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Building Projects
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Athletic and Recreational Facility—
 A new recreation facility opened in August. The demolition contractor calculated that 93.3% of the 15,171 tons of demolition waste from the project has been reused or recycled. The former field house was reused as a horse stable for Maple Hill Stables in Monticello, MN. A small number of bricks were utilized by a local resident; the remaining was recycled for road base material by Fra-dor Recycling in Little Canada, MN. Other building components, including lockers, bleachers, hardwood flooring, and electrical systems were used by Bauer Bros. Salvage, Historic Stone,LLC, Wilmar Assembly of God Church. During the design process for the new building, sustainability consultants were hired to assist with the project. The final design promotes significant energy reductions.
Contact Mark Dickinson, Director of Facilities Management for additional information.
 Institute for Global Citizenship. The IGC is currently designed to meet the Platinum Level of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. LEED is a green building rating system promoted by the Green Building Council. Platinum is the highest rating possible. The design for this building includes native landscaping, daylighting, indoor air quality, energy efficiency, among other green building attributes.
Ecohouse (more»). Macalester’s EcoHouse is a student residence, renovated to be more sustainable and to provide student research opportunities. The house has a range of green features including energy-efficient appliances, water saving fixtures, solar-thermal water heating, worm composting, and use of recycled materials.
Green Roofs. (more») A student-led group installed the college's first green roof on the "fishbowl" between Turck and Doty residence halls in spring 2006. Later that year, they wrote a successful proposal for a $10,000 grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and installed a more extensive green roof atop Kagin Commons. The plantings used on green roofs reduce heating and cooling loads on a building and reduce the urban heat island effect, while increasing roof life span, reducing water runoff and filtering pollutants out of the air and water.The projects were a collaborative effort between MacCARES student group, the Environmental Studies Department, Facilities Management, and the Development Office. A presentation about the greenroof project is available here.
Recommissioning Olin Rice. Facilities Services re-commissioned Olin-Rice Science Center, the largest energy-user on campus. The lights and vent hoods were placed on occupancy-sensors to ensure that the building is only heating or cooling spaces when needed. The electric motors in the heating, cooling, and ventilation (HVAC) system have also been changed to more efficient variable speed drives. These adjustments saved the college over $70,000 in energy costs in 2007.
College House Renovations. In association with the Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF), Facilities Management has undertaken renovations on the Cultural House, as well as several of the language houses. For example, all of the water fixtures, toilets, and showers in the Culture House have been replaced with more efficient fixtures; while language houses have been insulated with blown insulation.
Lightbulb replacement. Facilities Management, in conjunction with Macalester’s Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF), is replacing all 32W 4ft fluorescent bulbs on campus with 25W bulbs, which emit the same amount of light but use 1/3 less energy. This project alone has projected savings of $30,000 annually.
Toilet Paper and Paper Towels: Facilities Services changed the toilet paper and paper towels used on campus to a 100% recycled and are Green Seal certified, no-chlorine products. The new products are substantially cheaper, and will save Macalester about $26,000 a year in purchasing costs.
Cleaning Supplies: Facilities Management is testing three green cleaning product lines right now on campus. The early results show that the custodians are very satisfied with the performance of all three, and it is our goal that by the end of 2008 Macalester will have switched over to a completely non-toxic cleaning system.
Compostable Cups: Macalester began purchasing compostable non-toxic paper cups from Clover Nook Center for the Blind. These cups will replace the small white styrofoam logo-ed cups that have been used in catering, and the brown cups at the Grille. Clover nook is a 103 year-old non-profit in Ohio that works with the blind and visually impaired community. The cups are made by a workforce that is 75% blind or visually impaired who receive a living wage with benefits. The cups were the same price as our original white cups – they were slightly more expensive than the cups at the Grille, but there will be no increase in prices for drinks. Macalester purchases over 55,000 cups a year. These cups will already be compostable for when Macalester begins organics collection in the next 2-3 years.
Workers Rights Consortium: Macalester is a member of the Worker's Rights Consortium, an independent organization that monitors the labor practices of factories that produce apparel in order to fight the prevalent use of sweatshops. As a member of WRC, Macalester annually sends labor Codes of Conduct to all of its apparel suppliers in order to confirm that our suppliers adhere to labor standards and do not use sweatshops. The WRC hopes to implement a new program called the Designated Supplier's Program (DSP) to further combat sweatshops. The DSP will create safe space in the global apparel market for factories to increase workers' wages without fear of the investment flight that often occurs. Macalester will hopefully become a member of the DSP by the end of Spring Semester 2008 to support the program that aims to begin its implementation by May 2009. Visit Workers Rights Consortium for more information.
Recycling
Macalester has also adopted a Zero Waste Policy, and Facilities is
working with the college's recycling provider (Eureka Recycling),
implement this policy. A waste audit found that waste
generated on campus is 37% recyclable, 36% compostable, 19% trash, and
8% reusable. In an effort to better handle this waste, Facilities
Management retooled the recycling and waste infrastructure on campus
to better facilitate proper collection and sorting. New waste and
recycling bins with colored tops were installed in every campus
building. New recycling bins are currently in process for the
offices and dormitories. Contact Jim Davidson, Facilities Management for more information.
Food Service
 Bon Appétit is a nation-wide food service company which operates Macalester’s cafeteria, Café Mac. The organization is a leader in environmental accountability and in incorporating sustainability objectives into their business. Bon Appétit has launched several campaigns in the past to utilize more sustainable food sources, and many of these have been undertaken at Café Mac. Such programs include: the Seafood Watch, the annual Eat Local Challenge, Circle of Responsibility Program (in which Café Mac began to purchase only cage-free eggs and anti-biotic free chickens), the bi-yearly 100% compostable picnic, initiatives to decrease food waste through education, the Farm to Fork program (initiative to purchase food from within a 150 mile radius of the institution. Café Mac currently obtains milk from a creamery in Hastings, MN, grass-fed beef from a processor in Cannon Falls, MN and local produce when in season. Café Mac is currently striving to obtain a minimum of 10% of all food products from local sources).
Bon Appétit is launching the Low Carbon Diet in spring, 2008. This program aims to highlight the connections between food and climate change and it sets targets over the next two years to make specific changes which will lower the carbon dioxide output connected to the organization’s food sources. Approaching targets at Café Mac include: purchasing all food products from North America by May of 2008, purchasing only water bottled in Minnesota by May of 2008, decreasing cheese usage by 10% by April of 2008, and to begin student cooking classes to feature and promote local dishes and ingredients.
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Download Mac Green Map (1.5MB pdf)»
