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Paper ID #2004-1972 Weaving Green Engineering into Campus Construction A Professor’s and a Student’s Perspective

Charles D. Turner, Leirad Carrasco Department of Civil Engineering University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, Texas 79968

Abstract

Students and faculty rarely have the opportunity to work together on the design of a major facility that both are going to use. Funds were appropriated to design and build an engineering annex at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). A Green Engineering Building Design Contest (GEBDC) was proposed and approved by the faculty and administration. These groups enthusiastically endorsed the undertaking largely because it would serve as a great learning experience. As a product, the faculty, students and architect worked together through a series of meetings to develop and incorporate sustainable design options into the structure. The goal was to demonstrate UTEP’s leadership in engineering design and sustainability concepts for the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez region. This paper describes and analyzes the GEBDC process and its impact on the sustainable engineering initiative and engineering education at UTEP as well the impact on building design. The authors, one a civil engineering professor and the other, a Ph. D. candidate in the Environmental Science and Engineering program provide two perspectives on the challenges and outcomes of this effort. This paper is of interest to faculty members involved in the integration of sustainable design concepts into the curriculum. The contest provided a cooperative learning experience for both students and faculty, and consequently, made significant contributions to the student’s engineering education.

Background

UTEP initiated green engineering and science efforts in 1997. UTEP joined forces with Virginia Tech (VT) to submit a proposal to a large energy corporation for the development of a student and faculty exchange that would initiate a greening program in the Colleges of Engineering and Science at UTEP. UTEP would build on Virginia Tech’s existing green program and Virginia Tech students and faculty would have an experience at a culturally diverse institution that has been shaped by environmental challenges and opportunities along the U.S.-Mexico border. The proposal was not funded but it sparked an interest in moving ahead with sustainable/green academic initiatives at UTEP. Funding for these initiatives was secured in the 1999 proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the second phase of UTEP’s Model Institution of

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Carrasco, L., & Turner, C. (2004, June), Weaving Green Engineering Into Campus Construction Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13360