Tucker Hall’s new “eco- renovations” take the campus further into its green movement. Walking through Tucker Hall, anyone can notice its renovated surroundings. Though there is more than a new paint job and chairs. Tucker Hall has received many new energy efficient improvements.
According to project manager Clinton Smith, each office and classroom has occupancy sensors that turn off the lights when the room is not occupied. There are also energy fluorescent lights wherever feasible.
There is several other less popular green products now in place in Tucker Hall. There are environmentally friendly carpet and vinyl flooring. There are also low energy tiles and windows that provide better insulation to the building.
All these new upgrades came because of a push from the staff at Plant Facilities and Planning as well as the FAMU Environment and Sustainability Council, which created a list of accepted standard building products.
“At Tucker Hall, I served as the project manager, and was able to make sure that the efforts to make the building as energy efficient and maximize the use of green products during design and construction while providing the students the best environment possible, both indoors and outdoors,” Smith said.
Smith said these energy efficient upgrades were important to the renovation. “In order to lower the overall operating and maintenance cost of the building, and decrease the overall carbon footprint of the campus as a whole,” said Smith in response to the effect of the renovations.
Students can benefit from the energy efficient upgrades to Tucker. Any money that can be deflected from expenditures on operating and managing costs can keep tuition low.
“I like the thought of tuition costs not rising from simple renovations, especially being from out of state,” said Yasmine Saibou a business administration student from D.C. “We need to do this to all the buildings on campus.”