Office of Sustainability Newsletter University of Vermont November 2010 In This Issue

News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability
November 2010
Office of Sustainability Newsletter
University of Vermont
In This Issue
Senate Resolution to
Advance STARS on
campus
Sustainability Faculty
Fellows
How to Weatherize Your
Off-Campus Apartment
Connecting You With
Transportation Choices
Eco-Reps Update
Clean Energy Fund Call
For Ideas
Environmental Forum
Update: Clean Energy
Fund Update
Announcements & Events
Quick Links
Office of Sustainability
Website
Email us
See past newsletters on the Office of Sustainability website
under "email archives".
Senate Passes Resolution To Advance STARS on Campus
On September 28, 2010 the Student Government Association
(SGA) voted unanimously to pass the Resolution Encouraging UVM to
Progress Toward the "STARS". The resolution was written and
introduced by Senator Joshua Benes on September 21st and voted on
and passed the next week.
STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating
System) is a project created by AASHE (Association for the
Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) as a way for
colleges and universities to measure their advancement to
sustainability. The University of Vermont is a member of AASHE,
though we have not signed on to STARS. STARS is based on a
transparent, self-reporting system that measures all aspects of the
campus and curriculum are measured. Credits are broken into
categories of Education and Research; Operations; Planning,
Administration and Engagement; and Innovation. Last year two servicelearning classes conducted evaluations of the university, both giving a
rating a rating score of Silver, however the Office of Sustainability and
Senate members feel the University can work to score higher.
This resolution will help UVM reach its goal, according to the
campus master plan, to become the "leading environmental university
of the nation" for education and physical facilities. The resolution is not
pushing the university to join the STARS program but instead
"encouraging the administration to review these policies of STARS".
STARS is currently being piloted by the Office of Sustainability and the
resolution is being forwarded to the administration for their support.
- Katherine Devine
Sustainability Faculty Fellows
Congratulations to the sixteen new fellows who have been
chosen for the second year of the UVM Sustainability Faculty Fellows
Program. The fellows were chosen from diverse range of disciplines
including chemistry, engineering, classics, education, political science,
geology and plant and soil science among others. The program is
designed to enhance students understanding of sustainability relating
to all fields of study using a multidisciplinary approach to teaching and
course structure. The fellows receive a $400 grant, supported by the
Provost's Office Instructional Incentive Grant Program, for professional
development expenses. The goal of the program is to help faculty
revise or create courses to include sustainability education. The fellows
will attend workshop luncheons during the academic year and
participate in a two-day institute at Shelburne Farms in January. Left: Sustainability Faculty
Fellows participate in a
wilderness tracking activity
at the 2010 retreat last
January at Shelburne
Farms.
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News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability
2010 Faculty Fellows
Pablo S. Bose - Geography
Gary Flomenhoft - Community Development and Applied Economics,
Gund Institute
Rory Waterman - Chemistry
Yolanda Chen - Plant and Soil Sciences
Alex Zakaras - Political Science
Lance Polya - Environmental Program, Continuing Education
Charlotte Mehrtens - Geology
Jennifer Dickinson - Anthropology
Amy Seidl - Environmental Program
Mark Usher - Classics Amy Nickerson - Nutrition and Food Sciences
Laura Hill Bermingham - Plant Biology
Thomas Macias - Sociology
Donna Rizzo - Engineering
Jeff Hughes - Plant Biology, RSENR
Amy Trubek- Nutrition and Food Sciences
Teage O'Conner - Shelburne Farms
Jen Cirillo - Shelburne Farms
- Katherine Devine
How to Weatherize Your Off-Campus
Apartment
Weatherization is the simple process of making a house or a
building secure against cold or stormy weather by adding insulation,
storm windows, checking efficiency of appliances and other precautions.
Weatherizing your apartment or house can save money on your energy
and heating bills, as well as reduce your energy usage and make your
house more sustainable overall.
Vermont Gas held a Weatherization workshop to help new
homeowners and off-campus students and residents to prepare their
homes for the winter to reduce heating costs and save on resources.
The talk included lighting savings, laundry, tips for the kitchen and
bathroom, hot water, and heating and cooling your home.
For the upcoming winter months, the best way to keep your
home warm and reduce heat loss is to replace furnace filters when
they are dirty, keep radiators and baseboards free and clear, and seal
up drafts and leaks in air ducts. Keeping the radiators and baseboards
clear from furniture, carpeting and other fabrics or objects will help air
circulate better to reach other areas of the house. Sealing up drafty
windows and doors can be easily done with caulk, weather stripping or
fabrics around the house such as socks or scarves. Leaky air ducts,
especially those found in unheated areas of the house (such as the
attic, basement or garage) can add a lot to your energy bill and can
easily be sealed with duct tape or other long-lasting sealants.
There are a number of small things you can do to reduce the
cost of utilities and save energy. In the kitchen some simple tricks are
to control the refrigerator and freezer temperatures, check the door
seals, use smaller pans to match your food. In the bathroom, turn off
water when shaving and brushing your teeth and replace your fan with
a low-wattage, energy star labeled fan.For heating hot water, an
electric heater is often the most significant energy user of electricity in
a home. Although it might not always be possible, switching to oil,
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News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability
propane or natural gas to heat your water will significantly reduce your
electricity usage.
The workshop also provided compact fluorescent light bulbs
and plastic window covers, flow restrictors and pamphlets on more
ways to save energy in your home.
For more information on weatherization techniques visit the
Vermont Gas website, or email your questions to
[email protected]. - Katherine Devine
"Connecting You With Transportation Choices"
This week all employees received a bright blue
invitation from CATMA with instructions and a
random password to participate in its annual
Fall Employee Transportation Survey. Every
year, this is an opportunity for employees to
provide their transportation, parking and
commuting experiences in/around the "Hill" and
Burlington. The input is very important as
CATMA works to improve and provide
alternative commuting services, incentives, and
programs that will help you travel to work in a cost-effective, safe and
stress free style! CATMA welcomes you to visit their "updated" website at
www.catmavt.org. You'll find:
The downloadable "Campus Walking
Routes Map"
Information on CATMA's international
award winning Bike-Walk Reward program,
Confidential Carpool Matching Service,
Emergency Ride Home, monthly raffles
Quick Links to CarShare Vermont, CCTA
and LocalMotion
Upcoming transportation events and
workshops
Carbon Footprint Calculator
Construction and Snow Ban Alerts; Sign up
for CCTA Text Alerts
Register and Join the CATMA "Commuter
Champions" Today!
Thank you to those who have already completed the survey, and
Thank you in advance to those who will participate!
Contact: CATMA at 656-RIDE | email [email protected] |
www.catmavt.org
UVM, Fletcher Allen, Champlain College and CATMA are nationally
designated:
Eco-Reps Update
Eco-reps is a peer education program for students, where
representatives from residence halls and off campus residences teach
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News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability
other students about environmental issues such as recycling and waste,
transportation, food, water and composting along with way to reduce
their ecological impacts. The UVM Eco-Reps Program is a program of
the Department of Residential Life in collaboration with the The Office of
Sustainability and the Physical Plant Department with special support
from the Recycling Program and the Energy Management Program
This year Kyle Brown was appointed the new coordinator for
the program and works with 37 eco-reps, the largest number of
students since the programs beginning in 2004. As the program
coordinator, Brown is working to engage a wide range of students in
the program and events on campus, educate the eco-reps about
different topics each week and lead campus-wide projects to help
spread sustainability efforts.
Also new this year is the role of the student campus
coordinators who are returning eco-reps now appointed to leadership
roles to improve student engagement in the program. There are 5
coordinators for different areas of campus, Redstone, L&L and Harris
Millis, U-Heights and Austin, Tupper, Marsh, and Central and North
campus and one for the Davis Center as well. The campus coordinators
(Emily Bird, Winter Heath, Anne Chan, Sarah Lundui and Olivia Bulger)
work on projects and lead meetings with the students in their specific
campus areas.
The eco-reps have also been working outside of the residential
halls to promote the use of "Sporks", a clever spoon and fork
combination being sold for only $1 to encourage re-usable utensils and
to reduce waste from food vendors on campus. The idea is that
students can carry the sporks with them and avoid the use of
disposable utensils when they are on the go. The idea was even
featured on Fox 44 News. Other projects include the Davis Center waste sort, the dorm
bulb swap, the food waste weigh-in, eco-trivia, a clothing swap and
Greening the Holidays coming up before winter break. During the 20092010 academic year, the dorm bulb swap saved 7,425.75 Kilawatt
hours and $891.10 in energy costs. Since the program started in 2005,
the bulb swap program reduced a total of 23,565.67 lbs of CO2 and
saved $16,889.35 in energy costs.
For more information on the eco-reps program and to check
out links, readings and films into other sustainability issues, visit the
eco-reps website or contact Kyle B. Brown.
- Katherine Devine
Clean Energy Fund Call For Ideas
The Clean Energy Fund Committee and Office of Sustainability are
looking for new ideas for the 2010-2011 Clean Energy Fund. Post your
ideas on the IdeaScale page today to answer the question: How can
UVM best advance renewable energy research, education, and
infrastructure on campus? Simply sign in with your UVM email and
password and submit a new idea, vote to agree or disagree on ideas
posted or add comments. Ideas are sorted by date, topics and the
most popular to browse through easily and filter the best ideas. This is
your chance to participate in the decision about how your studentgenerated funds are spent and how to advance sustainability on
campus.
For more information please contact Jedd Wilcox.
-Katherine Devine
Environmental Forum Update:
Clean Energy Fund Update
Previously called the Environmental Council, the Environmental
Forum continues as a grassroots and middle management network that
supports greening efforts and student involvement. The Forum meets
monthly during the academic year for discussion and presentations,
and uses the GREENUVM listserv for announcements and networking.
The Forum is open to all UVM faculty, staff, and students.
The last environmental forum meeting took place on Wednesday,
October 20th 2010 in the Billings Center North Lounge. The meeting
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News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability
began with announcements from the office including and a presentation
from Alan McIntosh before discussing UVM's Climate Action Plan. Returnees from the AASHE Conference in Denver spoke of their
experiences and what they learned. UVM had one of the largest
representations with 13 attendees including all six members of the
Office of Sustainability and seven other environmental faculty
members. The conference lasted for three days with 500 sessions to
choose from and 2,100 attendees overall showing an explosion of
interest in the field of campus sustainability. Gioia and Mieko attended
the Presidents Leadership Conference for the Presidents Climate
Commitment; Tatiana presented on the Campus Sustainability Class as
a case study to connect STARS and service learning with the
operational realities of campus; Stephanie Kaza presented on
sustainability studies as an entrepreneurial approach; and Jedd and
Mieko presented on a panel to discuss management strategies for
"student green fee projects." The next AASHE Conference will be next
year in Pittsburgh and UVM is working to increase student presence.
Alan McIntosh spoke at the Forum about the idea of an "ecocampus" at UVM to display eco-art, green technologies and other
innovations in a designated section on campus. There is a lot of talk
about bringing green technologies and clean energy to campus to bring
together research, teaching, and outreach and to use the campus as a
"living laboratory". McIntosh mentioned using space on South Campus
(Miller Farm and Bio-Research Complex on Spear Street) for activities,
new infrastructure, demonstrations, workshops and eco-art displays.
The idea is to let innovation happen in a sub-zone of campus to
encourage exploration and draw attention from a wider audience as an
education tool. The next step is to get a group of students involved to
meet and narrow down ideas as well as discuss funding and connect
different groups on campus. McIntosh believes the whole idea will work
the best if it comes from the bottom up with strong student support.
The main focus of the forum was a presentation from Gioia
Thompson on the Climate Action Plan to be submitted by December.
The Climate Action Plan is a self-reporting tool for the Presidents'
Climate Commitment (PCC) in which UVM is a signatory. The plan aims
to reduce the University's net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by
2025 through a series of strategies including switching to clean
renewable energies, conservation and efficiency strategies, and
purchasing carbon offsets. The milestones of the plan are to reduce
electricity by 2015, reduce heating and fleet emissions by 2020 and
eliminate the remainder with offsets by 2025. Thompson aims to create
a short and clear vision that is feasible for Vermont and advances UVM
as a clear leader of environmental Universities. The plan will be
presented to President Fogel for approval before being submitted to the
PCC.
The next environmental forum meeting will be on Wednesday,
December 1st in the Billings Center Marsh Lounge and the main topics
will be Earth Week planning and student project presentations.
Dates and Times for the Year
Fall Semester:
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010, 2-4 pm, Billings Marsh Lounge
Spring Semester:
Wednesday, February 16th, 2011, 2-4, Billings North Lounge
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011, 2-4 pm, Billings Marsh Lounge
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011, 2-4 pm, Billings Marsh Lounge
The next Environmental Forum will be on Wednesday December
1st from 2-4pm in the Billings Center Marsh Lounge. Please join
us to see presentations, participate in discussion and voice your
opinions. Announcements & Events
UVM:
- "The Case for Ecological Ethics" Lecture by Dr. Ben Minteer of Arizona
State University. Monday, November 15th, 12:00- 1:00 pm in the Davis
Center, Mildred Livak Room
- Marsh Lecture Series: "Moving Places- A Lecture Demonstration of
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News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability
Environmental Dance" presented by Jennifer Monson, Artistic Director,
Choreographer and Performer for the Interdisciplinary Labratory for Art,
Nature and Dance. Monday, November 15th, 7:00 - 9:00 pm, Billings
Library, Marsh Lounge.
- Winter Farmers Market. Wednesday, November 17th from 10:00 am
to 3:00 pm at Brennan's Pub & Bistro in the Davis Center.
- Center for Research on Vermont Seminar "Smart Grid 101: What
Does it Mean for Vermont?" Robert Dostis, Green Mountain Power and
cochair of the Clean Energy Development Fund Board and E-Vermont
Smart Grid Communications Workgroup. This seminar is intended to
provide an introduction to the Smart Grid system and a forum to
answer audience questions. Tuesday, November 30th, 7:30 -9:30 pm,
Billings Library, North Lounge.
- ENVS 195: Systems Thinking & Sustainability- Student Project
Presentations. Tuesday, November 30th. 4:00-5:30 PM, Angell Building
Room B203.
Burlington:
- Burlington Permaculture 2010 Fourth Annual Almost Winter Workshop.
Tuesday, November 16th, 7:00 - 9:00 pm at City Market in the
Conference Room. $10 suggested donation.
Burlington Permaculture's Mark Krawczyk will meet with locals to
discuss sustainable designs for the City of Burlington and residential
homes.
- Design & Install a Rain Garden. Thursday, November 18th, 7:00-8:30
pm at Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission in Winooski.
The Chittenden County Stream Team will host a workshop about ways
to improve water quality and reduce stormwater runoff. The event is
free but preregistration is required.
- Green Drinks. Tuesday, November 30th from 6:00-8:00 pm at Main
Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Lake Lobby in Burlington. Come
to network and share your ideas with activists and professionals.
The mission of the Office of Sustainability is to foster
sustainable development and promote environmental
responsibility at the University by strategically bridging the
academic activities of teaching, research, and outreach with
the operations of the University.
Questions? Comments? Anything else you would like to see
in here?
Office of Sustainability
The University of Vermont
401 Billings Center
48 University Place
phone: (802) 656-0906 fax: (802) 656-1075
email: [email protected]
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