Story by Brian Postelle | Photos by Leah Shapiro
The Office of Sustainability at UNC Asheville is situated in the university’s Millar Facilities Complex, where many of the campus’ nuts-and-bolts operations are housed. It is a fitting location, as sustainability director Sonia Marcus has the task of guiding and implementing green practices wherever possible. The building is also a testament to UNC Asheville’s overall commitment to sustainability: boasting solar panels and geothermal heating and cooling that reduce fossil fuel use, a rooftop water collection cistern, and bioretention ponds that help keep pollutants out of groundwater.
Sonia is quick, however, to credit an active and energetic student presence in establishing and building a sustainability legacy at UNC Asheville, one that permeates nearly every aspect of campus life.
“If you’re going to tell this story, you have to tell how students have been at the center of this movement,” she says. “The mechanical things are very cool, but the students are the real story. The Student Environmental Center (SEC) is one of the most impressive things about UNC Asheville.”
Formed in 2007, the SEC is a student-operated and student-funded organization championing environmental awareness and practices across the UNC Asheville community and acting as an informational resource for green practices. The highly active organization has been instrumental in setting up green amenities such as a bicycle repair shop, implementing a composting program for the university’s residence halls, and expanding a campus-wide network of gardens.
The formation of the SEC grew out of a 2006 student-led initiative establishing a Green Campus fee that funds the center and has financed green components like an electric car for university police and occupancy sensors that automatically turn lights on and off in the Highsmith Student Union.
Sonia serves as advisor to the SEC, and meets with them on a weekly basis. “She has a great insight into all of our projects,” says Pierce Holloway, SEC codirector with Carolina Arias.
The group works closely with the Student Government Association to advance resolutions supporting green requirements for new construction and calling for environmentally sound financial investments by the university.
“We all have our hands in a lot of things,” Pierce says. An Environmental Studies major, Pierce adds that creating thoughtful discussion around sustainability is an important component of the SEC’s role. “Awareness is a big part of what sustainability is. There’s a lot of advantage in having students involved in these conversations.”
One effective pilot project involves distributing reusable beverage cups to incoming students. The cups not only reduce landfill waste, each one is outfitted with a code that tracks just how much trash is being reduced. For every on-campus drink purchase using one of the cups, students receive a 15 cent discount, and the same amount is donated to a local food charity by Chartwells, the company which operates the university’s dining services. All of this, Pierce says, expands the overall consciousness of acting sustainably.
“Sustainability is crucial to our well-being and the survival of our species. We all share in that,” he says.
Looking around the campus, it’s easy to see how sustainability would remain at the forefront of student conversations. Rhoades-Robinson Hall, which underwent retrofitting in 2012, now has a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It, and seven other buildings on campus, are heated and cooled by ground-thermal wells beneath the campus quad.
Overlook Residence Hall is topped by a 112-panel solar array unveiled in 2014. The roof of the Wilma M. Sherrill Center, home of the Kimmel Arena and men’s and women’s basketball teams, sports a 100,000-gallon rain capture facility. All of these, Sonia says, speak to the importance of sustainability to the student body at UNC Asheville and the energy of the Student Environmental Center.
“It is a reflection of culture in Asheville,” says Sonia. “It’s part of a core value of everyone on this campus. What is your vision for UNC Asheville? I’m confident sustainability will be at the center.”
Learn more at sec.unca.edu. Brian Postelle is a writer living in West Asheville.
