U of M News Wire
January 24, 2008
Going green: U of M’s TCF Bank Stadium strives for sustainability
New U of M football stadium is on track to become one of only three LEED certified--the new gold standard for the design, construction and operation of green buildings--stadiums in the country.
By Martha Coventry
U of M News Wire
“Green” is an adjective that’s being thrown around a lot these days, often used to describe any product or activity that has even a hint of environmental responsibility attached to it.
But there is an accepted and respected green standard when it comes to buildings--they can be LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. This certification is the new gold standard for the design, construction, and operation of green buildings and it has become a coveted label, for both social and economic reasons, by businesses and corporations nationwide.
With the new TCF Bank Stadium, the University of Minnesota aims to build the most environmentally responsible major sports stadium in the country, and if it wins LEED certification, all the better.
“The U wants to be a good steward of the environment, period,” says project coordinator Brian Swanson. “As a public institution, this is just the right thing to do.”
“Sustainable design is good design, and good design leads to a better project,” says Swanson.
Before it even broke ground for the stadium on the Twin Cities campus, the university took steps to ameliorate the local environment. It began cleaning up the old brownfield site (meaning any area that has, or potentially has, been polluted) where the new building will stand -- a parking lot atop a former railroad property contaminated with creosote and other hazards. And it began installing a multi-million-dollar storm water management system that will also serve a larger area of campus. The system will capture rainwater, filter out sediment, and slow the rate of water -- allowing it to further filter through the soil -- as it flows into the Mississippi River.
Building blocks
The structural frame of the building will be made of 90 percent recycled steel. The roof will be crafted out of a reflective material to reduce the heat absorbed and then emitted from the building. And as many materials as possible will be purchased from manufacturers within a 500-mile radius. This minimizes the travel distance from the manufacturer to the building and reduces the consumption of fossil fuels. At least 50 percent of all construction waste materials for the stadium will be recycled or reused, reducing the impact on nearby landfills.
Inside the structure, low-flow plumbing fixtures (faucets, showers, etc.) will be used, reducing potable water use by a minimum of 20 percent annually over a standard design. The stadium will also use at least 10 percent less energy than its conventional counterparts. The U’s central steam plant, which burns biomass and oat hulls, will power the building.
The U will choose adhesives, sealants, paints and carpeting for the building that nearly eliminate the introduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can aggravate health problems.
In the area surrounding the stadium, the U is working to lower the impact of vehicle traffic. It will provide bicycle parking, maintain current bus lines and encourage use of a future light rail stop. No net parking spaces will be added, minimizing new asphalt paving and the urban heat-island effect.
And when it comes to outdoor water use, an irrigation system will reduce by 50 percent the amount of water needed for the landscaping surrounding the building.
Long view
Beyond green construction, there is the issue of “game day” use. Crowds of up to 50,000 people can generate a whole lot of waste from programs, food containers and food preparation itself. It would be silly to build a smashing new environmentally responsible stadium and then fill its trash bins with Styrofoam cups and have food trucked in from thousands of miles away.
There are scores of details to work out about how the stadium will buy and serve food. According to Scott Ellison, associate athletics director for facilities and events, the stadium will strive to use beverage containers that can either be recycled (20 oz. plastic soft drink bottles) or taken home (souvenir cups). Athletics is investigating the use of biodegradable packaging made from corn resin and will encourage the use of locally grown, raised and produced food. The university has a good track record in that area. In 2006, it bought 46 tons of local produce and meats for its dining services, a 230 percent increase over 2005.
“We want to be a sustainable operation,” says Ellison. “Two ways we will move in that direction is by separating food waste from recyclables and by using all electric vehicles in the facility, like golf carts and forklifts.”
One of the best things about a green stadium on campus is the opportunity to educate.
“Sustainable design is good design, and good design leads to a better project,” says Swanson. “The University is all about education, and the new stadium is a perfect chance to educate the public about building responsibly.”
The TCF Bank Stadium is slated to open fall of 2009.
----------
Resources in University of Minnesota Borchert Map Library reveal complex views of Minnesota and world
By Erin George
U of M News Wire
If you need driving directions and parking recommendations to a new restaurant, typing a few details into Web sites such as Google Maps or Map Quest can get you those answers in seconds.
But what if you want to go deeper?
What if you want to know what business was on that property 10 years ago? Or how the surrounding land and water features have changed over the last 30 years? A deeper search like this takes more time, but the resources of an academic map library like the University of Minnesota's Borchert Map Library help make it possible. Named in honor of well-known Regents' geography professor John R. Borchert, this library (part of the University Libraries system and housed in Wilson Library on the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis) includes resources such as aerial photographs and topographic maps that can reveal the histories of towns, neighborhoods, and even individual properties.
“Maps can contain a wealth of information and analysis on one piece of paper that would typically be found in a chapter of a book,” Kristi Jensen explains. As head of the map library, Jensen understands the layers of information contained in a single map or photo.
Borchert’s resources, particularly about Minnesota, are noteworthy: 370,000 sheet maps, 9,600 atlases, and 415,000 aerial photos including photos from the 1930s to near-present for Minnesota and high-resolution digital images from 1997, 2000, and 2005 for the seven-county Twin Cities metro area. Some aerial photos of St. Paul date back to the 1920s.
Jensen describes a map library as “a collection of geographic resources that allow people to look at the earth from a variety of perspectives. You can look at a point from close up or farther out.” She explains that any one map can present various data--vegetation, demographics, soil, and topography are examples.
how someone interprets the information makes a difference. When using or studying a map, a person needs to ask key questions about any potential bias in the map: Who produced it? When was it published? What data are presented together? What kind of skew may be present? Map librarians play a crucial role by ensuring users find the information they need.
“Maps can contain a wealth of information and analysis on one piece of paper that would typically be found in a chapter of a book,” says Kristi Jensen.
Students from the university and area colleges also use the Borchert Library as a laboratory, researching class projects and even questions about their own campuses. Last spring, Jensen worked with University professors Laura Musacchio and John Koepke, who were co-teaching Ecological Dimensions of Spacemaking in the Department of Landscape Architecture.
“Our students worked on a master plan project that sought to breathe new life into Lake Sarita, a degraded wetland that is located off the Transit Way and Steam Plant on the St. Paul campus,” says Musacchio. “The goal of the project is to use Lake Sarita as a living laboratory for environmental education, stormwater management, and wildlife habitat by restoring its wetland features.”
Students used the map library to document how wetlands, lakes, and streams near the campus were altered, buried, and destroyed by urban growth. The class “found that Lake Sarita was once a good-sized lake, but it was filled in over time and only a small remnant wetland now remains,” Musacchio says. Several students, as a result of their fieldwork and research in Borchert, were selected to present their master plan projects to the Stormwater Linkage Committee and provide important creative inspiration for the future plans.
Revealing a property’s history plays an important role in real estate transactions, and people like Kyle Shannon use the Borchert Library to construct timelines.
“There are some photos (from the 1970s) that are 1 to 100 scale, so the detail is so intense that you can see the shadows cast by the trees,” says Shannon, a research associate with Environmental Data Resources.
Shannon regularly pulls aerial photos from each decade to piece together changes on a property. His timelines can help point to possible environmental issues, such as storage tanks that may have been removed or fire and other building damage.
Wayfinding is only a part of the story in the Borchert Map Library. It’s resources reveal a much deeper history than what is visible at street level.
Library hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
To access some of the library’s resources online, go to http://map.lib.umn.edu/
----------
Growing Concerns
A parenting question-and-answer column with Dr. Martha Erickson of the University of Minnesota
Question: Our 7-year-old daughter comes home every week announcing that she’s “in love” with some boy. Since when do 7-year-olds fall in love? And how should we parents respond so that she doesn’t end up being too boy-crazy?
Answer: You’re not the only parents who have worried about a child getting hooked on romance at too young an age. But what you describe is not at all unusual. Seven-year-olds may have “crushes” – or just enjoy another child a lot – but adopt the grown-up language of “being in love.” They don’t yet know the difference between liking someone and having romantic feelings, but they know what they hear in the world around them. Also, part of what’s going on with children this age is that they’re trying on all kinds of adult roles. Just as they play at being firefighters, doctors, or teachers, they play at being in romantic relationships.
While you need not be concerned that your daughter shows an interest in boys at this age, you are wise to ask how you can use this as a teachable moment. Unfortunately, many of the images of romantic relationships that children see – whether in the media or among real-life adults and teenagers – can fuel some very unhealthy attitudes. So it is up to parents to guide their children toward relationships based on genuine respect for self and others. Here are a few things you can do to begin this important teaching even at this young age:
• Help your daughter begin to discover what she really likes in people. For example, when she tells you about her latest “love,” ask her what he’s like, how he treats people, what he likes to do, and what makes him so interesting.
• Help your daughter develop an identity that is defined by more than what the boy of the week thinks of her. Guide her in finding things she does well – sports, the arts and academic subjects. There are many pressures on girls to equate success with superficial beauty, so it’s up to all of us adults to affirm girls in their competence and their willingness to take on new challenges.
• Finally, through your own marital relationship, help your daughter learn the real meaning of romantic love. Right now she’s role-playing in a very superficial way, as is typical of children her age. As she approaches adolescence, these little romances are likely to become more intense and prolonged. And by late adolescence she really will be practicing how to be in a loving adult relationship. What she sees and hears even at the young age of 7 will help to shape the attitudes and expectations that drive her as she seeks true love in adulthood. The most powerful lesson you can give her is the example of a warm, respectful, playful relationship between two strong individuals, committed to savoring the good times and working through the tough times.
Dr. Erickson is a senior fellow and director of the Harris Programs in the Center for Early Childhood Education at the University of Minnesota.
Want to hear more parenting advice?
Dr. Erickson and her daughter can be heard every Sunday, from 2 - 4 pm, on “Good Enough Moms,” on FM107.1 radio in the Twin Cities or via Webcast at www.FM1071.com
