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Environmental Studies Department |
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Campus Environmental Issues CommitteeMarch 27, 2007
Attendance: Dan Hornbach, Mark Dickinson, Molly Brown, Austin Werth, Kate Ballard, Asa Diebolt, Safyia Carter-Thompson, Timothy DenHerder-Thomas, Sarah Stephens, Claire Briguglio. Zero Waste Mark Dickinson opened with comments on zero waste: the first Zero Waste meeting was held last Tuesday, march 20 th. There was good representation on the committee by students, faculty, and staff. During the meeting, they laid out the agenda and discussed activities for next year that will be implemented during this summer. Mark announced that he would like to open the committee and that anyone interested in Zero Waste should attend the next meeting that is on April 5 th. Sarah Stephens commented that people are trying to organize a move-out waste reduction committee. She and Austin Werth discussed the creation of a group dedicated to recycling and waste management for end of the year move-out. CERF Timothy DenHerder-Thomas talked about CERF, Clean Energy Revolving Fund. They are currently in the stage of direct implementation for various projects: motion sensor vending machines, audit on the veggie co-op and insulation, more efficient washing machines, and water conservation. Tim said that CERF has approximately $35,000 for these projects, considering the resource base of about $35,000 for the turbine. In question to the state of the turbine, Tim responded that they are still waiting on the official documentation and that there is no way to speed this process up, but that they must wait until they can proceed. President’s Climate Commitment Timothy said that in order to work on the climate commitment, there has been an effort to run inventory of Macalester’s energy use through classes and students organizations. He is also interested in creating two credit classes on energy audits. EcoHouse Sarah talked about the environmental studies senior seminar in which students have been applying for grants for the EcoHouse, on 200 Vernon Street. Not all of the grants will most likely come through, but they have been a great source of information gathering. $50,000, controlled by the EcoHouse advisory committee, will be spent for preparation of 5 students to live in the house this fall. The house requires an energy monitoring system among other renovations, such as a roof. IGC Mark talked about the Institute for Global Citizenship. The steering committee has developed various initiatives such as a green roof, an extended elevator that gives a view of the roof, triple glazed windows, R40 roof insulation, R20 wall insulation, and radiant heat. The floor opened to anyone who had comments about issues outside of the agenda. Dan informed the group that a donor pulled out, who had previously funded several things such as MacBike and Mulch. This donor had been contributing $25,000 a year, and without this money, other funding is being sought after. Sarah suggested that perhaps the president should talk at the IGC forum about the President’s Climate Commitment. Tim told the group that he was asked to apply for a $10,000 prize award for eco-renovation. He applied last week and believes that we have a good chance of getting it for use on the EcoHouse. This opened a discussion about the work that needs to be done on the house including the bathroom, kitchen, appliances, and various cosmetic aspects. Dan asked if there is any way of hooking the EcoHouse energy monitoring system to Macalester’s system. Sarah responded that she did not think so and Mark explained that while it could be possible, Macalester does not possess the appropriate software for the types of things that will be done in the EcoHouse. Tim asked if the campus is still considering ground source heating for the row of themed houses. Sarah responded that the geothermal group of the seminar class decided not to look at that but that Tim should contact them if he is interested. Mark told the group that there is a student employment position through facilities as an assistant to Mike Hall, project manager, for summer EcoHouse renovation. He will be posting the job soon. The meeting adjourned at 12:50 p.m. The next CEIC meeting is April 10 th in Olin Rice 300. |
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