How should Algonquin tackle sustainability? What does sustainability mean for your future? How will it influence your life? All contributions should adhere to the Terms of Use: Please be respectful, constructive, and above all, have fun!
References:
The Green Campus, published by APPA
BuildGreen Solutions
Climate Protection
• Conduct a greenhouse gas emission inventory to track emission and help focus efforts to reduce emissions.
• Commit to climate neutrality or significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
• Prepare a climate action plan identifying strategies, and timelines for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• Use energy conservation and efficiency improvements to reduce energy waste and fossil fuel consumption
• Switch to noncarbon emitting green power and renewable energy technologies
• Develop strategies to reduce petroleum consumption and emission associated with students, faculty, and staff commuting and campus fleet vehicle use.
• Purchase or create carbon off sets.
Energy Conservation
• Create a facilities energy committee to make energy conservation measures and projects an ongoing priority.
• Develop heating and cooling season temperature policies that promote conservation.
• Minimize HVAC fan system and equipment run times.
• Exploit all cost-effective retrofit opportunities for efficient lighting, HVAC, motors, drivers, EMS, etc., and operate this equipment as efficiently as possible. From a conservation point of view, “off” is better than “on” and “slow” is better than “fast”.
• Focus on fume-hood ventilation system efficiency measures (in laboratory buildings), including heat recovery and variable air volume fan systems.
• Make conservation projects happen by using performance contracts, energy service companies (ESCO), third party financing, and demand-side management incentives.
• Use life-cycle analysis to evaluate proposed conservation projects.
• Create an energy project log that documents completed energy conservation measures and projects.
• Organize an ongoing energy awareness program that enlists the support of the campus community.
• Create a green campus website to promote energy conservation and other environmental priorities.
• Use online energy/emissions tracking software to help students, faculty, and staff visualize their environmental impact.
• Create a green computing program to minimize wasteful computer operation.
• Link energy conservation efforts with programs to reduce campus carbon dioxide emissions that contribution to global warming.
• Identify a staff member or create a new staff position to act as the energy officer or “energy czar” on campus.
• Utilize conservation competitions in campus apartments and residence halls and even among academic and service departments to bring attention to and encourage energy saving behaviors.
• Create a revolving fund through which dollars saved from energy conservation measures can be used to fund new energy conservation projects.
Energy Generation and Fuel Choice
• Explore cogeneration or combine heat and power (CHP) to produce electricity and heat more efficiently.
• Explore the possibility of on-site renewable energy generation using PV, solor thermal, wind, biomass, geothermal, or hydro.
Energy Purchasing and Fuel Choices
• Phase out dirty fuels like coal and oil. Find alternatives to electric space and water heating.
• Buy green power, electricity produced from clean renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, and low-impact hydro and biomass.
• Use energy efficiency measures to reduce peak demand and thus reduce electric costs.
• Recognize that buying cheaper energy, while prudent, may produce no environmental benefit.
New Construction and Green Building Design
• Do not over-build. The greenest building is the one you don’t build. Minimize new construction by using existing building space more frequently.
• Site new buildings so that environmental and transportation impacts are minimized.
• Utilize sustainable or green building design principles.
• Incorporate renewable energy technologies such as daylighting and passive and active solar.
• Explore the possibility of a climate neutral building.
• Require the use of environmentally friendly building materials and products.
• Include recycling collection space and systems in building design programs.
• Recycle construction and demolition debris.
• Evaluate design, product, and equipment options based on life-cycle analysis.
• Use the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEE) green building rating system to guide design and certify new building. Set your LEED target high, i.e., LEED Gold or Platinum
Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling
• Establish a waste reduction ethic in all areas, including office activities. Use e-mail instead of paper, minimize unnecessary printing and copying, print double sided, ect.
• Set up campus “repair and swap” shops to refurbish, exchange, and reuse unwanted items “in the Residence” use a website to facilitate these materials and equipment swaps.
• Reduce Third Class junk mail.
• Reduce or eliminate distribution of phone books; switch to online directories.
• Minimize press runs of campus newspapers and other publications, consistent with actual need; print newspapers on recycled paper and recycle unread newspapers and publication.
• Perform waste steam analyses to determine recycling potential “recycling audit”
• Implement a comprehensive campus recycling program. Start with paper and cardboard and expand to metal, plastic, glass, tires, batteries, fluorescent lamps and ballast, computers, scrap metal, concrete, and asphalt, etc.
• Compost food and yard waste.
• Seek to recycle at least 50 % of the campus waste steam.
• Hold high-profile, zero-waste events to highlight the need to reduce waste.
• Adequately train and listen to the concerns of custodial staff, implement their suggestions, and call attention to their success. A workforce committed to recycling can be your most valuable ally.
• Organize end-of-the-semester reuse and recycling programs at campus students residences.
• Make recycling easy by placing recycling bins in public locations, paired with trash cans; minimize the number of stand-alone trash cans. Be sure to provide recycling at all public events.
Green Purchasing
• Purchase only what is needed.
• Implement an environmentally friendly products purchasing policy, i.e., buy only products that are durable, reusable, recyclable, made of recycle materials, nonhazardous, energy efficient sustainable harvested or produced, appropriately package, etc.
• Replace virgin-fiber or partially recycled office paper and letterhead with 100% post consumer waste content recycled, nonchlorine bleached paper.
• Buy only computers, appliances and equipment compliant with the EPA Energy Star program and be sure to enable power saving feature when setting up.
• Incorporate environmental standards and policies in all contracts for goods and services.
• Buy products from local companies wherever possible to reduce energy associated with shipping.
Green Cleaning
• Have in place a green cleaning policy for all buildings
• Purchase of sustainable cleaning, and hard floor, and carpet care products meeting the sustainability criteria outline in EQ Credits 3.4-3.
• Purchase of cleaning equipment meeting the sustainability criteria in EQ Credit 3.7
• Establishment of standard operating procedures (SOP’s) addressing how an effective cleaning and hard floor and carpet maintenance system will be consistently utilized, managed, and audited. Specifically address cleaning to protect vulnerable building occupants.
• Develop strategies for promoting and improving hand hygiene, including both hand washing and the use of alcohol-base waterless hand sanitizers.
• Develop guidelines addressing the safe handling and storage of cleaning chemicals used in the building, including a plan for managing hazardous spills or mishandling incidents.
• Develop requirements for staffing and retaining of maintenance personnel appropriate to the needs of the building. Specifically address the training of maintenance personnel in the hazard of use, disposal and recycling of cleaning chemicals, dispensing equipment, and packaging.
• Provision for collecting occupant feedback and continuous improvement to evaluate new technologies, procedures, and processes.
Sustainable Foods and Food Services
• Buy regional products in season.
• Support local organic farms
• Promote “eating lower on the food chain” i.e. eating less meat for health and environmental reasons.
• Use reusable dinnerware to minimize contributions to the waste stream.
• Implement a reusable mug program with discounted drinks at dining areas.
• Develop kitchen and dining area recycling and composting programs.
• Buy only energy efficient kitchen and operate it in an efficient manner.
• Require vending contractors to use only Energy Star vending machines or retrofit older machines with Vending Miser occupancy sensor energy setback controls.
• Offer green catering and conferencing services.
• Mandate recycling, use of nondisposable products, and locally produced
Water
• Implement water conservation programs to quickly repair leaks and retrofit inefficient pluming fixtures.
• Avoid water consuming air compressor and “one-pass” air conditioning systems.
• Protect groundwater and storm runoff by minimizing the use of road salt of ice-melting.
• Utilize rain gardens to address runoff.
• Use drought-resistant plantings and minimize irrigation.
• Specify pervious paving in surface parking lots, sidewalks, and other paved areas to reduce storm water runoff.
• Collect rainwater for use in landscaping or toilet and urinal flushing.
Hazardous Materials
• Exceed legal “hazmat” handling collection, disposal, and tracking requirements.
• Educate campus hazardous waste generators about minimization and proper disposal techniques.
• Use micro-scale and green chemistry techniques for research and teaching.
• Encourage principal investigators and laboratory users to explore the use of less hazardous chemicals.
• Develop a chemical tracking of inventory database for hazardous materials and chemicals.
• Implement a “chemical sweeping” program.
• Switch to non/least toxic paints, solvents and cleaning agents.
• Switch print shops to soy-based ink.
• Recycle hazardous waste-containing products such as fluorescent lamps and ballasts, waste oil from kitchen’s /food prep areas and shops, antifreeze, solvents, batteries, mercury-containing switches, computers monitors, and TV’s etc.
• Prevent leaks of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s). Recover recycled CFC’s.
• Avoid chlorine-base products and incineration of plastics.
• Use integrated pest management techniques to minimize or eliminate use of pesticides on campus.
• Do not use herbicides on campus lawns.
• Work with local municipalities to sponsor household hazardous waste collection days.
Campus Grounds and Land Use
• Redefine campus beauty ecologically.
• Reduce lawn areas and grass cutting, replacing unneeded lawns with “natural regenerated areas.”
• Learn to love dandelions and biodiverse lawn; use nontoxic integrated pest management (IPM) techniques instead of chemical pesticides.
• Develop an environmental education program that educates the College community about the wonders of nature through interpretive walks throughout the campus.
• Plant native species.
• Control the spread of parking lots.
Transportation
• Encourage travel to and from campus by carpooling, public transportation, bicycling, and walking.
• Work with local transportation authority to develop appropriate transit routes and offer free or reduced fares on public transit.
• Discourage driving on campus by offering alternatives to car travel and/or by restricting campus car use by students residence.
• Encourage students, faculty, and staff to use more fuel efficient vehicles.
• Offer students, faculty and staff incentives for carpooling. Create prioritized parking for carpoolers.
• Convert campus fleet to more efficient vehicles that use alternative fuels, e.g., natural gas, biodiesel, hydrogen.
• Explore the feasibility of telecommuting instead of driving to school or work.
• Develop a bicycle sharing program on campus.
• Work with municipalities to create bicycle lanes and trails in the areas surrounding the campus.
• Install bicycle racks in multiple, convenient, and safe locations on campus
Campus Planning
• Preserve and enhance green space.
• Integrate natural areas on campus into building and landscape design.
• Concentrate buildings and arrange campus walkways and roads to minimize on-campus driving and create a convenient pedestrian and bicycle campus.
• Allow for solar access in building siting and orientation.
• Use water-efficient indigenous planting and landscape for water and energy efficiency as well as aesthetics.
• Subject all new building, renovation, and expansion plans to a public participation process, an environmental impact analysis, and sustainability design principles.
Comments
130 Ways to Green our Campus
From:
Bob Blondin, MMP
Algonquin College
130 Ways to Green our Campus
130 Ways to Green Our Campus
References:
The Green Campus, published by APPA
BuildGreen Solutions
Climate Protection
• Conduct a greenhouse gas emission inventory to track emission and help focus efforts to reduce emissions.
• Commit to climate neutrality or significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
• Prepare a climate action plan identifying strategies, and timelines for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• Use energy conservation and efficiency improvements to reduce energy waste and fossil fuel consumption
• Switch to noncarbon emitting green power and renewable energy technologies
• Develop strategies to reduce petroleum consumption and emission associated with students, faculty, and staff commuting and campus fleet vehicle use.
• Purchase or create carbon off sets.
Energy Conservation
• Create a facilities energy committee to make energy conservation measures and projects an ongoing priority.
• Develop heating and cooling season temperature policies that promote conservation.
• Minimize HVAC fan system and equipment run times.
• Exploit all cost-effective retrofit opportunities for efficient lighting, HVAC, motors, drivers, EMS, etc., and operate this equipment as efficiently as possible. From a conservation point of view, “off” is better than “on” and “slow” is better than “fast”.
• Focus on fume-hood ventilation system efficiency measures (in laboratory buildings), including heat recovery and variable air volume fan systems.
• Make conservation projects happen by using performance contracts, energy service companies (ESCO), third party financing, and demand-side management incentives.
• Use life-cycle analysis to evaluate proposed conservation projects.
• Create an energy project log that documents completed energy conservation measures and projects.
• Organize an ongoing energy awareness program that enlists the support of the campus community.
• Create a green campus website to promote energy conservation and other environmental priorities.
• Use online energy/emissions tracking software to help students, faculty, and staff visualize their environmental impact.
• Create a green computing program to minimize wasteful computer operation.
• Link energy conservation efforts with programs to reduce campus carbon dioxide emissions that contribution to global warming.
• Identify a staff member or create a new staff position to act as the energy officer or “energy czar” on campus.
• Utilize conservation competitions in campus apartments and residence halls and even among academic and service departments to bring attention to and encourage energy saving behaviors.
• Create a revolving fund through which dollars saved from energy conservation measures can be used to fund new energy conservation projects.
Energy Generation and Fuel Choice
• Explore cogeneration or combine heat and power (CHP) to produce electricity and heat more efficiently.
• Explore the possibility of on-site renewable energy generation using PV, solor thermal, wind, biomass, geothermal, or hydro.
Energy Purchasing and Fuel Choices
• Phase out dirty fuels like coal and oil. Find alternatives to electric space and water heating.
• Buy green power, electricity produced from clean renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, and low-impact hydro and biomass.
• Use energy efficiency measures to reduce peak demand and thus reduce electric costs.
• Recognize that buying cheaper energy, while prudent, may produce no environmental benefit.
New Construction and Green Building Design
• Do not over-build. The greenest building is the one you don’t build. Minimize new construction by using existing building space more frequently.
• Site new buildings so that environmental and transportation impacts are minimized.
• Utilize sustainable or green building design principles.
• Incorporate renewable energy technologies such as daylighting and passive and active solar.
• Explore the possibility of a climate neutral building.
• Require the use of environmentally friendly building materials and products.
• Include recycling collection space and systems in building design programs.
• Recycle construction and demolition debris.
• Evaluate design, product, and equipment options based on life-cycle analysis.
• Use the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEE) green building rating system to guide design and certify new building. Set your LEED target high, i.e., LEED Gold or Platinum
Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling
• Establish a waste reduction ethic in all areas, including office activities. Use e-mail instead of paper, minimize unnecessary printing and copying, print double sided, ect.
• Set up campus “repair and swap” shops to refurbish, exchange, and reuse unwanted items “in the Residence” use a website to facilitate these materials and equipment swaps.
• Reduce Third Class junk mail.
• Reduce or eliminate distribution of phone books; switch to online directories.
• Minimize press runs of campus newspapers and other publications, consistent with actual need; print newspapers on recycled paper and recycle unread newspapers and publication.
• Perform waste steam analyses to determine recycling potential “recycling audit”
• Implement a comprehensive campus recycling program. Start with paper and cardboard and expand to metal, plastic, glass, tires, batteries, fluorescent lamps and ballast, computers, scrap metal, concrete, and asphalt, etc.
• Compost food and yard waste.
• Seek to recycle at least 50 % of the campus waste steam.
• Hold high-profile, zero-waste events to highlight the need to reduce waste.
• Adequately train and listen to the concerns of custodial staff, implement their suggestions, and call attention to their success. A workforce committed to recycling can be your most valuable ally.
• Organize end-of-the-semester reuse and recycling programs at campus students residences.
• Make recycling easy by placing recycling bins in public locations, paired with trash cans; minimize the number of stand-alone trash cans. Be sure to provide recycling at all public events.
Green Purchasing
• Purchase only what is needed.
• Implement an environmentally friendly products purchasing policy, i.e., buy only products that are durable, reusable, recyclable, made of recycle materials, nonhazardous, energy efficient sustainable harvested or produced, appropriately package, etc.
• Replace virgin-fiber or partially recycled office paper and letterhead with 100% post consumer waste content recycled, nonchlorine bleached paper.
• Buy only computers, appliances and equipment compliant with the EPA Energy Star program and be sure to enable power saving feature when setting up.
• Incorporate environmental standards and policies in all contracts for goods and services.
• Buy products from local companies wherever possible to reduce energy associated with shipping.
Green Cleaning
• Have in place a green cleaning policy for all buildings
• Purchase of sustainable cleaning, and hard floor, and carpet care products meeting the sustainability criteria outline in EQ Credits 3.4-3.
• Purchase of cleaning equipment meeting the sustainability criteria in EQ Credit 3.7
• Establishment of standard operating procedures (SOP’s) addressing how an effective cleaning and hard floor and carpet maintenance system will be consistently utilized, managed, and audited. Specifically address cleaning to protect vulnerable building occupants.
• Develop strategies for promoting and improving hand hygiene, including both hand washing and the use of alcohol-base waterless hand sanitizers.
• Develop guidelines addressing the safe handling and storage of cleaning chemicals used in the building, including a plan for managing hazardous spills or mishandling incidents.
• Develop requirements for staffing and retaining of maintenance personnel appropriate to the needs of the building. Specifically address the training of maintenance personnel in the hazard of use, disposal and recycling of cleaning chemicals, dispensing equipment, and packaging.
• Provision for collecting occupant feedback and continuous improvement to evaluate new technologies, procedures, and processes.
Sustainable Foods and Food Services
• Buy regional products in season.
• Support local organic farms
• Promote “eating lower on the food chain” i.e. eating less meat for health and environmental reasons.
• Use reusable dinnerware to minimize contributions to the waste stream.
• Implement a reusable mug program with discounted drinks at dining areas.
• Develop kitchen and dining area recycling and composting programs.
• Buy only energy efficient kitchen and operate it in an efficient manner.
• Require vending contractors to use only Energy Star vending machines or retrofit older machines with Vending Miser occupancy sensor energy setback controls.
• Offer green catering and conferencing services.
• Mandate recycling, use of nondisposable products, and locally produced
Water
• Implement water conservation programs to quickly repair leaks and retrofit inefficient pluming fixtures.
• Avoid water consuming air compressor and “one-pass” air conditioning systems.
• Protect groundwater and storm runoff by minimizing the use of road salt of ice-melting.
• Utilize rain gardens to address runoff.
• Use drought-resistant plantings and minimize irrigation.
• Specify pervious paving in surface parking lots, sidewalks, and other paved areas to reduce storm water runoff.
• Collect rainwater for use in landscaping or toilet and urinal flushing.
Hazardous Materials
• Exceed legal “hazmat” handling collection, disposal, and tracking requirements.
• Educate campus hazardous waste generators about minimization and proper disposal techniques.
• Use micro-scale and green chemistry techniques for research and teaching.
• Encourage principal investigators and laboratory users to explore the use of less hazardous chemicals.
• Develop a chemical tracking of inventory database for hazardous materials and chemicals.
• Implement a “chemical sweeping” program.
• Switch to non/least toxic paints, solvents and cleaning agents.
• Switch print shops to soy-based ink.
• Recycle hazardous waste-containing products such as fluorescent lamps and ballasts, waste oil from kitchen’s /food prep areas and shops, antifreeze, solvents, batteries, mercury-containing switches, computers monitors, and TV’s etc.
• Prevent leaks of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s). Recover recycled CFC’s.
• Avoid chlorine-base products and incineration of plastics.
• Use integrated pest management techniques to minimize or eliminate use of pesticides on campus.
• Do not use herbicides on campus lawns.
• Work with local municipalities to sponsor household hazardous waste collection days.
Campus Grounds and Land Use
• Redefine campus beauty ecologically.
• Reduce lawn areas and grass cutting, replacing unneeded lawns with “natural regenerated areas.”
• Learn to love dandelions and biodiverse lawn; use nontoxic integrated pest management (IPM) techniques instead of chemical pesticides.
• Develop an environmental education program that educates the College community about the wonders of nature through interpretive walks throughout the campus.
• Plant native species.
• Control the spread of parking lots.
Transportation
• Encourage travel to and from campus by carpooling, public transportation, bicycling, and walking.
• Work with local transportation authority to develop appropriate transit routes and offer free or reduced fares on public transit.
• Discourage driving on campus by offering alternatives to car travel and/or by restricting campus car use by students residence.
• Encourage students, faculty, and staff to use more fuel efficient vehicles.
• Offer students, faculty and staff incentives for carpooling. Create prioritized parking for carpoolers.
• Convert campus fleet to more efficient vehicles that use alternative fuels, e.g., natural gas, biodiesel, hydrogen.
• Explore the feasibility of telecommuting instead of driving to school or work.
• Develop a bicycle sharing program on campus.
• Work with municipalities to create bicycle lanes and trails in the areas surrounding the campus.
• Install bicycle racks in multiple, convenient, and safe locations on campus
Campus Planning
• Preserve and enhance green space.
• Integrate natural areas on campus into building and landscape design.
• Concentrate buildings and arrange campus walkways and roads to minimize on-campus driving and create a convenient pedestrian and bicycle campus.
• Allow for solar access in building siting and orientation.
• Use water-efficient indigenous planting and landscape for water and energy efficiency as well as aesthetics.
• Subject all new building, renovation, and expansion plans to a public participation process, an environmental impact analysis, and sustainability design principles.
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