LAEP House Goes Greener

LAEP House Gets a Wind Turbine

In January, the first ground-mounted wind turbine at USU was installed on the east lawn of the LAEP House. Much preparation and coordination were required to permit the installation of the regenerative turbine. Approvals were required from Logan City and USU Facilities, where a presentation was made to the Architectural Review Committee. An open house was held, inviting the local neighbors to tour the LAEP House, learn about the wind turbine, and provide feedback and questions.

To envision the 35’ tall turbine’s visual impact, highly accurate visual simulations of the turbine’s position and appearance were created by now LAEP alumnus Alonzo Rhodes, which greatly helped to inform the neighbors and USU community. Information about audible noise, as well as power generation was also provided. The Xeres Skystream wind turbine is grid-connected and can produce up 820 kWh of electricity per month, with an average wind speed of 11 mph.

The turbine’s installation resulted from a generous donation by LAEP alumnus John Gottfredson. According to John, “From a practical perspective, green technology is an area of growth for the future and those that can gain skills in this area will be well served through their careers. From a broader perspective, I believe the purpose of higher education in landscape architecture is to open minds to possibilities, to spur creative growth and to build a philosophy of using design thinking to solve problems.”

Students Learn About Outdoor Lighting

State-of-the-art LED outdoor lighting has been added to the LAEP House thanks to an in-kind donation from FX Luminaire Landscape and Architectural Lighting. LAEP alumnus Justin Hamula facilitated discussions and planning for the donation, valued at more than $7,000.

Shawn Knudsen, local sales manager for FX Luminaire, provided 11 color-changing LED outdoor fixtures, 8 walkway and handrail fixtures, and a Luxor controller that is programmable and can provide a wide range of lighting themes that can be operated through an app on a cell phone.

Katie Gerratt, BLA 2018, installs outdoor lighting with Shawn Knudsen.

Uplighting was added to the beautiful hawthorn tree on the east side of the driveway. Accent and spot lights were added to the arbor and stone sculpture and downlights were installed in the large ash tree in the backyard. In addition, Shawn provided a Genius Hour overview of outdoor lighting as well as helped the students install the lighting system, giving them hands-on experience.

The lighting system is very adaptable and expandable. We anticipate incorporating additional fixtures in the coming days.

The LAEP house is now powered by both solar and wind energy with an energy efficient lighting system.

LAEP House with new LED outdoor lighting.

Department of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning | InSites 2018