Center for the Environment

Ecological Principles in Building

The objectives of this seminar series are to share expertise across campus and to develop a community of people who can collectively promote sustainability principles - with a particular emphasis on more efficient infrastructure.

A group of faculty, staff & students from the Colleges of Science, Agriculture, Engineering, and Technology have created a seminar series focused on ‘green’ building to share expertise across campus and to develop a community of people with interest and skills in this area who can collectively promote sustainability issues. A focus of the seminar series is on more efficient infrastructure; and the group will consider how to implement a Living Building Challenge program at Purdue’s Ross Biological Reserve.

The seminar series is open to all, and is also available for graduate and undergraduate course credit (Biology 595 “Ecological Principles in Building”). Presentations and discussions will cover most of the ground outlined in the contents of the book, Sustainable Construction – Green Building Design & Delivery by Charles J. Kibert, stepping through rationale (societal need), assessment rubrics like LEED, design and ecological principles, sites and landscaping, energy and water conservation, materials options, interior design and function, construction strategies, educational and outreach missions, and economic analysis.

Each week’s seminar leader introduces their experience and expertise, identifies a frontier of potential progress in the field, focusing on local application and Purdue projects, and sketches- out wider implications.

For more information about the seminar series, or about the Ross Biological Reserve, contact Kerry Rabenold (rabenold@purdue.edu), Director of Purdue’s Interdisciplinary Center for Ecological Sustainability.

• September 13 - Larry Fusaro, University Architect: Sustainable building strategies on the Purdue campus
• September 20 - Michael Gulich, Director of University Sustainability: The Living Building Challenge
• September 27 - John Collier, Campus Master Planning: Planning and Sustainability at Purdue
• October 4 - Larry Guentert, Administrative Computing: Economic analysis of “green” buildings 
• October 11 - Bernie Dahl, Horticulture, landscape architecture: Sustainable Sites Initiative: landscape architecture’s answer to LEED
• October 18 - Panagiota Karava, Civil Engineering, architectural engineering: High Performance Buildings Research in Architectural Engineering
• October 25 - Lisa VanZee, Visual and Performing Arts, interior design: Interior design and green building
• November 1 - Ming Qu, Civil Engineering, architectural engineering: Building Investment Decision Tools
• November 8 - Steve Hoffmann, Ecological and Environmental Engineering: Designing the educational message of a “green” building
• November 15 - TBA
• November 22 - Thanksgiving Break
• November 29 - Mark Shaurette, Building Construction Management: Green Certification Programs