Green SMC

Logo discusion

Please link to the logo page to weigh in on the logo ideas.

Jan 31 meeting plan

Please link to the Meeting plan

Mission statement

We, the students, faculty, and staff of Saint Michael’s College have become deeply concerned with the threat of climate change, the careless consumption of natural resources, and our College's effect on the environment. Our location in the beautiful and verdant State of Vermont underscores our responsibility to exercise stewardship of our planet.

The Environmental Council will support campus activities and programs that work towards the College's environmental goals. This means fostering an environmentally sustainable campus culture. We will strive towards collaboration among members of the Saint Michael's College community and with residents and institutions in the neighboring towns and cities, with the State of Vermont, and with environmentally oriented institutions elsewhere in the world.

The Council objectives are:

1. Tracking the campus's use of facilities and land to minimize the College's "ecological footprint".

2. Recommending policies and processes appropriate to an institution in which environmental responsibility is a top priority.

3. Supporting specific projects that enhance environmental protection.

4. Encouraging programs that increase environmental consciousness and literacy among the members of the college and broader communities.

5. Communicating Saint Michael's College’s environmental successes and challenges.

6. Ensuring the continuity of the environmental movement at Saint Michael’s College 1.

Goals.

Energy-use reduction.

Heating.

• Initiate a two degree challenge program for all buildings on campus, lowering the temperature of every building by two degrees for the fall and winter months. Middlebury College has implemented this plan. This would be an environmental benefit and a substantial financial benefit to the College.

• Water saving shower heads.

I. General Policy Statement: The College will strive to efficiently manage and reduce the consumption of energy in a manner that is consistent with providing an optimal learning and teaching environment. Methods employing efficient energy management and the utilization of energy efficient equipment and building systems will be preferred over radical restrictions during normal energy use. Building automation controls will be employed, when feasible, to provide the minimally required amount of energy at specific times and places.

II. Expectations:

A) The College community will embrace the importance of this energy policy and the need for energy conservation. B) Occupants of College facilities will be encouraged to support energy conservation measures. C) Facility and energy operating staff will insure that energy conservation measures are implemented. D) Construction and renovation activities will be consistent with institutional energy guidelines. E) The College will adopt temperature guidelines for the heating and cooling of classrooms, offices, living spaces and general use/purpose spaces. G) The College will insure that lighting for security purposes will not be reduced (both interior and exterior lighting). H) The College’s Energy Policy will be managed by a XXX who will identify and manage compliance issues with College departments. III. Specific Measures

A. Buildings Windows and doors of conditioned spaces should be kept closed. Personal computers, other office equipment, lights, window air conditioners and personal heaters should be turned off when not in use. The use of personal heaters is discouraged. Power management features of personal computers should be enabled.

B. Heating During the heating season, room temperatures should be maintained at XX°F(68) when occupied. Whenever it is economically and technically feasible, night setback features of the automated system will be utilized to allow temperatures to drop to XX°F during unoccupied periods. The only exceptions to this policy are special areas such as animal care units or research facilities that require constant or warmer temperatures. The XX Office will evaluate requests for exemptions on an individual basis. Facilities Operations will utilize the most energy efficient means of supplying heat for approved off-hour/holiday requests. Use of electric heaters in University buildings should be minimized. Areas that are either too hot or too cold should be reported as soon as possible to XXX.

C. Cooling

During the air-conditioning season, room temperatures should be maintained at XX°F(76) when occupied. Whenever it is economically and technically feasible, night setback features of the automated system will be utilized to allow temperatures to rise to XX°F during unoccupied periods. The only exceptions to this policy are special areas such as animal care units or research facilities that require constant or cooler temperatures. The XX Office will evaluate requests for exemptions on an individual basis. Window air conditioners are used in areas that lack central cooling. Temperature settings for these units should be raised manually or the unit should be turned off when areas are not in use. Supervisors are encouraged to accommodate reasonable requests from employees who wish to wear more casual clothing because of the increased temperatures. Areas that are too cold or too hot should be reported to XX Operations at XXXX.

Lighting.

• Energy efficient lightbulbs.
• Motion activated lighting.

On-campus transportation.

• Consider using biodiesel fuel for the college shuttle and work out the logistics for its use.
• Yellow bicycle program.
• More bike racks.

Off-campus transportation.

• Bus passes.
• Zip car.

Material-use reduction.

Electronic documents.

• Elimination of paper documents is a direct way to keep carbon in trees. This Wiki site serves as an example of sustainability in action.

Reduce use of materials.

• e.g. be conservative with use of printers and photocopiers.
• water efficiency toilets.

Use reusable items instead of disposable.

• e.g. travel mugs.

Commentary

This page is a working draft to coordinate a council to address environmental issues for Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont, USA.

Useful links

THE TALLOIRES DECLARATION The Talloires Declaration

Yale Sustainability Page [1]

Citations

1. Substantial portions of this document are based word-for-word on the University of Vermont's Environmental Council's Bylaws. UVM's document was used as our starting point and we wish to acknowledge the hard work done by others at our neighboring institution.

Tips for editing

Hit Edit, type, hit Save page. Your contribution is more valuable than the appearance of the site. Others with more wiki experience may well come back and make it prettier.