Emory University

A green strategy┬áEmory University is changing the face of its Atlanta campus with a master plan update that reflects a belief in sustainability, while respecting the history of the century-old campus, as Keith Regan learns.┬á  Founded as a college in 1836, Emory University took a major step down the road to becoming a prominent southern institution in 1914, when Coca-Cola Company founder Asa Candler backed it with the donation of land in what was then suburban Atlanta. Today, that campus is part of a residential enclave within the Georgia city, a campus that is continuing to grow and modernize. According to Steve Thweatt, associate vice president of planning, design & construction at the university, Emory continues to be the site of extensive construction work as long-range plans to update and expand campus facilities are carried out. Known for its liberal arts programs as well as its professional schools and its healthcare system, EmoryÔÇöwhose current faculty roster includes former President Jimmy Carter and author Salman RushdieÔÇöwas recently ranked in the top 20 universities in the country by US News & World Report. As students prepared for spring break in March 2009, three distinct projects were going up on the Emory campus as work on carrying out a 2005 update to the campus master plan continues. Work includes a nine-story expansion to the Rollins School of Public Health building; a new campus bookstore, admissions offices and caf├®; and a new freshman residence hall that will add 370 beds and a host of amenities for students. ÔÇ£The decision was made in the master plan update to invest in upgrading freshman housing,ÔÇØ notes university architect Jen Fabrick. The new facility will feature community study rooms, community living rooms with fireplaces, and a raised outdoor green plaza over a parking deck. All three projects were just coming out of the ground at the start of 2009, and all have delivery dates in mid-2010 or later. All the projects now under way are being built with the schoolÔÇÖs longstanding commitment to sustainability, which dates to the early 1990s, when a grassroots student push to begin a recycling program quickly became part of the schoolÔÇÖs philosophy. Emory has amassed a number of green building firsts since then, earning one of the US Green Building CouncilÔÇÖs first Gold LEED certifications for existing building renovations on a university campus, a distinction granted to the Goizueta Business School in 2004.┬áEmoryÔÇÖs Whitehead Biomedical Research Building also became the first LEED-certified research building constructed in the Southeast when it was topped off in 2000. Today, Emory holds the distinction of being the campus with the most square feet of LEED-certified building space in America. The campus now requires all new construction to strive for at least LEED Silver status. Building green is part of a larger belief in keeping the semi-urban campus green overall, with the 2004 master plan calling for 48 percent of the 700 acres of university land to be undeveloped. Across the country, many campuses have been forced to put large-scale building projects on hold as the credit markets dried up. Emory has managed to keep the projects closest to being construction-ready on track but has pulled back some on building plans that are earlier in the development pipeline. ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt think thereÔÇÖs a campus in the country that hasnÔÇÖt been forced to make similar decisions,ÔÇØ says Thweatt. Because the campus has been the site of so much building activity in recent years, Emory has sharpened its focus on construction site safety and on keeping students and faculty separate from the work zones. ÔÇ£We make sure we have a clearly defined work site and staging area for each job, and we require contractors and flagmen to direct traffic in and around the job sites,ÔÇØ Thweatt says. ÔÇ£We take all the steps we can to make sure the public and the construction work arenÔÇÖt mixing.ÔÇØ In addition to the campus itself, the work must be conducted in harmony with the surrounding residential neighborhood as much as possible. ÔÇ£They want to see as few construction vehicles and as little noise and disruption as possible.ÔÇØ Emory has also adopted an owner-controlled insurance approach to work, giving the University, as project owner, a larger role in ensuring work site safety. With some subcontracts still to be awarded on the latest batch of work, Emory is hopeful the slowing economy will help stretch its dollars, with what is expected to be tougher competition for work keeping bids of high quality and low cost. ThatÔÇÖs a distinct difference from earlier phases of construction, which took place during a building boom in the South. ÔÇ£I would describe it as a rollercoaster,ÔÇØ says Thweatt. ÔÇ£When the master plan was completed, prices were on the rise. We saw sharp increases. Now weÔÇÖve seen prices drop, and that could make this a perfect time with perfect conditions in which to get projects done quickly and cost-effectively. But now the credit crunch is affecting which projects can go forward in that environment, which is really an ideal time to get work completed.ÔÇØEmory typically uses a construction-manager-at-risk model for its projects but often tests out innovations as they come along, including more collaborative approaches such as integrated project delivery, says Fabrick. The growth will likely continue despite the credit crunch. The campusÔÇÖs overall look has been unified by a 1998 decree by the UniversityÔÇÖs president to create buildings that reflected the original campus look, which includes features such as red tile roofs and finishes such as stucco, marble and granite. ÔÇ£We have deans come to us now and ask for a new building and say they want it to be an Emory building,ÔÇØ Fabrick says. ÔÇ£And we all know what that means.ÔÇØ ÔÇô Editorial research by Dan Finn┬á