Branching off from my second story idea, I have generated a topic that would allow me to capture great audio,video and photography for my project.
Earlier this semester we were asked to read a story on the New York Times website that caught our attention. I read a story about how the LEED Certified buildings sometimes don't live up to their "green" label and actually use more energy then normal buildings. As I mentioned in my discussion, this topic snagged my interest because UNI is currently in the process of constructing a LEED silver level building, Sabin Hall.
To investigate this story however I wouldn't just investigate Sabin Hall, but other buildings on campus and in the Cedar Valley that call themselves "green." I saw in the news today that a new building has just been unveiled in Cedar Falls that already is being called the "greenest building in the Cedar Valley." Its PFGBest Headquarters and it has achieved the highest level in LEED certification. I will also continue to search attentional "green" buildings in area.
There are a few people I know I should talk to at this point. The first place I will go is to talk to some of the environmental professors at UNI. Through stories I've done in the past I've come to find they usually tell it how it really is, no matter what the rest of the university says about its "green" state. I'll also search for other environmentalists in the area. I'll be talking to the school administers to get their side of the story too.
I'll be asking questions about how the buildings save energy, how comparable they are to the other campus buildings energy usage, if the renovation construction process of Sabin Hall is "green" as well, how much more these LEED buildings cost, and how UNI/the companies plan to continue to pay that cost in this economy.
I think this project definitely calls for plenty of mapping, and visualization of all of the "energy efficient" details. I also plan to make charts demonstrating the difference in costs for creating and maintaining a LEED certified building.
Nikki,
ReplyDeleteWay to go. Talk to Kamyar Enshayan who is the director of CEEE. He will give you leads to many stories. I'd be interested in seeing a map showing all the "GREEN" building projects in this area (or on UNI's campus). You are asking great questions and thinking big. Keep it up.