Jacobs: IMU makes progress in green initiatives, more needed

On Tuesday, Bruce Jacobs, executive director of Indiana Memorial Union, discussed the efforts the University and the Union have made to maintain a more sustainable Union building.

In the lecture to around 100 students and guests in Woodburn Hall, Jacobs talked specifically about the process of “Greening of the IMU” — an initiative led by IU Office of Sustainability to make the Union a model for sustaining energy and resources across the campus.

The lecture was also part of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Themester 2010 “sustain•ability: Thriving on a Small Planet.”

Jacobs said since early 2009, University officials and environmental experts have gathered on campus to discuss how to improve sustainability practices in IU’s iconic building.

He said though the progress has been made so far, there is still a lot to be done in order to get the building green.

“If there are four stages in the whole process, we are at stage one,” Jacobs said, “The whole project may still need another 10 years.”

While answering questions asked at the end the one-hour lecture, Jacobs listed improvements the Union has been working on, such as the possibility of replacing bottled water with more drink refill stations. Jacobs said this might involves negotiation with IU’s designated soft drink distributor — Coca-Cola.

The Union currently has four water-bottle refill stations.


— Kevin Wang