Georgia Magazine

Photo by: Peter Frey

When staff from the Office of Sustainability began to renovate their offices in the 100-year-old former Armory building at Chicopee they stayed true to their name. Instead of bringing in new materials, they used scrap and surplus fixtures and furniture to outfit their workspace.

Discarded wooden doors are now desktops, scrap wood makes a decorative new wall, and carpet remnants cover the floo

Former program director Jennifer Perissi headed the renovation efforts and scoured the campus for materials. She found old wooden handrails from the Tate Center renovation to use for the conference room wall, filling in the gaps with smaller pieces of maple and hickory wood from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources.

The UGA carpentry team built the wall and fashioned desks out of old, odd-sized doors. Renewable cork tiles divide the desks, and recycled steel from the UGA metal shop holds the dividers in plac

The office also is testing a new lower energy fluorescent lighting system to illuminate the office, enhancing the natural light let in though openings cut in the woo

“We want to show off what’s possible,” Perissi says, “and to showcase potential.”

For more on the Office of Sustainability, go to http://www.sustainability.uga.edu.