University of Arizona's Arizona Sonora Residence Hall
910 E. 5th St
Tucson, AZ 85719
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Arizona-Sonora is a nine-story residence hall comprised of double towers connected by the first floor lobby. One popular gathering area is a large, open recreation area located on the main floor, and includes a compact kitchen, eating area, pool table, TVs, couches, and a small fitness area. Each floor also has a study lounge.
Constructed in 1963, this more than 127,900-square-foot facility has been housing University of Arizona residents ever since. Throughout the years, the building has experienced many upgrades, including installing a chilled water loop system and pipe insulation. In addition, regular upkeep, such as a heat exchanger tune-up and steam trap maintenance, keeps the building running smoothly.
In the fall of 2009, University of Arizona Residence Life?s sustainability program began an energy conservation competition between the residence halls. Arizona-Sonora participated fully, and has continued to do so every year since. These competitions engage residents, encouraging them to make a concerted effort to reduce energy consumption. Students learn how to do this via bulletin boards, announcements at hall meetings, and through social and educational events promoting energy reduction. The program has been successful, with AZSO saving almost 10,000kwh from its baseline year.
To help this project come to fruition, Residence Life partnered with an Architecture faculty member Dr. Nader Chalfoun, who is a professor for Sustainable Design and LEED certification courses and is also known as the ?House Energy Doctor.? He and his students organized an energy audit of the building. Not only testing for the EPA required ventilation, illumination, and thermal comfort levels, they used specially designed instruments to discern energy saving renovation suggestions for the building. With this information, Residence Life can move forward to make the building even more energy efficient.
Communications:
Residence Life shared its certification story with local and on-campus news organizations. Stories ran in the University of Arizona?s ?Daily Wildcat? school paper and were featured on the Residence Life website.
Testimonial:
?Residence Life is pleased to accept EPA's ENERGY STAR certification in recognition of our energy efficiency efforts. Through this achievement, we have demonstrated our commitment to environmental stewardship while also lowering our energy costs.?
Please note: Narrative information in this profile has been provided by University of Arizona Residence Life or a representative of this facility. Other building information was verified and submitted to EPA at the time of application. Building energy performance, operating characteristics, and ownership/management may be subject to change over time.
Building Owner:*
University of Arizona Residence Life
Property Manager:*
University of Arizona Residence Life
Year(s) Labeled (Rating):
2011 (76)
Facility Type: Residence Hall/Dormitory
Total Floorspace: 127903 sf
Year Constructed: 1963
Contract Type: None
Technologies Used:
| Stage 1-Recommissioning |
| Stage 2-Lighting |
| Stage 3-Load Reductions |
| Stage 5-Heating and Cooling Plant |
| Other Technologies/Strategies |