Introduction
There are several issues right now plaguing not just the country but the environment as well. The fact that the environment is continually suffering from more problems today than it ever did in the history of the world is startling. This paper seeks to suggest several initiatives and practices that can contribute to a cleaner and greener campus.
Sustainable practices
Sustainability is defined as a certain strategy wherein different communities seek to push for economic advantages which also benefit the local environment as well as the quality of life in that community. With regard to sustainability issues that can be found in a certain university, there are several options that students can look to make the campus a cleaner and greener place to be. In Oregon State University, they have been able to launch a “Student Sustainability Center” which encouraged different students, faculty and staff to pledge to a few simple changes in their lives throught a certain period of time in order to make the environment cleaner and greener. What was good about this particular initiative is that the progress of the participants were tracked with the goal of demonstrating how easy it is to reduce one’s personal carbon footprint with simple, manageable steps. (Recycle.oregonstate.edu, 2008)
Sustainable practices in OSU
Recycling has become a very important thing for the people in Oregon State University. In April 2008, the university held a recyling contest entitled “RecycleMania” which offered incentive and ranking for recycling on campus. The competition allowed the university to rank itself from the competition and see how far they were on a national scale. Because of this particular competition, they actually knew that they were the top ‘green’ school in the state which was a very big bonus for the university.
With regard to irrigation, the university was able to fund and research on different irrigation methods that would essentially help the community. The university suggested that they use “ET” or evapotranspiration charts from the Bureau of Reclamation AgriMet system. These particular tools show accurate estimates of crop water use and help people decide when and how much to irrigate. The university also suggested that soil-moisturizing equipment which will also indicate how much irrigation is needed.
List of unsustainable practices in OSU
There are several activities that could be considered not environmental-friendly in the campus of Oregon State.. There are some buildings that may not be fully-powered by CLFs. Thus, the whole school is not saving the optimal amount of energy that it can save. Plus there are certain recycling procedures that should be implemented on the university in general. There are different practices regarding the use of energy that should also be implemented in the campus. Although some of the initiatives have already started, it basically following through these particular initiatives that will eventually make the campus of Oregon a greener campus in the coming years.
Kelley Engineering Building
The Oregon State University is now aiming for a rating of 2.0 in the US Green Building Council LEED ranking. There are several “green” building elements in this particular building. Some of which are the following:
• Natural ventilation will provide interior spaces with fresh air. An extensive heat recovery system will recover more waste heat from ventilation than standard requirement, and will pay itself off in 3.8 years.
• Daylighting from a central atrium and windowed walls will supply classrooms, labs, and offices with natural light, cutting lighting energy costs up to 40 percent.
• Total energy use will be reduced by at least 55% over Oregon Energy Code, based on energy modeling to date.
• Earth-friendly concrete will reduce CO2 emissions associated with cement production.
• Bio-planters around much of building perimeter will use runoff for irrigation and provide outdoor seating.
• Bicycle parking, showers and close access to Corvallis busses will encourage alternative transportation usage.
• Local construction materials will make up at least 20% of building materials, reducing transportation costs and environmental impacts.
• Recycled building materials will be used extensively throughout the project.
• Low-toxicity finishes, fiberboard, and flooring will minimize VOC off-gassing and improve indoor air quality for the life of the building.
• The white roof will be Energy Star compliant with high emmissivity and high reflectivity, reducing heat absorption by the roof. (Oregonstate.edu, 2008)
How to increase energy efficiency
I. Transportation ; Gas
Students can effectively use energy efficiently in the aspect of transportation by implementing carpools instead of driving individual cars to school. This is one of the simplest ways to achieve fuel efficiency–simply carpooling at least one day a week instead of going alone. This is because by burning one gallon of gasoline produces around 20 pounds of carbon emissions. One might think that when something is burned, one turns it into air but what happens is that it vaporizes and is chemically bonded with oxygen in the air which in turn, makes it heavier than it was in solid form. (Stein, 2006) This will save enough gas for each student and will eventually help cut down on the gas expenses for each student. Essentially, it’s like hitting two birds with one stone.
II. Heating
Having a university’s campus heated accordingly takes its toll on the environment because of the energy that it utilizes. However, there could be several heating initiatives such as temporarily providing occupants with portable space heaters during approved off-hours. Heating as well as air-conditioning can be resumed only during school hours or during school-approved academic gatherings. This will also have positive effects on the consumption of electricity in the university. By turning the heating and air-conditioning systems on only when necessary will essentially save enough electricity.
III. Classrooms
Dawson (2007) mentions that one of the best ways to make university classrooms sustainable is to call for a school-wide mandate for the new and renovated buildings in OSU to be constructed to LEED silver standards which essentially use 50% renewable energy with have of that number being produced through solar power.
IV. Lighting ; Electricity
There are alternative fluorescent bulbs right now out in the market which save one quarter of the electricity and actually lasts years longer than incandescent bulbs. The people in Energy Star say that if every American home replaced just one light bulb with a CFL bulb, “we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.” This is enough to replace all fluorescent bulbs with CFLs in the university.
Aside from shifting to CFLs, specific classes could maybe simply open the windows instead of turning on the light so that they will be able to take advantage of natural light instead of consuming energy to light the room
V. Paper consumption
Aside from using purely recycled materials and recycling the paper that is used in the school, they could probably encourage people to use hand towels instead of paper towels so that they would be able to cut down on the usage of paper towels.
VI. Internet vs. traditional learning
Since most people go to the web right now to do their academic research instead of the libraries, the university could simply mandate that the students conduct their research through traditional means. This could simply entail doing a little extra in order to learn the same thing over the Internet but it will definitely help with both the consumption of electricity and the manner wherein a student learns.
Conclusion
All in all, the various strategies that Oregon State University point to a single action point: that is the sustained practices that they have already started. It is important to note that the methods that have been suggested here will eventually help make OSU a greener university. The necessary follow up that is required of any implementation should be given and it should be communicated not only to the students but also to the faculty and the staff as well. The people who make a university clean are the people who use it. It is therefore the responsibility of these people to be of one mind and unite in the campaign to clean and green the university.
References
Stein. Adam. “How to turn 6 pounds of gasoline into 20 pounds of carbon dioxide.” 2006. Terrapass.com. 13 August 2008. ;http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/how-to-turn-8-p;
Wings.buffalo.edu. “Guide to Campus Energy Policies.” Wings.buffalo.edu. 13 August 2008 ;http://wings.buffalo.edu/ubgreen/content/programs/energyconservation/guide_energy.html;
(14) CSSC began their drive during the 2002-2003 academic year with a campaign co-organized with Greenpeace that took the motto “UC Go Solar” as its organizing slogan. During this year, CSSC gathered thousands of student signatures in support of the initiative to green the entire UC system using solar power.
Oregonstate.edu. “Sustainability at OSU.” 2008. Oregonstate.edu. 13 August 2008. ;http://oregonstate.edu/sustainability/;
Dawson, Ashley. “Greening the Campus.” Radical Teacher 2007. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 13 August. 2008. ;http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true;db=aph;AN=25242586;site=ehost-live;.
Jensen, Lynn ; Shock, C.C. 2001. “Strategies for Reducing Irrigation Water Use.” Oregonstate.edu. 2001. 13 August 2008 ;http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:KTwxSEmtFn0J:extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/em/em8783.pdf+oregon+state+university+irrigation;hl=en;ct=clnk;cd=2
