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1. Establish a policy that all new campus construction will be built to at least the U.S.
Green Building Council's LEED Silver standard or equivalent.
Yes:
1) Before purchasing any new equipment and accessories, research will be performed to ascertain whether those products requested have brands/options that have earned an ENERGY STAR rating. If they have, every effort will be made to ensure that new equipment will be purchased that has an ENERGY STAR rating.
2) If one product requested has multiple ENERGY STAR model options, every effort will be made to purchase the ENERGY STAR model that uses the least amount of electricity.
3) Even if a non ENERGY STAR product can be purchased at an initial lower cost than an ENERGY STAR product, the ENERGY STAR rated product will be purchased.
4) This policy will pertain to vendor purchases (book store, food service) as well as college employee purchases. If need be, this policy will be written into future contracts regarding vendor activities.
5) Faculty and staff will be will be asked to observe the same policy when bringing their own products/purchases (microwaves, etc.) into their offices.
6) Purchasers researching whether a product requested has an ENERGY STAR rating will go to www.energystar.gov.
7) If there is no ENERGY STAR option available for a product requested, and if information is available contrasting that itemâs energy usage with other similar models, the product with the lowest energy requirements will be purchased.
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3. Establish a policy of offsetting all greenhouse gas emissions generated by air travel
paid for by our institution.
Yes:
The following proposal was accepted by the Professional Development Committee and has been submitted to the Staff Development committee and the President for funding:
The Professional Development Committee provides travel reimbursement to staff and faculty for approved requests. As part of the Presidents Commitment to Climate Change, GCC is acknowledging the environmental implications of travel and attempting to initiate a carbon offset program to reduce our carbon footprint and help in the battle to fight global warming.
The Professional Development Committee is recommending that a policy be adopted whereby for every vehicle mile traveled on college business, a set amount of money be âdonatedâ to the Green Campus Fund and earmarked for purchase and installation of new campus photovoltaic (solar electric) panels or energy conservation /efficiency devices.
What amount of money per mile represents a viable carbon offset figure? It depends on the vehicle driven, the mpg of that vehicle, the type of offset you are looking to provide, the costs of that offset, the environmental implications of 20 lbs. of carbon dioxide being released per gallon of gasoline consumed, etc. Literature review suggests that âdonatedâ amounts vary widely and the complexity of the above variables makes it difficult to come up with a realistic figure.
Terra Pass, an organization which offers people the opportunity to purchase carbon offsets, has a current figure of about $10/ton which comes out to approximately $.10 per gallon offset, or, at the low end of 20 miles to the gallon, $.005/mile which seems extremely inexpensive. During the last academic year, approximately 2,500 miles were reimbursed which would amount, at this rate, to a donation of $12.50 â again something that seems very low. The Committee is acknowledging the uncertainty of offset donations and recommending an offset amount of $.01/mile (a penny), twice the amount of Terra Pass. Given that this is an educational tool as much as anything, and that donations directly benefit GCC in an educational and energy savings way, we feel that it makes sense to reimburse at the higher figure until further research indicates otherwise. This would mean that at 2500 miles we would donate $25 to the Green Campus Fund.
Travel mile reimbursement funded amounted to less than half of the approximately 7,000 travel miles requested. The Committee recommends that for every travel mile requested, reimbursed or not, a donation of $.01 be made to the Green Campus Fund. This would have meant for the last academic year a donation of approximately $70. The committee also recommends that staff/faculty be provided with a summary of the amount of offset donation being made on their behalf as an educational tool. The committee is also recommending that individuals be given the opportunity to further donate travel reimbursement to the Green Campus Fund if they so desire.
In addition, a similar offset amount should be made for air travel. Numbers vary widely on this as well, and it is unclear how many air miles were traveled last academic year. Some literature suggests that air travel is more efficient per person mile, but again variables can be difficult to interpret. Using Terra Pass as an example again, their approximate figure is $.002/flight mile. Given the uncertainty over carbon offsets, if we followed the same formula as we did with auto travel and doubled the figure we would increase it to half a penny ($.005/travel mile) which means we would pay $5.00 per thousand miles traveled. A 5,233 mile trip to San Francisco and back would require a donation of about $26.00.
It does not seem wise or prudent at this point to take away peopleâs professional development reimbursement to provide a carbon offset. A request has been made to apply for funds from the Presidentâs Special Foundation Budget to cover the carbon offset costs for professional development travel. It is unclear at this time how much money we would need, but if we were to anticipate 7,000 auto travel miles ($70.00) and 30,000 air travel miles ($150), the request would total $220. The committee has submitted a request for $300 to the Presidentâs Foundation Budget for carbon offsets to cover professional development travel that falls in the domain the of the Professional Development Committee.
Much of GCCâs travel reimbursement is paid for in grants or in other ways that are not reimbursed through this committee. At this point we do not have easy access to records that indicate what the overall mileage or air fare amounts college wide are. For the next six months, Jim Connelly Accountant and member of the Professional Development Committee will be tracking all auto and air travel college wide so that we can get a better handle on exact figures of college wide travel. After that time the committee, as well as the Green Campus Committee, could make a suggestion that this carbon offset policy be implemented campus wide for all travel, whether reimbursed through the Professional Development Committee or not.
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