by CJ Agbannawag
When students and visitors come to the University of Arizona campus, one of the sights that immediately stands out because of its prominence, history, and central location on campus is Old Main. This iconic building is a large part of the Wildcat identity, but what many people don’t realize is that the late 1800’s-era building is surrounded by modern sustainability features, including a low water use landscape and rainwater harvesting system that helps to capture rainfall/runoff from the roof.
The Old Main landscaping is one example of dozens of sustainability features on campus that you might walk by every day, without ever realizing it! From state of the art LEED-Certified, energy efficient buildings to an urban oasis that offers safe harbor to endangered species, the UArizona campus is full of seemingly hidden sustainability innovations.
To give students and visitors a better understanding of these unique features, the Office of Sustainability has created a video tour to provide a deeper look into several of these innovative projects.
If you’d like to dig deeper into the sustainability initiatives and features on the UArizona campus, we have also developed a Campus Sustainability Map that showcases hundreds of projects and spotlights green infrastructure. The Map is a useful resource for exploring the depth and breadth of sustainability efforts, past and present, around campus. For years, students, faculty, and staff have been working to improve the resilience and lessen the environmental impact of our campus’ built environment, while conducting research and developing innovations that ease our footprint on the surrounding Sonoran Desert environment.