Group seeks to provide Univ. with 'green forum'

By: CLAIRE MILLER

Posted: 1/23/08

Although the University's colors are red and black, a new group on campus is promoting another color in the community: green.

Emerging Green Builders is an organization that "wants to promote (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and energy efficient construction and design," according to its Facebook group.

"It's really for young professionals, students, faculty and people in the community who want to be involved in the promotion of green initiatives in the Athens area," said Jesse Oakley, a junior from Gainesville and the group's external affairs director.

FIRST MEETING

When: 5:30 today
Where: 501 and 502
Caldwell Hall

The group's environmental concerns don't end with LEED certification, a ratings system designed to promote environmentally sound buildings, Oakley said. The Emerging Green Builders also advocate "organic food, the removal of invasive species, sustainability issues and promotion of conservation."

Oakley said environmentally concerned groups in Athens and at the University work separately from one another on these issues. But this group will work to bring all the efforts together.

"There are already a lot of green initiatives going on here, but we don't really relate very well with each other," he said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "There's not a green forum and that's what we're hoping to achieve with this group."

Emerging Green Builders in Athens is a chapter of a national organization with the same name. It provides students with educational programs, forums and competitions in its efforts to "(recruit) the future leaders of the green building movement," according to the organization's national Web site.

This attention to education, especially at the college level, illustrates another reason why Oakley and others wanted to form a chapter in Athens, he said.

"I feel Athens is a very open-minded location, and a lot of events and actions are really fostered in the campus community," Oakley said.

The group plans to offer several events throughout the semester, including a design seminar with landscape architect Chip Sullivan and a tour of the newly built Terrapin Beer brewery, a building which meets LEED certification.

These events are designed for students, faculty and interested community members, Oakley said.

"We're really trying to promote (Emerging Green Builders) in Athens - that's what the local chapter is for," Oakley said. "It's for all people who advocate green design."