TSAS students work on the East-West Park at the Memorial Un 

 Building, UNH, Durham. September, 1998. 



Building a Sustainable UNH Campus 



JOHN HART 



In a model that has succeeded for some years at 

 UNH's Thompson School, students in the horti 

 cultural technology program, with the support of 

 the Department of Grounds and Roads, this fall com- 

 pleted most of Phase 1 of a landscape renovation at the 

 Elliott Alumni Center on the Durham campus. Students 

 applied their classroom theory to real-world situations 

 while, at the same time, a more environmentally 

 friendly and sustainable landscape was installed and 

 taxpayer and tuition dollars reduced — not a bad deal! 



The project began in the spring 1998 Landscape De- 

 sign Studio. A teaching team from George Pellettieri As- 

 sociates of Warner guided the design class to completion 

 of individual site plans. One of the students, Alexander 

 Guide, then combined the best of the class's work into a 

 unified design solution. Presentations to the alumni 

 association's building committee were well received, and 

 funding was approved by Ernie Gale, new director of the 

 association. 



This past fall, final design revisions were completed by 

 Amy Craig of the Sustainable Landscape Group, Office 

 of Sustainability Programs at UNH. Estimating, purchas- 

 ing, and implementation were integrated into a fall class 

 in landscape construction led by Michael Sheffield, ad- 

 junct instructor at the Thompson School. Construction 



work included removing asphalt, creating stonedust seat- 

 ing areas with granite benches, and installing native plant 

 material. It is anticipated that funding will be available 

 to employ a Hort Tech student during the summer to 

 help maintain this and other new plantings. 



Over time, as additional phases of the Elliott Alumni 

 Center landscape are completed, this site will become a 

 showcase for the New England Ecological Garden at 

 UNH, demonstrating and interpreting a new aesthetic of 

 sustainable landscaping to students, faculty, staff, alumni, 

 and visitors. Dr. Tom Kelly, Director of Sustainability 

 Programs at UNH, has called this a "learnscape" — a 

 landscape uniting human well-being, economic viability, 

 and ecological health to educate in sustainable living. 



Other landscapes initiated in similar fashion during 

 the 1998 season include a section of the Memorial 

 Union Building and an area around the old infirmary, 

 Hood House. Over winter, students in Landscape Design 

 Studio will apply themselves to a new site as the UNH 

 campus becomes a regional resource in sustainable living 

 education. 



John Hart, associate professor in the horticulture 

 curriculum at the Thompson School of Applied Sciences, 

 University of New Hampshire, Durham, can be reached 

 at 6o}-862-iogi. 



FEBRUARY / MARCH 1999 



19 



