News & Insights
VIDEO: Campus sustainability in the real world
Why this matters now
Universities and large campuses have made bold sustainability commitments and now have to deliver against them while operating buildings of every age and condition. The disconnect between climate planning and on-the-ground execution is where many programs struggle. Faculty, students, and donors expect visible progress. Facilities teams know how complex the work actually is. Bridging those two realities is the campus sustainability challenge of this decade.
What leaders are weighing
Campus leaders are weighing the appeal of aggressive targets against the difficulty of decarbonizing aging building stock and central utility systems. They are deciding how to balance electrification, deferred maintenance, and academic continuity. There are tradeoffs around capital, utility procurement, and how to engage students, faculty, and donors in the process. Sustainability officers want measurable progress. Facilities directors want practical projects. Provosts and CFOs want clarity on cost and risk. The best plans connect all of those audiences.
How Salas O’Brien is helping clients respond
Our higher ed and sustainability teams help campuses turn commitments into action across their building portfolios. We bring central plant, building systems, controls, envelope, and planning expertise together with experience working alongside campus stakeholders. We help leaders sequence investments, model outcomes, and tell the sustainability story with data that holds up. Hear Ilona Prosol, Burkley Allen, Mitch Lampley, and Hugh King share what campus sustainability looks like in the real world.
Ilona Prosol, PE, LEED BD+C
Ilona Prosol is a team leader with more than 25 years of design and management experience. She approaches design for educational facilities with a focus on sustainability, working with architects and other consultants to customize solutions that are unique to each client. She is as a Senior Vice President at Salas O’Brien. Contact her at [email protected].
Burkley Allen
Burkley Allen is experienced in process design, evaluation of co-generation alternatives, and design and analysis of district heating and cooling systems. She has prepared feasibility studies, proposals for waste-to-energy projects, including design of major equipment and energy and heat balance calculations. Burkley has conducted energy management studies for various types of facilities. Burkley has designed heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems with emphasis on chiller upgrades and central plant renovations.
Mitch Lampley, PE, C.E.M.
Mitch Lampley is an experienced engineering manager, project manager, and owner’s rep with over 34 years of experience in utility substation, electrical distribution and SCADA systems. Mr. Lampley has experience with all phases of the design/installation/commissioning of MV and LV electrical equipment as well as substation and cogeneration plant operations. Mitch serves as a Principal at Salas O’Brien.
Hugh King, PE
Hugh King has over a decade of experience in the field of electrical engineering; producing, estimating, and implementing electrical infrastructure. He has been responsible for budget and scheduling
of multi-million dollar projects and estimation of project construction costs. He is also experienced in site surveys, procedure development, existing and new building design, and renewable energy design and
grid interconnection.