ACUPCC Implementer

By Terri Berryman, Project Director, IGEN Career Pathways, College of Lake County

(This article appears in the December, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN), which was formed in 2006, is a President led initiative involving all 48 community colleges in the state of Illinois.  IGEN has four main areas of focus – green campus, green communities, green curriculum and green careers.  In 2011, the College of Lake County, on behalf of the IGEN, was awarded a $19.37 million grant from the Department of Labor (DOL) as part of round one of the Trade Adjustment Act Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program.  The grant, IGEN Career Pathways, brings together seventeen community colleges working as a consortium to create 31 on-line blended and hybrid degree and certificate programs in green career fields.

The grant’s goals are aligned with the four priorities outlined by the DOL: to accelerate progress for low-skilled and other workers; to improve retention and achievement rates to reduce time to completion; to build programs that meet industry needs, including pathways; and to strengthen online and technology-enabled learning.  Seven strategies are being used to meet these priorities:

By Jennifer Hayward, Sustainability Coordinator & Anna Scott, Energy Analyst, Lane Community College

(This article appears in the November, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Lane Community College established a revolving loan fund in 2006, the only one of its kind at a community college, to pay for energy conservation and renewable energy projects through utility carryover. The fund, called theEnergy Carryover Fund, realizes savings when current year electricity and natural gas expenditures are less than current year budget. Additionally, rebates and other incentives for energy-focused projects can be deposited into the Fund, helping to finance more projects in the future. The Fund is managed and implemented by Lane’s full time Energy Analyst, Anna Scott, and currently stands at $122,000.

Annual budgets for electricity and natural gas are determined using an energy use index calculation for the baseline year of 2004-05 and the current year’s prices.  Money is transferred to the Carryover Fund if Lane is purchasing less energy per square foot because of efficiency, conservation, and on-site renewables than in the baseline year.

Lane’s Energy Analyst plans the Fund’s projects in collaboration with faculty and students in its Energy Management and

Lane’s Solar Station provides electricity for charging vehicles and power for nearby buildings.

By Howard Wertheimer, Director, Capital Planning & Space Management, Georgia Institute of Technology

(This article appears in the November, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Georgia Tech is committed to the development of a sustainable campus community, creating distinctive architecture and open spaces. In keeping with this goal, Georgia Tech has a clear mission for its new Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions Laboratory Building: carbon neutral net zero site energy use. The 40,000 square foot facility is intended to set a new standard for sustainable design for laboratory buildings of this type by optimizing passive energy technologies, reducing electricity loads, thoughtful day-lighting strategies, water conservation and harvesting, and maximizing the use of renewable energy, including a 290kW photovoltaic array.

Rendition of GT’s Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions Laboratory

By Anne Bertucio, Business & Community Relations Coordinator, Focus the Nation

(This article appears in the October, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Student involvement, ideas, and innovation have been and continue to be a driving force behind sustainability successes on college and university campuses.  In 2008, Focus the Nation (FTN) launched a national teach-in campaign to empower students through education, civic engagement, and action to advance a clean energy future. In turn, the ACUPCC has provided a terrific opportunity for students through their FTN training to play an integral role in the development and implementation of their campus’ Climate Action Plan’s.

Currently FTN offers the Forums-to-Action (F2A) program providing students withleadership skills, energy literacy, experiential learning and professional development. The F2A program benefits both the student and campus as it provides a framework for interdisciplinary collaboration, academic engagement with industry experts and elected officials, and an opportunity to apply existing campus resources to urgent sustainability issues in the community, to name a few. F2A participants at the University of Utah and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville have already made an impact. Their efforts show how valuable student leadership in implementing the climate action plan can be to the institution’s carbon footprint, and the capacity of students to prepare for a changing economy by shaping their institution’s climate and sustainability initiatives.

By Sarah Brylinsky, Program Associate, Second Nature

(This article appears in the September, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Scope 3, or indirect emissions not covered by Scope 2, are a challenging set of categories to gather data for in greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting, but are essential for campuses to fully account for their upstream and downstream climate footprint.  Greenhouse gas reporting for the ACUPCC requires signatories to submit two categories of Scope 3 emissions: regular daily commuting to and from campus by students, faculty, and staff and air travel paid for by or through the institution. The

ACUPCC encourages signatories to go beyond these requirements and submit additional indirect emissions categories. An analysis of ACUPCC GHG reports demonstrates that many signatories have chosen to report additional scope 3 emission categories.  Of the 93% of the signatories that have submitted at least one GHG report, 65% have included information on their solid waste emissions and 20.6% have elected to report custom scope 3 emissions.

ACUPCC signatories had reported these custom Scope 3 sources in publicly submitted greenhouse gas inventories as of August 2012 (Data taken from rs.acupcc.org)

By Linda Petee, Sustainability & Risk Management Coordinator, Delta College

(This article appears in the September, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Scope 3 emissions can escalate a carbon footprint significantly if not monitored and tracked diligently.  To provide a comprehensive analysis, Delta College chose to report additional Scope 3 categories, including solid waste, right from the start.

Recycling was introduced in 1991 and our program quickly earned recognition as a statewide best practice in 1995.  Early on, area waste haulers were not equipped to collect recyclables and sorting facilities were limited.  Our fledgling program partnered with a local rehabilitation center for sorting and bundling. Later, as residential programs took hold, we piggybacked on municipal collections. Eventually, local material recovery centers were established. Having an established program has allowed us to refine our processes and provide guidelines to aid collection.

By Andrea Putman, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Second Nature
(This article appears in the August, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

The ACUPCC corporate sponsorship program has evolved from its initial inception in 2007 into a partnership of 27 sponsors that supports the ACUPCC in several ways.  The program provides the opportunity to bring corporate expertise to support schools in implementing the ACUPCC. It provides funding that is critical to securing additional philanthropic support and member dues from signatory schools, and it sends a strong signal to signatory institutions that the private sector believes that pursuing climate neutrality and sustainability in education and operations is important for all of society, including business.

Based on a meeting of the ACUPCC Steering Committee and sponsors at the June 2011 Climate Leadership Summit, Second Nature developed the “Corporate Council” and invited sponsors at the diamond, platinum, and gold levels to participate. Working with the ACUPCC Steering Committee and Second Nature, the corporate sponsors worked together to develop a “Corporate Council Statement in Support of Education for Sustainability,” which is included in the ACUPCC Five Year report. The statement follows:

By Bill McKibben, Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College & Founder of 350.ORG

(This article appears in the July, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

By Timothy P. White, Chancellor of University of California, Riverside and Chair of the ACUPCC Steering Committee

(This article appears in the July, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)