Hi Oles,
We recently had occasion to report on some aspects of the sustainability program at St. Olaf. Because I know that many students (and parents, and alumni) find our sustainability efforts exciting, I thought you might be interested in what we reported.
1. St. Olaf has written unique Sustainable Design Guidelines and they are
incorporated into our architecture/engineering and our construction contracts, including those governing the current construction of the new Science Complex.
The Science Complex is designed to achieve LEED Gold designation, with the intent of using the project and completed building to teach about sustainable construction, and operations.
2) All st. Olaf diesel powered vehicles have been switched to B20 bio-diesel
fuel.
3) A wind turbine generates about one-third of the campus's
energy. Moreover, 720,000 gross square feet of new and extensively renovated buildings have been designed using our utility's Energy Design Assistance Program.
St. Olaf has completed carbon emissions work for the campus proper, and is
measuring the metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalencies (MTCDE) per
student FTE. Using this measure, along with Total BTUs per Square Foot per
Degree Day (BTU/SF/DD), we are continually evaluating our efforts and
comparing to others to judge the effectiveness of our programs.
As we re-roof older buildings damaged in a recent hail storm, we are bringing these buildings up to the current energy code.
We can measure our progress in this area. In 1988 our peak steam flow on the coldest day was about 75,000 pounds per hour with 1,350,000 gross square feet. In 2007 on the coldest days, peak flow was under 75,000 pounds per hour with 1,820,000 GSF.
4. Our residence hall recycling program is long-standing, and the work is
largely performed by work study students, with a student coordinator for the
entire effort. The custodial staff supplies and supplements the work.
3.5 tons of aggregated food waste is gathered each week for composting. All of the compost is in turn used on the campus in planting beds, on the student run organic vegetable farm that supplies the food service, and as top dressing.
For more information about the programs discussed here, or about sustainability at St. Olaf generally, you can visit the following websites:
http://www.stolaf.edu/green/
http://www.stolaf.edu/green/science.html
http://www.stolaf.edu/green/turbine/index.html
http://www.stolaf.edu/green/report/status/7.html
http://www.stolaf.edu/green/composter/index.html
http://www.stolaf.edu/green/report/index.html
