Built Environments

Located on the grounds of the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture building on the UA campus, the Underwood Family Sonoran Landscape Laboratory represents the reclamation of 1.2 acres of former university parking lot into a viable Sonoran Desert landscape, with high-performance integration of the building and site. It demonstrates low-cost arid land design principles of water harvesting, water reuse, mitigation of desert microclimates and reduction and re-direction of runoff for passive and active storage as well creating an enchanting desert oasis.

The Transportation Research Institute addresses the mobility, safety and environmental challenges of a rapidly evolving transportation landscape, building on UA expertise in emerging transportation systems and critical, enabling technologies.

The Office of Sustainability works to ensure that the UA continues to be a leader in sustainability among its peers. They collaborate with partners across the University and throughout the community to coordinate environmental sustainability initiatives and communication.

The Drachman Institute is a research and public service unit of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture dedicated to the environmentally sensitive and resource-conscious development of neighborhoods and communities.

The vision of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center is to develop controlled environment agriculture as an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable agricultural option.

Biosphere 2 serves as a unique large-scale experimental apparatus housing seven model ecosystems with active research by teams of multidisciplinary scientists.