Sustainability house underway
The Utah Conservation Corps received a $8,000 Community Forestry Partnership Grant in early November to fund removal of safety hazards on USU’s Wuthrich property.
The UCC gained management of a house on the property in May 2013, which is now home to their staff. The grant launched the Blue Goes Green House project.
Sean Damitz, director of the UCC, said their ultimate goal is to make the house more efficient and safe and to use the house as an educational piece on sustainability for USU and the community.
The UCC has management over the house for the next 10 years, and Damitz estimates it must be at least 100 years old. They want to take care of the house, practice fuel reduction and provide hands-on training for members and USU students.
The UCC hopes to make the house water and energy efficient. Damitz submitted a proposal to USU facilities to place solar panels on the roof, which has to be replaced within the next two years. They also plan to install insulation.
Damitz said the Blue Goes Green House project fits in with what the UCC does as a mission.
“It’s an opportunity to practice what we preach as a conservation organization,” he said.
It also fits with the university’s mission to have more engagement and outreach to the community and to make it more sustainable, he said.
The house is safety concern and the UCC hopes to beautify the property. The aim of the grant is to remove the slash piles, dying trees and dead limbs.
“Personally, I’m really afraid that a big storm is going to come and knock this tree over on the house,” Damitz said.
USU Facilities will be aiding in the project.
“On the landscape side of things, we’re cleaning up some of the rogue trees and doing some basic maintenance to eliminate hazards around the property,” said Robert Reeder, USU Facilities director.
The project involves many students. In April, the UCC will host a large volunteer project in conjunction with the Val R. Christensen Service Center’s Service Week and again during Earth Week. An arborist will show volunteers how to take care of and remove trees and slash piles.
“An arborist will assess the tree. He will look at the stability and health of the tree. He will take the risk out of the tree,” Reeder said.
Damitz said students might find themselves with an old house and land that needs to be taken care of in the future. This project will allow them to be involved, to see how the UCC completed it and what they could have done differently.
USU’s Engineers Without Borders chapter is also working with the project. Damitz said they spend weeks in Third World countries building dry-composting latrines. He said student-based research that does good on the other side of the world can do good close to home as well, and it provides them with an opportunity to test the technology out.
The UCC is part of student services on campus. Their main office was in the Fieldhouse before they acquired the BGG House, but everything else was spread out. The acquisition of the property provided a convenient space for the UCC, according to Damitz.
The field crews run from the spring through end of fall. All of their tools are now in one place. they have two sheds and plenty of parking for the field workers and the staff to perform the behind the scenes work.
“It’s a nice office. I don’t have to wear a shirt and tie out here,” Damitz said.
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