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University of Michigan 2006 Campus Sustainability Achievement Award Application

Category

Four-year and graduate institutions over 10,000 student FTE

Contact

Andrew Berki
Environmental Stewardship Coordinator
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
(734) 647-3120
aberki@umich.edu

Governance & Administration

Staff positions: Full time Environmental Stewardship Coordinator, Full time Pollution Prevention Specialist, Full time Recycling Coordinator and Recycling Program Assistant, Half-time Sustainability Coordinator for University Housing, Full time Energy Management Liaison, (four) Full time Energy Reduction Management Engineers.

Committees/Plans: President’s Environmental Sustainability Task Force, Recycling program Strategic Plan and Grounds and Waste Management Strategic Plan, UM Housing mission and goals statements, Sustainability Oversight Committee and annual program goals. - Utilities Reduction Committee & Subcommittees, Alternative Energy Wind Working Committee. Annual Environmental Sustainability Report focused on using metrics to measure UM environmental footprint. Report is used as a guiding tool for environmental efforts.

Memberships: EPA Energy Star Partner, Energy Star Partner of the year 2004, Leadership in Energy Management Award, EPA Combined Heat & Power partner, Established Energy Conservation Fund, National Pollution Prevention Roundtable.

Sustainability Mission Statement for UM Housing:

We, members of the Housing community at the University of Michigan, recognize that we can affect environmental degradation and/or restoration. We recognize that future generations have a right to at least the same advantages enjoyed by current generations. As stewards of the Earth, we believe we have the responsibility to move toward a sustainable society. We do this by living, working, and behaving in ways that restore the integrity and biodiversity of the local, regional, and planetary ecosystems and social systems upon which life depends. We strive to:

• Encourage sustainable and restorative practices through education and engagement with our stakeholders, including staff, residents, suppliers, contractors, and the University community.
• Assess and reduce the long-term environmental impacts of our decisions.
• Reduce our use of water, energy, and materials by incorporation of technologies and practices consistent with a sustainable and restorative organization.
• Reduce pollution and use of toxins with the long-term goal of zero discharge and use.
• Openly communicate and monitor our progress toward sustainability.
• Provide staff with the necessary training and resources to meet these sustainability goals.

Operations

Energy Conservation

UM has a co-generation natural gas Power Plant that supplies 50% of all energy used on Campus. The Power Plant uses excess steam to heat and cool buildings and subsequently saves the University more than 4 trillion Btu of energy annually, and has an overall efficiency rate of 85%. UM is committed to EPA’s Energy Star and Green Lights Programs, implementing it in 200+ buildings spanning 19 million square feet. The UM has reduced its energy usage by more than 80,000,000 kilowatt hours annually due to energy reduction efforts. Energy reduction efforts throughout UM mitigate annual atmospheric emissions of more than 128 million pounds of carbon dioxide. Energy Reduction efforts save the UM $8.7 million annually. A 35 kW photovoltaic panel system was installed on the roof of the DANA Natural Resources building. Energy reduction awards: EPA Combined Heat and Power Award, EPA Energy Star Partner of the Year Award, DOE National Energy Award – Building Technology.

Transportation

UM has largest alternative fuel program of any University in the U.S. 87% of UM passenger vehicle fleet uses exclusively alternative fuel. 470 vehicles use E85 ethanol fuel. All 26 large transit coaches (busses) use Ultra-low sulfur bio-diesel fuel in combination with Diesel Particulate Filters. 109 service trucks use Bio-diesel fuel exclusively. Six Bluebird coaches are using Biodiesel fuel with Diesel Oxidation Catalysts. In 2005 the buses logged 1,115,037 miles and transported 5.19 million passengers. The University has 48 vanpools serving 22 cities. The vanpool ride is free to all University employees. In 2005 the vanpools traveled 471,210 miles.

Sustainable Building Design

A LEED certified engineer is involved in the review of construction documents for each new construction project on UM campus. LEED points are obtained for every building where possible, regardless of whether or not the building is going to be LEED certified. In 2005 the DANA building was LEED certified with a Gold rating by the US Green Building Council. LEED certification is being pursued for the new MOTT’s Women’s/Children’s hospital which will make it the largest LEED certified healthcare institution in the nation.

Other major operational programs include:

• Food & Dining: Food waste composting program (54.91 tons for FY 06)
• Green purchasing initiatives and website
• Mature recycling program: 3387.42 tons recycled in FY 06; includes paper, mixed containers and secondary recycling streams.
• 469.86 tons of construction and demolition materials recycled in FY 06, includes: concrete, scrap wood and scrap metal.
• Regulated material recycling programs: electronics (10 tons FY06), oil (1,200 gallons FY06), mercury (5,500 thermometers), solvents (2000 gallons annually), batteries (3 tons annually), lighting ballasts (10,200 FY06), fluorescent light bulbs (127,000 in FY06).
• Waste reduction: campus envelopes, double-sided printing & reuse of one-sided paper, chemical redistribution programs, many chemical pollution prevention programs in research and teaching laboratories.
• Vermi-composting/worm bins in offices
• 1,000,000 gallon storm-water detention basin
• Major storm water pollution prevention and educational programs
• Over 1,000 acres of designated green space

Curriculum & Research

UM offers 10 undergraduate, 11 Masters, 15 Doctoral degrees and 429 individual courses with a sustainability focus. 9,500 students were enrolled in these programs/courses in fall 2004/winter 2005 semesters. Research and teaching on sustainability span such disciplines as business, engineering, science/environment, social science and health. Collaborations occur in over 25 centers and initiatives. Together these activities account for approximately $30 million annually in sponsored research on sustainability.

Major environmental academic centers include:

• Center for Sustainable Systems at School of Natural Resources and Environment
• Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute
• School of Natural Resources and Environment
• Corporate Environmental Management Program
• Literature Science and Arts college undergraduate Program for the Environment
• Environmental and Water Resource Engineering
• Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
• Center for Advancing Research and Solutions for Society
• Center for Risk Science and Communication, at of the School of Public Health

Community Service and Outreach

• UM hosts City of Ann Arbor Earth Day event
• Works with City of Ann Arbor on new community recycling drop-off site
• Set up information booths for America Recycles Day
• Participate in Green Fair & Energy Fest on campus
• Make gently-used and unwanted office supplies available to local non-profit organizations
• Participate in national RecycleMania competition
• UM assisted the City of Ann Arbor in the development of a fluorescent light bulb and lighting ballast recycling program.
• UM development and support of Environmental Sustainability Web site

Community Outreach Programs:

Football Stadium Recycling Program

The University of Michigan has the largest football stadium recycling program in the country. More than 110,000 people attend each of seven football games per season. The recycling program captures paper and cardboard products and plastic drink containers generated each game. Additional recycling containers are located in tailgate areas outside the stadium to capture material generated prior to kick-off. The recycling program was implemented in 1999 and has matured into an extremely successful outreach initiative. The following data represents materials captured and recycled during the 2005 football season.

UM Housing Community Outreach Program

UM provides donation opportunities to local organizations when students move out of residence halls every spring. The program is a huge success and grows each year. In 2006 (April 24 – April 29) the following items were collected and donated to local charity organizations: clothing, shoes, bedding, non-perishable food, toiletries small appliances and household items. Students were asked to place donated items in designated boxes at each residence hall. UM staff then collected items directly from facilities and transported them to a central location to be sorted and donated.

2006 Donation Totals

Donation totals for 2006 totaled over 14 tons. Additional carpeting, furniture and wood were donated to the public for re-use instead of land-filling.