Universities' ivory towers going greenFeb. 23, 2009 Universities' ivory towers going green: Driven by idealism and academic research, energy-saving projects are flowering on campus Source: The Toronto Star, Feb 04, 2009 04:30 AM, Kenyon Wallace, Staff Reporter A green wave is sweeping over Toronto's academic institutions, as staff, students and faculty collaborate on sustainability projects that could inspire a sea change across Canadian society. Bike co-ops, compost and recycling programs, rooftop gardens and solar panels are becoming increasingly visible on university and college campuses. Peel back a layer: Replacing aging furnaces with state-of-the-art HVAC systems, installing better insulation and replacing incandescent lights are saving schools millions of dollars while cutting energy consumption. York University, for example, saved $2.7 million in 2008 with energy-efficient improvements, and expects to boost that savings to $5 million a year by 2011. Ryerson University estimates it has saved $15 million over the past 17 years thanks to sustainability and conservation initiatives. But the changes on campus are driven by more than just a desire to save money. Shareholder obligations may play a big role in driving the business world, but academic institutions – often with substantially smaller budgets – are also driven by the research, activism and idealism of their students, faculty and staff. Changes are happening at the grassroots level (student-run compost programs, for example), in the research labs (changing the chemistry of concrete to make it more environmentally friendly) and by administrative edict (ensuring that new campus buildings are certified as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design structures). Together, they make the GTA's post-secondary institutions the equivalent of giant green incubators. Ideas can be tested, researched and implemented on a relatively large scale before leaving the campus. Whether a sustainable project works on campus can be a litmus test for how it will fare in the "real world," says Dawn Bazely, director of York University's Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability. "Sustainability has to start at universities, where you've got people absorbed in issues, thinking critically and engaging in dialogue," says Bazely, an ecologist by training. "If you can't do it at universities, many of which are the size of small cities, how are we going to do this on a large scale?" RYERSON UNIVERSITY Chris Drew envisions a day when bikes will be the major mode of transportation for Ryerson University students. That vision drove the fourth-year urban and regional planning student, along with a few friends, to lobby the administration to create Ryerson's Bicycle Room, a storage and repair facility in the heart of campus. The students found willing partners in president Sheldon Levy and Linda Grayson, vice-president of administration and student affairs. The facility opened in September. "I really think, over the next couple of years, more and more people will be turning to cycling because it really is the best option," says Drew, who has biked to school every day since 2005. "I love bragging to students I've got my own parking spot at Ryerson, and I never have to worry about traffic." YORK UNIVERSITY All university courses require paper – usually, lots of it. That reality prompted Steve Glassman, director of York University's bookstore, and his colleague, Dawn Bazely of York's Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability, to figure out a way to reduce the environmental impact of the hundreds of thousands of sheets of paper used by the school each year. The solution? York is now the first Canadian post-secondary institution to make its student course packs carbon-neutral. For every course pack created – currently more than 2,000 a year – the school contributes 10 cents to Zerofootprint, a Toronto-based non-profit that supports forest maintenance and purchases local renewable energy. "The impact is still there," acknowledges Glassman, but "it's leadership and it's symbolic." "Dawn and I would love to see the day when we become a zero-impact, carbon-neutral campus."
Suzy Fink, Fatima Riaz and Anne Parker never imagined they'd get to know worms so well when they got to university. As members of the Green Team – a work-study program run by the environmental affairs office at the University of Toronto Mississauga – the students are responsible for constructing and distributing worm composters to more than 40 offices across campus. And demand keeps growing. "There's an issue with a lot of compostable garbage being sent to landfills," says Riaz. "But I was really surprised by how many people actually care and want to do their own part." The composters, plastic buckets filled with wet newspaper and soil – and a colony of red wiggler worms – are small enough to sit beside a desk and are surprisingly odourless. "You just throw your food waste into the buckets and it feeds the worms," says Parker, an environmental studies student. "They're kind of like pets." The end product is a rich soil, perfect for gardens and potted plants.
Robert Hellier, co-ordinator of Humber College's sustainable energy and building technology program, sees the future in the school's urban ecology centre. Built in 1977 but refurbished in 2007, the centre – already certified as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building at the Gold level – is built primarily with recycled materials, has a green roof that collects rainwater for irrigation, and is wrapped in a high-performing insulating skin. No college classes are held at the centre, but staff use it to teach local elementary students about the environment – a program that's been going for 30 years. "While facilities at the school, such as the chiller plant, have a greater impact on our overall energy efficiency, the urban ecology centre is a super example of green building design," says Hellier. With the installation of photovoltaic panels, one of his pet projects, he foresees a day when the building could be taken off the electricity grid.
Turn out the lights when you leave. Turn off your computer. Let your laundry air dry. Simple steps we can all take to reduce our energy consumption, but so few do. A joint faculty-staff-student initiative called ReWire at the U of T's downtown campus aims to change that. Using posters, stickers on computers, and word of mouth in residences and offices, the program – led by Leah Sumnauth McIntosh, Beth Savan of the U of T sustainability office, and student Joanna Dafoe – aims to "rewire" behaviour that contributes to waste. Since last fall, the program has helped reduce power use by 10 to 13 per cent. President David Naylor has adopted it for his office, and various faculties are calling, asking how to reduce their consumption. |