White Paper - The Green Beans
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Transcript of White Paper - The Green Beans
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Team Green BeansAngel SolomonJourdin ReeceMichaela Tolbert
Stephanie Schlau#$%&' ()*'+ (+,-'.& / 0+1 2+)3.%4 5,6%'33'
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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Table Of Contents
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This paper will discuss the efforts of the University of South Florida to go
green. We will look at the different projects that have been successfully
implemented, the many committees and student organizations that have
contributed to the projects, and what the projects are doing for the University.Some of the student contributors that have
kept this movement alive by working
together to create a more green campus
are the Student Green Energy Fund,
Student Environmental Awareness Society
(SEAS), and the Student Environmental
Association (SEA). They are the ones that
decide how to best use their budget for the
good of the University. In addition to theprojects of this movement, another
approach the University has taken to better
the green campus is constructing
Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) certified buildings. The
University has also established many recycling programs in order to reduce
waste consumption. We will also discuss how the University is a part of a
community that is in the process of becoming more environmentally aware, and
how the University and the city of Saint Petersburg are working together to help
further this movement1
Executive Summary
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Introduction
Why Go Green?It is known that our planet
has limited resource availability.
The idea of green living infers a lifethat is dedicated towards
maintaining an ecological balance,
and preserving the planet and its
natural resources. This will help
protect future generations, and
emphasize the idea that our
survival depends, either directly or
indirectly, on our natural
environment. The reason forsustainability measures is the
consequence of rapid population
growth, economic growth, and
consumption of our natural
resources due to advances in
technology.
T h e U n i v e r s i ty o f S o u t h
F l o r id a T h e G r e e n
M o v e m e n t
The University of South Florida has
been dedicated to developing a
sustainable campus since 1995. In
2008, the University of South
Florida hosted the USF Going
Green Tampa Bay Expo with
Hillsborough City/Country PlanningCommission. During the expo, the
Climate Commitment was signed,
which pledged the
University of South Floridas
commitment to maintaining a
campus climate that is neutral, an
to continuing efforts in research,education, and innovation in
sustainability. After hearing that th
institute received a D+ on its
College Sustainability Report
Card", the president of USF, Judy
Genshaft, signed the American
College and University Presidents
Climate Commitment (ACUPCC),
which agreed to major sustainabiefforts such as greenhouse gas
inventories, sustainability
awareness, and the inclusion of
sustainable efforts into the
academic programs.
Since the signing, USF ha
incorporated sustainability into the
Master Plan. The University of
South Floridas Office of
Sustainability established its first
greenhouse gas inventory and
created the Climate Action Pan.
One of USFs biggest
accomplishments is the
implementation of the worlds first
School of Global Sustainability,
which offers a M.A degree in Glob
Sustainability. In addition, USF ha
constructed the first LEED Gold
building on campus and hascreated a million-dollar Student
Green Energy Fund to help
promote renewable energy at the
University.
USFs Climate
Action Plan (CAP)
The Climate Action
Plan was created to help
the University of South
Florida reduce its carbon
dioxide emissions. CAP
set out to focus on the
design environment of theUSF campus, which
looked to improve
resource management,
conservation, and
irrigation. In addition, the
CAP sets out to build an
environment from
recycled and renewable
material. CAP has
promoted alternate formsof transportation for the
students and staff, and
has implemented the
USF Bull Runner and
bicycle systems such as
the Share-A-Bull project.
The Climate Action Plan
focuses on ensuring that
USF is energy efficient bycontrolling consumption.
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USFs Green Report
Administration AThe University of South Floridas master
plan and strategic plan incorporatessustainability. The sustainability office haseight staff members and the school isimplementing a green purchasing policy.
Climate Change & Energy BThe University of South Florida
conducts greenhouse gas emissioninventories to reduce emissions withcarbon offsets. Heat recovery systems,lighting systems, and energy-efficientlighting have helped decrease energyuse. The University has solar panelsand has purchased electricity fromrenewable sources to generaterenewable energy.
Food & Recycling - B28% of the dining services budget isspent on local food products, andpurchases hormone- and antibiotic-freece cream products. The dining hall istrayless, which has saved 32,992 gallons
of water per year.
Green Building - AUSFs master plan has includedbuilding initiatives. Many of thebuildings meet LEED criteria, and twobuildings are LEED Gold certified. TheUniversity has installed water meteringtechnology, lighting sensors, and LEDlighting in all buildings. Dual-flush toiletsand low-flow showerheads have beeninstalled in some buildings.
Student Involvement- AIn 2009 the Green Living LearningCommunity was created and gives 25students the opportunity to enhancesustainability programming, and helpsencourage students to participate incampus initiatives. At orientation, newstudents are given information from the
sustainability office. The campus is hometo many student sustainability groups.
Transportation - AUSF has preferred parking forcarpoolers and is currently working on alarge-scale ride-sharing program. Thestudents are able to ride local publictransportation for free, and theUniversity runs the biodiesel-poweredBull Runner Shuttle for free travelaround campus and neighboringcommunities. The University also offersbike-sharing and car-sharing programs.
Endowment Transparency - AUSF makes a list of all holdings, votescast on proxy resolutions, and the numberof shares available to the public per openrecords law, which all can all be available
upon request.
Investment Priorities - AThe Universitys goal is to optimizeinvestment returns and is currentlyinvested in renewable energy funds.
Shareholder Engagement - DUSFs investment managers areprovided with general guidelines thatdetermine its proxy votes.
The Green
Report
Card
The Green
Report Card was
designed to identify
colleges and
universities that are
extraordinary in their
commitment to
sustainability. The goa
was to provide easy
accessible information
which allows schools t
learn from one
anothers experiences
that will enable them t
establish a moreeffective sustainability
practice. The Report
Card serves as a tool
for when high school
students are evaluatin
campuses. It also
serves as a means for
independent evaluatio
for campus operations
and endowment
investments, and
provides thorough
assessment methods
assessing performanc
across 43 indicators in
main categories.
NEW
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USFs Student
Green Energy
FundW h a t i s t h e S t u d e n t G r e e n
E n e r g y F u n d ?
The Student
Green Energy Fund
(SGEF) is an
organization that is
dedicated to makingUSF an
environmentally
sustainable campus
through the student green fee, which
is a fund that supports the
conservation of energy while
reducing energy cost. The SGEF
began as a student led organization
in 2007, and gained approval by the
Florida Board of Governors in 2011.
After the approval from the board,
the SGEF was voted on by the USF
student body to initiate an additional
fee to the students tuition. The
SGEF comes from a dollar per credit
hour fee, and was passed by the
student body with a 72% vote. This
fund is used to support USFs
dedication to
reducing and
even
possibly
eliminating greenhouse gas
emissions.
The SGEF committee is made
up of four students and four staff and
faculty. However, any student and/or
faculty are able to make green
proposals year-round, which allow
the SGEF to be a student
voiced organization. The
proposal process is a three
step process, which includes
a submission of the proposal
through the SGEF proposalwebsite, a presentation to the
SGEF committee, and finally
the submission of the proposal to the
Chancellor by the chair and Regional
Vice Chair of the committee for
approval. Upon approval, paperwork
must be submitted to the USFSP
administration.
T h e S t u d e n t G r e e n E n e r g y
F u n d C o m p l e t e d P r o j e c ts
Since its creation in 2011, the SGEF
has funded several projects to help
with USFs efforts in creating an
environmentally sustainable campus.
The SGEF projects are committed to
conserving energy while reducing
energy cost and greenhouse gas
emissions, and promoting
renewable technologies. Some of
the completed proposals include
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W a t e r B o t t l e F il l in g
D e v i c e s
The SGEF funded several
water-bottle filling stations across
campus. The Committee Chair of the
SGEF, Michael Legget, made this
proposal in 2012. The Elkay EZH2O
bottle refill stations are a great
alternative to the usage of plastic
bottles. The refill station has a no-
touch sensor with a 20-second shut
off timer. The refill station includes adigital display, which shows how
many water bottles are being saved
in the process. When the filling
stations were installed, SGEF
included 25-ounce aluminum water
bottles to be used at all the stations.
It is estimated that the installation of
the 62 water stations has saved 1.2million plastic water bottles within the
first eight months of the installation.
This translates into $1.5 million
saved. Legget states that his goal
was to not limit the number of water
bottles used, but to push the
students towards thinking more
sustainably.
C,('4 J9T#'EE?@A2B4 CA0 C%D$& (+,-'.& E3F'4&%D)&,+
Q: Can you explain a little more about your part inthe Student Green Energy Fund?
A: I was hired by James Scott, who was the student
body president at the time, to help start the StudentGreen Energy Fund at USFSP. We held meetingstogether to decide what would be good to present to theBoard of Governors in order to get approval for theStudent Green Energy Fund, and to help the schoolbecome more sustainable.
Q: Why was the Student Green Energy Fundstarted?
A: The Student Green Energy Fund was started to get
students involved in the school by allowing them topropose projects and see through the implementation othose projects. A bonus to the SGEF was itscontribution to USFs efforts to become anenvironmentally sustainable campus. This clubrepresented teaching students leadership roles andresponsibilities.
Q: What was your role in the LED light installationproject?
A: I was initially the one who presented the idea ofputting LED lights in the parking garage on campus. Iwas first exposed to the idea from a representativevisiting USF. I thought it would be a great project thatUSFSP should take advantage of. My initial plan was toinstall LED lights all around campus, but it just wasnt
ossible due to the immense cost.
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LEED
Certification
In 2014, the
Science and
Technology
Building at the
University of South
Florida St. Petersburg campus was
the first building at USF to be a
Leadership in Environmental and
Energy Design (LEED) CertifiedGold building. The LEED
Certification is a national rating
system for building designs.
USFs LEED Certified building
is two stories and around 35,000
square feet. The building contains a
lecture room, four teaching labs, five
USF College of Marine Science
research labs, four USFSP College
of Arts and Science research labs,
and eight classrooms. The building
was designed by HOK and
constructed by Skanska USA
Building, Inc., and the cost was
around $80
million. The building was designed
so that the architecture represented
four natural elements. In addition,
the building has energy efficient
lighting and heating/air conditioning,
low-flow toilets, and recycled carpet.
The building was constructed from a
variety of sustainable materials in
order to reduce the impact on the
environment such as the stainless
steel handrails, which are made up
of 80% post-industrial scrap and the
ceiling tiles being composed of 69%pre-consumer recycled material. The
landscape of the building was
constructed to utilize a pallet of
native and drought tolerant materials
of native grasses, woods, shrubs,
and groundcover.
Other buildings at USF that
have received LEED Certification
include the Interdisciplinary Science
Building located on the Tampa
campus after its opening in the Fall
2011 semester, the Morsani Center
for Advance Health Care, and the
Wellness and Nutrition Center.
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The achievement of receiving
the LEED Gold certificate for the
building exemplifies USFs
commitment to creating an
environmentally sustainable campus.
To further this commitment, the new
Tampa Campus Master Plan will
require all new construction to be
LEED certified.
Reduce, Reuse,
RecycleRecycling is a fundamental process
for the University of South Florida to
create a sustainable campus.
Campus
USFs efforts to reduce
consumption have resulted in the
University distributing over 2000
recycling containers on campus. The
single-stream recycling allows for all
recyclables to be placed in a single
container for collection. In order to
expand this program, USF looks to
distribute 350 blue recycling
containers to administrative and
academic offices, and place
aluminum recycling containers in the
residence halls. In addition, USFSP
offers a computer equipment-
recycling drop off. Many of the
departments and colleges are
actively recycling their equipment
with various companies and
programs.
Dining Hall
USFs dining hall is taking
great efforts to reduce waste. The
dining hall service uses cardboard
and tin materials, which are recycled
through Frito-Lay and Republic
Waste Services. The dining hall
service recycles the grease to make
biodiesel that powers automobiles.
The napkins in the dining halls are
made from recycled material and the
The University of South Florida was
awarded the 2012 Second NatureClimate Leadership Awardfor
showing the top innovation and
climate leadership at the doctoral
level. The awards recognize USF as
one of the ten universities overall
leading a national transition to a
clean and sustainable future.
SPOTLIGH
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dining hall services have green-
ware, which is composed of corn-
resin material. USFs dining services
offers reusable to-go containers
along with offering USDA Organic
Certified, Vegan and Vegetarian
options at every location. The
trayless services have saved USF
32,992 gallons of water per
academic year.
Student
Organizations
The University of South Florida has
many student organizations that are
dedicated to making the University
more sustainable. The student
organizations educate and
encourage the students on campus
to take initiative against
environmental issues.
The Student Environmental
Awareness Society
The Student Environmental
Awareness Society (SEAS) is one of
the leading student environmental
clubs and was created to promote
environmental issues on and aroundthe USF campus. The SEAS plans
co-friendly
activities to
celebrate the
earth, such as
the Earth Hour. This activity
encourages one hour without
technology or electricity in order to
promote energy saving. The
members of SEAS come together to
discuss important environmental
issues that are affecting the USF
campus and surrounding community.
The SEAS helped with the creation
of the SGEF and other sustainable
organizations/projects. Similarly,
SEAS works closely with the clubs at
the USF to help them with theirinitiatives. In addition, SEAS works
closely with non-profit organizations
to organize
beach
cleanups,
and does a
lot of policy
work such
as
gathering signatures for petitions.
Recently, SEAS worked with
the Tampa Bay Estuary program and
received a $3,500 Bay Mini-Grant to
install a WaterGoat along the
northern edge of Bayboro Harbor,
which is designed to collect trash
and other debris. This allows for an
easy cleanup and stops water
pollution. The WaterGoat is a
75-foot system of nets that stops
trash from entering the Tampa
Bay.
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Student Environmental
Association
The Student EnvironmentalAssociation (SEA) is a student
organization that is focused on
helping the University of South
Florida become more of an
environmentally conscious
university.
SEA meets
every week
to discuss
how the
organization
can engage
in
volunteering activities or discuss
ways to educate the community on
environmental issues. In 2008 and
continuing the efforts in 2009, SEA
partnered with the Physical Plant to
host a program, RecycleMania, thatraised awareness on energy
consumption. RecycleMania is a 10-
week program that had participating
schools across the country report
data on their recycling and trash
efforts. Each school then rated each
other on four different categories,
which allowed them to see how their
efforts compared to others. SEA is a
very active organization that
encourages, motivates, and
educates students on environmental
issues and ways to become more
sustainable.
How does USF
compare
The University of
Pennsylvania
The University of
Pennsylvania received an A- in 2011
by the Sustainable Endowments
Institute for the College Sustainability
Report Card, which is higher than
the University of South Floridas B+.
The University of Pennsylvania
received a higher grade in recycling,
food, and climate change and
energy.
In 2009, UPenn launched its
Climate Action Plan to take steps to
improve the Universitys ecological
performance. The Environmental
Sustainability Advisory Committee
works to accomplish the goals of the
Climate Action Plan. Similar to USF,UPenn has a green fund that has
financed more than 18 projects
proposed by students or faculty.
UPenn has purchased
renewable energy credits that
represent 45% of the Universitys
energy needs. All of the new
buildings constructed at UPenn must
be at least LEED Silver certified.
Since 2000, the university has
repurposed 940,000 square feet of
existing building space for alternate
use.
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The dining services at UPenn
spends 30% of its budget on local
products, and only purchases
seafood that conforms to the
sustainability guidelines along with
hormone- and antibiotic-free milk
and meat items. The dinning halls
are trayless and have composting
receptacles around the university.
In the fall of 2010, UPenn
launched a green rate parking
permit for low-emitting vehicles. The
University also has a heavily
subsidized student transit pass,
which allows for unlimited rides onthe buses and subways.
Similar to USF, the University
has 12 environmentally focused
student groups. The College House
Eco-Reps program is an
environmental leadership program,
which is open to all College House
residents, that focuses on raising
awareness of environmental issues
and encouraging sustainable
practices on campus. One of the
student groups received the Penn
Green Fund to build an on-campus
garden.
The University of FloridaThe University of Florida
received a B+ on the College
Sustainability Report Card from theSustainable Endowments Institute in
2011, which is the same grade that
the University of South Florida
received in the same year.
The University of Floridas
sustainability office that was created
by the University of Floridas
Sustainability Committee hosted the
first ever Florida Food Summit in
2010 to help integrate sustainability
into the curriculum.
UF has a goal to reach areduction in greenhouse gas
emissions to 83% by 2050. Efforts to
conserve energy has already been
made such as T5 and T8 lighting
being used in 95% of the buildings,
and heat recovery systems and
temperature setbacks. Similar to
USF, all new construction projects at
UF must meet the LEED Certified
Gold requirements. Currently, there
are 18 LEED-certified buildings on
campus (2 silver, 5 gold, and 1
platinum). Other energy saving
installations on campus include low-
flow showerheads, faucets, and
waterless urinals, which have
decreased the water consumption by
24% since 2005 even though the
size of the student body hasincreased.
85% of students commute to
campus, and therefore the University
provides free shuttle services on and
around campus for members of the
campus community.
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The University of Florida
dining services serves local and
organic vegetables, fruit, meat, dairy,
and exclusively cage-free eggs.
Disposable dishware that is made of
biodegradable content and trayless
dining services has saved the
university 500,000 gallons of waste
per year. There is composting
receptacles available in the
residence halls and outdoors.
Conclusion
The Go Green movement atUSFSP has been highly successful
by its implementation of SGEF
funded projects, such as the
installation of LED lights, solar doks,
water-bottle filling devices, and
energy-saving gym equipment. USF
has implemented recycling programs
on and around campus. The Student
Green Energy Fund and other
funding organizations are facilitatedand promoted by student lead
organizations such as the Student
Environmental Awareness Society
and the Student Environmental
Association. Events promoted by
SEAS and SEA have helped
students of the University of South
Florida Saint Petersburg and the
surrounding community gainknowledge and understanding about
the importance of going green and
the effects it will have on future
generations to come. The
University's dedication is recognized
by the LEED certification for
buildings that are contributing to the
environmentally sustainable campus.
The University of South Florida Saint
Petersburg hopes to continue
making progress in becoming an
environmentally sustainable campus.
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American College University Presidents Climate Commitment
(ACUPCC) A network of colleges and universities have created institutional
commitments to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from specified campus
operations, and to promote research and educational efforts of higher education
to equip society to re-stabilize the earths climate.
Ecological Footprint - the impact of a person or community on the
environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use ofnatural resources.
Emission the production and discharge of something, especially gas or
radiation
Greenhouse Gases - a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by
absorbing infrared radiation (carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons)
Greenhouse Gas Inventories are type of emission inventory that are
developed for a variety of reasons. Scientists use inventories of natural and
human-caused emissions as tools when developing atmospheric models.
LED Light emitting diodes
Nonrenewable Resource A resource that is not replaceable after it has
been used.
Renewable Resource is an organic natural resource, which can replenish to
overcome usage and consumption, either through biological reproduction or
other naturally recurring processes. They are resources part of the Earths
natural environment and largest components of its ecosphere.
Solar Dok a solar-powered picnic table made from recycled materials by the
company EnerFusion, which provides a self-sustaining, electronic device
charging center.
Sustainabil i ty is the ability to continue a define behavior indefinitely.
Environmental Science: the quality of not being harmful to the environment or
depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological
balance.
Glossary of Terms
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