 |
Green Campus Resources
|
|
|
|
A Close Look at UB’s Residence Halls
Recycling and Energy Conservation
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
Student Internship Spring 1998
WRITERS
Erin Cala, Meghan Fay, Jodi Freilich, Robert Horvath, Robert Nash, Randi Mail
EDITOR
Randi Mail
Advisors
Rachel Martin, Walter Simpson
We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to Walter Simpson for his guidance and patience throughout the entire Spring semester ’98.
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary of Report Recommendations
2. Introduction
3. Observations
4. Recycling
5. Energy Conservation
6. Discussion
7. Conclusion
Executive Summary of Report Recommendations
GENERAL
Hire a full time Residence Life recycling and energy conservation coordinator whose responsibilities include campus outreach programs which have a substantial emphasis on the Residence Halls.
Continuously train Resident Advisors about recycling and energy conservation and have them offer programs to residents.
Include and promote a "Code of Conservation" into all Resident Advisor programs and Residence Hall activities.
RECYCLING
Develop a written Residence Life Recycling Policy that aims to increase reduction, reuse, and recycling and thereby reduce the amount of waste landfilled. Include target dates and quantities.
Shift the responsibility of moving the recyclables from the floors to the outside collection bins from student volunteers to custodial staff.
Make recycling bins more accessible to residents in all Residence Halls and/or provide each Residence Hall room with a recycling bin.
ENERGY CONSERVATION
Develop an Energy Conservation Policy/Program which focuses on all five problem areas: computer use, other appliance use, lights, water, and heating, and aims to reduce the amount of energy used in the Residence Halls.
Make sure every room has a thermostat control knob or adjustment tool.
Enforce the policy banning torchiere halogen lamps by unannounced room checks.
Back to Top 
Introduction
During the spring 1998 semester a group of six interns working in conjunction with Walter Simpson, UB’s Energy Officer, attempted to paint a true picture of the recycling and energy situation in Residence Halls at UB.
We decided to distribute quick surveys to residents. (see Appendix A) Questions targeted certain habits thought to be problematic. One issue was energy conservation which included:
- leaving computers on when not in use
- overuse of lights in bathrooms, lounges, and dorm rooms
- dripping and running water faucets
- shower time
- control of heat in rooms
Also, recycling was an important issue we focused on. The sphere of recycling included:
- accessibility of recycling bins
- pinpointing areas in need of improvement
- education and awareness
Our objectives were twofold. First, it was important to get an idea of how the resident population feels and acts in terms of daily environmental choices. Second, we hope to assist in creating better alternatives to the current Residence Hall Recycling Program and to devise an Energy Conservation Program. (For quantitative results and graphs see Appendix B)
Back to Top
Observations
We recognized and encountered many problem areas in the Residence Halls which need urgent attention:
In almost all empty lounges, lights are left on.
Recycling bins are not easily accessible, especially on South Campus.
Clear signage regarding recycling near bins is inadequate.
Rooms often have torchiere halogen lamps in constant use, which, aside from being prohibited, are horrible energy guzzlers.
Computers are left on all day, when actual use time is a mere fraction of "on" time.
Many faucets are often left running and some leak/drip.
It is quite common that triples and quads have at least 2-3 refrigerators.
Opening windows is a common solution to uncontrollable and/or temperamental heating.
The importance of recycling and energy conservation escapes most resident’s attention, on top of the fact that RA’s do not share much, if any, information regarding both issues.
These wasteful habits appear to be the result of inadequate resources, attention and education on the part of students, RA’s, Residence Life, and thus the Vice President of Student Affairs.
The Next Steps for Residence Hall
Environmental Stewardship…
Back to Top
Recycling
We identified five steps which need to be taken in order for Residence Hall recycling to improve:
PRIMARY RECOMMENDATIONS
Residence Life efforts to improve the environmental programs in the Residence Halls (and on campus) need to be rooted in a Residence Life Recycling/Energy Conservation Coordinator Position. Through such a position, participation of residents will rise dramatically. UB needs to create a well-defined coordinated campus-wide recycling and energy conservation program that everyone is aware of. A Residence Life staff person dedicated to this task will help immeasurably.
Environmental programs need to be a top level priority. More involvement and ongoing support from the Vice President for Student Affairs and Residence Life is essential or the recycling program in the Residence Halls will remain sketchy at best.
Resident Advisors are key figures for carrying out a successful recycling program. By offering educational workshops which focus on recycling and energy conservation at Training Weekend for Resident Advisors, the University would make a great leap forward. Resident Advisors need to specifically capture attention of incoming freshman to establish responsible environmental behavior from the get-go.
The responsibility for moving recyclables from the floors to outside collection bins needs to shift from student volunteers to custodial staff. Clearly, students can not be accountable for this point in the process if the Residence Halls are going to achieve the 50% recycling diversion rate called for in UB’s official "Recycling Policy".
Recycling bins must be made readily available for students to fully participate. When we administered our surveys, we recognized that there were not enough recycling bins around and this was reinforced in our survey comments. A Clement student said, "I think it should be made easier to recycle in the dorms." In Goodyear Hall on South Campus, recycling bins are available on the ground floor only, when the building itself is ten stories. Contrast this to offices in academic buildings on campus where each is equipped with a recycling bin, along with a trash buddy. This design emphasizes the considerable amount of recyclables in the trash stream. This point remains unrecognized in the dorms, when at every turn of a hallway there is another trash can.
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
* Some of the following recommendations are reiterated from the University Residence Hall section of the 1995 student report entitled, "University Environmental Audit". This audit puts forth recommendations that were apparently not implemented and are still applicable to the situation today.
Develop a written Residence Life Recycling Policy that aims to increase reduction, reuse, and recycling and thereby reduce the amount of waste landfilled. Include target dates and quantities.
Introduce the Residence Life Recycling Policy into the daily lives of residents by adding it to the "Terms of the 1998-1999 Housing Agreement" and have RA’s include it at hall events.
Incorporate the Residence Hall Recycling Program into the University Recycling Program, i.e. joint coordination, common publicity, public materials, slogans and signage. This would allow for greater efficiency and cohesiveness which in turn would reduce the University’s overall landfill expenditures.
Provide each Residence Hall room with a recycling bin.
Spend time with custodial staff explaining the importance of recycling and illustrate why the shift of responsibility is necessary.
Minimize waste in Residence Hall offices and work towards paperless offices.
Ban commercial postings.
Have a limited number of trash cans available.
Include and promote a "Code of Conservation" into all Resident Advisor programs and Residence Hall activities. (see page 6)
Back to Top
Energy Conservation
Energy conservation in the Residence Halls deserves considerable attention. The five main areas which hold potential for improvement are computer use, other appliance use, lights, water, and heating.
Computers. One of the discoveries found from our surveys and observations was that computers are left on when not in use. On average, computers in South Campus Residence Halls are left on 4.6 hours of each day; in Ellicott, 8 hours each day; and in Governors, 4.3 hours each day. Interestingly, it seems that a culture of wastefulness differs among Residence Halls. In Ellicott alone, 48% of the people surveyed leave their computers on for 10 hours or more each day, with almost 15% of those people never shutting them off. Consider a double in Ellicott where both students are in the habit of leaving their computers on 10 hours a day when not in use.
If we assume that each computer, monitor and printer combination uses 200 watts, this amounts to 448 kilowatt hours, or $31, of electricity waste for two 16 week semesters (@$.07/kwh). This is just for one room. Imagine the energy waste once we factor in computer waste from all residence hall rooms across both campuses.
Aside from turning off computers, many students do not realize that their computers have an Energy Star power management feature which allows a computer to automatically switch into a low power mode after a desired amount of time of inactivity. This option saves substantially more energy and money than letting a computer idle, but it must be "enabled" (a process of selecting options which takes about 2 minutes to do but is not understood or done by most students). Also, many people are under the false impression that screen savers are energy savers. (see Appendix A for instructions on setting power management features.)
Lights. Innumerable residents in the Residence Halls own halogen torchiere lamps, despite the fact that they have been made illegal in the Residence Halls because of being a fire hazard, and, as stated earlier, a waste of energy. Another problem with lighting in the Residence Halls is that more often than not, lights are left on needlessly in rooms, lounges, and bathrooms. Shockingly, bathroom lights are left on an average of 58% of the time, room lights are 20% of the time needlessly, and lounge lights are averaged to be left on 52% of the time.
If we consider a double in Ellicott, these rooms have as much as 300 watts of connected lighting (ceiling and mirror lights) and anywhere from 180 watts to 400 watts of plug-in lighting (desk, floor, possibly including illegal torchiere halogen lamps). Therefore, students who leave their lights on may be leaving as much as 300 to 400 watts of lighting on at any given time. If we assume 350 watts @ 8 hours/day for two 16 week semesters, this amounts to 627 kilowatt hours of electricity waste, or $43, per academic year. Multiply this by the number of doubles where this may be taking place, and then add in singles, triples and quads in all UB's residence halls, and it is easy to see how this kind of energy waste can amount to thousands of dollars in energy waste each year.
Other appliance use. Stereos, TV’s, refrigerators, alarm clocks, toasters, microwaves, refrigerators, and fans are of the most popular appliances found in a Residence Hall room. These "extras" definitely contribute to the huge energy costs associated with Residence Hall living when they are used irresponsibly.
Water. Dripping, leaking, and running water faucets in bathrooms and lounges are widespread in our Residence Halls. Wasting hot water means energy waste. Work orders are rarely put through to repair water waste problems, and very often the solution lies in the residents’ laps. Conscious efforts to turn off and tighten faucets would clear this problem up quite quickly, although awareness seems uncommon.
Heating. Usually, too much or too little heat comes out of the heaters. Some residents do not even know that the temperature can be adjusted in their rooms and, in many rooms, the small tool needed to change the heat is missing and never replaced. Residents become frustrated and resort to other measures to control the temperature in their rooms, such as opening their windows. In effect, the problem is aggravated because heat continually rises while hot air escapes. More importantly, energy costs climb.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Develop an Energy Conservation Policy/Program which focuses on all five problem areas: computer use, other appliance use, lights, water, and heating, and aims to reduce the amount of energy used in the Residence Halls.
Include a written Energy Conservation Policy in the Guide to Residence Hall Living.
Require all Resident Advisors to continuously educate residents on energy saving practices at floor meetings and programs, such as:
- enabling power management feature on computers
- mindfully turning off unnecessary lights in rooms, bathrooms, and lounges
- reporting leaky water faucets and turning off running water
- reporting heating problems
- Make sure every room has a thermostat control knob or adjustment tool.
- Enforce the policy banning torchiere halogen lamps by unannounced room checks.
- Develop a Refrigerator Limit Policy also regulated by unannounced room checks.
Back to Top
Discussion
Many dorm residents were taken aback by the fact that fellow students were actually taking an interest in these matters. We found that people mainly reacted four different ways: Some were not serious or cooperative at all, some completely declined, some seemed to answer as if they were trying to please, and some filled out the questionnaire genuinely, which was the bulk of people surveyed.
A positive outcome of distributing these surveys in the Residence Halls, was simply promoting awareness of the issues, which we feel are so worthy of attention. Moreover, we were able to perceive how each Residence Hall stood in terms of these issues.
Here are some comments from concerned students that we encountered:
"Reducing consumption is more important than recycling, so I try to use as little paper as possible."
"I didn’t know that I could control heat in my room."
"It would be convenient if recycling receptacles were more prominent around academic halls on both campuses. In addition, raising awareness of simple acts to conserve water and energy would be helpful."
"Modern and updated heaters could reduce energy costs."
"People need more common sense – like when you were little you put toys away you weren’t playing with – just turn off a light when you aren’t in the room."
Recycling is a collective effort whether it is in a private home or an institution. Therefore, everyone’s participation is crucial. We recognize that certain barriers need to be overcome before any true improvement takes place.
Psychological barriers such as attitudes and misconceptions need to be identified and positively dealt with through effective educational and awareness workshops.
Staff support and resources must be provided. Residence Life should make recycling and energy conservation a clear expectation and central part of their job.
Financial barriers need to be discussed and solved by collaborating with key campus leaders. We believe that a Residence Life Recycling/Energy Conservation Coordinator position would pay for itself in savings.
As stated before, the physical barriers can be easily solved by transferring the responsibility to the cleaning staff.
The Guide to Residence Hall Living handed out at orientation serves to show what it is like to live in the Residence Halls. Depending on whether freshman read this brochure closely or not, it may serve as an ideal tool to instill a positive image of what life will be like in a few months. In the 1997-98 edition, there are two areas in which recycling is meagerly attended to, while energy conservation is completely neglected. On page 13, the blurb about recycling reads:
RECYCLING. University Residence Halls abide by New York State laws regarding recyclable materials. Recycling bins are available on each floor of our residence halls. Recyclable materials are plastic containers, clear glass containers, newspapers, cardboard, and office papers. Each week, these bins are taken to larger bins outside of each area to be picked up by a local recycling company. Involvement by residents is critical - if you would like to be involved in efforts to clean up our environment or volunteer to be a recycling coordinator, see your RA.
Recycling also appears under Appendix B in the "Terms of the 1997-98 Housing Agreement" on page 58. It reads:
9. Recycling. Each resident will comply with the recycling efforts undertaken by the university.
This is as good as it goes but the attention given to recycling in this University publication is insufficient. What would be ideal to include and promote in the Guide to Residence Hall Living is a "Code of Conservation".
The proposed Code of Conservation expects all students and staff residing and/or working in UB Residence Halls to:
Recycle all recyclable paper (newspaper, office, looseleaf, etc.), cardboard, glass, plastic containers, and tin/soda cans.
Always conserve energy when possible by:
- shutting off unneeded room, office, bathroom, and lounge lights
- turning off computers, stereos, TV’s, and other appliances when not in use
- where possible, controlling room heat properly instead of opening windows
- enabling power management feature on computers
- obeying Residence Life rules banning halogen torchiere lights
- minimizing size and # of refrigerators
- Conserve water and report leaking water faucets and showers.
- Demonstrate environmental awareness in daily routines.
- Remind and encourage others to recycle and conserve energy.
- Report recycling and energy problems to Residence Life.
The following are two e-mails which we received that express concerns about Residence Hall recycling bins and heating this past semester:
Friday, May 8, 1998
"The heat has been on in the dorms. Yes, even the days where it has been 70° , and in the middle in the day. It makes it very uncomfortable and besides, it wastes so much energy and money, no one is happy. I contacted Craig Sauter at Controls, where they actually monitor the system. He explained to me that the outside building thermostat is set at 50° and whenever the outside temperature falls below that the heat will kick in, yet it was well above 50° . He also said that what we felt might have been residual heat from the hot water pipes. Then I spoke with Dean Yeary who agreed that it is too warm for the heat to still be running and would check it out. Since then, the heat has been off, which makes me kind of wonder if they knew all along it wasn’t residual heat from the pipes. And, I know that the heat has fallen below 50° these past few nights and the heat has not come back on. Did they make these adjustments already OR did it take someone to call and complain to get them to do something?"
Tuesday, May 12, 1998
"I just wanted to let you know that as of last week all of the recycling bins were taken out of the Governors Residence Halls. The custodial staff told me it was because they were afraid that students would try to steal the blue bins to pack in. Not only were the bins taken out of the garbage rooms, but the huge blue bins were taken away from outside. I thought this was a little bit ridiculous seeing that this is the time of year when people throw out the most trash, including a ton of paper. I am doing my best to have my residents give me their recyclables and I will take them over to the Spine, but I just thought I should let you know what is going on."
These e-mails present two thoughts. First, it is positive to witness residents delivering constructive feedback rather than sitting around and complaining about it without any action. Second, it is unfortunate that these complaints must arise at all. Overheating in the Residence Halls has been a problem ever since they were built. It is our belief that proper thermostats would correct this type of situation entirely. Barring that, the building heating systems need to be operated properly, i.e. building heat needs to be turned off when outdoor temperatures are warm and heating is not warranted. Furthermore, we feel that retrieving the recycling bins from the Residence Halls undermines the recycling efforts while setting a bad example. Moving out weekend is known to accumulate more waste than any other time in the Residence Halls. Assuming that residents will steal recycling bins is an insult to our intelligence. We do recognize that some residents will act without maturity, but it is important to address the residents who are responsible and trustworthy rather than catering to the irresponsible minority.
Back to Top
Conclusion
With the aid of our questionnaire, serious problems have been identified with regard to recycling and energy conservation in the Residence Halls. The proposed solutions offered in this report are both practical and cost effective. The time has come for Residence Life to make the commitment to environmental stewardship. Environmental, financial, and quality of life benefits will result.
|
|
Home |
Groups |
Policies |
Programs |
Resources |
Links |
About Us |
Contact Us |
Site Map
|
|
