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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY STAKEHOLDER/REFERENCE COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF MEETING 1/2015

Meeting 1/2015 of the Environmental Sustainability Stakeholder/Reference Committee was held at 10.00 am on 3 March in Room G21, 15 Innovation Walk at the Clayton campus of Monash University

1. PROCEDURAL MATTERS

Documents & Action

1.1 apologies

Zachary Dorner

Ellen Lenczner

1.2 present

Those present were:

Paul Barton (Chair)

Gujji Muthuswamy

Belinda Allison

Catherine Nadel

Nav Brah

Meg Ralph(Secretary)

Tony Hudson

Damon Rapke

Sue Kennewell

Jemma Southgate

Gavin Mudd

Brett Walters

In attendance: Karen Williams, Rob Brimblecombe, Jessica Van Gent

1.3 welcome

Paul Barton (Chair) welcomed all members to the 2015 meetings of the Environmental Sustainability Stakeholder/Reference Committee. All members introduced themselves. Members were reminded that the meeting would be recorded to ensure that the minutes were accurate.

The Chair provided an overview of the scope and purpose of the committee, explaining that the committee acted as a sounding board for the Universitys environmental programs, providing perspectives internally from students and staff and externally from other universities and organisations. The committee is an open forum with themes for each meeting to generate discussion as well as two standing items, the quarterly University environmental performance indicators and current environmental legislation.

1.4 confirmation of minutes

The minutes of meeting 4/2014 of the Environmental Sustainability Stakeholder/Reference Committee meeting held on Tuesday 28 October were confirmed.

150202_ESSRCMinut

es 4_2014.docx

1/2015

Confirmed minutes to be posted at the Environmental Sustainability web site

2. engaging communities

2.1 living laboratory: engaging with students

The Chair reviewed the environmental sustainability interactions of Facilities and Services staff with students, including involvement in teaching and projects. He explained that universities are unique organisations as they can act to improve environmental sustainability performance through infrastructural improvements, by teaching students and by undertaking research. Monash links these activities by using the campus as a living laboratory integrating it into the teaching and research programs. The Chair described a number of ways that Monash connects the campus to the students:

2.1.1 Formal education programs

Currently, environmental sustainability staff from Facilities and Services engage with 4 faculties to engage students with the campus by:

Giving formal lectures that are assessable

The Chair provided an example of these lectures where several staff have contributed to a course in Mechanical Engineering to provide lectures on carbon, energy and sustainable energy design, together with campus walking tours which showcase examples discussed in lectures.

Providing significant content for a unit

Dr Rob Brimblecombe, Sustainable Asset Development Planner from Planning in Facilities and Services outlined the lecture content that he offered in the Energy and Environment, unit in the Faculty of Engineering. Rob explained that students get the opportunity to assess the energy needs of campus buildings and develop ways to make the buildings energy neutral using renewable energy and energy efficiency techniques.

Supervising student projects

Final year engineering students undertake projects supervised by Dr Brimblecombe to assist in solving the energy challenges of the University. As an example, in 2014 students developed a 10 year energy efficiency plan to reduce energy demand by 60%, followed by the use of 100% renewable energy from on-site solar together with a wind power purchase agreement to supply the remaining energy required. This plan would deliver significant financial savings to the University.

Guest lectures that are not specifically assessed

2.1.2 Co-curricular programs

The Chair discussed the Green Steps program as an example of a co-curricular program, where approximately 30 students each year undertake an intensive training course in sustainability and change management with Monash Sustainability Institute (MSI). Environmental Sustainability staff in Facilities and Services supervise projects undertaken by the students, involving them in campus environmental sustainability programs. To a question from Belinda Allison, the Chair replied that the findings and recommendations from these projects were used to improve current programs wherever practicable.

2.1.3 General engagement in activities and events

To be able to engage with more students and staff than the 2-300 that are involved in the lecture and co-curricular programs, the Chair explained that Environmental Sustainability staff use sustainability messages regarding transport, resource use, waste management, food choices and engagement with the campus, e.g. the community farm. The focus for this messaging is the first year students where staff members engage one on one with the students during enrolment and orientation. Students are encouraged to link to the Environmental Sustainability Facebook page at these times, which provides an avenue for a continuing conversation during the year. The Environmental Sustainability Facebook page has received close to 10, 000 likes this year and is the second most liked Facebook page at Monash.

Belinda Allison suggested that Environmental Sustainability staff could contribute to postgraduate induction sessions and the Chair agreed that most communications concentrated on undergraduate students.

Nav Brah enquired whether the University had dedicated staff resources for engagement. The Chair replied that two staff developed initiatives, ran events and monitored Facebook conversations; one working with staff and one working with students.

The Chair then described the events that Environmental Sustainability staff run to engage with staff and students on a specific subject, such as Ride to Uni day (3-400 participants), the Race for Sustainability (20-30 participants, with many more following on Facebook), and an Orientation scavenger hunt to win a bike (800-1200 following on Facebook).

Comments from committee members included:

Nav Brah considered that due to lack of resourcing the University of Sydney did not have as many programs as described by Monash. Their Sustainability Officers support programs in the faculties of Architecture and Engineering similarly to Monash but could develop this further into a program like Green Steps. The University also runs events and has a Sustainability Workplace Group of staff members, which will soon be opened to student groups focusing on behavioural change. A competition is being considered for the design of an end-of-trip facility. The University of Sydney is also considering employing a consultant to assist with behavioural change programs.

Gavin Mudd thought that, as his students were environmental engineers, they were already engaged in the topic. He considered social media was an important way to communicate with students and that Rob's work was important as it engaged students with the technical aspects of environmental sustainability.

Gujji Muthuswamy explained that Environmental Sustainability staff also lecture into his course Carbon Pricing, which is primarily for students with banking//finance backgrounds, and also assist with information for group projects.

Catherine Nadel commented as an undergraduate student from less-involved faculties, where students were often unaware of the work being undertaken by Environmental Sustainability staff. She thought that social media could be used to provide opportunities for students to participate in University programs and to provide input on a broader perspective than currently.

Belinda Allison confirmed that Facebook was the preferred social media for students.

Gujji Muthuswamy added that the Faculty of Business and Economics had a Star laboratory that is available to students who want to simulate emissions trading and auctions.

3. Monitoring and review

3.1 environmental performance indicators

The Chair reviewed the University's environmental performance indicators for 2014, starting by describing the format of the report that will be presented at each meeting.

The key performance indicators on the summary page (Page 1) showed:

Energy consumption remaining relatively flat since 2010;

Annual increases in water consumption;

Waste to landfill decreasing with increased waste recycled for four years to 2013, with increased waste to landfill occurring in 2014.

The Chair explained that the detail behind these summaries was provided on subsequent pages of the environmental performance indicators, together with information on renewable energy, paper use and transport. The Chair added that the 2014 findings demonstrated that University measures had been successful in keeping carbon emissions and energy consumption steady even though the University was growing, but that water consumption and waste production required new initiatives to continue to improve.

Tony Hudson asked whether changes in emission factors were taken into account when calculating carbon emissions. The Chair replied that they were and, therefore, it is important to measure both carbon and energy (electricity and gas) to ascertain the basis of the changes observed.

3.2 2014 awards and acknowledgements