The past few years have seen a movement toward a more sustainable and ecologically friendly Penn State campus.

With the release of projects such as the Mueller Report in the fall and the subsequent development of research for a similar report on Sackett Building, there has been an increase in the attention given to the issue of green design on campus.

"We do feel that we have a responsibility to manage our buildings properly," said Paul Ruskin, spokesman for the Office of Physical Plant.

Ruskin said the university is taking a number of measures to help ensure its actions are more sustainable in the future.

In addition to exchanging light bulbs in exit signs around the university with more efficient light emitting diodes, Ruskin said the university is now receiving 5 percent of its energy in the form of wind energy generated from large windmills in Somerset County.

Also, on campus there is a building designed especially with the ideas of environmental sustainability in mind.

The Centre County Visitors Center, located near Beaver Stadium, was designed to be ecologically sustainable. The center utilizes natural light by positioning the windows to take advantage of sunlight. Outside the center, a parking lot with permeable asphalt filters water as it sifts through and reenters the natural groundwater.

"(Green design) is not a new concept," said Bill Mahon, Penn State spokesman. "The university understands it."

Mahon added that progressing toward sustainability and a more ecologically friendly system requires funds that are unavailable. Though some changes may eventually save money, the "payback time," or the time it takes for a profit to be made after the cost of the changes, may not always make it practical for the university to implement them.

"Sometimes you need money to make money," Mahon said.

The payback time is important in the university's consideration of taking on new projects and outfitting older buildings with more efficient technologies. Penn State follows a payback rule of five years when it considers making changes.

"It's a general guideline," Ruskin said. "Generally faster paybacks are better than longer paybacks."

A new development in the university's work toward creating a sustainable atmosphere is the primarily green design of a building to house the Schools of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. The SALA building is still at the design stage, and its plans will be presented to the Penn State Board of Trustees in May, said Rick Riccardo, physical plant project manager.

Riccardo explained that the first step toward designing the sustainability of the building was to assess how much energy a standard building of that size typically uses.

"The goal of green approach is to design a system using 10 to 15 percent less (than the standard)," he said.

Ruskin said that in the future the university will be investigating areas for improvement. Penn State is currently looking into the issue of lighting in the buildings. The university has recently begun to encourage its employees to purchase products manufactured by Energy Star. These products include appliances, office equipment, electronics and lighting, and use 25 to 50 percent less energy than traditional products in these areas.

"Everyone has said over time that sustainable design is the right way to go," said Riccardo, adding he also considers it to be the right thing to do. "We've recognized early on that what we're doing here is important."