HSB leads the way in sustainability

UAA’s new Health and Sciences Building (HSB) will house academic programs of the School of Nursing, Alaska WWAMI Biomedical Program and Allied Health Sciences.

The building will feature offices and classrooms, interactive simulation labs, seminar rooms and student activity space.

Scheduled to open its doors in August of 2011, the HSB building will deliver state-of-the-art education for generations of Seawolves to come.

Features include:

• Designed to LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) silver standards.
• Shower and changing facilities for students, faculty and staff to encourage bicycle commuting and walking.
• Multi-level and LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting technology in offices for energy savings.
• Collection and storage for recyclables.
• Natural Alaskan finish materials such as white birch and granite.
• Recyclable and finish materials with high recycled content such as concrete, steel, aluminum and carpet tile.

2009 and 2010 Tree Campus USA University

The Arbor Day Foundation honored UAA for its dedication to campus forestry management and environmental stewardship. We are the first college or university in Alaska to be named a Tree Campus.

In May of 2010, professors Dorn Van Dommelen (Geography and Environmental Studies) and Mara Kimmel (Political Science) partnered with the Non-Governmental Organization Heifer International to take a group of students to a number of projects in China to learn about Heifer’s efforts to promote sustainable agricultural development.

Students visited four separate villages where they learned about everything from deep-litter pig sties and their benefits to organic tea production to the use of bio-gas systems to reduce deforestation and periodic flooding.

Upon their return to Alaska, students reflected on what they learned in China and how it could be applicable to sustainable rural development in Alaska.