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Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 1/3/08 |
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In
the News Archive - Year:
December 8, 2007 Students shine light on UWGB's carbon footprint As emissions rise, school hopes study fuels greener future By Kelly McBride
Total UWGB carbon emissions have increased steadily each year since 2001, according to a recent analysis by a group of UWGB graduate students. Their semester-long study attempted to account for every way the school uses energy, from academic buildings to residence halls and campus commuters.
"It's a pretty big undertaking," said UWGB associate professor Kevin Fermanich. "Partly because the system of keeping records of both use of fuels and fertilizer — as well as travel and even heating and electrical costs — are not necessarily designed to come up with the amount of carbon dioxide that's produced."
Students and faculty hope the study, commonly called a carbon footprint analysis, will help the university guide its conservation efforts now and into the future.
UWGB is one of four UW System schools with the goal of becoming energy independent — that is, able to produce or acquire renewable energy equivalent to the amount it consumes — within the next four years.
UWGB also is one of about 450 nationwide signatories to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, an Earth-friendly document that asks schools to pledge their environmental commitment. St. Norbert College in De Pere also has signed on as part of its focus on the environment.
"I think it's critical, if you look at the grand scheme of things for sustainability," said Dean Rodeheaver, UWGB professor and coordinator of the campus' sustainability committee. "If the university's going to enter into a sustainability agreement at all ... our carbon footprint is important. ... We can't begin to proceed until we have an idea what that number is."
The group of graduate students, finishing their seminar course in environmental science and policy, had no idea what that number would be, student Bill Oldenburg said.
They selected a particular emissions calculator to estimate a 2007 campus carbon output of nearly 44,000 metric tons. That's up from around 25,000 metric tons in 2001.
"It's 40,000 one-ton elephants jumping on you," Rodeheaver said. "That's what you're putting in the air."
The growth in emissions output can be attributed to a number of things, including the opening of a new building — Mary Ann Cofrin Hall — in 2001. That building, while responsible for some increased energy use, was designed with several green features, according to the university.
In addition to their carbon footprint calculation, the students also crafted recommendations regarding policies and campus energy use. One of the group's major concerns is that campuses don't get to keep the money they acquire through energy savings, Oldenburg said.
"There's no financial incentive as a whole," he said. "What we would like to see is if (UWGB) or any UW campus does implement a sustainable practice that saves them money ... that money should be given back to the university."
The final report is expected to be released within the next couple of weeks.
The graduates also hope to see more environmental content for UWGB courses, Oldenburg said.
This year's environmental science and policy capstone is the third in a row to explore sustainability issues. Students and faculty hope to see that work continue, they said.
"We've made some progress already," Rodeheaver said. "The critical issue is giving us a number to begin shooting for. And it's a big one."
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