Environmental Council
Minutes of February 16, 2006
Rm. 401 Old Chapel, 4: 30 pm.
Submitted by Jack Byrne
Present: Nan Jenks-Jay, Diane Munroe, Aaron Tucker, Alexandra Coleman, Don Mitchell, Nick Dickerson, Moriah Helms, Charlotte Tate, Katie Flagg, Glenn Andres, Jack Byrne, Brenda Ellis, Matt Landis
Minutes - Diane moved to approve the minutes of the February 2, 2006 meeting, Charlotte Tate seconded and the minutes were approved unanimously.
RecycleMania - Jack gave an update on the RecycleMania. A letter has been sent to the entire campus community announcing our participation in the competition with nearly 100 other colleges and universities nationally. The letter also included information about what can be recycled. Missy Beckwith, our recycling program supervisor, is providing data about our recycling and waste generation on campus and Alex Shays Coleman has been preparing the needed data and entering it weekly to the RecycleMania reporting site. Jack mentioned that Midd collects its data on a monthly basis and the competition requires weekly data. The organizers of the competition agreed to having us report our weekly data based on the monthly average for the previous two years (divided by 4) for the three months of the competition. We will then adjust our weekly estimates at the end of each month using the actual data we receive from Missy. Currently, we are leading in three of seven categories.
Jack has worked with Mike McKenna and Maria Stadtmueller in the Communications office to develop a series of announcements that will be sent via email and printed in The Campus during the competition which ends in mid April. "Middlebury. Leave a Small Footprint" is the theme for these announcements. A series of announcement/ads has also been developed for the Midd68 initiative as well (see below). The response to the letter that was sent out has been very positive. Many good suggestions have been made which Jack and Missy are following up on and several queries about what can be recycled have been received and replied to,
Midd 68 – Jack reported that a letter from him and Tim Spears will soon sent to the entire campus announcing the decision to lower the thermostat setting in all student residences by two degrees to 68 F. The letter will also encourage all staff and faculty to follow suit. This initiative is based on the work of Caitlin Matthews and Thomas Hand and many other students to get the college to lower the setpoints to conserve energy and reduce CO2 emissions. We will use the experience gained and lessons learned from this initial effort to prepare a more comprehensive program for Fall/Winter '06.
Environmental Council Grants – Jack summarized the six proposals we have received so far and mentioned that we had also received several suggestions for sustainability projects from staff and students. The deadline for proposals is Feb 23 and it is anticipated that we will receive many more by then since students have just recently returned from break.
Some of the suggested projects led to the following items for the EC to follow up on:
Alternatives to gas powered leaf blowers – Is there a less air and noise polluting, more healthy, alternative to this equipment? We should check with Luther Tenney in Facilities to see if they have done any research about this.
Look into the feasibility, costs and benefits of grass pelletizers. This could be part of the biomass project underway.
Work with the Library staff and students to reduce the amount of unnecessary printing of E-reserve material and other items. The library staff will soon be using new print management software that will help reduce duplicate and unclaimed print jobs.
How can we extend the compact fluorescent bulb exchange project to staff and faculty offices? We should work w/ Bobby Levine and the students who are doing the exchange project for dormitories.
Aaron suggested that we look into the feasibility of putting realtime data on the web showing our electricity usage and use it as part of an effort to educate people on how to reduce electricity consumption. We should talk with Mike Moser in facilities about this idea as he may have some good ideas and experience.
International Paper (IP) tour – Nan announced that as a result of The President's letter to International Paper expressing the College's concerns with their proposed test burn of rubber tire material IP has invited a delegation from the college meet with their Vice President for the Environment to discuss the issue further. Nan, Rich Wolfson, Pete Ryan, and Tim Etchells will be going next week to meet with the IP representatives.
Socially Responsible Investing of College Endowment – Jon Warnow and Austen Levihn-Coon reported by letter that they and several other students attended the recent Trustees meeting and presented their ideas about SRI. Here's their summary of the meeting:
Purpose was:
"1) To explore the possibility of disclosure. Currently, there is no transparency in the endowment. The information about where (in what companies, funds, etc.) our endowment is invested is closely guarded, available only to a select few. Disclosure to the college community, we posited, was the first step towards initiating a dialogue about responsible investment guidelines, policies, and strategies.
2) To explore the possibility of establishing a Faculty-Staff-Student advisory committee, that could make recommendations to the investment committee concerning the ethical implications of social and environmental responsibility when investing large sums of money. This Advisory Committee could potentially make recommendations for shareholder resolutions, positive screening, and in egregious cases, total divestment.
On the whole, the meeting was very informative, and crucial for determining the positions and opinions of those involved. While we are still waiting for an official response on these issues, it seems that those present were more receptive to the second idea than the first. How to make the advisory committee functional and effective without disclosure is one of the many questions we are still faced with."
Hillcrest and LEED - Nan gave an update on the Hillcrest project. We have gotten the go ahead to with LEED certification for the renovation project. We should be able to achieve silver level certification and we will shoot for gold. Even though this is a renovation project we don't qualify for the LEED renovation standards because a wing of the building will be torn down. There is a new set of guidelines for colleges and universities and an update of the standard guidelines. We will likely follow the updated standard guidelines with the new update. Nan also mentioned that we may decide to leave the solar panels on Farrell House rather than move them to Hillcrest because it will cost $5,000 to $8,000 to mount them on the Hillcrest roof. The project design and plans are nearly complete. At a future EC meeting we should provide an overview of the building plans and features. We would also like to put together occasional updates and tours (virtual and real) of the building as it progresses through construction and beyond.
Glenn passed around a recent New York Times article about NYC requiring nonresidential building projects over a certain size, or that receive public funding, to follow LEED (see below)
Carbon Reduction Task Group – Jack said that Tom Corbin, Assistant Treasurer and co-chair of the Carbon Reduction Task Group would like to come to our next meeting to talk about how the Environmental Council might help move the initiative along with regard to the items in the portfolio that need to be implemented. Most of the task group's focus in on getting the Biomass boiler project underway and the task group is looking for help in moving forward on the other fronts. Jack will invite Tom to our next meeting.
Environmental Policy Statement in the College Handbook – Nan asked if there were any suggested changes to the current statement in the handbook. After some discussion Glenn moved to recommend the following change to the "We are committed to" section:
From:
"Addressing the challenges of becoming a pedestrian campus"
To:
"Working toward becoming a pedestrian oriented campus"
Charlotte seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Nan will follow up with this and get it to the person responsible for changes to the handbook.
Worth Mountain Project Update - Dave Donohue, Associate Dean, LIS, attended to tell up about current plans for getting high bandwidth internet service to the Breadloaf Campus/Touring Center via Mt. Worth at the Snow Bowl. This has been under consideration for a year and a half since Verizon is not willing to run service from Rt. 7 up to these areas for a cost that is feasible for the College.
The current plan is to use a point-to-point wireless transmitter/receive system from the top of McCardell BiHall to the top of Worth Mountain and then back down to the Breadloaf Campus. The receiving station would be located in a way to satisfy the state land use permit requirement (Act 250). Since there is no power source there, a solar panel/battery system will be the primary source and a propane-powered generator will serve as a back up system. Dave's estimate is that the solar power could provide 60% of the need there. This is an innovative, unique approach. The College will also make its system available to the Ripton School and Town government who could install receiving/transmitting equipment and use our internet connection for their needs. The state permit application is being prepared and Dave anticipates filing it in the next monthly. The college has also offered to the State space on the tower on Worth Mtn. for emergency communications equipment.
Dave also mentioned that he has been involved in the Community Council's deliberations on print management policies and recommendations. As a result of that work the Library will soon be installing new software on all the library computers that should help significantly reduce the amount of wasteful printing that occurs (jobs printed twice, jobs printed to the wrong printer and never recovered, etc.). Dave asked the Env. Council if it would be interested in taking a role in moving the rest of the process forward. Jack mentioned that he's been working with Nadine Barnicle and Pam Fogg to look at the campus' paper procurement, usage, and recycling practices and that there is an opportunity to work together there. Dave will send Jack background info and he will work with Nadine and Pam to incorporate it into the effort they are making and will provide an update and suggestions for further involvement to the Env. Council.
The meeting adjourned at 6:00 pm.