Scott Draper, the central planter director for UVU, focused on the HVAC system. Since the 1970s, the university has employed the use of a unique, energy-saving system.

“It was engineered to be a heat pump type system long before it was cool to be green. In fact, sometimes I wonder what they were even thinking at the time because it was so non-traditional. … Some of the advantages are that its extremely energy efficient and we’re able to keep our carbon footprint way down. And so in this day and age, that’s a direction that UVU really wanted to go in,” Draper said.

The HVAC pipes, with rainbow-colored exteriors, are plainly visible in the hallways connecting different UVU buildings. “I heard one student pointing up to the pipes and saying, ‘I think this is a Skittles factory’ and I’ve never forgotten that because that’s kind of what it looks like,” Draper said.

Kyle Pope, UVU’s manager of irrigation and landscape, focused on UVU’s recent replacing of their 30-year-old sprinkler control system with a new Smart Controller System, which has several proactive features that help the campus save water.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

“This uses local weather data up to a half-mile square radius, and we input all of the data for the slope, soil type, plant type, precipitation rate that we’re using, with what type of sprinkler head it is, and it auto calculates runtimes, which is really nice,” Pope said. “It can also detect breaks in the system. So if you have a sprinkler line break, and it’s running, it knows the flow rate that zone is supposed to be. It goes over that, it automatically cuts it off and shuts the station down and then sends me an email saying you need to fix this.”

In the past, millions of gallons of water were wasted due to leaks that went undetected. The only way the grounds team would know of a pool forming was a phone call from the police. With the new system, the team was able to bring total water usage down from 120 million to 7 million gallons per year, according to John Hanson, facilities director.

UVU has also been saving water on campus by implementing more xeriscaping — the practice of using plants that require little water and gravel as opposed to traditional landscaping features — and putting organic compost into the sprinkler system.  Compost additives allow the roots of plants to grow thicker so they can retain more water, thus lessening the amount of water needed overall.

Kevin Shurtleff, associated professor of chemistry, highlighted student projects that allow individuals to use resources more efficiently, including tiny homes made from shipping containers, a sun-powered water filtration device and a “waste plastic reactor,” which turns disposable plastic water bottles into carbon soot and hydrogen, which can be used for soil enrichment and energy.

“You might imagine UVU produces a lot of waste plastics, primarily polyethylene. These are the ‘disposable’ water bottles. They don’t really go away. Most of them just end up in our landfills. It takes many, many years before it breaks down, if it ever does break down. It also gets broken up and gets into the environment and even our blood stream. So we’re trying to find a green way to produce energy from those (harmful plastics),” Shurtleff said.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

The university also features an on-campus food pantry to reduce food waste and provide resources for students and staff. They receive food donations from grocery stores and obtain fresh produce from the university’s GRIT Garden, which stands for growing resilience and inclusiveness together.

The garden uses 10,000 square feet of space — “smaller than most people’s yards,” according to biology lab manager Austin Harvey — to grow thousands of pounds of food for students. This year will also be the first with the volunteer-built greenhouse in use.

The UVU sustainability committee searches for solutions to environmental issues on campus and helps move the university toward its goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.