Carleton College: Environmental Audit

Miller Cochran Jamie Long Lauren Miller Stephanie Pimm Damian Winters

Authors:

2004 ENTS Capstone Presentation

Introduction

Environment and Health

Energy and Water

Materials and Waste

Environment, Health, and Safety

Energy and Water

Carleton is well within the Good Company’s BenchmarkProblems with monitoring of individual buildings and off-campus housingUse of MN Sustainable Design Guide

Energy Use

Performance:

Recommendations:Better monitoring

Provide feedback and information to campus users

Look towards meeting Kyoto standards

Carleton does not currently purchase renewable energy

Wind turbine project

Renewable Energy

Performance:

Recommendations:

Use any profit from wind turbine to buy green energy

Offer students/faculty/staff option for “taxing” themselves in order to purchase green energy.

Air emission estimates

Global Change Biology project

Carleton has never completed a full report on GHG inventory that includes travel, transportation, etc.

Greenhouse Gas Inventory

Performance:

Recommendations:Encourage student project on environmental footprint for Carleton College

Current changes in parking regulations recommend that no new parking lots should be built

Yellow Bike Club

Carleton meets suggested benchmark for car/bike spaces

Transportation

Performance:

Recommendations:Dead storage for cars should be reviewed and enforced

Coordination of Yellow Bike Club should be compensated as a student job

Make commitment for hybrid vehicles in the future

Within or below the 90-120 gallons/SCU/day benchmarkSome water-saving devices implemented

Toilets, urinals, showerheads

Buildings monitored separately, but residential and most irrigation combinedLittle or no feedback to campus users

Water Use

Performance:

Recommendations:

Establish system for better monitoring and reporting

Provide feedback to campus users

Materials and Waste

Offer wide range of services: commingled, paper, batteries, cardboard, ink cartridgesGood campus infrastructure – bins in key locationsAbout 65 tons of waste per week, 30% recycling rate

Recycling Systems

Performance:

Recommendations:To reach the goal of a 50% recycling rate, which some institutions have achieved, Carleton should compost food waste and be more vigorous about our recycling education.

Paper purchased through Printing and Mailing Eucalyptus or 30% recycled options

Efforts in past to increase recycled content – discontinued due to concerns about printing, brightness

No fee for printing on campus, creates wasted paper

Paper Use and Printing

Performance:

Recommendations:Carleton should offer higher recycled-content paper options in the future as product quality increases

Carleton should strongly consider adopting a fee system for printing, which could significantly decrease paper use on campus

Largely switched from large CRT monitors to LCD (flat-panel) displays in an effort to comply with Kyoto protocol – high initial cost but high energy savings

All used electronic parts sent to Materials Processing Corporation for break down into reusable/recyclable parts

NEO – formed to distribute old/used computers to students

Computer Hardware Purchasing and Disposal

Performance:

Recommendations:Communicate with Dell and other hardware suppliers to find out what materials they can take back themselves

Recycle CDs

Redirect NEO’s efforts at more practical computer distribution

Consolidate “machine rooms” for better energy efficiency

Some produce from Midwest Food AllianceEarth Day organic meal, fair trade coffeeLittle pre-consumer food waste, no food recovery programApprox. 500-600 lbs/day post-consumer food waste, currently no composting of cafeteria food waste

Food procurement/disposal

Performance:

Recommendations:Continue efforts to compost cafeteria food waste

Increase labeling and self-serve where possible

Consider expanding organic and local food options

Consider donating pre-consumer waste to food bank

Environment, Health, and Safety

Unusual size & scope: Arb 880 acres, McKnight 35 acres Habitat for threatened species, buffer zone for CannonActive restoration program, but work is slow-goingChemical use for invasive removal is low and decliningLimited interpretive program

Conservation & Restoration

Performance:

Recommendations:Continue expanding interpretive program to better educate students about Minnesota’s natural history and Carleton’s role in preserving biodiversity and natural areas

No data available on irrigation water useTwo rain sensors and minimalist philosophy

Broadleaf herbicide use fairly low, increasing corn gluten useCampus master plan promotes native, low-maintenance landscapingNo construction policies regarding minimizing storm water runoff

Grounds maintenance

Performance:

Recommendations:Better monitoring system for irrigation water use

Continue to reduce chemical herbicide use

Explicit policies regarding minimizing runoff with new construction

All chemicals used come from one company, Ecolab

All the impacts of a product are considered

The college stays up to date with current product developments and innovations

The safety of staff and others is considered

Chemical Use: Custodial and Maintenance

Performance:

Recommendations:The college should continue to stay current with products that minimize environmental impacts.

Carleton could consider a more formalized process of product selection and evaluation.

The college does a good job of handling hazardous materials.Only very small amounts of hazardous materials escape down drains or are otherwise not properly disposed of.Facilities and the college work through the chemistry department for disposal.

Chemical Use: Hazardous Materials

Performance:

Recommendations:The college should consider using micro-sizing in labs and using a more “green curriculum.”

The college has recently begun an aggressive program to assess and combat indoor air quality issues.

The college has in place policies to prevent indoor air quality issues before they arise.

Indoor Air Quality

Performance:

Recommendations:The college could speed up the IAQ assessment program with additional funding and attention.

Once the IAQ program has been completed, the college should continue to focus on prevention.

Governance, Learning and Policy

Planning and Purchasing

Learning and Governance

Planning and Purchasing

Recent completion of 100-year plan

Integration of Arboretum with campus, Northfield

Green space

Campus planning

Performance:

Recommendations:Work out specific plans for deconstruction – materials, etc.

Develop specific College goals/guidelines for sustainable design, working from MN Sustainable Design Guide and/or LEED evaluation points

Purchasing is very decentralized – departments and offices exercise most of control

Little effort for sustainable purchasing campus wide

Facilities department has purchased sustainable wood, recycled paint

Purchasing Tools and Strategies Performance:

Recommendations:Carleton should work towards implementing a strategy to reduce the environmental impact of its purchasing decisions, and adopt the proposed Environmentally Responsible Purchasing Policy.

Learning and Governance

Environmental Advisory CommitteeActive in making recommendations, reviewing campus issues, budget to make campus improvements

Environmental Statement of PrinciplesLargely unknown, non-binding

Governance and Leadership

Performance:

Recommendations:• Continue to support the work of the EAC and ensure that its

recommendations are considered carefully and in a timely manner through the appropriate chain of command.

• Consider adopting more specific goals in its pursuit of sustainability.

Currently no formal process for considering the social and environmental consequences of its investment

practices

Investment Policy

Performance:

Recommendations:Carleton should create a formal structure, such as a committee, to engage in an ongoing discussion of investment responsibility

ENTS exists as program (not dept.), concentration2004 ENTS program review document just completedHigh enthusiasm from faculty, studentsRecent loss of facultyRequires more organization

Environmental Studies Curriculum

Performance:

Recommendations:2004 review document as starting point

Maintenance as viable concentration requires input

Increase in staffing should be seriously considered

Clearly delineate organizational structure in writing

Strong support from students and faculty

Many groups with environmental affiliation: SOPE, MPIRG, Green House, Farmhouse, ENTS Program, EAC

Requires greater organization

Campus Culture and Environmental Awareness

Performance:

Recommendations:Reestablish Green Network

Encourage dialogue and cooperative projects among student groups, faculty and administration

Greater integration with campus as a whole

Energy and water monitoring and information dissemination are similar problems across campuses

Many colleges are now at least looking further into food procurement and composting

Larger universities have more concrete sustainability and environmental plans

Chemical awareness seems higher at Carleton than at other schools

Many schools are now looking at using 100% post consumer recycled paper

Reasonable number of car/bike spaces

Renewable energy use/interest high at Carleton

Green chemistry more widely used in larger universities

Overall Performance

The College should: improve its monitoring and reporting of water and energy usage and provide better feedback and information to campus users.continue working towards composting the post-consumer food waste generated by the dining halls. consider expanding local and organic food options in the dining halls.adopt the proposed Environmentally Responsible Purchasing Policy, and work towards creating and implementing a strategy to reduce the environmental impact of its purchasing decisions. create a formal structure, such as a committee, to engage in an ongoing discussion of investment responsibilityadopt specific goals and targets in its pursuit of sustainability.

Overall Recommendations

High Priority Tasks

The Good Company Myles Bakke Phil Camill Kirk Campbell Chuck Carlin

Joel Cooper Dennis Easley Diane Fredrickson Ari Guha

Fred Hagstrom Randie Johnson Issa Kawas Robert Lampa Brian Mars

Jim Pence Mary Savina Joshua Skov Loretta Springer Richard Strong Alison

Unger Joseph Winegardner Global Change Biology students

Thank you…