SALT LAKE CITY, UT — A stately London plane tree once stood beside
Westminster College''s historic Foster Hall throwing afternoon shade on an old tennis court: The tennis court and 90-year-old tree were razed two years ago to make way for campus growth, but their materials live on in the school''s new science building,
according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
"That tree is in the floor, in the [exhibit] boxes, in the walls. We made a conference table out of it. Any part we couldn’t use in the building we mulched," said Mary Jane Chase, dean of the
School of Arts and Sciences at the private Salt Lake City liberal arts college.
This recycling effort was a minor nod toward sustainability, but it helped Westminster win an important distinction when its
Meldrum Science Center was certified
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum Friday, making it Utah''s first major education building to achieve the highest standard of environmental design, the article stated.
Designed by Derek Payne and associates at
VCBO Architecture, the four floors open onto a spacious atrium, flooding natural light into nearly every corner of the 14 classroom labs and five research labs, the article added.
According to the article, officials were angling for LEED Gold, the second-highest standard under the LEED system administered by the
U.S. Green Building Council.
