October 13, 2005

It’s not yet completed, but the new Fullerton Arboretum Visitor Center has already won an award for its “green” design. The energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable project received a Best Practices Award for Overall Sustainable Design during the 4th annual UC/CSU Sustainability Conference at UC Santa Cruz held over the summer.

Michael C. Smith, director of design and construction, presented the project at the conference, which highlighted and shared best practices from UC and CSU campuses in many areas of greening campus operations.

Among the features of the new visitor center — which is the first specifically designed green building at Cal State Fullerton — are natural ventilation and light; low-flow faucets and low-volume toilets; lighting with multilevel switching and motion sensors; and utilizing recycled materials for steel, exterior siding, insulation and flooring.

According to Smith, the project was designed to meet the level of a silver rating in accordance with the criteria of the U.S. Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system.

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