climate action planning at csun: a participatory incrementalist approach helen cox...
Post on 21-Dec-2015
218 views
TRANSCRIPT
Climate Action Planning At CSUN:
A Participatory Incrementalist
Approach
Helen [email protected]
Associate ProfessorCalifornia State University, Northridge
AASHE 2009, Indianapolis, IN
CSUN’s Greening Plan
Sustainably Manage Resources
• Energy use/Carbon dioxide emissions
• Transportation/Commuting
• Waste & Recycling
• Water
• Food services
Greening Plan
Energy use/Carbon dioxide emissions
Classical GHG inventory includes:
Direct emissions• mobile combustion sources (cars, trucks, etc.) owned by CSUN and used to move product or people• combustion sources used to produce electricity, steam, heating or cooling
Indirect emissions resulting from:• purchased and consumed electricity• purchased and consumed heating and cooling
Carbon footprint for entire CSU
Total CSU emissions for 2006 were 402,019 tonnes of CO2 = 1.06 tonnes/full-time equivalent student.
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
450,000
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
CO
2 E
mis
sio
ns
(Met
ric
To
nn
es)
Propane
Marine Gas Oil
Campus CNG Therms
Campus CNG Gal
Campus Gasoline
Campus Diesel
Voyager CNG
Voyager Gasoline
Voyager Diesel
Purchased Power
Purchased Cogen
Non-Cogen Natural Gas
Cogen Natural Gas
Total CSUN emissions for 2006 were 22,641 tonnes, 4,021 tonnes less than in 1990.
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
CO
2 E
mis
sio
ns (
Metr
ic T
on
nes)
Campus Gasoline
Campus Diesel
Voyager Gasoline
Voyager Diesel
Purchased Power
Non-Cogen Natural Gas
GHG Inventory – CSU Northridge
1994 Northridge Earthquake
CSUN’s Carbon Footprint
CO2 emissions (tonnes) / FTE
CSU CO2 Emissions, 2006
Total CSUN emissions for 2006 were 15% less than in 1990.
GHG Inventory – CSU Northridge
Why?
CSUN physical plant management has been extremely innovative in finding ways to reduce energy costs for a number of years….
CSUN’s Fuel Cell Plant
Has a combined heat and power efficiency of 83%.
Produces no NOx, CO, SOx, volatile organic compounds or particulateemissions. Conventional generation produces 25 lbs of emissions per megawatt hour whereas the CSUN Fuel Cell produces only 0.1 lbs of these emissions.
Generates 8,333,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, annually (18% of the total campus demand load).
http://www-admn.csun.edu/ppm/fuel-cell.html
CSUN’s Fuel Cell Plant
The only fuel cell plant in the world which recycles the satellite central plant emissions for the purpose of research and academic operations of a greenhouse.
The first institution in the world to have a grid connected fuel cell plant.
The first institution in the world to self install a 1 megawatt fuel cell plant.
http://www-admn.csun.edu/ppm/fuel-cell.html
CSUN’s Subtropical Rainforest
Utilizing nearly 100% of the waste stream from the fuel cell and satellite chiller plant as its only support. Unifies technology and nature to maximize the sustainable aspect of an already cutting edge technological power and heating/cooling plant.
Rain forest has 8 cooling towers placed strategically throughout the forest. The 6.3 Gal per/hour (9,000 + Gal per/day) of waste water from the Fuel Cell is collected in a 12,000 gal storage tank and used to irrigate the rain forest through a Gravity Flow System.
http://www-admn.csun.edu/ppm/rainforest.html
CSUN’s Subtropical Rainforest
http://www-admn.csun.edu/ppm/rainforest.html
The warm, humid air is drawn down through the towers and pumped out during the day (during photosynthesis) to help the plants grow bigger and faster.
BioChar is added to the soil to promote growth of the tropical plants. The BioChar also assists in the natural collection of CO2 from the atmosphere into the soil as well as promoting plant growth and the natural consumption of the CO2 by the foliage.
CSUN’s Photovoltaic Project One of the largest solar
electric installations at a public university in California, the $1.8 million photovoltaic project was developed through a partnership with the university's Physical Plant Management, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), Southern California Gas Company and Shell Solar Industries.The installation of more than 3,000 solar panels at Cal State Northridge
in 2003, is expected to save the university more than $50,000 annually in energy costs while at the same time contributing to a cleaner environment.
http://www-admn.csun.edu/ppm/photovoltaic.htm
CSUN’s Photovoltaic Project
http://www-admn.csun.edu/ppm/photovoltaic.htm
The Photovoltaic Project represents an excellent example of the collaborative work between academic and administrative divisions of the University, namely the College of Engineering and Computer Science and Physical Plant Management, as well as a model partnership between LADWP, Southern California Gas Company, Shell Solar Industries and CSUN.The 3,024 Shell solar modules, which are doubling as shading in student
parking can generate 75 watts of power each, producing a peak generating capacity of 225 kilowatts. Much of this power will be generated exactly when it is needed most between 1 and 5 p.m. during summer months.
Greening Plan
1. Carbon dioxide emissions
Classical GHG inventory does not include:
Indirect emissions resulting from:• employee and student commuting•production and waste cycles of products consumed on campus, including food and water
Carbon sequestration from vegetation on campus
Quantifying and reducing these emissions is one of the primary projects being carried out by CSUN’s Institute for Sustainability
Transportation –Commuting
A GIS is used to geocode (map) student addresses from a database and distances to CSUN are calculated. Enrollment data is used to find the # of days per week each student commutes and survey data is used to estimate average vehicle mpg and # of passengers.
• Carbon dioxide is sequestered from the atmosphere and stored in biomass by trees.
• The amount sequestered depends on the tree growth rate, which is determined by the climate, amount of water, age and species.
• Trees provide shading over buildings which reduces the energy needed for AC.
• A tree inventory is being carried out to quantify these amounts using a GIS and USFS software.
Offsetting CO2 emissions - trees
Tree InventoryCSUN students have tagged, mapped, measured and identified approx. 3600 trees on campus between May and July, 2009.
Trees – a sample of mapping on campus
Trees – mapping
Trees – tagging
Trees – tagging
Trees – measuring
Trees – CUFR Tree Carbon Calculator
Trees – CUFR Tree Carbon Calculator
Input to this calculator is provided through a macro, and output from the cells (above) is extracted by a macro and stored in fields in the tree features.(The program takes several hours to loop through all 3600 trees.)
Trees – in Google Earth
Developing a Campus GISAll surfaces and buildings are mapped, and
data is stored in a geodatabase.This allows for storage of information about:
green spacetreeswater uselocations of hardscape and pathshot spots (thermal imagery)recycling locationsbuildingsenergy use
and planning of vegetable gardenbicycle pathsvan/car pools
GIS Building data
CAD data were obtained from the campus architect and spatially referenced in ArcGIS.
GIS Building data
Buildings are classified by type.
There is currently no metering on individual buildings – but a grant proposal has been submitted to facilitate this next year.
Need for energy audits of existing buildings
Energy/Electricity
Water
Water Audits
Rainwater/Stormwater capture
• cisterns, bioswales, porous pavement
Gray water recycling• retrofitting of
facilities
Water conservation • signage,
education, outreach
• competitions
Recycling and WasteWaste audits
• Expand recycling program
Material use audits
Conservation programs
Green
Purchasing
Recycling and Waste
CSUN Waste Sort, 2009
Support a local food movement
• Establish a weekly Farmers Market (awaiting approval from President)
• Create campus community gardens
• Shift toward seasonal menus in dining halls and on campus restaurants
• Offer research opportunities related to food
Research sources and distribution of food served on campus
Food
Thank You!
Ashwani [email protected]
Consultant, Core Greening Team
Erica [email protected]
Assistant Professor
Helen [email protected] Professor
California State University, Northridge
Presented at:AASHE 2009, Indianapolis, IN