EMS Steering Committee

Meeting Minutes

Discussion Record
December 12, 2006

Attendees: Ellen Shukis, John Bryant, John Fortini, Mary Jo Maydew, Sean Decatur, Nancy Apple, Rick Bigelow, Mike Buckley, Gennie Noyce, Molly Buermann, Todd Holland

I. EAC Report 
 
EAC is in the midst of this year’s Million Monitor Drive (MMD) which ends December 13th. Before Thanksgiving break, they did the Cold Turkey campaign to get students to turn off and unplug equipment and turn off lights. They will do a similar campaign before winter break. The Local Food Fest in November was very well attended. In the Spring, they will be working on RecycleMania and an education campaign on bottled water.

II. Working Group Reports and Discussion

1. Green Building Design and Construction
   

   The Working Group is invited to monthly residence hall green building meetings and will not be meeting independently this year. The architect is working on fence signs to talk about what makes the building green. The location of the signs has not been determined. They can not go along the Lower Lake Road construction fence because there is no place to safely stand while reading the signs. It was suggested that the sign along Morgan Street be large enough for drivers to easily read and not be placed where it will distract drivers or block lines of sight at the intersection.

   The residence hall will be 45% more energy efficient than the ASHRAE Standard. Solar hot water will supply 30% of the load. Each residential cluster will have its own meter, so we can have a  kill-a-watt competition among clusters.  There will be a monitor in the common area which tracks building performance. While energy has been a major emphasis in design, there are many other green features including synthetic slate roofing and bamboo flooring.

2. Energy Conservation 
   

   The logo for The Big Turn Off was introduced. The emphasis of the campaign at present is green computing and equipment/lights turn off over break. Similar to the student MMD, a faculty/staff Green Computing pledge campaign is planned. Also planned is a Kill-a-Watt style competition for academic and administrative buildings.

   The draft Cooling Season Energy Conservation Policy needs to be completed and will be taken to senior staff. Dining and Todd worked together to evaluate the vending machine program. Twelve vending machines have been removed and Vending Misers installed on ½ of the remaining 42. The cost of installation of the rest will be weighed against other priorities for the energy conservation allowance.

   EAC, the ECO-Reps and Todd distributed compact fluorescent light bulbs at several venues this fall including ECO M&Cs and the Green Partners open house.

   Several projects are coming up. Over break, a heat recovery loop will be installed in Carr to recover the heat lost through fume hood exhaust. In Blanchard, additional controls on the hoods will allow set backs when they are not being heavily used. The system planned for Blanchard could also be used in other dining halls. Also, a major upgrade to lighting in Kendall is on the capital projects list.

   John reported that heat recovery system installed on the bathroom exhausts in Mead has already (3  months) recovered the equivalent of 150 gallons of oil.

   Sean suggested that we investigate the feasibility of shutting off hoods in Carr teaching labs during breaks and the summer when they are not used for weeks at a time. Sean, Todd, and Rick will meet to discuss further.

3. Grounds Practices
   

   The Working Group discussed plans for a pilot tree protection project at Mead. The original plan had been to do the pilot at the grave site, but work at that site was estimated to cost over 100 thousand dollars. The Mead site will cost approximately $5,400 for the contractor plus additional FM expenses. Students are very interested in pursuing an education component to the Mead project. Work will include radial trenching, trimming roots, increasing mulch rings, and restricting  pedestrian traffic.

   Tom May also attending the WG meeting to discuss the work done over the summer on campus  lawns. Soil was tested, lawns were overseeded, and lime and fertilizer applied at ½ the recommended rate. New equipment for aeration and seeding was also purchased.

4. Waste Reduction and Recycling
   

   Statistics prepared by Roger comparing MHC to Smith, Amherst and Hampshire were distributed. MHC has the highest rate of basic discards (routine trash and paper/cardboard/bottles and cans) recycled, the second lowest rate of per capita trash landfilled (Hampshire is lowest), and the second highest rate of per capita recyclables (Amherst is highest). MHC and Hampshire are the only two of the schools composting food waste. MHC is the only school that does not have parallel access for office paper. Parallel access means office paper for recycling and office trash are picked up the same way. At MHC trash is picked up by custodians and faculty/staff are responsible for taking paper to central collection areas. There was some discussion about whether this results in more recyclable paper ending up in the trash. The ECO-Reps will be doing trash audits next semester which should help to answer that question.

   With the distribution of compact fluorescents to students, we need to set up a system for collection and recycling of those bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs contain small amounts of mercury and should not  be landfilled. We have a well established system in place for institutional bulbs maintained by  FM.
   

III. Dining Services Report

As usual, Dining Services will empty freezers and refrigerators in units closed over break and J-Term so the equipment can be turned off. In the Prospect renovation this summer, the freezer was placed inside the refrigerator which allows the compressor to be downsized by 1 hp. This was also done at Blanchard. They continue to look for compostable products and find it is still difficult to source some products, such as corn based pallet wrap.

IV. Science Center Report
 
The science center has installed a solvent rack system which provides safe availability of solvents and reduces solvent purchase. They also have a Howard Hughes grand to restructure organic chemistry teaching labs to reduce solvent use. This also provides research and educational opportunities for students that mirror environmental practices in industry.

V. Environmental Stewardship Web Site

The web site is being migrated to the new CMS and will soon have the new MHC look. A printout of the green computing page developed this semester was shown.

VI. CE Report
 
The ‘Green Partners’ brochure, which went in new student orientation packets, was shown. The group continues to work on ways to improve the presence of environmental programs at orientation and other student events.

VII. Environmental Stewardship Indicators

Administrative Fellow Ava Gottschall has been looking at options for ‘dashboard’ indicators of  environmental performance. Her draft report was distributed, and the Committee asked to review and submit comments to Nancy.