USU goes green in Moab

The new Utah State University Moab academic building was dedicated in April 2022 and officially opened to students for the summer 2022 semester. It houses classes, career and technical education programs and USU Extension.

“We’re right up here, nested next to the rim and the pipe dream bike trail,” said Samantha Campbell, associate campus director at USU Moab. “We really wanted to be part of the landscape.”

The inside of the building is impressive. Campbell described its many large windows and a floor-to-ceiling reclaimed wood wall. “It’s really pretty, it’s really open and there are lots of spaces for the students to be.”

The building is a first for USU and one of the greenest academic facilities in Utah, marking a milestone in the university’s commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility.

Roslynn McCann, Moab’s sustainable communities extension specialist, spoke on the method used to construct the building. “We avoided red-list materials and used reclaimed wood, minimal flooring, PVC-free interior finishes and VOC-free furnishing,” McCann said.

The design incorporates solar energy and geothermal heating and cooling. This produces 105% of the energy needed to run the building, ensuring comfortable temperatures year-round while minimizing the need for external power sources.

“Offices and classrooms were intentionally designed with many windows to allow for natural light,” McCann said. “Over the last year from this date, we used 206 megawatt hours, generated 304 and fed the grid 97.9.”

The goal for the building was to gain a silver-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. LEED, a globally recognized green building certification, assesses a building’s environmental performance and encourages sustainable practices in design and construction.

USU Moab obtained the certification in January. The scorecard for the building can be found on the U.S. Green Building Council website.

“USU hopes the building will inspire students, faculty and visitors alike to consider their impact on the environment and take steps to reduce it,” Campbell said.

The academic facility serves as a community focal point for students and Moab residents. “Our main goal here at the campus is really to serve the community that we’re in,” Campbell said. “We’re focusing in on what they need.”

USU Moab often partners with Grand County School District to provide tours and demonstrations. “The idea is to expose kids to a college campus sooner and more frequently,” Campbell said. “The building has allowed us to do that because we have enough space that we can host them.”

USU Moab also plans to host the Colorado Grand, an annual classic car charity tour. According to Campbell, it’s a “unique partnership” that provides the university funds for nursing students to travel. “It gave them an opportunity to go to larger hospitals and expand their education,” Campbell said.

USU Moab will hold an open house on Oct. 2 for students and other community members to learn more about the campus and what it has to offer. “We’re seeing community members that just are interested in the campus and the building itself, and they want to come up and see it,” Campbell said.

The success of the Moab building could lead to further net-zero construction projects, cementing USU’s place as a leader in sustainable development.

“I would hope that there are plans, especially with USU’s passing of its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Resolution and our goal at USU of carbon neutrality by 2050,” McCann said.

For more information on USU Moab, visit their website: moab.usu.edu.