In an effort to make the campus more environmentally friendly, the Office of Campus Environment decided to make some upgrades to a campus building.

In October, improvements were made to the 33 E. Congress Parkway Building, including a new heating and cooling system (HV/AC) and a new “green” roof on the fifth floor. The green roof was completed the weekend of Oct. 25.

The green roof, constructed by Live Roof, will reduce the outside heat that enters the building in the summer in the building and also serves as a noise reducer, blocking outside noise-such as outside traffic and public transportation. The new roof will also not let as much heat escape the building, said John Kavouris, director of construction for the college.

“It has a very substantial cooling effect in the summer,” Kavouris said, “[Which will] reduce air conditioning costs in the summer, too.”

The new heating and cooling system installed is modeled as an energy recovery vehicle.

The system recycles some of the heat in the exhausted air and uses that to heat up the air that the system brings in from the outside. In other words, the system will save energy by recycling heat needed to warm the air inside.

Kavouris estimated the new HV/AC system, which he said cost about $75,000, will end up saving about 11 percent per year on energy costs.

Due to purchasing the new “green” equipment, the initial costs are higher than they would be if they had just replaced it with a non-green HV/AC system. The new measures should help reduce energy costs later for the school.

For a system that is projected to last 20 years and be paid for over eight years, Alicia Berg, vice president of Campus Environment, said the investment is worthwhile.

As with all renovation projects at Columbia, tuition and other revenues fund the project, which is why Berg said her office tries to be as responsible as they can with the budget.

“We aren’t going to do anything that isn’t a wise payoff,” Berg said. “You want a reasonable payback.”

Berg said there has been great interest from students wanting the college to

be greener.

“My office is committed to exploring these ideas and doing what makes sense for Columbia,” Berg said.

The Student Government Association has pushed for greener initiatives at Columbia in the past, in light of students’ concerns.

“We’re trying to push Columbia to be the frontrunner for colleges in green measures,” said Michael Lencioni, SGA Campus Environment committee chair.

Lencioni said SGA recognizes the benefits of cost-saving green measures on campus, and how that affects students and their tuition money.

“We look at [methods] that aren’t bringing an increased amount of cost upon the college,” Lencioni said. “We understand too that if we pay for something up front, it will pay off in time.”

As far as the recently installed green roof, no others like it are being planned for any of Columbia’s buildings, except for the new Media Production Center. The college wants to see some of the benefits and results from the roof at 33 E. Congress Parkway first before making any further plans on that end, Berg said.

“People don’t understand that it’s not just cars that contribute to global warming. Buildings have a lot of electricity too,” Berg said. “The more effective we can be with our energy use, the more we can help [the environment].”