Joint Efforts in Sustainability:City of Iowa City &

The University of Iowa

Brenda NationsEnvironmental Coordinator

City of Iowa City

Liz ChristiansenDirector of Sustainability

University of Iowa

Iowa City is located in Eastern Iowa

Photo source: idcide.com

Community Profile

• Iowa City 2010 Population:– ~69,000

• Univ. of Iowa 2010 enrollment:– ~30,000

• University enrollment:– ~40% of community

U of I Benefits to City

• Educated, progressive population

• Expert Scholars

• Arts and Culture

• Medical: U of I Hospitals• Sports: Iowa Hawkeyes• Economic Impact

– $6.0 B each year

University of Iowa:A defining feature of Iowa City

Copyright © The University of Iowa, All rights reserved

Iowa River:Another defining feature

Flood of 2008

Iowa City’s Sustainability Efforts

• Signed U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in 2007

• Joined ICLEI-Local Govt. for Sustainability in 2008

• Completed Community and Municipal Greenhouse Gas inventory in 2009

(1st in IA)

• Milestone 1 of 5

Iowa City’s Sustainability Efforts

Environmental Coordinator Position created in Aug. 2009

• In planning stages for next Milestone

• Council/Manager form of government

• New City Manger & Council support efforts

U of I’s Sustainability Efforts

• Strong support from President

• Office of Sustainability, Director hired in 2008

• Publically announced Sustainability

Targets Oct. 2010

• Signed Sustainability Partnership with

EPA Region 7

Best Practice Sustainability Efforts

– Large focus on energy reduction and greenhouse gas reductions

– Projects through several departments• Greenhouse gas inventories• Transportation - Bus on the Go (BONGO)• Landfill Gas Energy Project• Affordable Housing Partnership• Hillcrest Market Place Food Pulper• Thermography Project• Wood Chip/Biomass Sourcing

Reductions from:

•City capturing and flaring landfill gas

•U of I replacing coal with oat hulls at power plant

Iowa City Community CO2e 2000 and 2008 Totals by Sector

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CO2e Total 2000

CO2e Total 2008

Bus On the GoCross-Promotion of City & Campus Transit for increased ridership

Photo source: its.uiowa.eduPhoto source: fyi.uiowa.edu

Photo source: iowa.com

Landfill Gas Energy Project

Copyright © The University of Iowa, All rights reserved

Only 2 other Universities using Landfill Gas Energy in U.S.

To preserve the character of residential neighborhoods adjacentto the University and provide safe,affordable housing.

Food Pulper Project• Current system sends 3.0 M gallons of water and

1,000’s of pounds of food waste to Iowa City WWTP every year

Thermography & Ultrasonic Project

• Loads– Find overheated or cold spots

• Leaks– Find infiltration and air leaks– Saturated insulation with high

conductance• Roof tops• Piping

• Losses– Identify failed insulation and steam traps

To find….

Thermography & Ultrasonic Project

• UI Facilities Management developing a certification program– National Standard Certification for NDT

Technicians

• Training opportunities– Students provide reports on

University and City buildings with time counting as required on-the-job training

Wood Chip/Biomass Sourcing• Federal earmark brings

$1.0M for UI Oakdale Research Park wood-chip boiler

• UI must secure 50,000 tons per year of wood chips to fuel boiler

• City of Iowa City Landfill can produce specified fuel and has agreed to be a source

Next Steps for City:• Create a climate action plan or sustainability plan

which includes a ghg target reduction:

– Create goals for City of Iowa City

– Partnering with University of Iowa

– Include concrete methods of implementation, measurable results

– Work with residents, businesses and industry

– Commit to a reduction ghg target and year

Energy & ghg reduction

Next Steps for U of I:• Develop work plan for 2020 Sustainability

Targets, identify and secure resources • Finalize metrics, ghg emissions inventory• Report annually

Goal 1. Become a Net-Negative Energy Consumer

FY2005 FY2006 FY2007 FY2008 FY2009Total UI Consumption (Btu) 3,262,770,468,723.55 3,066,282,383,721.51 2,985,464,578,982.47 3,027,863,911,144.91 2,512,389,768,966.65Total UI Building Area (ft2) N/A 15,040,531 16,536,833 16,563,488 16,666,991Total Consumption Per Square Foot (Btu/ft2) N/A 203,867.9608 180,534.2401 182,803.5201 150,740.4527Total Consumption Per Person (Btu/person) 73,570,327.8253 68,129,010.6810 64,845,016.9197 64,309,069.3275 53,498,355.4569Building Energy (Btu) 3,187,404,854,099.10 2,989,611,114,437.50 2,908,793,072,572.78 2,949,148,205,390.90 2,427,739,134,375.13Building Energy Per Person(Btu/person) 71,870,952.08684 66,425,469.69221 63,179,693.14884 62,637,219.49304 51,695,820.75668Building Energy Per Person Per Square Foot (Btu/ft2/person) N/A 198,770.3170 175,897.8320 178,051.1572 145,661.5135Building Energy Per Square Foot (Btu/ft2) N/A 198,770.3170 175,897.8320 178,051.1572 145,661.5135Building Utilization (total conditioned ft2) 12,324,953 12,679,649 12,860,657 12,952,661 12,902,936Building Utilization Per Person (total conditioned ft2/person) 415.7936 422.9510 422.9227 423.8298 425.4463Total Number of LEED Certified Buildings (# of LEED certified buildings) 0 0 0 0 0% of UI Buildings with LEED Certification (% of all buildings) 0 0 0 0 0Number of LEED Certification for total area (# of LEED certified buildings/ft2) 0 0 0 0 0LEED Certification for total area (% of LEED certified buildings) 0 0 0 0 0

Focusing projects in all three areas of sustainability

Energy reduction and renewable energy

Healthy, safe students

Affordable housing

Adapted from photo source: centexbel.be

Brenda NationsCity of Iowa CityEnvironmental Coordinatorbrenda-nations@iowa-city.org319-887-6161

For more information:

http://www.icgov.org/

http://sustainability.uiowa.edu/

Liz ChristiansenUniversity of IowaDirector of Sustainabilityliz-christiansen@uiowa.edu319-335-55161