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Western building and prof honoured with 'Green Awards'
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Two 'green' awards will be added to the shelves of the Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion and Biology and Geography Adjunct Professor Jane Bowles, having been recognized by the Urban League of London with community awards.
Western’s “Green Building” is this year’s recipient of the Green Brick Award, given annually to recognize developments that take community concerns into account at the planning and development stages of a project. The green brick represents the importance of green open spaces in effective urban planning and London’s reputation as the Forest City.
Bowles, the Director of Western’s Sherwood Fox Arboretum and Curator of Western’s Herbarium, will get the Green Umbrella Award. It is given to individuals who demonstrate community citizenship in London.
The umbrella symbolizes the role of the Urban League as an umbrella organization for a wide variety of citizen groups concerned with social change and community development.
The Urban League of London, a non-profit registered charity established in 1969, is comprised of representatives from neighbourhood associations and city-wide organizations. It encourages citizen participation and promotes innovative projects that contribute to the community.
The Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion has many sustainability design features. With Faculty of Engineering professor Denis O'Carroll’s mentorship, the students developed building plans that minimized the faculty’s environmental footprint. The goal was to have a building “designed by students for students.”
The Pavilion is the first LEED- (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building on Western’s campus. Its green features include a rooftop of grasses and local plants which control rain runoff and reduce the heat island effect. Panels of photovoltaic solar cells and a wind turbine generate and contribute a small amount of energy for corridor lighting within the building. A cistern gathers rain runoff from upper roof areas, and contributes to the water used in the toilets and urinals.
“As an institute of higher learning, I think we are expected to lead the way,” says Mike DeJager, Physical Plant project manager. “To have a grassroots organization like the Urban League of London recognize a major institutional building is, to me, significant.”
In addition to DeJager, receiving the honour are architect Richard Hammond of Cornerstone Architecture Inc., London and project manager Brian Hayman of Hayman Construction Inc., London.
Bowles is trained as a botanist and vegetation ecologist. Her research interests centre on the conservation of biodiversity and species-at-risk in the fragmented landscape of southern Ontario. She has taught or lectured in many courses, including in the area of Conservation Biology.
For about 25 years she has been a freelance ecologist and botanist, mainly in southern Ontario. She has helped community groups respond to environmental studies and served on the Environmental and Ecological Planning Advisory Committee (EEPAC) from 1994-1997 when EEPAC was reviewing the London Sub Watershed studies after annexation.
The conservation master plans for environmentally significant areas, such as Meadowlilly Woods and the Medway Heritage Forest, have been strengthened due to her efforts.
Her clients have included Environment Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Bird Studies Canada, several conservation authorities, the City of London, the Country of Middlesex the Grand River Land Trust, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and The Natural Heritage Program of Walpole Island Heritage Centre. She sits on a number of recovery teams and technical advisory panels, and has been a director of the Thames Talbot Land Trust.
Bowles, the Director of Western’s Sherwood Fox Arboretum and Curator of Western’s Herbarium, will get the Green Umbrella Award. It is given to individuals who demonstrate community citizenship in London.
The umbrella symbolizes the role of the Urban League as an umbrella organization for a wide variety of citizen groups concerned with social change and community development.
The Urban League of London, a non-profit registered charity established in 1969, is comprised of representatives from neighbourhood associations and city-wide organizations. It encourages citizen participation and promotes innovative projects that contribute to the community.
The Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion has many sustainability design features. With Faculty of Engineering professor Denis O'Carroll’s mentorship, the students developed building plans that minimized the faculty’s environmental footprint. The goal was to have a building “designed by students for students.”
The Pavilion is the first LEED- (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building on Western’s campus. Its green features include a rooftop of grasses and local plants which control rain runoff and reduce the heat island effect. Panels of photovoltaic solar cells and a wind turbine generate and contribute a small amount of energy for corridor lighting within the building. A cistern gathers rain runoff from upper roof areas, and contributes to the water used in the toilets and urinals.
“As an institute of higher learning, I think we are expected to lead the way,” says Mike DeJager, Physical Plant project manager. “To have a grassroots organization like the Urban League of London recognize a major institutional building is, to me, significant.”
In addition to DeJager, receiving the honour are architect Richard Hammond of Cornerstone Architecture Inc., London and project manager Brian Hayman of Hayman Construction Inc., London.
Bowles is trained as a botanist and vegetation ecologist. Her research interests centre on the conservation of biodiversity and species-at-risk in the fragmented landscape of southern Ontario. She has taught or lectured in many courses, including in the area of Conservation Biology.
For about 25 years she has been a freelance ecologist and botanist, mainly in southern Ontario. She has helped community groups respond to environmental studies and served on the Environmental and Ecological Planning Advisory Committee (EEPAC) from 1994-1997 when EEPAC was reviewing the London Sub Watershed studies after annexation.
The conservation master plans for environmentally significant areas, such as Meadowlilly Woods and the Medway Heritage Forest, have been strengthened due to her efforts.
Her clients have included Environment Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Bird Studies Canada, several conservation authorities, the City of London, the Country of Middlesex the Grand River Land Trust, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and The Natural Heritage Program of Walpole Island Heritage Centre. She sits on a number of recovery teams and technical advisory panels, and has been a director of the Thames Talbot Land Trust.
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