The new addition to Plemmons Student Union will be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certified, said David Robertson, director of Student Programs and LEED certified professional

Since buildings produce 40 percent of greenhouse gases produced in the country, the new addition will help reduce the universities carbon footprint.

One feature that will help reduce the new addition’s carbon footprint is the installation of water bottle filling stations attached to all water fountains, Robertson said.
“An estimated 10 percent of plastic bottles end up recycled,” Robertson said. “The rest go to landfills.”

Water bottle filling stations will make using re-usable water bottles much easier for students, he said.

The water bottle filling stations that Robertson hopes to use in the addition will also include a digital readout that will indicate how many plastic bottles have been saved by using the re-filling station, Robertson said.

Most of the building’s lighting will be L.E.D.

L.E.D. lighting is “more efficient than other lighting sources,” Robertson said.

The addition will be used for many banquets and receptions.

To meet the university’s goal of becoming a zero waste campus by 2020 as well as reducing the addition’s carbon footprint, Robertson wants to have functions compost all waste.

The logistics are still being looked in to, but it is a hope for the addition Robertson said.

“I think it’s a good thing because sustainability is what Appalachian is all about,” freshman interior design major Emily Dinnsen said. “I think it’s great that they are incorporating that into the student union.”

The use of the addition will start January 2013.

Story: STEPHANIE SANSOUCY, Senior News Reporter