210 FACULTY-STAFF CIRCLE
Completed during the summer of 2001, Catawba's Center for the Environment is a model of green design. The $5.7 million, 21,000 square-foot center has classrooms and labs overlooking a 189-acre wetland preserve. The three-story center has walls of glass to take advantage of the sun's heating powers and photovoltaic cells to capture sunlight and produce electricity. A closed-loop, geoexchange system provides heating and cooling, shredded newspaper is used for insulation, bamboo is used in flooring, and beams are made of laminae from recycled timber.
The furnishings in the facility are also environmentally sound and include desktops made of stalks of wheat bonded with soy-based glue and table legs made from recycled cardboard.
RELATED LINKS:
Center for the Environment
Environmental Science and Studies