen a flurry of construction projects for the last fifteen years and anticipates even more in the future, but as each project is approved the impact it is having on students and the environment around the university becomes increasingly more noticeable.
“I was so blown away by how beautiful this [Engineering Education and Research Building (EERB) building is, which is all I can hope for in the new [Science Initiative (SI)] building,” junior Frank Richard Wright, a Geography and Environment and Natural Resources major, said. “One of the issues I have with UW is that these buildings need to be both high quality for the present and the future.”
Sustainability has been the focus of the university construction projects for some time now and the growth that has been seen on campus is unprecedented.
However, expansion is favored over renovation. A 2018 report by Dr. Rachael Budowle, Assistant Professor at the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and a member of the Campus Sustainability Committee, reveals that approximately one million square feet have been added to the campus in the past decade.
“Total unit energy use has gone up; that wasn’t always the case,” Forest Selmer, Interim AVP UW Operations, said. “We were able to steer the tide for energy reductions for quite a while, absorbing STEM when it came on, but the addition of the EERB has kicked us over the edge.”
Selmer explains that the Lewis Street Projects, such as the EERB and the SI buildings, are not cheap and will increase energy consumption. However, the installation of new water lines and climate control technology is geared towards reduction of said energy usage.
“We are energy hogs,” Selmer said. “But that is why our SI building has a brand new heat recovery system that lets you recover 80% of energy lost and return it to the airstream that goes back into the building. We have a similar system in EERB but it’s not a building-wide system like this one is, and we are excited to see how it turns out.”
Selmer also said that while students may have grown weary of construction projects, the idea is to be synergistic in preparation for future construction plans such as the north residence hall, which is said to begin construction in 12 to 15 months.
“It’s been a major impact but I would’ve hoped that students are excited. I don’t think they know the grand plan of everything because students have a job to do; get their degree,” Selmer said. “They don’t want to deal with the other stuff like a compactor shaking the whole building, construction noises, the dust.”
Selmer’s focus is on the future, whereas some students are focused on the now when it comes to construction and what new facilities are providing for them.
“I will say there is some skepticism about the new construction,” Wright said.
Wright clarified that although the great thing about the installation of new PVC pipes is that it is long-lasting water transportation, and has been done hastily. “A student I know mentioned that on the corner of 15th and Ivinson, as soon as it snowed, they rushed through the job.”
