Transcript Document

Florida Gulf Coast University
President’s Climate
Commitment: Collaborative
Ventures
Campus and Community Sustainability
Conference October, 2008
Orlando, FL
2008
2008
University
Colloquium
(QEP) –
Environmental
Health & Safety-
Administrative
Academic Affairs
Affairs
College of Arts &
Lewis Johnson &
Sciences
Kathleen Crawford
Nora Egan
– Environmental
Stewardship Management
Demers
Plan
– President’s Climate
Commitment
2008
FGCU- 10th in Florida SUS
Opened fall, 1997- 5
colleges
President’s Climate
Commitment
signed 2007 by
interim President
Pegnetter,
embraced by (3rd)
President
Bradshaw
(arrived Nov ‘07)
2008
Conceptual basis for University Colloquium
Adopted January 15, 1997: Dean’s Council Meeting
We have made a commitment as a university to make environmental
education an integral part of our identity. One of our university-wide outcomes
is that all students will develop “an ecological perspective.” A way to
accomplish this perspective is to devise a course, or group of experiences, with
an environmental focus that all FGCU undergraduate students must complete,
and in which faculty from all five colleges would be involved. Because
“ecology” applies to our total living space and interrelationships, human and
natural, it is relevant to all our disciplines and professions. Thus, an ecology
course would touch on all nine of the university-wide goals and outcomes, and
more. Students would not be introduced to FGCU values, they would
participate in them.
2008
•Experiential
•Required of ALL
students- “Sustained
Discussion”
•diverse with students
from all majors,
attitudes and
backgrounds
•Sustainability
•Sense of Place
•Environmental Education
•Civic Engagement- Service Learning requirement since
2007
2008
Field trips- nature, agriculture, urban, campus, marine, historical,
(waste to energy, recycling)
Readings- Dewey, Leopold, Orr, (Our Common Future) State of
World, Floridiana, (Environmental Health, Risk, Earth Charter)
Writing- Educational Autobiography, EE in Higher Ed, Creative
Journaling
Civic EngagementService Learning
Equivalent 10 hours
2008
Summer 2007 Service
Learning- “help implement”
Management Plan
• Colloquium requires SL
have ‘Environmental
Focus” 6 week session
especially challenging (‘07
pilot)
• Lewis (EH&S) introduced
Plan to class- has a section
for students- variety of
“ideas” were presented,
few action items were
completed
2008
Summer 2008 SL REQUIRED
President Climate
Commitment Inventory
Phase Underway- many
of Management Plan goals
in the Climate
Commitment
Class Projects offered as way
for students to complete
their SL requirement
• Lighting and Air Quality
• Air Travel data collection
2008
Carbon Footprint at FGCU
Purchased electricity 64%
Transportation 36%
Student commuters 83%
Faculty/staff 7%
Air travel 8%
University fleet 2%
2008
Lighting and Air Quality Data
• Easiest of collaborative efforts
• Student enrolled in class also worked for
EH&S – was conscientious and enthusiastic
prepared data entry sheet
• Equipment owned by EH&S; easy to
operate and difficult to break
• Students able to work in pairs at their
convenience (with some constraints)
2008
Hallways, Offices and Classrooms
• (However), summer session so campus was quiet and
relatively unoccupied so data may not be
representative of regular campus terms.
• Readings often collected at open doorway rather than
at work station (computer screen) for ease not to
disturb occupant
• Collected data on air temperature, humidity, overhead
light, task light, shades open or closed, carbon dioxide
reading
• Took only a couple of minutes to collect data from
each space
• 3 Academic Buildings (offices and classrooms)
• 3 Administrative Buildings (Student services, Student
2008Union)
Lighting General ObservationsOffices
Often shades were closed and lights were on—
Possible reasons:
Privacy- walkways look into offices
Glare on computer screens
Possible solutions (with physical plant)
use opaque cover on (bottom half ) windows
(re)-arrange furniture to reduce glare on
monitor
2008
2008
Classrooms and Hallways
– Only 14 classrooms
surveyed
– Average lighting level
36 f.c
– (recommended is 50 f.c.
for standard)
9 hallways in 3 classroom
buildings surveyed
Average lighting level 22.6
f.c.
-(recommended is 20 f.c.)
Carbon dioxide level average 594 (suggest not to exceed 1000)
Temperature and RH stable- 74 degrees +/-2 and
44% +/- 4%--even though they adjusted the thermostats
upward?! – several have heaters at desk, some have fans…
(award-winning cooling plant)
Little complaint about too warm
2008
Classrooms and Hallways
Improvements for future
All new buildings LEEDS certified
(AB7 Science)- Silver
Halls open to outside for natural lightespecially helpful during power outages
Classroom lights may have one switch up and
one down (for on) to help alter behaviors
2008
Successful partnership with students collecting data for EH&S
about environment & learning about habits affecting energy use
and sustainability
2008
Air Travel was more
challenging- more
offices involved,
gnarly data, timing
challenges more
intense!
2008
Air Travel Inventory- (8% of transportation)
Business students who were good with numbers and
spread sheets volunteered to collect and analyze these
data
(Climate Commitment Inventory would use models
for Carbon footprint of daily commuting to campus;
wanted some baseline of 10 year historical record of
air travel foot print)
er
2008
The best laid plans…
Data was to be collected from travel desk
We thought finance records were straight forward
And ready for data mining
But scheduling timing for students to access was
challenging
And state auditors had other ideas – end of fiscal year
coincided with class
And this was not a priority for anyone but my students
who ‘needed the hours”.
The data was simply piles of TAR records that needed to
be mined page by page!
It did get collected, but not analyzed by students
2008
Lessons/Goals for next year
• Improve reciprocity of experience for
students perhaps by expanding on
reporting/finish product on projects selected
• Have several projects more well-planned
that can be started and completed in 6
weeks?
• But how does this fit with student driven SL
projects?
A dilemma!
2008
2008
EH&S
SGA
Campus Safety
Ride to FGCU web link
Alignment of issues:
•Parking
•President Climate
commitment
•Rising gas prices!
2008