May 2011 Green Campus Newsletter

UC BERKELEY
GREENCAMPUSCHRONICLES
VOL 7, ISSUE 4, May 2011
Thank You Stakeholders!
A
s a thank-you for their dedication,
Green Campus and the Residential
Sustainability Program
(RSP)
presentations from Green Campus and RSP to
review highlights from the past year. Green
Campus discussed their Green Career Panel,
UZLOW shower valves, Greeks Go Green,
Blackout Battles, the Energy DeCal, and the
“End the Cycle” sustainable laundry campaign.
RSP also shared exciting successes including
their paper towel composting campaign, CFL
exchange, educational field trips, guest
speaker events, sustainability week, and
In this issue
Thank You Stakeholders! P.1
Reflecting on a Great Semester P.2
California Hall Re-Certifies at
Highest Level P.2
A Greener AOPi P.2
collaborated to host a luncheon for our
valued stakeholders. Green Campus
projects and savings would not be possible
if it weren’t for the time and expertise of
the staff, faculty, and students we work
with. The luncheon was a Green Event
certified by the Office of Sustainability.
Greener practices included sustainable
gifts, a vegetarian option, composting, and
reusable tableware. The event featured
Energy DeCal Ends Semester with
Innovative Group Projects P.3
Two Projects Receive over $12,000
from TGIF Grants P.4
Congratulations to Recent
Graduate, Intern Geetanjali Johary
P.4
Projects Summary P.5
tabling at the Play Green festival. Click here
(youtube.com/watch?v=cn8zLXucugE) to view
the video they shared which advocates for
paper towel composting in the residence halls.
Green Campus looks forward to continuing to
work with our great stakeholders in the fall.
Above left: Campus and community stakeholders enjoy a
delicious lunch at the end-of-year stakeholder luncheon.
Left: Green Campus intern Morwenna Rowe summarizes
savings from the McCone Hall lighting retrofit during the
team’s presentation.
Above: Luncheon guests listen as Green Campus interns
present this year’s project updates and successes to an attentive audience.
cumulative metrics (10/2004—5/2011)
MWh Saved: 5845
$ Saved: $482,424
Contact Information P.5
Green Campus by the Numbers
$12,435.78 = total amount
awarded to Green Campus
Projects by TGIF in May 2011.
21 = # of points earned by
California Hall for Green
Department Re-certification.
23 = # of guests at End-of-Year
Stakeholder Luncheon.
$6,500 = 65000 kWh = Total
potential savings identified on
campus through DeCal group
projects.
Carbon emissions avoided: 2,974,740
CFLs distributed: 7,777
Number of people who have attended presentations given by Berkeley Green Campus: 1976
Publications about Green Campus projects: 29
greencampus.berkeley.edu
1
Reflecting on a Great Semester
A
s the spring semester came to a close, Green
Campus was pleased with the significant
savings achieved this semester. The table
below captures potential and actual hard metrics
from January to May. Projects that contributed to
actual savings include the CFL exchange, AOPi
sorority house audit, “Shut the Sash” fume hood
campaign, and the “Blackout Battles” residence hall
competition. Potential hard metrics were
encompassed in the Terrace Cafe audit, UZLOW
shower valve retrofit, and Energy DeCal projects and
energy audits.
program, removal of 40% of all fluorescent
overhead light bulbs, and specialized software for
automatic sleep and deep-sleep modes for
computers and monitors.
Savings: January — May 2011
Photos:
Top right:
California Hall
earned 21 points
and was recertified as a
Green
Department this
past month.
Bottom right:
AOPi's
Sustainability
Chair, Stephanie
Baker, exchanges
their old
incandescent
bulbs for more
energy-efficient
CFLs in their
bathrooms as
part of the AOPi
residential
energy audit.
greencampus.berkeley.edu
Unit
Actual
Potential
Therms
2,400
60,800
Gallons of water
1,154,000
2,875,000
kWh
389,000
1,950,000
$
39,046
$89,500
Lbs CO2 averted
199,200
906,000
On the soft metrics side, Green Campus
hosted 19 outreach events and 4 workforce events.
These events reached more than 970 students and
included tabling at career fairs, the Play Green
festival, the Energy DeCal, “Shut the Sash,” Greeks
Go Green, Green Career Panel and Blackout Battles.
Green Campus also educated more than 1,300
students remotely via our website, energy-saving
pledges, and newsletter. These metrics show a
strong dedication to the four GCP goals, and the
team is looking forward to continued savings next
fall semester.
California Hall Re-Certified at
Highest Level
A
lmost two years after California Hall was
first certified by the Office of Sustainability
as a Green Department, this department home to the Chancellor’s office and
administration - managed to garner six more points
than last time during the re-certification process! On
May 9, California Hall earned 21 out of 31 points and
was officially certified at the Green level, the highest
of the three possible Green Department Certification
levels. Some of their impressive accomplishments
include a building-wide paper towel composting
Green Department Certification for any
department is only valid for two years after which
departments must submit a new checklist for
review for re-certification. Green Campus interns
worked with Director of Sustainability Lisa McNeilly
to update the checklist in 2010. The newest version
contains more rigorous requirements and an
updated point threshold for each level of
certification. The Green Campus team would like to
congratulate California Hall on their exciting recertification!
A Greener AOPi
T
his
month
Green Campus
i n t e r n s
transformed potential
savings into actual
savings by retrofitting
the AOPi sorority
house with more
energy and water
efficient
fixtures.
Interns switched over
150
incandescent
lamps for CFLs and
installed low flow
shower heads and sink aerators. Stephanie Baker,
sustainability chair of AOPi, also installed “toilet
tummies” (recycled bottles filled with water), in
toilets to save water with every flush. The resulting
savings per year include 20,300 kWh of energy,
165,800 gallons of water, and 440 therms. These
savings are equivalent to $3,150 and 16,600 pounds
of carbon dioxide averted. Green Campus looks
forward to future Greek and Co-op residential energy
audits in the fall.
2
Energy DeCal Ends Semester with
Innovative Group Projects
A
s the 12th semester of the Energy
DeCal comes to an end so do the
semester-long group projects that
students have been working on. At the end of
each semester, the class celebrates all their
hard work and dedication with a tasty potluck.
With plenty of food and drink, the atmosphere
was perfect for the most anticipated part of the
class: group project presentations! With a wide
range of group projects from the making of
memes to an audit at the gym, this was
certainly an exciting batch of presentations.
Students in the Energy DeCal were
given the assignment with the ultimate goal of
promoting energy efficiency, including actual or
potential savings and/or outreach. The
students worked together to design six creative
projects:
Field Trip to the Rising Sun Energy Center
discovered energy efficiency resources
available to the community. The Rising Sun
Energy Center trains youths to conduct free
energy audits to help community members
under PG&E territory lower their energy bills.
Monitor Your Energy Consumption increased
awareness of computer energy usage and
calculated that if 500 monitors in computer
labs across campus are switched off when not
in use, annual potential savings total 3,285
kWh.
Clark Kerr CFL Exchange offered free CFLs in
exchange for incandescent bulbs through doorto-door interactions at the Clark Kerr campus
housing units, and saved 540 kWh over the
projected lifetime of the bulbs.
Green Jobs: The Basics focused on the
necessities for entering the Green
workforce. The project aimed to inform
classmates of the basics and essentials to
tailoring resumes, interview strategies, and the
resources available to the students.
Memes educated people on energy and
water conservation by creating witty images
based off of popular internet culture; each of
the five memes had over 900 views! See the
rest at http://imgur.com/a/rR8qE#pSPLG
The Recreational Sports Facility Energy Audit
examined the energy consumed by lighting,
heating, laundry, and training machines. The
group identified annual potential savings of
over $6,100!
In total, students calculated a
potential savings of over $6,500 and 65,000
kWh, achieved an actual savings of at least
$54 and 540 kWh, and reached over 75
people. These lifetime savings are quite
impressive!
The Green Campus team is anxious to
begin the planning stages of the 13th
semester of the Energy DeCal., and would like
to thank their faculty advisor, Professor
Richard Norgaard for all of his support!
Photos:
Far left: DeCal students
Jack Mui, Kevin Tanouye
and Chai Saechao partake
in the scrumptious
potluck on the last day of
class.
Bottom left:
Junior Joanna Young
created this monitor
sticker design to educate
computer users on
campus.
Top right:
Junior Michael Lee
helped design these
internet memes for his
group’s outreach project.
Bottom right:
Students listen as their
classmates present their
group projects.
greencampus.berkeley.edu
3
Two Projects Receive Over $12,000
from TGIF Grants
I
Photos:
n the beginning of May, Berkeley Green Campus
was thrilled to announce the receipt of both of The
Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) grants it submitted to
the organization this spring. The first grant, totaling
over $8000, will support the “Greeks Go Green”
campaign headed by intern Charles Dhong. The
project, as mentioned in previous newsletters, intends
to stage an energy-saving competition between
various Greek houses on campus. The second sum,
which is supplemented by a $500 “micro grant” from
the PlayGREEN fund, weighs in at around $3700 and
will jump-start a water-saving shower head campaign,
entitled “Fight the Flow”, in the Unit 3 residence hall.
Top Right:
Top Left:
Snapshot of the
2011 TGIF grant
winner
announcement.
Green Campus
won 2 grants!
The 2011 Spring
semester Green
Campus interns.
greencampus.berkeley.edu
T
he Green Campus
team is sad to see
graduating
intern
Geetanjali Johary leave, but
wish her well with future
endeavors! Here, she shares
her upcoming plans and
reflects on her year and a
half with GCP.
What will you be doing
after college?
I will be working in San
Francisco at Salesforce.com as a Capacity Planner.
What are some lessons from Green Campus that
you’ll be taking with you?
Besides becoming more knowledgeable in energy
efficiency and sustainability, I also learned many
valuable life skills. I have become much more
organized and task /detail oriented and have
learned to work with a variety of peers and
stakeholders on campus projects.
Graduating
intern, Geetanjali
Johary.
Bottom Right:
Congratulations Recent Graduate,
Intern Geetanjali Johary!
Green Campus was surprised by TGIF
coordinator Katherine Walsh with the announcement
at its stakeholder luncheon held Monday, May 2nd.
Both interns have attended grant workshops, and
Katherine has been instrumental in guiding interns
through the writing, approval, and implementation
processes of the fund, which has awarded over $1
million to eligible campus projects throughout its
lifetime. Intern Kimberly Lam won a grant last year for
her “End the Cycle” laundry campaign which hopes to
operate in full force in the fall.
The Green Campus Program has designated
the funds to be received at the end of August so the
projects may begin once the team is reunited in
Berkeley. Green Campus is exceedingly grateful to
TGIF, PlayGREEN, Katherine Walsh and all of the
community members who have provided advice and
suggestions
throughout
this
process,
and
congratulates
the interns
on
their
efforts and
innovation.
Is there any advice or parting comments you
have from your experiences at Cal?
Be active in student life on campus—being
involved allows you to meet new people and learn
a variety of new skills. Also, take classes both in
and out of your major that interest you. Take
advantage of all the opportunities available at Cal,
and don’t forget to have fun!
What is your best experience with GCP?
I really enjoyed attending the summits: meeting
other interns and bonding with teammates, as
well as developing professional, treasurer, and
leadership skills.
Geetanjali - Thank you for your enthusiasm and
dedication, and good luck!
4
ContactUs:
GREEN CAMPUS PROJECTS
Brief descriptions on all of the current Green Campus projects:
HOUSING PROJECTS:
BerkeleyGreenCampus
@gmail.com
Morwenna Rowe
morwennarowe
@berkeley.edu
Kimberly Lam
klam789
@berkeley.edu
Light Bulb Exchange: The campaign involves an exchange of students’ incandescent light bulbs
for lower wattage compact fluorescent bulbs, which use roughly 25% of the energy that incandescent bulbs consume. Green Campus has exchanged approximately 7,600 light bulbs in the
past four years.
Blackout Battles Energy Competition: The Blackout Battles is an energy competition between
Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3, and Unit 4 (Foothill, Bowles, and Stern) in the residence halls. These competitions have been held every semester since Spring 2005 and include prizes such as ice cream
parties.
Laundry Campaign : Green Campus encourages residents in residence halls to adopt sustainable laundry practices by placing static laundry machine stickers on machines in residence halls
advertising the energy savings realized from washing with cold water instead of hot water and
the corresponding "cycle" to choose.
CAMPUS PROJECTS:
Geetanjali Johary
g_johary
@berkeley.edu
Felicia Tan
ftan
@berkeley.edu
Charles Dhong
cdhon
@berkeley.edu
Maia Kapur
maiakapur
@berkeley.edu
Energy DeCal: The 2-unit course utilizes innovative curriculum to teach a class of 30-40 students about the lifecycle consequences of our energy consumption as well as alternative energy technologies. Students complete assignments such as a personal energy audit and group
project that involves designing materials to teach other students and staff about how we can
reduce energy consumption at UC Berkeley. Green Campus has taught this course to over 250
students since 2005.
Green Departments: In collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Office of Sustainability, the project establishes guidelines and a checklist, similar to the Bay Area Green Business Certification, for UC
Berkeley departments to take the extra step to make their workspace “green.”
Vending Misers Installation: Vending misers are motion sensors that power down vending machines when they are not in use. Green Campus has installed vending misers on 14 machines
across campus and has monitored their energy consumption on a weekly basis.
“Shut the Sash” Fume Hood Campaign: This campaign educates lab researchers to close the
sashes on fume hoods when they are not in use to reduce energy consumption and improve air
quality. This program currently targets Tan Hall and uses stickers, flyers, and emails to disseminate information. It involves a competition to see which lab can “Shut the Sash” most consistently.
greencampus.berkeley.edu
The Alliance to Save Energy's Green Campus program is funded by the ratepayers of California under the auspices of SCE, PG&E, and
Southern California Gas Company, and San Diego Gas and Electric . UC Berkeley’s Green Campus Program is also partially funded by
the Chancellors Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS), Bears Breaking Boundaries, and Residential and Student Services
Program (RSSP).
5