News

THE RIVER ROCKS used in an award-winning storm water management system at Stephen E. Epler Hall have become the subject of some “unintended consequences that are pretty cool,” says Josh Lighthipe, an engineer for the system.

The rocks now sport words, writings, and tiny pictures. Apparently, students sit on the raised boxes and decorate the rocks. A depiction of the painting known as “The Scream” is one of Lighthipe’s favorites.

He first noticed the “public art” while visiting the system that he and other civil engineering colleagues from KPFF Consulting Engineers designed three years ago. Rainwater from the roofs of Epler Hall and neighboring King Albert Hall is collected in the river rock boxes. The water flows to underground retention tanks where it is treated using ultraviolet light before resurfacing for use as flush water in first-floor restrooms and in landscape irrigation.

The student residential hall won LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.