A group of Ball State University professors are working together in hopes of spreading the sustainability movement not only throughout the university, but also to Muncie and the rest of Indiana. Their message is clear; Indiana needs to offer people a good quality of life and a more sustainable community infrastructure to attract people and businesses.
One of these professors is Scott Truex, professor of urban planning in the College of Architecture and Planning. Truex said he realized sustainability and a good quality of life were important to Indiana.
"We know in Indiana that we need to create a good quality of living," he said. "We are not blessed with mountains or oceans. We need to create a good quality of living that includes good schools, parks, neighborhoods and cultural events."
In recent years the university, city and state have made strides to become more environmentally friendly. Locally, the most visible evidence of this is the newly constructed David Letterman Communication and Media Building. The $21 million building which opened in September 2007 is equipped with numerous features and systems designed to reduced both operating costs and effect on the environment.
The Letterman Building is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. Buildings that earn a LEED certification have passed an inspection by the United States Green Building Council.
Robert Koester, director of the Ball State Center for Energy Research, Education and Service, said the LEED certification is not easy to attain because many aspects of the buildings' construction and operation are considered.
"The basic LEED certification criteria is a 69-point system that is for new construction," Koester said. "As you go through, you have to score in various categories and accumulate at least a 26-point positive achievement."
The inspection covers numerous areas of building construction and functionality, Koester said, to determine the overall effectiveness of building design. It has criteria for materials and resources, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, energy and atmosphere in site conditions.
While he acknowledges the importance of making buildings more environmentally friendly, Truex said this is only one aspect of a growing issue that must be addressed by leaders on all levels. He said people, not only those in the architecture community, need to realize this fact in order for real change to occur.
"We are not concerned with just one detail," Truex said. "It must be a holistic approach if real change is to occur."
Many speeches and seminars have been held around campus to inform the public about sustainability. Recently, the College of Architecture and Planning welcomed Jeremy Harris to speak to students about sustainability. Harris was the mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii between 1994 and 2004 and is also a well known speaker on the topic of sustainability.
Ball State landscape architecture professor John Motloch said Harris worked to get students involved in the sustainability movement, including first-year architecture students. He gave a special workshop that looked at the sustainability footprints of Muncie.
Truex said changing the current patterns of municipal expansion and land use would not be easy, but he said if enough people in the community helped with the efforts, the area could become a more environmentally friendly location.
"I would like to see Muncie become one of the premier green cities in the nation," he said.
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