Waste-to-Energy - Holland Henn

This is a picture of a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant that is located on the east side of JMU’s campus across from the Astronomy Park and is easily seen from ISAT and can be accessed from University Drive. Most JMU students do not usually use this space directly, but all of the trash that we produce on campus (and trash from Harrisonburg and the county) goes to this plant and is burned and used to create a renewable source of energy that heats and cools the entire ISAT side of campus as well as some other parts of the campus. While most students do not use this space, some ISAT students visit it for research. In my junior year, I visited the plant because I was on a team writing a business plan about a WTE plant and we were given a tour of the facility.

When this campus was designed, I do not think that the original planners would have wanted to have a big and ugly power plant on the campus. In fact, the WTE plant gets in the way of what could be a wonderful view of the mountains from the ISAT side of campus. This space could be improved if more was done to hide the building from sight, such as planting tall trees around it. When it comes to sustainability and environmental concerns, this building is about as green as it can be. Trash is considered to be a renewable resource and by burning it to produce energy, this facility helps the environment in two main ways: it reduces the volume of trash that goes to landfills and it produces clean, renewable energy.

I think that while this building is noticed by many who go to the east side of campus, few will actually remember it in the years after they graduate. For me, however, this building is quite significant because it is a symbol of the most intense and rewarding semester of work that I have had. Not only did my team write and present a business plan about a WTE, we also had to present it all over again the next semester for a competition which we ended up winning and this is something that I am proud of accomplishing in my years as a JMU student.

I think that Greenberg’s article is correct about JMU in that the older part of campus has a coherent theme and the newer parts of campus not only do not fit that theme at all, but the buildings are plainer and less attractive. The newest buildings on the east side of campus look like they could be a part of any campus; nothing about them reminds me especially of JMU, although I consider them to be an improvement over the plain brick buildings that occupy areas like the village. However, it looks like JMU is at least trying to maintain the pure bluestone feeling of the quad with the new Performing Arts Center. I think that this is important because the quad is often one of the first things a potential student may see on the JMU campus and it is likely to be a place that people will remember long after graduating.