Red & Black Goes Green

By: Savannah Weeks
September 21, 2009

The University of Georgia has made an effort to go green with administrative changes and the help of UGA students.

UGA’s physical plant directs most of the university’s sustainability efforts. Ken Crowe, director of energy services for physical plant, said UGA has been targeting an energy conservation program for about two years now.

The university recently received $5.9 million in federal stimulus funds to upgrade energy systems and make them more efficient. The money will be distributed amongst the main campus in Athens, the Griffin campus and the Marine Institute facility located on Sapelo Island.

A recycling bin in Tate Student Center is located for

students to dispose of cans and bottles.

Crowe said most of the funds will go toward energy-efficient lights in buildings on campus, upgrading insulation and more energy metering on campus. Last year most of the money went into water-saving initiatives. After Athens-Clarke County urged citizens to become more conservative with water during the drought in 2007, Crowe said water usage on campus has been reduced by about 20 percent.

In terms of future goals, Crowe said UGA is on track to meet the “20 by ‘20” objective set by the government. This initiative asks universities and corporations to reduce their energy consumption 20 percent by the year 2020. Crowe said UGA has met one fourth of the requirements and has already reduced energy consumption by five percent in the last five years by investing in large equipment.

Crowe said the physical plant plans on building larger, centralized air conditioning units in order to become more energy efficient. “We’ve got buildings that are too cold. We’re going to start addressing that and getting the temperature where it needs to be,” said Crowe.

Sheena Zhang, a third-year ecology and biology major from Athens and president of Students for Environmental Action (SEA), believes UGA and its students have come a long way in reducing the university’s environmental footprint, but also have a long way to go.

Zhang said that SEA is focusing its efforts on getting the coal-fired power plant on campus changed to a natural gas-fired power plant.. Zhang said the other three plants on campus are fired by natural gas.

Zhang said UGA officials put together a sustainability committee. Zhang said there is currently no student representation on the committee. “Physical plant has done a lot, but UGA culture is at the core,” said Zhang.

Zhang also said students can greatly reduce the university’s environmental footprint by recycling their Red & Blacks in the newspaper recycling bins located throughout campus. Zhang said this is a huge issue that can be easily addressed.

Of SEA’s participation in UGA’s Go Green Alliance, a group of environmentally-focused student organizations, Zhang said, “There is a lot of collaboration, so that’s really cool.”
Minutha Mahadevaiah, a pre-business junior from Alpharetta, said she was unaware that there was a committee on campus focusing on sustainability. Mahadevaiah said although she does not have the time to become involved with a sustainability committee right now, it is something she might be consider in the future. “I don’t have the time right now, but with some good marketing on their part, it’s something I could be interested in,” said Mahadevaiah.

Scott Weinberg, a professor of sustainable urban design at the College of Environment & Design, said the university is progressive in terms of environmentally sound buildings. Weinberg said all new buildings on campus have been built to LEED’s (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. LEED is a green buildings rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Despite meeting these criteria, no UGA buildings are LEED-certified because of the high costs associated with attaining a certification. Weinberg estimated the LEED certification cost to be about $15,000.

Weinberg said the main objective the College of Environment & Design is localizing the supplies needed for construction. Weinberg used the example of buying carpets from Dalton instead of another country and buying carpets made from cotton instead of synthetic materials. “A building that’s made out of things that can be recycled creates a constant loop of growing, using and recycling,” Weinberg said.

Weinberg said there are no federal or state mandated standards for environmentally sound design. “Nothing is mandated yet, [we are] just trying to do the best we can,” said Weinberg.

Zhang said SEA frequently consults the physical plant for advice. “UGA has done a lot, but there’s still a lot more progress that can be made,” said Zhang.