UT School of Nursing and Student Center

Photo credit: Hester + Hardaway

Site Description

The building occupies almost the entire available building site, since it is located within a dense urban environment. However, the building sits adjacent to a small urban park, and the building’s landscape and ecology were designed to enhance the experience of visitors with that park environment. Connections to the park from other parts of the Medical Center complex are encouraged through a lower-level breezeway and sheltered outdoor space that invites people through the landscape and into protected spaces.

All precipitation is handled on site; rooftop rainwater is collected and reused in the building, and onsite irrigation is easily dealt with since there are few landscaped areas on the site. All plantings are indigenous and were selected for their low maintenance requirements. Portions of the roof were designed as green roofs, and similarly appropriate plantings were selected for these areas. Local ecology informed the design of each of the building’s facades. The large trees found in the park to the east of the building provide critical shade to reduce building cooling loads and were carefully protected during construction.

• Lot size: 34,177 ft2
• Previously developed land

Water Conservation and Use

Water use reduction was an important goal of the design process. Rain and floodwaters during part of the year contrast with drought and heat at other times; the design addresses both conditions. The building collects rainwater from its rooftops and stores it for reuse in a series of five 30,000-gallon cisterns that, combined, capture 826,140 gallons of water annually. This water is used for irrigation and flushing toilets in the building and also for irrigation at the adjacent School of Public Health. Pervious paving and green roofs capture the remainder of the water that falls on the site. Graywater from sinks and showers is also collected for irrigation and flushing toilets. No potable water is used for irrigation or toilet flushing, which combined require 42,000 gallons of water each month. Waterfree urinals and low-flow toilets, lavatories, and showerheads further reduce the building's potable water use. The building uses 48% less potable water than a comparable, conventional building.

Water Data

• Indoor potable water use: 741,000 gal/yr (2,800,000 liters/yr)
• Outdoor potable water use: 0 gal/yr (0 liters/yr)
• Total potable water use: 741,000 gal/yr (2,800,000 liters/yr)
• Potable water use per unit area: 3.8 gal/sq ft (155 liters/sq meter)

Green Strategies

• Waterless Fixtures
  • Specify waterless urinals
• Runoff Reduction
  • Design a green roof system
• Landscape Plantings
  • Landscape with indigenous vegetation
• Low-Water-Use Fixtures
  • Use low-flow toilets
• Rainwater Collection
  • Collect and store rainwater for uses in building
  • Collect and store rainwater for landscape irrigation
• Demand for Irrigation
  • Select plants for drought tolerance
• Wastewater and Graywater Recycling
  • Plumb building to accommodate graywater separation
• Irrigation Systems
  • Recycle graywater for landscape irrigation
• Low-Impact Siting
  • Select building sites that make use of existing infrastructure

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Our thanks to the ENERGY STAR program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and to the U.S. Department of Energy, and to BuildingGreen, Inc. for hosting the submission and judging forms.

For more information about the AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects, contact AIA/COTE. For help on how to use this Web site, contact .