The Bietz Center for Student Life, currently under construction, is going to be the first eco-friendly building on campus.
Members of Renew Enhance Neutralize (REN), one of the projects sponsored by Enactus, came up with the idea of the certification early last semester. The group worked to obtain all the information needed in order to carry out the certification process.
The certification will be done through green|spaces, a Chattanooga-based company that certifies local businesses in the sustainable development area. The company focuses on “promoting sustainable living, working and building.”
“We chose green|spaces because it’s the closest company in the area that is doing exactly what we were looking for [which is to] promote a healthier environment, [that] translates into healthier bodies, taking care of God’s creation and saving money,” said Nadine Peteros, sophomore business administration major and REN group member.
While it will be similar to other buildings on campus, particularly Summerour, the Bietz Center will have features that qualify it as sustainable, though specific features are yet to be announced.
Long months of work and research culminated two weeks ago when the group was notified that the certification fee had been paid by the school’s administration.
“It’s a nice way for Southern to show we care. We care about the environment, we care about the community, we care about our students. We care,” said Marty Hamilton, associate vice president of finance.
“The green|spaces certification is creating awareness of what is sustainable. A medallion on the wall is nice, [but] we want to do environmentally friendly construction,” Hamilton said. “We live in a wonderful environment.”
The six month-long certification process will begin in the next few weeks with hopes of having it completed by August, a year before the building is projected to be finished.
As stated by Peteros, REN’s ultimate goal for this project is to get people to “care about [the] environment because this is what God gave us, so we have to take care of it.”
Image credit: Alexia Bernardo