TTU Wins Governor’s Award Environmental Stewardship For Building Green

Tennessee Tech has been named one of this year’s Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award winner for building green.

University Sustainability Manager Delayne Miller said the new lab science building contributed to the award. Miller said the facility was certified by the U.S. Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

“This building is our first LEED certified building that we have,” Miller said. “The additional cost for the LEED certification was paid out of our student green fee, so our students were a part of this.”

Miller said the student green fund also paid for pool filtration at the new Marc L. Burnett Student Recreation and Fitness Center. Miller said the system saves up to 700,000 gallons of water annually and $10,000 in operating costs.

“When we use the student fee to support projects, we have a sustainable campus committee, and it is made of faculty and staff and majority of students make up this committee,” Miller said. “We vote on how to spend these funds every time we have a proposal submitted to us.”

On top of that, Miller said resident halls received sustainability upgrades through new HVAC systems and LED lighting. The university will be formally recognized in an awards ceremony on October 4th in Franklin.

“Our students care a lot about the environment and practicing green activities,” Miller said. “So us being acknowledge at this level is awesome.”

The Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards program recognizes exceptional voluntary actions that improve or protect the environment and natural resources with projects or initiatives not required by law or regulation.