Sustainability Committee

Campus Committee for Sustainability and Climate Neutrality

CCSCN
October 25, 2011, 3:30-4:45pm
Student Center Room #242

Present: Kathleen Buckley; Nick De Filippis; Louise Gava; Neil Law; Matthias Nevins; Jon Rosales; Dan Seaman; Rick Scott; Annie Znamierowski

Old Business:

Pepsi Refresh Project (Nick)-General concept; think of idea, submit idea and get people to vote for idea.  With enough votes the idea moves to final voting with ideas with the most votes getting funding.  Four different categories (Arts/Music, Education, Communities, Pepsi Challenge) we'd likely enter under the Education category.  Also, four funding sizes (multiple awards in each); $5K, $10K, $25K and $50K.  Each person gets five votes per day, votes that have higher pull can be purchased.

• Why?
  1. Another funding source, even if it's not complete funding
  2. Votes needed to win-forces us to build community awareness of project
• Project ideas:

1.      Hydration station (install another like the one in the SC)

2.      Selling water bottles

3.      Water saving fixtures (show heads, waterless urinals)

4.      Ideas around local food

Faculty Council Questions for Committee Self-Review

Neil explained that committee reports are not being filled out and filed with faculty council at the end of the academic year.  Faculty council is worried about the lack of information and committees having to reinvent the wheel each time the people on the committee change.  Big picture questions are: does the committee need to exist and is the charge accurate?

• Section one: report on past committee activities, Louise will fill out based on Conservation Council's activity
• Section two: review of committee charge and authority, talked through as group and Jon will officially submit
  • Considered and decided against asking to add more staff to committee: grants (too small and already focused on sustainability), major gifts (traveling and short staffed this semester)

New Business:

Climate Change Summit Planning
Request for ideas from committee, especially speakers.  Summit will be an annual event (moving to fall semester, September) focusing on climate change, funded by Mellon money, involving all four colleges.  Potential university based training for environmental leadership (student focused) in spring.  Is there a way to integrate CAP and our committee work into summit activities?

• Ideas:

1.      Evan Goodstein - train people to be leaders in climate movement, do workshop to build momentum in student body

2.      Faculty from all 4 colleges working on county's Climate Action Plan-maybe have them do a presentation or panel

3.      Contemporary Issues Forum-focused on Climate Change/Environment/Sustainability

Offset Guidelines
Jon feels there is a gap in the CAP with regard to the University's feelings on offsets.  He notes we'll have to buy some offsets (2,500 metric tons at last count) and thinks the committee should provide guidance on how to prioritize.  Perhaps we can generate offsets on campus  

• Louise provided three very different ideas from other schools

1.      Green Mountain College-created a local offset program, partnering with the Central Vermont Public Utility and their ‘cow power program.'  Offsets are generated by methane capture at local CAFO dairies and the offsets are verified and retired by AgRefresh-the utility selected and ‘ate the cost' of third party verification.  The project was selected by the college to phase our RECs and have a site that was generating offsets that was easy for students to visit.

2.      Colgate University-partnered with Patagonia Sur LLC to generate forest based carbon offsets by planting 225,000 native tree species to expand the existing 65,000 acre nature reserve.  This partnership also allows for on-site research by students/professors, exclusive use of the eco-tourism club by alumni and additional offsets for University events (reunion) and University sponsored travel.

3.      College of William and Mary-offset fund where 100% of money goes into on-campus energy efficiency projects.  Target is students/faculty/staff/alumni who might otherwise offset their travel, home-life with another vendor, but with this option can give back to the University.  

• Jon added that we can also buy offsets on the open market starting in 2013 when California comes online to trade carbon
• Questions we need to answer:
  • Do we favor on campus or local offsets? Why?
  • How much are we going to offset? Just what we know is unavoidable or more?
  • When do we start, now, in the future, buy offsets for back years?
  • What do we do about the uncertainty of CO2 and forests, sometimes the error in how much a forest uptakes is greater than uptake

§  Biomass boiler; purchasing a local product (theoretically), doesn't have to end at SLU, could be a district heating plant as Ogdensburg is considering

• Ideas:
  • Weatherization of local homes (Louise has looked into this and will share next meeting); some political hurdles even though it is good PR and economic development
  • Habitat for Humanity working on energy projects in our own theme houses or the local community-liability issues?

Members Time:

Next Wednesday, remembrance and tree planting for Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai (at ESL, both for timber and wildlife)

Emerald Ash Borer-does SLU have a plan for the 202 Ash trees we have on campus, the borer was located just south of the county line and also in Canada.  Very expensive to cut trees once they die and Neil reports it is 100% mortality rate

Next meeting
November 8, 2011, 3:30-5pm
Student Center Room TBA:

• Louise report on updated GHG data and unavoidable offsets
• Continue offset conversation?

Assignments:

Nick-update on Pepsi Refresh Grant Proposal process
All-ideas for Pepsi Refresh Project
Louise-Committee self-review, section one; unavoidable offset re-calculation and example of offsets with weatherization of local homes
Jon-Committee self-review, section two and submit

Campus Committee for Sustainability and Climate Neutrality

CCSCN

October 11, 2011, 3:30-5:00pm

Student Center Room #336

Old Business

• Appointing more faculty members to the committee
  • Personally contact people who are interested
  • Less people on the committee, the easier it will be to reach a consensus
  • For research/large projects, form groups with people outside the committee
• Role of the CCSCN
  • Review and revise the CAP, as well as successive work plans
  • Take on the responsibilities previously held by the Conservation Council (consider means to move SLU towards sustainability)
  • Communicate our efforts to the campus community
  • Seek to educate people about sustainability through classroom curriculum

Offsets

*Create one statement with three criteria

*2,500 tons of carbon = unavoidable offsets

When will we buy those? Where will the capital for that come from?

*Suggestion: Gradual build cost into budget, avoid shocking the system

LED streetlights

*i.e. Ann Arbor

*Save money in the long term

*Visible commitment to sustainability

*Need cost estimates and savings

Weave climate change into academic life

*College workshop (like the QRC)

*Faculty panel or academic speaker

*Integrate sustainability and climate change into classroom curriculum

Master Plan - driver of what facilities will do

Biomass boiler is not currently on the table

*Need to consider: Return on investment, labor-intensive work, cost-effectiveness compared to natural gas, convenience, and cost of maintenance

*Pilot? Is it possible to have a small biomass boiler to be a demonstration?

*Need to decentralize our campus energy sources

*The time is now, i.e. Ogdensburg  http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/5785/ogdensburg-project-shows-biomass-potential-in-upstate-ny

*Heating à 55% GHG emissions (largest sector)

*Local energy (pellets from Massena)

Keep committee small

*Recruit people outside the committee to help with specific projects

*Then report project efforts to committee

Have a short list of goals/efforts and do them well

How will we make decisions?

*First, try to reach a consensus

(Want to work towards a consensus, but also want to be productive and mobile)

*Can't reach a consensus, write both a majority and minority report that will be given to President Fox (executive decision)

*Green initiative buy-in for alumni

Develop a sustainability "wish-list" (donations)

*CCSCN Secretary: Kate Powers

Next meeting

October 25, 2011, 3:30-5:00pm

Student Center Room #242:

**Note room and time change of meeting

Agenda:

• Aileen O'Donoghue-10-15 minute presentation on LED lighting for campus
• Discuss Pepsi Refresh Challenge (Nick De Filippis)
• Discuss the ADK Youth Climate Summit (Louise Gava)
• Discuss the GHG inventory update presented by Louise Gava
• If time...Offset discussion

Campus Committee for Sustainability and Climate Neutrality

CCSCN

September 27, 2011, 3-4:15pm

Student Center Room #336

Slideshow Presentation

Created by Louise Gava and Amanda Lavigne

Goal = approval of CAP by trustees

SLU in an "alpha" institution, needs to maintain status

Visuals from St. Lawrence 30 years ago (show how far we've come and how far we can go)

2007- original CAP committee, baseline

2011- CAP passed

2040- target

CAP is simply the framework, a map (different routes possible to get to our intended destination)

Work plan-one created every 3-5 years, will provide details

1^st work plan = July 2012

• Financing: accept CAP, accept the responsibility to fund it
• Energy efficiency and conservation come first
• Education & research
• Communication & outreach

So what?

Perfect timing-CAP passed before the creation of the Master Plan

Student support-Petition with signatures from 15% of the student body

SLU = leader

**Enhancement to our campus, recognition of what we've already accomplished

However, we cannot claim credit for things we are already doing/have done

Must go above and beyond

Carbon market = must be additional, not what's already been done

Forums

What will be implemented?

How will it affect the CAP?

Process

Need buy-in, we should trust the process

CAP consultant

Environmental staffers

Selection process:     November 21^st-hire

December 5^th-start date

August 20^th-completion

October 2012-present to trustees

CAP is in the Master Plan

Revisit CAP each year-Can we speed up the process?

We can't wait/put things on hold

Next meeting

October 11, 2011, 3-4:30pm

Student Center Room #336:

• Dissect CAP, What is our role as a committee?
• See if we can get more faculty members on the committee-specifically humanities and social science professors
• Review Pepsi Refresh initiative

Assignments:

            Co-chairs: Neil Law and Jon Rosales