Green approach to be taken by university

  • 2014-12-14
The University of Cincinnati, which is in the middle of overhauling the mostly vacant Scioto Hall, is poised to issue green bonds soon.

This will be the first time a public university has made such a move. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was the first private institution to issue such bonds, which it did in September.

Scioto Hall, which is at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive, is now 50 years old and will be converted to student housing. Plans are to create 140 apartment-type units, with beds for 450. The total makeover carries a $35m price tag.

Green bonds, which are municipal, are a new product in the financial industry. They are described as ‘green’ because the monies used to purchase the bonds go to fund projects that are environmentally friendly. It is expected that Scioto Hall, which is slated to reopen in August 2016, will win a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

One of the measures taken to make the building environmentally friendly is to clad it with environmentally friendly glass panels. The glass will be better at preventing heat gain or loss than traditional glass, plus it will have a reflective pattern, known as ‘fritting’, that will warn birds away.

University officials could work with brochure printers to create a booklet for prospective students that describes the new housing.