Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
Members of Texas A&M's Facility Management Student Chapter learned about NASA's latest sustainability initiatives during an April 16 visit to Houston's Johnson Space Center.
The students visited JSC’s Building 20, a recently completed office facility that received a LEED-Platinum rating.
"NASA officials took us on a tour of the building and explained how it works, the sustainability initiatives implemented there, and what they did to earn the platinum certification," said Sarel Lavy, assistant professor of construction science and the chapter's advisor.
The building, said a NASA spokesman, is part of a multiyear JSC effort to go "green." Its floors and ceilings, were made of concrete and bamboo, and the water in its restrooms is heated by solar power.
Office workstations, in Building 20 are located adjacent to windows so that all employees in the building work in natural light. Showers were installed to facilitate employees who bike to work.
The students also saw one of JSC's solar power initiatives, a day care center that receives some of its power from wind turbines and two types of solar panels — a fixed bank of panels and panels that rotate to follow the sun.
The Facility Management Student Chapter is a Texas A&M student organization that raises awareness about facility management issues and topics and provides networking opportunities between students and industry professionals.
For more information about the chapter, contact Lavy at slavy@archmail.tamu.edu or 979.845.0632.
- Posted: May 7, 2010 -
