Dozens of green initiatives are being carried out on campus.
EnviroWestern takes out the trash…and then separates it as part of monthly waste audits.
And you haven’t heard about many of them.
They range from broad approaches such as creation of the university’s Environmental Sustainability Working Group to targeted efforts such as replacement of refrigerators in student apartments with Energy Star-rated units.
And while there’s a flurry of new efforts, the 1,350-member, student-run environmental organization EnviroWestern has been setting a good example for years, prodding us to do better with a waste-recycling audit, and showing us a better way with its community garden.
However, only recently has Western conducted a campus-wide survey to find out just how much individuals and departments are doing to promote greater sustainability. The list is surprisingly long.
The Richard Ivey School of Business has embedded sustainability into its brand and curriculum. Academic programs that will create sustainability leaders are sprouting in many disciplines. Research from Rwanda to Kenya to Southwestern Ontario promotes solutions geared to consideration for our environment. And even composting has come to some campus offices.
The following list captures only some of the efforts by individuals and groups to be more environmentally responsible in their lives.
Measurement comes first
The university is installing utility metres for water, gas, hydro, steam, and chilled water usage. Once installation is complete, the usage information will be available online for the Western community to view – including staff, students, and faculty. Improvement begins with knowing the problem areas.
Good deeds recognized
Awards help profile best practices. Established in 2008, the Western Green Award recognizes the active promotion of sustainability on campus. Last year, a “Rewarding Acts of Green” campaign offered prizes to students for carrying out environmental good deeds. A “Refill to Win” campaign awarded prizes to students who used reusable mugs instead of disposable cups.
Unseen conservation
Humming away in the background are the wires, tubes and pipes that keep our buildings comfortable. For Physical Plant this is the frontier of conservation. One program employs daylight sensors and auto-dimming features to reduce indoor lighting. More than two dozen locations now boast energy efficient LED lighting for exterior and interior lighting. All Exit sign lights are being converted to energy-efficient models. The list goes on: insulation of high-pressure steam lines; replacing old water pumps and fan motors with high-efficiency motors; and modernization of elevators cut energy use by half. And on and on.
Every drop of water counts
Low-flow fixtures such as faucets and showerheads have been installed in residences, and new sensor-automated urinals flush in response to use, not timers. A Western student developed the “Save the Blue Campaign”, encouraging residents to trim water usage (it produced a 55 per cent increase in reporting of leaks). A cistern in the new engineering building catches rainwater for flushing toilets.
Walk the sustainability talk
When Western purchases supplies and services, nearly every Request for Proposal (RFP) addresses sustainability. Paper used in print publications must be recycled or certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC); power consumption is factored into a major photocopier program; food containers now decompose rather than languish in landfill sites; and food vendors source local produce when in season.
An organized approach
When it comes to green, ‘doing’ is often easier than deliberating. So give credit to those who spend time around tables, researching, goal-setting, and communicating. It happens at many levels. For the big picture Western now has the Environmental Sustainability Working Group, with academic, student and administrative representation, defining what’s ahead for sustainability priorities. Through the Campus Sustainability Coalition, environmental commissioners sit on each residence, faculty and affiliate student council and collaborate on campus-wide initiatives. Within the Centre for Environment and Sustainability, an Outreach Committee of students, staff and faculty boosts awareness of environment and sustainability issues. The Collaborative Graduate Program and master’s in Environmental Science have committees that collect student feedback and then help develop the curriculum.
Communicating the news
The university hosts a campus-wide sustainability website, featuring the operational, research and academic sustainability activities as well as opportunities for students, staff and faculty to get involved. Visit https://sustainability.uwo.ca The site got a hand up from Physical Plant, which pushed sustainability forward by developing its own website. Look for programs and practices, news, and information about Campus Clean-Up Day, the Residence Challenge and the Western Green Award.www.uwo.ca/ppd
Getting around
Western’s Foot Patrol, Physical Plant, Parking Services, and Campus Police invested in pilot programs to shift to hybrid cars and electric vehicles. Another pilot program provides bicycles, rather than trucks and vans, to Power Plant employees doing plumbing, electrical, and other technical work The university provides space for 2,100 bicycles across campus, locating many bike racks near building entrances. Parking and Visitor Services subscribes to carpool.ca, a web service that coordinates shared rides. As a bonus, Parking Services has initiated a program that awards reserved parking spaces in a designated lot to registered carpoolers.
First came the commute…
Western has a longstanding partnership with the London Transit Commission to provide bus passes to all full-time undergraduate and graduate students. In 1998, the year the bus pass was introduced, 800 fewer students requested parking permits than in 1997. Goodbye cars.
Video-conferencing facilities at Western and the University of Windsor allow students in Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Program to take lectures and interact with faculty without commuting to London.
What we teach
You really need a guide to review all the academic programs with a sustainability component: The Centre for Environment and Sustainability serves as Western’s official centre for environmental studies. In addition to programs already mentioned there are: undergrad programs in Environmental Science (BSc) and Environmental Engineering (BEng); Ivey’s Centre for Building Sustainable Value; and Schulich’s Ecosystem Health program that examines global environmental problems and their effects on people. Environmental courses exist in every discipline from Visual Arts and Law, to Pathology and Statistical and Actuarial Science.
Beacons
Several major new initiatives have been constructed entirely around environmentalism. The Biotron allows researchers to reconstruct entire ecosystems to investigate interactions of biological organisms in air, soil and water – particularly in light of climate and environmental change. The Bioindustrial Innovation Centre at the Sarnia-Lambton Research Park is the first bio-based R&D facility in the heart of Ontario’s traditional chemical industry. The project is expected to attract $1 billion in investment to integrate renewable bio-based industry into traditional petrochemical industry.
Research
Environmentalism figures into research in every discipline. Western leads the Agricultural Biorefinery Innovation Network for Green Energy, Fuels and Chemicals, a national research network of researchers, government experts and private sector partners developing ways to convert renewable biomass such as corn stalks into energy, fuels and green chemicals. One Western surface scientist is developing a novel coating method with applications to automotive painting. This method could reduce the environmental impact of automotive painting by eliminating organic solvents.
‘LEED’ership
Western will construct all new buildings and complete all renovation projects according to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) minimum Silver standards. The new Ivey building will be the second LEED building on campus, after Engineering’s Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion. Dubbed “the green building”, the engineering building features a wind turbine and solar panels on the roof, ground source heating and a living roof with drought-resistant sedum.
A tree for a tree
Western has naturalized parts of its campus, such as hillsides, to decrease the need for artificial maintenance. When it is necessary to remove trees, they are now replaced in numbers equal to or greater than the trees being removed.
Green can become routine
At some point green simply becomes part of the wallpaper. Western’s Office Supplies warehouse and Physical Plant have programs in place for recycling toner cartridges, batteries and light bulbs. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper is used in all copiers and printers. That’s just the way it is, these days.
For the complete ‘green report’ visit https://sustainability.uwo.ca/greatreport2009
In the spring of 2009, Physical Plant put its first electric car into service.