US07/08-12 Resolution concerning the Environmental Impact of the Arena Project

Toward an environmentally sustainable design for the new basketball arena.

Whereas, the UO community has expressed a commitment to environmental sustainability, both with regard to the management of resouces and use of energy, and by making these issues a focus of its academic mission. This commitment is manifest in the recent appointment of a campus sustainability coordinator, in President Frohnmayer's signing of the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment on March 19, 2007, and many other initiatives.

Whereas, The UO Senate wishes to emphasize that the Campus Planning Committee and the Senate have an oversight role in the planning and design of all new capital construction on campus, and that the new basketball arena is a publicly financed university facility which falls within this purview.

Whereas, The design for the new arena must comply with these state requirements for new construction:

• 1) The Oregon DAS-LEED standard of LEED 2.0 Silver certification
• 2) That 1.5% of the project cost be devoted to solar energy capture
• 3) That the building exceed current codes for energy efficiency by 20% or better

Therefore, be it resolved that:

The architects for the new arena, together with the Athletic Dept. and the Campus Architect, shall report to the Senate in the Spring or Fall of 2008 on the design for the new building, and the proposals for meeting the state standards.

The project should meet the LEED Silver standard as mandated by the Presidents' Climate Commitment, and should strive to exceed code by 30%.

Assessments of the environmental sustainability of the project should also account for the impact of traffic and fuel consumption associated with the arena and its events. Any parking structure built to accomodate fans' vehicles must be considered within the overall carbon footprint of the arena project.