黑料网

We鈥檝e set a goal to become carbon neutral by 2060 through participation in the Second Nature Carbon Commitment (formerly the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment). As a signatory to this , we鈥檝e declared our concern 鈥渁bout the unprecedented scale and speed of global warming and its potential for large-scale, adverse health, social, economic and ecological effects.鈥� Learn more:

• Sustainability Plan
• Greenhouse Gas Inventory
• Sustainability update鈥�2016

It takes a lot of energy to make 黑料网 run! The college uses almost 20 million kWh of electricity each year, and almost 1 million ccf of natural gas. After commuting, electricity and natural gas consumption are the two biggest contributors to 黑料网鈥檚 carbon footprint. Some of the things we鈥檝e done to reduce our energy consumption include:

• We鈥檝e developed heating and cooling season temperature procedures that promote conservation.
• We minimize HVAC fan system and equipment run times.
• We exploit cost effective retrofit opportunities for efficient lighting, HVAC, motors, and VFDs. From our point of view, 鈥渙ff鈥� is better than 鈥渙n鈥� and 鈥渟low鈥� is better than 鈥渇ast.鈥�
• We鈥檝e installed occupancy sensors in classrooms and office areas.
• We鈥檝e eliminated incandescent lamps and installed T-8 fluorescent lamps and electronic ballasts, compact fluorescent lamps, and LED fixtures in parking lots.
• We鈥檝e installed two 鈥済reen screens鈥� and a website, in the Occupational Education Building to promote and display energy conservation information.
• We鈥檝e installed solar panels on the roof of the Occupational Education Building that generate enough energy to produce hot water for the entire 123,000 s.f. building.
• Board Policy requires that we purchase Energy Star rated products and equipment whenever reasonably practical.

On a global and local level, food choices affect greenhouse gas emissions through transportation, energy used to grow and process food, water quality, public health, and strengthening the local economy

How we eat matters. A plant based diet is the number four (4) climate change solutions according to the book Drawdown: the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming edited by Paul Hawken. Globally food production and the production of meat in particular, produces the same amount of greenhouse gases as power plants.

• Campus based food venues purchase locally grown products
• Increase food availability on campus
• Promote healthy eating by growing your own produce

Some of the things we鈥檝e done to support sustainable food and agriculture on campus include:

• Bee Campus USA - To entice and nurture bees at 黑料网, the campus provides many bee friendly native flowers, a core garden, non-toxic fertilization and eradication techniques, as well as educational events about pollinators.
• Food Forest 鈥� Established by the Sustainability Literacy Task Force (SLTF), The Food Forest located on 黑料网鈥檚 campus provides food and habitat as a local solution to the climate crisis.
• Hoop House / Core Garden - The existence of this seed library has helped WTMC further its mission to explore sustainable practices in our hoop house and has allowed many in the community to start their own gardens. Providing all people in the academic and larger community the education and materials necessary to grow a portion of one's food is the essence of inclusion and social justice.
• Nature trail with native plants - The nearly two miles of campus trails are dotted with nine interpretive signs. The nature trail is used by biology, geology, environmental science, art and photography students and faculty, as well as the general public.
• Pesticides 鈥� The Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPM) outlines a four-tiered approach not to eliminate pests, but to find a balance in the landscape. The program avoids all pesticide use in sensitive areas and gardens, such as the Food Forest, WTMC Hoop House, green roofs, and other designated pesticide free zones.
• Seed Library 鈥� The Seed Library was established in 2015 within the Bailey Library where students, staff, and community members can get seeds for free to start their own garden, learn about seed sowing, protect open -pollinated and unique varieties and support the fight against climate change. This will be a place to educate the 黑料网 community about gardening and saving their seeds for future crops.
• Tree Campus USA 鈥� 黑料网 became one of four colleges in the state of Michigan to receive Tree Campus USA certification from the Arbor Day Foundation and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Around 200 tons of solid waste are disposed of by the college each year. This waste contributes about 200 million tons of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

To further reduce our waste:

• We鈥檝e implemented a comprehensive campus recycling program. We now recycle paper, cardboard, metal, plastic, and glass.
• We compost food and yard waste.
• The College now minimizes press runs of campus publications, consistent with actual need; and reduced or eliminated the distribution of phone books; switching to online directories.
• We鈥檝e reduced the use of Third Class junk mail.
• We have a goal to recycle at least 80% of the campus waste stream. We鈥檙e currently at 48%.
• We participate in the annual RecycleMania event and have placed in the top ten in the Waste Minimization category in recent years.

For more information, look at the Recycling Services website.

With almost 10,000 full year equivalent students and more than 1,000 faculty and staff, there is a lot of commuting to 黑料网鈥檚 campus every week. For example, we estimate that students drive more than 23 million miles and consume almost 1 million gallons of gasoline in a year!

Some of the projects we鈥檝e implemented to reduce our transportation footprint include:

• We subsidize bus transportation by students, staff and faculty by providing free travel away from campus to anyone with an ID.
• We provide free, needs based, bus passes to students.
• We鈥檝e encouraged ridesharing through .
• We鈥檝e increased the number of bike racks on campus.
• We鈥檝e provided designated preferred parking for users of low-emitting or fuel-efficient vehicles for LEED projects.
• We鈥檝e installed 6 electric vehicle fueling stations in our parking structure.

With the Huron River as the northern border of our campus, 黑料网 has a intimate connection to water. We鈥檝e been working hard to both conserve water usage and to minimize the impact of our waste water, such as:

• We鈥檝e switched to waterless and one-pint urinals.
• We鈥檝e installed automatic faucets in lavatories.
• We鈥檝e eliminated all water consuming air compressors and condensers on campus.
• We鈥檝e replaced water consuming heating pumps in our Energy Center.
• We鈥檝e specified pervious paving in the Fitness Center parking lot; the Athletic Fields parking lot; and the 56 space parking lot of the Parking Structure to be completed later this spring.
• We鈥檝e constructed Bioswales at our Athletic Fields to remove silt and water pollutants from surface runoff water.
• We鈥檝e constructed vegetated roofs on portions of the Occupational Education Building and the Parking Structure.
• We鈥檝e installed a rainwater collector on the roof of the Occupational Education Building to irrigate the building鈥檚 partial vegetated roof.
• We use native plant landscaping in certain areas of the campus.

The campus comprises 19 buildings totaling 1,007,251 square feet. Buildings range in size from under 200-sf storage facilities to the 180,000-sf Crane Liberal Arts & Science Center. The oldest building is the Technical & Industrial building (1970); the 2 newest facilities are the Health & Fitness Center (2007) and a new parking structure (2012). The average age of the building stock is 23 years old. Buildings are centralized on the 285 acre site surrounded by surface parking lots, a ring road and natural landscaped areas.

All of this impacts our energy consumption, water consumption, overall environmental footprint and our bottom line. To reduce the impact of buildings on campus we have tried to use sustainable and green building design principles in our new construction and remodeling. These include:

• We鈥檝e sited new buildings so that environmental and transportation impacts are minimized.
• We鈥檝e designed for state-of-the-art energy efficiency and substantially exceed energy codes.
• We require the use of environmentally friendly building materials and products.
• We鈥檝e included recycling collection space and systems in building design programs.
• We recycle construction and demolition debris.
• We鈥檝e used the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system to guide design and certify new and remodeled buildings. Board policy dictates that all new buildings and major remodeling will be designed at least to meet LEED Silver level and earn at least 40% of the available points for energy performance.

Sustainability means protecting the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) as well as the outdoor environment. To maintain a high IEQ:

• We use low VOC paints.
• For new buildings and major remodeling we run the building鈥檚 ventilation system prior to occupancy to remove VOCs in the building.
• We monitor and lab test indoor air quality during renovations of occupied buildings.
• We specify low-emitting materials during renovations including adhesives and sealants for carpet, rubber floors, VCT, and ceramic tile.
• We have eliminated the use of composite wood and agri-fiber products (particle board, MDF, plywood, and wheat-board) that contain urea-formaldehyde resins.
• We specify furniture and seating that is Greenguard certified.
• We install walk-off mats at all building entrances to capture dirt, water, and other materials tracked inside by people and equipment.

The way we clean our buildings affects the staff who use the cleaning products, the students, staff and faculty that work in the buildings, and the outside environment. Some things we鈥檝e done to make a greener cleaning program are:

• We鈥檝e implemented a green cleaning program and purchase mostly Green Seal GS-37 certified cleaning products.
• We use recycled content paper products; and have begun to install (BEB only) hand air-dryers to eliminate the use of paper.
• We purchase sustainable cleaning equipment, which meets the requirements of the Carpet & Rug Institute鈥檚 (CRI) Green Label, when it鈥檚 practical to do so.
• We鈥檝e established guidelines for safe handling and storage of cleaning chemicals.
• We鈥檝e installed hand sanitizers in all building classrooms and labs.