View source for 2005-2006 Environmental State of the Campus Report

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ENVIRONMENTAL STATE OF THE CAMPUS 2005-2006 

Williams College is committed to responsibility.  While some of the college’s environmental initiatives caught the attention of the national media this year, many initiatives still go unnoticed on campus.  This second annual report highlights some of the college’s most exciting strides in environmental responsibility in the last year.
Brought to you by the Campus Environmental Advisory Committee (CEAC)

 
CLIMATE ACTION COMMITTEE: Students, staff, and faculty are working to develop a greenhouse gas emissions target and reduction plan for Williams College.

OFFICE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Ongoing projects:
- Uses duplex printing, requiring half as much paper.
- Requires log-in for print jobs on maindesk color printer.
- Transfers old campus computers to faculty and staff offices, and then to public schools and non-profit organizations for reuse.
New projects:
- OIT Computer Greenup: a computer recycling program for faculty, staff, and students
- All new monitor purchases are now flat panels, which use MUCH less energy than CRTs (60-70% power savings when in use and 90%+ savings in sleep mode).

CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
- Received a $25,000 grant from the Henry David Thoreau Foundation to collaborate with HooRWA to involve Williams College students in the association’s river monitoring and public outreach programs.  
- Began developing architectural program for a renovated Kellogg House, to include greener features.
- Helped support student efforts in the energy competition and in working with the college on joining the COOL campaign.
- Continued to use scratch paper in the printer, to compost, and to use CFLs in the building.  
 
GREENSENSE
- Organized two month-long “Do It In The Dark” energy-saving contests.
- Gathered over 1,000 signatures from students and faculty in support of a Climate Petition
- Currently is working with Facilities and the Administration to discuss the terms of a Climate Initiative.
- Helped organize Earth Week events centered around sustainable energy.
- Created and sold notebooks made from recycled paper.
- Ran highway cleanup routes along route 2.

DINING SERVICES
Local and Organic Food:
- Spent 20 cents per meal on premium local and organic foods, increasing the college's consumption of local and organic food by 30%.
- Only uses milk from the grass-fed, hormone-free cows of Highlawn Farm in Lee, MA.
- Offers local, grass-fed hamburgers nightly at Dodd House and Mission Park.
- Purchased virtually all of its summer vegetables, and a large proportion of its winter storage vegetables, from a 60-acre family farm located 10 minutes away from the college.
- Purchased organic shiitake mushrooms, organic honey, low-spray apples, organic granola, ice cream, and several varieties of cheeses from local purveyors.
- Served fair trade coffee in all dining halls purchased from Dean's Beans located in Orange, MA.
Recycling and Waste Reduction:
- Recycled cardboard, paper, metal, plastic, and glass.
- Collected roughly 80 tons of food waste from dining halls, to be composted at local farms.
- Replaced all plastic and paper service ware (plates, cups, utensils) in use on campus with corn-based, biodegradable products.
Water and Energy Conservation
- Replaced all rinse jet sprayers on campus with low distribution spray heads, saving two gallons of water per minute and over one million gallons annually.
- Will replace the Greylock dish machine in the summer of '06 resulting in an annual water savings of 780,000 gallons of water while greatly reducing energy costs of the water needed to be heated.
- Installed new garbage disposals in Dodd and Greylock that reduce water consumption from 1,200 gallons of water to 3 gallons per meal.
- Installed an energy efficient ventilation system in Greylock that uses sensors to operate only when demand requires.
- Equipped 20 (out of approximately 30) campus vending machines with Vending Miser sensors, which cut both the annual electricity use and CO2 emissions of a vending machine in half.
- Purchased an electric vehicle for food deliveries on campus.

FACILITIES
Green Energy:
- Generated approximately 6575 kWh from the solar energy panels on the roof of Morley Science Center.
- Co-generated 5.9 million kWh from the steam used to heat the campus.
- Purchased 30,000 kilowatt hours of renewable energy (5000 of wind energy, 15,000 of small hydro, and 10,000 of Biomass): enough to power Kellogg House for the entire year.
- Switched electricity supplier to one with lower emissions. 

Student Center Green Feature Plans:	
- Recycled 98% of the old Baxter during its demolition.
Our construction waste management plan diverts a minimum of 75% of the waste from landfills through the use of multiple, dedicated dumpsters.
- The building is extremely well insulated. 
- State-of-the-art honeycombed air floor system allows heated or cooled air to moderate floor temperature before air is released at the perimeter to ventilate the room.
- The Intellihood system monitors the airstream at the cooking hoods and ramps up fans only as required to exhaust cooking fumes and grease.
- Will install a CO2  monitoring system that regulates makeup air.
- Will install occupancy sensors will control HVAC to ensure that empty spaces are minimally conditioned.
- Occupancy sensors will also dim lights when adequate sunlight or daylight is present.
- A number of materials are “regionally” manufactured (by LEED standards), including steel, timber, wood flooring, slate and windows.
- Will reduce water consumption by 23.8% by installing waterless urinals.
- Will use compact fluorescent fixtures wherever possible.
- The solar shades incorporated into the building design will reduce cooling loads.

Management of Utilities:
- Installed electric meters in Parsons, Hubbell, Dodd Annex to better monitor electricity consumption.
- Initiated Climate Action Committee to determine greenhouse gas emissions target and strategy.
- Monitoring utility consumption through recently implemented utility management software to identify problem areas.
Environmental Safety:
- Installed new emergency shut off switches for compressors in the Lansing Chapman Rink to reduce the risk of ammonia leak.
- Removed lead paint in Freidrich’s House.
- Installed weather-stripping in Brinsmade House.
- Installed CO detectors in Student Dorms and all Faculty Housing.

Energy Use Reduction:
- Installed new heating systems in Morey House, Milham House, Grundy’s Art Studio
- Installed variable frequency drive in the Heating Plant reducing energy consumption.
- Repaired leaky condensate return lines to the Heating Plant reducing energy losses during the heating season.
- Improved operating efficiency of the Morley Science Chiller Plant by adding new controls and sequences.
- Installed energy efficient lighting controls in CTD
- Exchanged 800 incandescent bulbs for energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps in Greylock residence halls, Prospect and Sawyer as well as exchanging bulbs in student task lighting.
- Continue to use electric cars 
- Installed energy efficient central air conditioning in Dodd Dining.
- Installed new heating units in Currier residence hall and improved heating efficiency in Agard by installing tighter, double-paned windows, a more efficient boiler, and individually controlled heating units.
- Greatly reduced energy consumption by installing variable drive motors on the dryer venting system at Mission Park residence hall.
 

These environmental initiatives are important steps towards campus-wide sustainability, but there is still more we can do.  Individually, we can each be more aware of the resources we consume. Collectively, we can strive for better policies that strengthen our community and our environment.
To accurately represent the state of the campus, it would also be necessary to describe our shortcomings as well as our successes.  For information on Williams's carbon emissions and energy consumption, both of which have increased steadily over the past several years, be on the lookout for the forthcoming Climate Initiative report.
CEAC is a committee of students, faculty and staff that meets monthly to address environmental issues on campus and make recommendations on college operations. Meetings are always open to the community, and we welcome new ideas, suggestions, and feedback. Please contact ceac@williams.edu with any questions, or visit our website at http://ceac.williams.edu for more information.