UNC’s Student Union may be leaving behind its unattractive 1960s counterpart buildings around campus for a 21st century facelift.
While we do not have any idea as to what the new Union will look like, based off of the other unions the feasibility study looked toward for ideas, it seems the new building will be larger with more recreational and study spaces. One of the most common requests on the recommendation cube within the Union is a new bowling alley. Such changes would require millions of dollars and many years to construct.
This board recommends changes to the Union, but we encourage the student body to push for more than just cosmetic and recreational changes. We see potential for progress toward a greener Union, as a part of the sustainability commitments the University has made.
These green renovations need not be extreme and can actually cut expenses rather than contribute to the overwhelming costs of a new bowling alley. Installing solar panels, using gray water in toilets like in the Global Center and even keeping a colony of honey bees on the roof as part of Edible Campus could easily cut costs for energy, water consumption and honey within the dining halls and Alpine Bagel.
As part of the University’s sustainability mission, though, we believe students ought to have a say in both the green measures in the Union and the implementation of those measures. “Insourcing” the task of creating a greener Union to the environmental science and related departments creates an experiential educational opportunity that allows students to leave a “heelprint” on the Union.
While there are some small improvements that we do support that do not fall under this umbrella of green change — like a door for the meditation room — we think overall, renovations will be underutilized by the student population (really, how many more study spaces do we need?) and inflict unnecessary harm on the environment.
Construction and demolition accounted for 26 percent of total non-industrial waste last year in the US, the majority of which ends up in landfills and other permanent debris storage. Large-scale renovations will ultimately lead to thousands of pounds of waste left to sit in landfills for years to come. Even the transportation of building materials and the use of large machinery requires tons of gas which results in carbon dioxide emissions.
While these will exist to a lesser extent for a green project, we still believe that the benefits of renewable changes will ultimately make up for construction costs.
Furthermore, the money saved from not completely renovating the perfectly usable current Union can go to projects which are much more in need of funding around campus, such as living wages for adjunct professors and other faculty, scholarships for students and affordable campus housing.
