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O’More College is proud of its commitment to sustainable and green design. We challenge our faculty, staff, and students of to seek opportunities to take part in culturally significant service projects—with an emphasis on green design projects, to experience travel abroad, and to conduct meaningful global design research. We strongly support our students’ efforts to explore and find ways to bring the benefits of global design and green design, home to our local community. To involve themselves in purposeful design projects—projects that benefit society, support our environment, and create beauty.
In 2004 O’More College of Design promoted Professor Barbara Blumin, who has a degree in Environmental Design from Parsons, to the position of chair of Interior Design. Professor Blumin is an also an international designer with clients throughout the world. She lived and practiced for 16 years in London (bblumin@omorecollege.edu).
In 2006, O’More College established a Green Design Committee chaired by Kelly Gore, Interior Design Professor (kgore@omorecollege.edu). Additionally, we have a required course in sustainable design offered by the interior design department. Our interior design students all join the Emerging Green Builders and are junior members of USGBC (United States Green Building Council). They attend the monthly lecture series/luncheon where they network with professionals involved in green building and design such as architects, builders, contractors, and engineers. To date, Vanderbilt University's engineering students and O'More College of Design's interior design students are the only student members of the local chapter of Emerging Green Builders.
Our sustainable design class is currently being taught by Doug Johns, AIA and a member of our faculty. Doug is studying for the LEED examination. The entire class has gone paperless, including the Syllabus. Everything is distributed by email, including all assignments and handouts.
Our newest building, at The Factory, is utilizing as many sustainable materials as possible: concrete flooring, polycarbonate walls, homosote panels, and flourescent lighting, which utilizes much less wattage and creates lower heat loads. We are committed to reducing energy costs in the design of this new facility in the selection of new design and in the maintaining of old design. One of the former features we are keeping is large garage doors that can be opened in good weather.
On both our campuses, our students use recycled materials in their models and presentation boards, such as empty cereal boxes, reused cardboard containers, and many donated materials which would otherwise go straight to landfill sites. And we are setting up new recycle bins across our campuses for glass, metal, plastic, and paper.
Other projects in process:
- Redesign of our Green Committee
- We have added an architect, who strongly supports green design, to our board
- We continue to work on the Campus Facility Master Plan
- We completed Phase I and are into Phase II of our Campus Landscape plan
- includes a green fence to the left of campus
- we are using paver stones and limestone to redesign the driveway
- new five foot pathways of stone and paver stones from the local area are planned for March 2008
- We are utilizing local companies and local materials for our landscape and master plan
- We are replacing styrofoam cups with paper cups
- We are adding plastic and metal can recycle bins
- We are using period paints that are support the environment
- Many classes and departments are going paperless
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