final draft white paper, team rocky d

8/12/2019 Final Draft White Paper, Team Rocky D.

1/17

P

A White Paper to discuss the history,

implementation and administration of a

Going Green Initiative at USF

Dr. Francis Tobienne,Jr

Collaborative Authors:

Clayton Prather

Kevin Gonyea

Kristin Huber

Marshara Fross


2/17

Dr. Francis Tobienne, Jr

Professional writing

Team Rocky D 1

Table of Contents:Executive Summary...2Introduction..2Administration....2Interview3Implementation...5

Gold LEED Certified Building..5Solar Dok Systems.....5-6Dont Be Trashy......7Eliminate the bottles! ...8Take a breath of this.....9Race for the watts..9Electric Energy Conservation and Light Pollution Reduction...10-11

Conclusion.12Glossary of Terms13Annotated Bibliography.....13-15Works Cited...15-16


3/17



Team Rocky D 2

Executive Summary

USF has been a Green campus since its inception in 1956. The university was built onrecycled land, Henderson Field, an old World War II Airfield. Since then USF has madecontinuous strides using green initiatives toward becoming one of the top rankeduniversities in Green Programs. When attempting to take strides toward becoming agreen community, numerous factors and considerations come into play. Going greenoccurs on all aspects and levels and in many different ways. From recycle bins, to solarenergy, to resource-efficient buildings and everything in between, all this and more cancontribute to a better community. Making efforts to use all resources, such as water,energy, land, etc. with efficiency and to reduce waste, pollution and environmentaldegradation to the lowest level possible will create an environmentally responsiblecommunity. This will improve the health of the individuals in the community as well as the

environment in which they live.

Introduction

Since then USF has taken a stand on going green, in 1995 USF made the addition ofgreen buildings, started a green energy fund, and a recycling program. In 2010 USFranked 2nd in the state of Florida and 25th in the nation for green schools. USF as acommunity has been continuing to go Green for the last nineteen years. In the past fiveyears the Students in the Free Enterprise at USF have been named regional championsfor helping businesses become more sustainable.

Administration

Each semester students are charged one dollar per credit hour to pay into USFs GreenEnergy Fund, which helps the campus in its initiative to go green. It promotes the loweringof greenhouse gas emission, conserving energy, and reducing energy costs. Every yearten percent of the money in the fund is used to purchase equipment to monitor our energyconsumption. Each new project is determined through careful consideration and thought.When deciding on a new Green Project there is criteria that have to be met beforedeliberation for this project can begin. This includes energy saving, compliance with theAmerican College and University Presidents Climate Commitment and the SustainabilityTracking, Assessment, and Rating System, and financial assistance is not available forthe project.


4/17



Team Rocky D 3

InterviewOne of our team members took the initiative to conduct a thorough interview with Kebreab

Ghebremichael on the morning of the June 20

th

2014.Ghebremichael is an assistant professorand director of the office of sustainability. He is also associated with the Patel College ofSustainability at the University of South Florida. The transcript of the interview is transposedbelow.

Team Rocky D.What is the reception of current green initiatives? From the student body? From the community?

Ghebremichael:Just finished our six year term, 2011-2014. We have been approved for renewal. Wehave a 69% approval rating from the student body and are very close to the student

government and working with them.

Team Rocky D.How much money is set aside for green initiatives annually?

Ghebremichael:It provides about a million dollars year. It could more or less, but roughly a million. I am

not sure of the exact number. This comes from a student fee of 0.58 percent ofundergraduate resident per credit hour and 0.27 percent of graduate resident per credit

hour. We also have student-funded projects and the office has a fund to help affordcertain projects.

Team Rocky D.What new green initiatives can we expect to see developed in the near future? How will

these future initiatives impact the lives of the students? How long will they take toimplement?

Ghebremichael:We are working on a Smart Parking Guidance System. It will be a mobile app that willallow students to see where they can get parking. It will show how many free spots are

open in a parking garage, which ones are free in parking lots, and will also allowstudents to reserve parking spaces. So you can reserve your spot a head of time and it

will be theyre waiting for you. This is to help alleviate the stress and frustration ofstudents in parking lots. It will also reduce the amount of gas being used when studentsare searching for empty spaces, so cutting down the pollution.

Another Project we have going is a new bike sharing system-using GPS. Since it isGPS, we know where the bikes are at all

times. https://sites.google.com/site/bikesharingsysteminusf/(Link for more data)


5/17



Team Rocky D 4

Last big project we have is an integrated monitoring system in about 8 buildings. Thiswould be some sort of dock or display that shows the amount of energy being used inthe building, the water, electricity, etc. It will be in about 4-5 locations in the building.

You can also view them online. Hopefully would like to integrate into more buildings to

show how green and efficient that building is or is not.

Team Rocky D.How can students get involved?

Ghebremichael:We need students to get involved by participating in surveys about the programs. We

intentionally have set up these programs for the Students to be actively engaged.


6/17



Team Rocky D 5

ImplementationGold LEED Certified BuildingOne of the sustainability initiativesat USF is green buildings. AtUSFSP our Science andTechnology building is a LEEDCertified Gold Building. LEEDstands for Leadership in Energyand Environmental Design. TheScience and Technology (STG)building at USFSP produces less waste than any other building on campus. This building

cost less to operate than non-certified buildings for the fact that it is energy and waterefficient, making them healthier and safer for students and faculty. This contributes itsplacement in the Gold category where the requirement is earning between 60-79 pointsfrom five categories including: sustainability, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere,material and resource, and indoor environmental quality. To become a green building thefactors related to economy, comfort, utility, and durability have to be considered whilealso judging its ability to reduce waste, environmental degradation and pollutionthroughout the entire construction process.

Solar Dok SystemsUniversity of South Florida campus is home

to a few solar panel stations that are a littlemore than meets the eye. These panels areactually charging stations for students to usefor charging their personal devices usingclean solar energy. At the same time that theycontributing to the environment, it offersstudents the chance to not be confined to theindoors while using their devices. Thepossibility of using these power outlettethered devices outdoors is simply amazingand offers the user the chance to experiencethe breath taking views of our campus.Students utilizing these outdoor stations arealso subliminally exposing themselves thebeauty that nature has to offer and intern arerealizing the need for preservation. This willunknowingly increase the thoughtful efforts ofthe user to do their part in creatingsustainability.


7/17



Team Rocky D 6

The USFSP campus is already home to numeroussolar panels placed throughout the campus thataid in an effort to provide green energy to the

school. This small endeavor however pales incomparison to the plans for the campus if awardeda grant from Duke Energy. Duke energy isevaluating several colleges in the area for aproposed grant of 500,000 dollars to invest in alarge array of solar panels to be outfitted to thewining school. This array would be the cityslargest solar panel farm. The proposal from DukeEnergy was to have ground panels but we here atUSFSP put in our own proposal that was met withexcitement. USF proposed to have the panels

installed on the roof level of the parking garage onthe top of canopies. This would be built within thenext couple of years. It would be an effective wayto not only harvest the suns energy without having

to hide from shade but would give shade to the students who park on that level. Theconstant barrage from the sun has many negative effects on all stake holders in thesituation. Starting with the students, the constant sunshine causes the internaltemperatures of the cars to skyrocket and incidentally cause physical damage to the car.One unlucky student had been forced to park on the top floor due to the unavailability ofparking spots on the lower levels. This student thought nothing of this and went to classnormally only to return to find that the sun had melted the volume knobs on her car stereo.

This example can go to show the raw power of the sun and the need to harvest the energyand increase our sustainability by design.

Common knowledge has shown how the rapid change from day to night causes concrete,and almost all other materials, to expand and retract daily. The parking garage is notimmune to this phenomenon and as such is suffering from the side effects of this dailyinteraction with the elements. Everyone has seen how sidewalks eventually becomecracked and deformed and most of us know that this is caused by the aforementionedissue. By adding the array of solar panels to the roof we can help to fight off thistroublesome issue which saves money and helped sustain the environment. The reasonfor helping sustain the environment is quite simple once you look at the whole picture orupkeep on a structure of that size. To repair the garage would cause the need for heavymachinery which produce an enormous amount of pollution, in fact it is estimated that 4%of particulate emissions are from construction equipment.


8/17



Team Rocky D 7

Dont Be TrashyThe trash and recycle bins around thecampus have all been made out of recycledmilk jugs and the depiction is engravedshowing how many jugs were recycled tomake the bin. Another stupendous greenidea to come from the green energy fund isbrought to you by our very own Sophia

Constantine. Sophia made a proposal to thefund with the title Dont be trashy, in whichthe objective was to get free standing recyclebins to the campus. With great support theproposal was passed and now USFSP ishome to twenty combo recycle and trashbins that are all 97% made from recycled

materials. These materials are mostly water jugs where each one has removed 937 waterjugs from our wastes.

From the presentation it is estimated that currently the

campus makes 378 dumps of trash using long beddumpsters in a year and only 42 8 yard recycling dumpsper year. The amount of recycled materials dumpedwas the cause for the proposal as she wished to raisethat number significantly. Through her research shefound that standalone recycle bins collect morematerials then the dumpsters found off in some deepdark corner. She also noted that the return on theinvestment would be reduced Kw/H from making onetime use products with virgin resources. There would bea reduction in GHG emitted due to landfills being lessoccupied by recyclable materials. Finally she concludedthat with the cost savings of increased recycling, whichwas free due to a tradeoff for cardboard, the collegewould receive all of its money back in less than 2.5

years.


9/17



Team Rocky D 8

Eliminate the bottles!There are water fountains with built in taps to refill waterbottles in an effort to stop people from constantly buying

new water bottles every day. In yet another contribution byour own, Mike Leggett, that was funded by the StudentGreen Energy Fund we have found a brilliant example ofgoing green. Mike had the great idea to install water bottlefilling stations that doubled as ordinary drinking fountainsthrough the campus. These station offered clean, efficient,and filtered water sources for students and faculty to refilltheir brought from home refillable drinking containers.Every time one of these fountains was used to fill a bottleof water there would be an indicator lit up showing howmany bottles have been saved by the machine.

The focus of this initiative was to reduce theconsumption of plastic an effort to save theenvironment. This proposal suggested that 1 kg ofplastic was equal to 6 kg of CO2 and that this projectwould eliminate 1,500 bottles and 112.66 pounds ofplastic from destroying the environment. Along withthis proposal was one to support the marketing of thisventure by giving away 1,500 reusable bottles tostudents so there would be no excuse to not use therefill systems. This is simply the statistics from one

campus, could you imagine if this was a world wideeffort in every school and building in the world?


10/17



Team Rocky D 9

Take a breath of thisThe USF campus is dedicated to being asmoke free campus. This is a healthyinitiative and also saves a g amount of

cigarettes from being burned off into theatmosphere, for a little while at least.

Being smoke free is one of the greatestperks of attending class at the USFSPcampus. Smoke from cigarettes iscancerous, disgusting, nauseating, as well asdetrimental to the environment. Thesmoke in cigarettes can contain from 4000to 7000 chemicals that pollute more than justthe user. According to a study lead by

Giovanni Invernizzi from the TobaccoControl Unit of Italy's National CancerInstitute in Milan found that air pollution thatcomes from cigarettes is 10 times greaterthan diesel car exhaust

The butt of the cigarette is nolaughing matter. Take for example one studyfrom California in which it wasdiscovered that nearly 41% of all litter wasfrom that of cigarette butts. Most people see

this as a nonissue seeing that cigarette butts are made of cotton and therefor as the sameas naturally occurring, and decomposing, cotton. This however is not true becausecigarette butts do not fully degrade. From the trash left from inconsiderate smokers thereis yet another environmental tragedy that is not present at USFSP and that would be thechemical runoff from the butts. The major chemicals that leak into the water system fromcigarette butts are lead, arsenic, and nicotine. Every one of these chemicals is deadlyand once again not being leaked into the environment at USFSP.

Race for the watts!The fitness center has been retrofitted to get rid of oldmachines that waste energy and are at the end oftheir lifespan and have been replaced with brand newenergy efficient machines that actually create energyfrom being used. These machines have an enormousimpact on the environment with each treadmilleliminating 2.5 metric tons of CO2 annually of whichthere are 3. There has also been an additionalproposal approved to buy 1 more treadmill.


11/17



Team Rocky D 10

Electric Energy Conservation and Light Pollution ReductionThe parking garage atUSFSP is the Holy Grail for

wasting energy and moneyas pointed out by the GreenFund proposal by DavidONeill. The usage isaveraged out to410,865KWh which comesalmost entirely from thelighting that is in use all dayevery day which makes itexpensive and difficult tomaintain.

The plan is to switch all ofthe interior and exterior lighting to energy efficient LED which are environmentally friendlyby not containing mercury. These lights have an enormous 100,000 hour life span andrequire no warm up time and can be dimmed if needed. There will also be installation ofmotion and daylightsensors to only use thelights when needed.There is a proposal inphase 3 to install a 100kwsolar PV system that

would require 10,000square feet; the top of theparking garage is 50,000square feet. Although thisplan is contradictory to theGrant application the lightproposal plans to put theirpanels over the rampleading to the 7th floor.This plan is broke downinto 3 phases with phase1 being just the bottomfloor of the garage and phase 2 completing all other floors in the garage leaving the PVsystem for phase 3. Phase 1 has been completed and phase 2 has been approved.


12/17



Team Rocky D 11

ConclusionUSF is one of the Greenest Universities in the nation. It has a strong sustainable

funding source for projects. These projects are guided by expert faculty and students.

The projects extend beyond the campus benefiting the neighboring community. USF hasbuilt key partnerships to with local businesses and governments to help guide and supportthese programs and projects. With all of these key components in place the future of theSustainability Program is securely in place and it will continue to grow and benefit thestudents, faculty and community.

USFs broad range of commitment to green is shown by the numerous LEEDcertified buildings in Tampa and Saint Petersburg. This nationally recognized certificationprocess grades these buildings in numerous sustainability and conservation categories.The Science and Technology building on the Saint Petersburg campus received theLEED Gold certification. Several buildings and projects on the Tampa campus have LEED

certifications.

USF has recognized that it takes a stable continuous funding source was neededto allow green projects to occur. The Green Energy Fund was established accomplishthis need. The fund has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for green projects andprograms. These projects are approved and administered by USF staff and students.These projects are on campus and extend out into the community

Some the recent green projects include using solar panels to generate electricityfor charging stations. These Solar Dok Systems allow students to charge theircomputers and other personal devices. There are several lighting upgrade and

improvement projects that utilize solar energy and more energy efficient technologies toconserve energy and reduce light pollution. Another project utilized recycled materials tocreate recycling collection containers that are place throughout the campus.

Since its inception to present USF has been a green campus. USF has proven thatthis commitment to green and sustainability will continue to benefit the staff, students andcitizens of today and tomorrow.


13/17



Team Rocky D 12

Glossary of terms:

Sustainability-is the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely

Initiative- the ability to assess and initiate things independently

LEED- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Greenhouse Gas- gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infraredradiation, e.g., carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons.

Solar Panel- a panel designed to absorb the sun's rays as a source of energy forgenerating electricity or heating.

Emission- the production and discharge of something, especially gas or radiation

Kw/H- Kilowatts per hour

GHG- Green House Gas

LED- light emitting diodes


14/17



Team Rocky D 13

Annotated Bibliography

USF has a documented history of Going Green and Sustainability since 1995. Prior to1995 the Campus Master Plan embraces Smart Growth Practices. There are manyexamples of Green Initiatives that address energy and water conservation, wasterecycling and transportation programs.

"Building Certification: What Does LEED Really Mean? - CBS Dallas / Fort Worth."

CBS Dallas Fort Worth. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2014.WebsiteThis website gave insight on the point system and how it works when it comes to ratingthe buildings. The higher the rating of the building the more costs you save over time forgoing green. The closer your LEED certified building is to public transportation the more

points go towards your rating. Mere points can mean the difference between savinghundreds of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars.

"Don't Be Trashy Info Page - USFSP Student Green Energy Fund." Don't BeTrashy Info Page - USFSP Student Green Energy Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June

2014.WebsiteThis page is dedicated to a proposal to the Student Green Energy Fund made bySophia Constantine. Specifically the proposal is named Dont Be Trashy and is aproposal for the encouragement of recycling through the purchase of new receptaclesthat are environmentally friendly. The page gives the full timeline of the proposal as wellas giving the actual proposal presentation that won the hearts of the panel.

"EPA" Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 17 June 2014. WebsiteThis website defines green buildings and sustainable building. It explains how greenbuildings contribute to our campus and our community and how green buildings havelargely positive impact on everyone in the community.

Kibert, Charles J. Sustainable construction: green building design and delivery.2nd ed. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Print.This explains the actual construction of buildings and what exactly goes into it. With this,

it also goes into detail about what constitutes a green building and indicates whatmakes it different.The process starts at the beginning all the way to the finished product. This allows us tomore easily identify a green building and increases our knowledge about thesestructures.


15/17



Team Rocky D 14

"LED Parking Garage Lighting Info Page - USFSP Student Green Energy Fund."LED Parking Garage Lighting Info Page - USFSP Student Green Energy Fund.

Web. 17 June 2014.WebsiteThis page is dedicated to a different proposal that was approved and is currently in the

process of implementation. David ONeill submitted this proposal to upgrade the lightingsystem in the USFSP parking garage through a process of 3 phases. This site gives fullinsight into the progress of the plan from initial proposal through presentation andcurrent progress of implementation.

"LEED." U.S. Green Building Council. Web. 17 June 2014. WebsiteThe explanation of the acronym LEED is found on this website as Leadership inEnvironmental and Energy Design and is a green building certification program umbrellaunder the U.S. Green Council.

"NRDC: Building Green - LEED Certification Information." NRDC: Building Green -

LEED Certification Information. Web. 17 June 2014.WebsiteThis explains how the LEED certification is achieved and the benefits of this certificationalong with tips on becoming certified. It also gives information on how to applysustainable building strategies along with how to get started on getting an LEEDcertification. According to the website this is a Washington D.C. based non-profitcoalition of business leaders. People always want to know how much something isgoing to cost them so this is a great resource for that.

"Protected: Green Initiatives." University of South Florida St Petersburg. 17 June

2014.WebsiteThis page from the USFSPs website indicates that the STG Building is LEED GOLD

certified building. The Gold certification means that this building has been rated threeout of four levels of green efficiency for a building. This is evident in many ways but wascertified based on planning, construction materials and design. One annoyingly greeninitiative seen in the building is the hand cranked projector screens and automatic lightsin the classrooms.

"Sustainability Programs and Initiatives at USF and around the World." Patel

School of Global Sustainability RSS. 17 June 2014.WebsiteThis USF website states that our school is 25th in the nation when it comes to greencampuses and 2nd in the state of Florida. USF is also listed in the top twenty-five citiesin the nation with the most energy star buildings. The purpose of creating these energy

efficient buildings is to decrease the impact that manmade environments have onhuman health and the natural habit.Turner, Cathy. Energy performance of LEED for new construction buildings.White Salmon, WA: New Buildings Institute, 2008. Print.This study is about the energy performance of new building projects that have beencertified by the USGBC LEED program. It was evaluating the intentional performance ofa project versus the actual outcome of a project. Then the energy performance of these


16/17



Team Rocky D 15

buildings were compared to non-LEED buildings. This highlights the advantages ofhaving a LEED certified buildings versus not.

Works Cited

"Building Certification: What Does LEED Really Mean? - CBS Dallas / Fort Worth." CBSDallas Fort Worth. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2014.

"Cigarette Butts Are Toxic Waste1." Environmental Impact of Tobacco Smoking. N.p., n.d.Web. 17 June 2014.

"Cigarettes and the Environment: Harmful Effects." Keen For Green. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 June

2014.

"Don't Be Trashy Info Page - USFSP Student Green Energy Fund." Don't Be Trashy InfoPage - USFSP Student Green Energy Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2014.

"Energy Efficient Gym Info Page - USFSP Student Green Energy Fund." Energy EfficientGym Info Page - USFSP Student Green Energy Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2014.

" ." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 17 June 2014.

Kebreab Ghebremichael (6/20/14; 9:00 AM; Telephone, Assistant Professor Director, Office

of Sustainability Patel College of Global Sustainability University of South Florida"LED Parking Garage Lighting Info Page - USFSP Student Green Energy Fund." LED ParkingGarage Lighting Info Page - USFSP Student Green Energy Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 17June 2014.

"LEED." U.S. Green Building Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2014.

"NRDC: Building Green - LEED Certification Information." NRDC: Building Green - LEEDCertification Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2014.

"Pollution From Construction." Pollution From Construction. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2014.

"Protected: Green Initiatives." University of South Florida St Petersburg. N.p., n.d. Web. 17June 2014.

"Solar Power Stations Come to USF St. Petersburg." Solar Power Stations Come to USF St.Petersburg. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2014.


17/17



Team Rocky D 16

"Sustainability Programs and Initiatives at USF and around the World." Patel School of GlobalSustainability RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2014.

"Time for Change." Plastic Bags and Plastic Bottles. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 June 2014.

"USFSP Applies for Parking Garage Solar Panels." The Crows Nest. N.p., 15 June 2014.Web. 18 June 2014.

"USFSP May Host City's Largest Solar Panel Array." The Crows Nest. N.p., 14 June 2014.Web. 18 June 2014.

final draft white paper, team rocky d

Documents