Sustainability in Campus Life Facilities
SUSTAINABILITY OPERATIONS EFFORTS
UNDERWAY IN CAMPUS LIFE FACILITIES
Energy - Lighting
 Occupancy-sensor light switches
- Occupancy-sensor light switches have been installed in the following locations in the Fisher Student Center :
- Both housekeeping closets
- 2 store rooms
- Fall 07 – all six meeting rooms
- Fall 07 - all four restrooms
Occupancy-sensor light switches result in significant amounts of energy savings, cost of energy savings and cost of lighting replacements savings
- Information:
 Fluorescent lamps
- Purchased and installed extra long-life T8 florescent lamps to replace standard florescent lamps. This will save having to add these to the waster stream and reduce mercury. It will also save money.
- Information:
 Compact fluorescent (CF) light bulbs
- CF bulbs are used in about 90 % of all light fixtures in the Fisher Student Center, University Union and Burney Center.
- Purchased 70 compact fluorescent light bulbs and distributed to all Campus Life student staff as a part of Fall training regarding sustainable operations. The combined savings would amount to about $425 in energy savings per year they are in use.
- Added CF bulbs to all lamps in Warwick Center lobby and Warwick Center room 135
- Compact fluorescent bulbs information
Daylighting
Most lights in meeting rooms turned off unless the room is being used for meeting. Some lights are required to remain on per fire code. Use of day lighting where available
Products-Materials
Recycling Efforts
- Fisher Student Center and Fisher University Union recycling average monthly amounts estimates:
Newspaper: 1375 lbs.
Mixed paper: 1625 lbs.
Cardboard: 7,000 lbs.
Metal: 125 lbs.
Plastic: 262 lbs.
Glass: 375 lbs.
TOTAL: 10,762 lbs. per month
TOTAL recycled this academic year: 36,598
- Recycling of various products:
- Seven recycle stations located conveniently throuought the Fisher Student Center. These stations accept:
- Paper - Newsprint - Magazines
- Cardboard
- Glass
- Plastic
- Aluminum cans
- Recyled amounts: coming soon
- Desk-side paper recycling in each office. This encourages daily paper recycling.
- Paper recycling baskets added to all meeting rooms to encourage paper recycling from all meeting particpants
- 100 % of all cardboard generated in Campus Life facilities is recylced
- Efforts are underway to encourage recylcing at events by providing recycle containers
- All laser jet ink cartridges are recycled at the end of their useful life
- Event recycling efforts:
- Purchased a large 4-bin container that will be placed in the Warwick Center Ballroom to encourage recycling of paper, cardboard, plastic, and glass before, during, and after large events. Some large events generate as much as four 65 gallon containers of trash, some of which can be recycled.
- Reminders added to all trash containers in Campus Life facilities:
 Can it be RECYCLED ???
- Light recycling:
- All lights used in the Fisher Student Center and Burney Center, except incandescent lights, are recycled. The lights are considered hazardous due to the mercury content and can no longer be disposed of in the landfills. The light recycling technology separates mercury-containing lamps into their main components, recovers the mercury, and recycles 100 percent of the end product. The lights managed under this program are specifically mercury-containing lamps to include:
- Fluorescent Lamps
- Compact Fluorescent Lamps
- Mercury Vapor Bulbs
- Metal Halide Lamps
- High Pressure Sodium
Paper hand towels and dispensers in all Fisher Student Center and Burney Center restrooms
- Paper towels product – Bay West EcoSoft :
- 100% recycled content (recovered after papermaking process)
- Minimum 40% post-consumer waste paper content (EPA guidelines)
- Waste paper used is not de-inked using solvents containing chlorine or other chemicals harmful to the environment
- Wastepaper used is not bleached
- Paper towels do not contain any added pigments, inks, dyes or fragrances
- Paper towel roll cores are made from 100% recycled materials
- Green Seal certified
- Hand towels product information
- Zero waste
- Represents a cost savings of 67 % of towels previously used
- Paper towels hands-free dispenser:
- More efficient delivery of towel product with zero-waste
- ADA compliant
- Some internal parts made of up to 15% recycled content
- Dispensers provided free – resulting in cost savings
Toilet paper and dispensers in all Fisher Student Center and Burney Center restrooms
- Bath tissue product – Bay West EcoSoft :
- 100% recycled content (recovered after papermaking process)
- Minimum 20% post-consumer waste paper content (EPA guidelines)
- Waste paper used is not de-inked using solvents containing chlorine or other chemicals harmful to the environment
- Wastepaper used is not bleached
- Bath tissue does not contain any added pigments, inks, dyes or fragrances
- Bath tissue roll cores are made from 100% recycled materials
- 25% reduction in tissue roll core material due to two-part core
- Green Seal certified
- Bath tissue product information
- Zero waste
- Represents a cost savings of 43 % of bath tissue previously used
- Bath tissue dispenser:
- Design insures maximum use of each roll before advancing to the next roll, therefore reducing product waste and overall cost.
- ADA compliant
- Dispensers provided free – resulting in cost savings
Foaming Hand Soap
  
Hand soap used in all restrooms in Fisher Student Center and Burney Center is Green Seal Certified:
- Biodegradable
- Non-toxic
- Meets carcinogenic limits
- Free of VOCs
Recycled plastic pallets
Pallets made from 100% recylced plastic have been purchased for back-of-house storage in Fisher Student Center and Burney Center.
Duplex printers
Duplex printers in use in Campus Life operations to print on both sides of paper, therefore saving paper.
Floor Cleaners
Floor cleaners for Marmoleum and other floors in the Fisher Student Center meet strict environmental standards for reduced human and aquatic toxicity. These floor care products are Green Seal certified.
Sustainable whiteboards in the University Union and Burney Center:
For the meeting rooms in these facilities, Campus Life has purchased whiteboards that are constucted with " E3 Environmental Ceramicsteel Surface". The sustainability features of these whiteboards include:
- Total amount of heavy metals cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, and lead less than 0.1%
- All coatings are free from arsenic and antimony
- No Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
- Steel core made from minimum 30% post-consumer and post-industrial waste
- 99% recyclable
- Cradle to Cradle Silver Certification
Water Use
- Irrigation system set to operate in early morning – best time to avoid wind and evaporation. This saves water.
- Irrigation and and outdoor water fountain turned during stage 1 drought to comply with City of Wilmington mandate.
- Reminders about the importance of water conservation added to all Campus Life restrooms:
 Water is precious - Please conserve it.
Water saving tips
Warwick Center
- Active recycling program
- Four recycle stations for paper, newspaper, glass, plastic
- 100% of all cardboard generated in the Warwick Center is recycled
- The University Network (TUN) plasma screen near the Post Office boxes has been programmed to automatically turn on at 7am and off at midnight to save energy. This is a change from when the screen was always on.
- Campus Dining Sustainability Efforts
- Fair Trade coffee is sold at Fair Trade Market, Java City at Randall Library and seasonally at Einstein Bros Bagels. UNCW Campus Dining recognizes the need for social and environmental responsiblity towards farm workers, our customers and our communities; That is why we have implemented the Fair Trade coffee program on campus. Benefits of these programs for coffee farmers mean community development, health, education and environmental stewardship.
- Increased marketing of the Aramark “Earthsense mug” program that involves purchasing a reusable mug for a discount on drinks. This will save resources to make the disposable cups, reduce waste and save money.
- Estimated refills of these and other refillable mugs in 2006-07:
University Union
Campus Life Administration Offices
Recycled paper
- Campus Life administrative offices only purchases computer printer paper with higher post-consumer recycled content (35% post consumer) vs. 10% in current paper. Exceeds federal and state guidelines for recycled content.
- This will save 3.6 trees in a one-year period based on our current consumption
- ½ ton (100,000 sheets of 35% post-consumer recycled content copy paper would save about 3.6 trees per year. www.conservatree.com)
- Active recycling program
- Four recycle stations for paper, newspaper, glass, plastic
- 100% of all cardboard generated in modular units are recycled
- Desk-side recycling of paper in modular unit. Recycling of cans, plastic and glass also.
- Duplex printers in use to print on both sides of paper
- Surplus of all excess state property
- Recycling of laser jet ink cartridges
Scheduling System Sustainability
Campus Life utlizes EMS Campus Room Scheduling Software. Here are some ways this scheduling facilitates sustainable operations:
EMS and the Environment: The Green You Don't See
In recent years, environmental awareness has become an important topic in business, as it should be. Everywhere you turn these days you see "green products"... "green initiatives"... "green solutions". Sometimes, however, it’s the green you don’t see that is having a significant impact on the environment.
For more than 20 years we’ve been producing software solutions that increase facility scheduling efficiency and reduce energy and material waste. For most of those two decades that effort has gone unlabeled. We’ve never thought of it as being "green" or "environmentally aware" – it’s just one of those rare win-win situations where something that makes sense for the environment makes dollars and cents for businesses.
But, if your organization considers it a priority to treat the earth gently and you want to know about some of the very tangible ways in which using well-designed facility scheduling software and an interactive online calendar can make a significant difference, there are many:
Smaller, More Efficient Scheduling Staff
When activity volume increases from year to year, one option for handling the additional events is to increase the headcount in your scheduling office and on your setup crew. However, more employees mean more office space, additional commuters on the highways, etc. A better, eco-friendly option is to help your existing staff work more effectively. EMS gives you the tools you need to significantly increase your organization’s scheduling efficiency.
Meeting and Event Space Optimization
Having the means to quickly and easily reserve the right rooms with the right amount of setup and teardown time between sessions can make a world of difference in how space is utilized and ultimately allow you to do more with less. Organizations that are spending a great deal of money to reserve offsite meeting space or are considering moving to a larger facility because of the perceived lack of space internally often, after implementing a facility scheduling system, realize that they have all the room they need.
The (Nearly) Paperless Office
While few scheduling operations can claim to be 100% paperless, there are a number of functions within EMS that can help you achieve near-zero paper consumption. The ability to email reports directly from the system, the availability of online space request forms and integrated event task reminders are just a few.
Shared Workspace Management
Hoteling, hot-desking... there are many names for the practice of having workers who are frequently offsite (telecommuting or with clients) "book" a workspace when they arrive at the office. But whatever you call it, minimizing the physical space that you must heat, cool and maintain is good for the environment and good for your company’s bottom line.
Resource Optimization
As with space optimization, the accurate scheduling and tracking of resources (A/V equipment, catering supplies, etc.) allows organizations to do more with less. Instead of purchasing additional data projectors, for example, an organization might find that their existing inventory can readily meet the demand when scheduled more carefully. This practice gets to the heart of the so called "Three R’s" of waste prevention: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
HVAC Integration
The heating and cooling of unoccupied meeting and event space can be a major source of energy waste and a major drain on your budget. EMS integrates with heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to provide room occupancy information that can be used to automatically adjust room temperatures between an energy efficient set point for empty rooms and a comfortable setting for events. For example, the University of Kansas saves more than $20,000 per year in energy and associated costs through their EMS Enterprise/HVAC integration. Read the case study.
Data "Recycling"
The "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" concept can be applied to data, too. Through its seamless interface with a number of other systems (digital signage, interactive calendaring, room diagramming, HR databases, accounting packages, and many more), EMS eliminates the person-hours spent rekeying event-related data, as well as the associated overhead.
In short, EMS has been, and continues to be, quietly green.
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