The College of William and Mary is getting a little greener every day. The Committee of Sustainability (COS) here at the College of William and Mary just announced their first round of green projects here on campus.
The COS consists of students, faculty and staff who were selected by William and Mary President Taylor Reveley to allocate funds for campus initiatives and projects. The green fee was a plan concocted by the Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) last year to add $15 to each semester’s general fee to fund research for future environmental actions and initiatives. The ‘green fee’ is administered by the COS and generates about $200,000 dollars per year toward research projects and initiatives to help William and Mary become a ‘greener campus.’
A member of the COS, Lauren Edmonds (’11), said “All of the projects we’re funding originated in the Financial and Operations Subcommittee (FOPS). They chose projects from the Sustainability Roadmap that was created from the Campus Sustainability Seminar projects last spring… FOPS presented us with their list of projects along with costs, savings, and the payback period for each project. We discussed why each project was important to sustainability on campus and what benefit we would receive from it, whether it was in direct savings or in research.”
The projects funded by the green fee include:
$40,000 to the “Green Endowment”. The Endowment gives support for sustainability projects and research and purchase of alternative energy
$16,000 to fund electric metering in the Randolph Complex which allows researchers to compare the electrical use to other dorm complexes and come up with solutions to save both energy and money.
$16,000 to fund the already existing recycling effort on campus.
$15,000 to fund the installation of occupancy sensors in Swem library.
$3,000 to Keith Griffion, professor of Physics and 15 students to fund research on solar cell development.
$3,000 to Randy Chambers, associate professor of Biology to fund monitoring stations to research storm water runoff on campus.
When asked about what projects the COS chooses to fund considering long and short-term effects, Edmond said “We had a mix of projects with short term or long term advantages this time.”
“The point of the Committee (and of the Green Fees) is to spur green action and innovation all over campus,” commented Fellow COS member Philip Zapfel. “There are some immediate returns on projects: the Swem Library occupancy sensors will pay back in one year, and energy meters like those being put on Randolph Complex were listed in the Green Fees proposal as one of the highest priorities for immediate spending.”
However, research also plays a crucial factor for improvements on campus.
“The research for new solar technology and storm water monitoring have immediate returns, they're just not monetary returns, at least not yet. It's just as important for sustainability to be incorporated into the everyday lives of our students as it is for us to cut our greenhouse gas emissions,” said Zapfel.
“First and foremost, it's what the students want to see,” continued Zapfel. “We're taking the Campus Sustainability Road Map, once again a document written and compiled by students, and following that as a primary source of projects and information. Student involvement in this committee is huge. There are around 40 students officially working for the Committee, and many more will be working unofficially on putting together proposals and testing ideas.”
Zapfel stressed that although the ‘green fee’ is important, “the Committee on Sustainability isn't just about spending Green Fees money. It's a much larger program than that. For example, the Science and Technical Advisory subcommittee is working on a carbon footprint analysis of our entire College, showing us where we need to improve and where we're already making gains.”
“The Food Services working group of the Programs and Education Subcommittee is setting a working definition of "sustainable food" for the College, and will be working on incorporating more local and organic food into the dining facilities,” said Zapfel. “There are a lot of programs outside of just Green Fees-funded projects.”
In terms of upcoming projects/initiatives in consideration for the green fee, Zapfel explained “We are looking for other projects at the moment. The Finance working group of the Finance and Operations Subcommittee will be evaluating projects as we go forward.”
Edmond said that the Financial and Operations Subcommittee will also be coming up with potential projects.
“The biggest concern was which projects would have the biggest impact on campus and also have the best payback of our investment,” said Edmond. “Green Fees are a wonderful resource but they are limited and we need to invest students’ money wisely.”