Environmental Council
Minutes of November 5, 2002
Attending: Diane Munroe, Charlotte Tate, Gail Smith, David West, Andi Lloyd, Helen Young, JS Woodward, Ben Wessler, Ben Brouwer, Doug Dagan, Katy Saunders, Mikey Azzara, Nick Benjamin, Jessica Warren, Mandy Helwig, Andrea Hamre, Nan Jenks-Jay (Co-Chair), Connie Leach Bisson (Co-Chair)
Absent: Suzanne Nagi
- No changes to the Minutes of October 22, 2002
- Carbon Reduction Initiative:
Members of the Carbon Neutral subcommittee of the Environmental Council met with the Community Council (CC), presenting the CC with a proposal to form a Working Group that would develop a Carbon Reduction Initiative for the College. After a positive dialogue with CC members, the Community Council unanimously supported the development of a Working Group. The CC will send a copy of the proposal to the Faculty Council, Staff Council, and Student Government Association requesting that they appoint members to the Working Group as defined in the proposal.
The Howard E. Woodin Colloquium on Thursday, November 7 in BIH 216 will feature members of the Carbon Neutral subcommittee of the Environmental Council who will be presenting data from the College's greenhouse gas emissions inventory that has been conducted during the last two years and will lay the framework for why the college should undertake a carbon reduction initiative at this time. Nan invited members of the Senior Administration to attend this Colloquium.
3. The College's annual Environmental Fair will be held on Thursday, November 21st in conjunction with Dining Service's Thanksgiving dinner. Connie is seeking permission to hold this event at Ross so that environmental tours of Ross and LaForce can be part of the event. Mikey Azzara and Suzanne Nagi will be taking the lead in organizing this event. Send ideas for the Environmental Fair to them.
- Environmental Grants:
The Environmental Grants Subcommittee reviewed 18 environmental grant proposals requesting $69,056. The Grants Subcommittee recommended partial or total funding for 12 of those grant proposals, requesting authorization from the EC to make final adjustments to the awards following today's discussion. Subcommittee members shared insights on how to make further improvements to the grant selection process and maintain responsible stewardship of grant resources beyond the year in which the project is funded.
Katy made a motion, seconded by Mikey to give authority to the Grants Subcommittee to make grant awards. All EC members not party to an active grant proposal voted on this motion and it carried unanimously. The Grants Subcommittee will set a meeting in the near future to finalized grant selection.
Mikey asked if the EC might have suggestions for the Organic Garden project on other places to seek funding. Several ideas were presented. Ben Wessler asked if everyone who submitted a grant proposal received feedback on the grant award decisions. Connie said that everyone last year received a personal letter and that would be the same this year.
- Development of Subcommittees:
With the Carbon Neutral subcommittee work being transferred to the Working Group being established by the Community Council, this subcommittee will not actively meet for the rest of the year. Subcommittee under consideration are:
Purchasing/Consumption
Land Use Management
Education
Transit
Grants
EC members will send Connie an e-mail identifying his or her top two Subcommittee priorities.
- Next Meeting:
Tuesday, November 19
4:30-5:45 Old Chapel 401
ATTACHMENTS:
*Carbon Reduction Initiative
*Environmental Grant Proposals Summary
Middlebury College Environmental Council
Carbon Reduction Initiative (CRI)
Proposal to Community Council,28 Oct 2002
Background:
Middlebury College, like other communities around the world, presently faces a challenge: Will we seize this opportunity to address actively the challenge of global climate change?
The Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers has formed greenhouse gas emission reduction goals to reduce regional emissions by at least 10% below 1990 levels by 2020. The governors and premiers are calling on Middlebury College and other academic institutions to take the lead in implementing this plan.
Throughout the past year, a special task force of the Environmental Council (EC) has been examining Middlebury College's greenhouse gas emissions. This task force has completed an emissions inventory for the College, networked with other colleges and universities initiating similar campaigns, and gathered information about how Middlebury can develop a carbon reduction plan. The EC is eager to share this information with the College community so that Middlebury can define its role in the global effort to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.
The EC is proposing that the Community Council establish a Carbon Reduction Initiative (CRI) for Middlebury College. The CRI, which would represent an opportunity for all areas of the College community to work together, calls for the creation of a new working group composed of students, faculty, staff, and administrators. This group would be charged with the tasks of (a) evaluating data from the College's recent carbon emissions and (b) evaluating a menu of carbon reduction options in order to create a specific carbon reduction plan for Middlebury College.
By undertaking a carbon reduction initiative, Middlebury will not only reaffirm its Environmental Peak of Excellence but also join ranks with other higher-education institutions, municipalities, and the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers who agree that the actions necessary to safeguard the immediate and long-term health of the global environment must begin locally.
Proposal:
The Environmental Council urges the College to support the creation and development of an initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at Middlebury College by the amount stipulated by the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers or by an amount agreed to by the working group.
In order to achieve this goal, we propose the formation of a working group comprised of students, faculty, staff, and administrators. These representatives should, at minimum, include
- students representing each of the five commons and appointed by the Student Government Association
faculty members from at least 3 divisions and appointed by the Faculty Council
4 staff or administrators appointed by the Staff Council, 3 of whom should represent various departments including Facilities Planning, Facilities Management, Purchasing, Dining Services, and the Treasurer's Office
Nan Jenks-Jay (Director of Environmental Affairs) and the Vice President for Finance and Administration/Treasurer or his/her delegate as Co-Chairs, and Connie Leach Bisson (Campus Sustainability Coordinator) as staff to the working group.
This working group, using data presented to it by the Environmental Council, should be charged with (1) identifying a specific carbon reduction goal for the College, (2) developing a specific carbon reduction plan that outlines the steps necessary to achieve said goal, and (3) reporting to the Environmental and Community Councils on progress made at the end of each academic year.
Attachments
2002-2003 Environmental Grant Proposals Summary
A. Investigation of Paper Alternatives $1200.00
Test 100% post consumer fiber papers in several academic departments, computer lab and high-use copier. Work with Gail Smith from Purchasing to develop a proposal for the purchase of higher post-consumer fiber paper and develop a campus awareness campaign on paper consumption patterns. (No student wages requested.)
B. Energy Use by Vending Machines $1368.38
Track energy use of ten cold soda vending machines, comparing the energy use between those vending machines equipped with VendingMisers, a sensing regulator that monitors the ambient temperature around the machine and adjusts the compressor accordingly and those running without the monitor. The VendingMiser also includes an occupancy sensor for machine lighting, keeping the machine unlit when no one is present. ($261 in student wages.)
C. MMC Outreach Worth Mountain Puncheon Project $1200.00
Replace current bog bridging (known as a Puncheon) on Worth Mountain. Funding is for the purchase of the lumber for building the puncheon. (No student wages requested.)
D. Hybrid Vehicle Research $2500.00
Conduct an evaluation of hybrid vehicles on the market, including a survey of individuals on campus owning a hybrid to obtain first hand information on maintenance or driving issues. Track car rental information in conjunction with purchasing and a survey those who regularly rent vehicles from the College fleet as to their willingness to rent a hybrid vehicle, were it part of the fleet. Develop hybrid vehicle purchase recommendation and present information to purchasing in advance of 2003-04 budget request. Develop marketing materials promoting use of hybrid rental vehicle. Provide financial incentive for the purchase of a hybrid vehicle for the College fleet. ($300 in student wages.)
E. Organic Fruit Tree Project $922.50
Establish pest resistant, organic fruit trees on campus maintained by students and promote awareness to campus. ($200 in student wages.)
F. Pedal Power $2170.00
Construct a pedal generator – a stationary bicycle that generates usable electrical power when ridden – that will be accessible to fitness center users. ($650 in student wages.)
G. Aligning with the Sun $8725.00
Survey the campus on issues pertaining to renewable energy, perform lighting retrofit within 23 Adk View and Farrell House, and generate 30% of Farrell House's annual electricity needs with solar energy via a utility grid intertie. (No student wages requested.)
H. Project Energy Star $5000.00
Purchase Energy Star refrigerators and dishwasher for Weybridge House and conduct an inventory of appliances on campus, beginning with major dormitories. ($700 in student wages.)
I. Greenhouse Water $50.00
Supply water for the greenhouse by constructing a gutter system to funnel water into storage barrel for non-freezing months. (No student wages requested.)
J. Used Veggie Oil Fuel $2000.00
Convert personal vehicle to run on used veggie oil generated in the dining halls. From experience gained, convert College tractor to run on used veggie oil. ($1080 in student wages.)
K. Laundry Water Recycler $3500.00
Purchase adaptive unit for Dining Services new washing machine that will capture rinse water to be used in the next wash cycle, thereby cutting water use in half. Potential to consider the purchase of a similar unit for athletics' laundry facility. (No student wages requested.)
L. EQ Yellow Bike Cooperative $4650.00
Purchase 31 additional single speed bicycles to bring the community yellow bike fleet to a total of 50 new bikes. The grant indicates that other funding provided by Lisa Boudah, Director of Public Safety, would be used to pay a coordinator for J-Term and Spring Semester and make a secure tool/bike storage area in the Ross Commons bike room.
(No student wages requested.)
M. Cornwall Bike Path $754.40
Conduct a feasibility study for the potential construction of a bike path along Route 125 for runners, bikers, recreational users and non-motorized commuters to increase the safety of passage between campus and the network of rural roads actively used west of the College.($326.40 request in student wages for GIS work.)
N. Campus Tree Inventory $2327.20
Complete the tagging of trees on campus and to make the data and maps available via the web along with hard copies of the maps. ($979.20 requested for student wages.)
O. Natural History Trail $2500.00 - $8000.00
Construct a boardwalk and bird blind in the Otter Creek Floodplain that would be used as a teaching tool for students enrolled in biology and environmental studies classes. The trail would not be promoted for public use nor would it be connected to the TAM in hopes of minimizing vandalism. (No students wages requested.)
P. Green Room $7591.60
Last year's grant enabled research of the technical specifications of the green room.
Retrofit 6 exercise bikes to generate electricity to run electrical needs in Atwater's exercise room. Facilities will perform routine maintenance on the equipment with Atwater Commons paying for maintenance costs. ($81.60 requested in student wages.)
Q. Middlebury College Organic Garden Project $15,000.00
Research and development work for the organic garden completed '01-'02.
Purchase and install physical garden infrastructure including a tool shed, simple irrigation system and site preparation on College property west of BiHall. Supply wages to a non-student Garden Manager, a Student Field Manager and apprentices during summer 2003.
(Assuming that apprentices are students, $5700 in student wages requested.)
R. Increasing Efficiency of Snow Bowl and Golf Course Water Use $2096.48
Purchase and install software to download weather data and perform weather related calculations, install a radio telemetry system to transfer data from the golf course station to Kirk and golf course staff computer, develop a webpage for real-time weather data, and assist staff from Snow Bowl and Golf Course in using data for improved efficiency of snowmaking and grounds maintenance. ($163.48 in student wages requested.)
TOTAL REQUESTED FUNDS: $69,055.56