UC/CSU/CCC Sustainability Conference 2008, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Cal Poly

Putting Sustainability to Work - July 31-August 3, 2008

Putting Sustainability to Work

2008 Conference Program

Curriculum + Research

Putting Students to Work: Tracking GHG Emissions through Student Projects and Courses

Friday, August 1st, 10:45-12:15pm

The first step in reduction of GHG emission and mitigation of climate change is to understand the magnitude and source of present emissions. These three presentations are case studies describing student projects dedicated to the inventory of GHG sources, and two of them describe efforts on campuses to reduce emissions. Presenters will address how to create a class focused on campus sustainability that teaches students steps towards practical project implementation and how to create research and hands-on projects which impact the campus and community.


Learn by Doing: Sustainability in Lab Courses

Friday, August 1st, 2:00pm-3:30pm

Swanton Pacific, a unique educational field facility, will present on using their land to study the effectiveness of sustainable resource management, while incorporating over 20 disciplines. You will also learn how students developed a monitoring system to track impacts of a LEED™ Certified Housing Project and how an electrical engineering course incorporated analysis of sustainability factors into each experiment. Lastly we will learn about the use of Green Chemistry in an undergraduate teaching lab and the broader implications of Green Chemistry for the campus.


Community Partnerships through Course Work

Friday, August 1st, 4:15pm-5:30pm

Community partnerships are paving the way for new developments in sustainability: San Jose State University partnered with the City of San Jose on an experiential learning course to address sustainability in San Jose. San Luis Obispo is working with Shanghai, China and wants to share the lessons learned about working on international sustainability projects. Victor Valley College and the Mojave Sustainability Project is creating a symbiotic collaborative between academia, industry and government agencies to promote sustainable development and the unique role education can play in this process.


Living Sustainably

Saturday, August 2nd, 8:00am-9:15am

Many students have questions about how to be more sustainable. Learn about three different programs that educate students about how to live sustainably and how to communicate with those around them about these practices. The Sustainable Works Program will review how they engage students in critical thinking activities while exploring the connections between sustainability and their daily lives. UC Davis will describe their two-week course on teaching students how they can make changes regarding consumption in their homes and campuses. We will also hear about how to incorporate these lessons into a business curriculum and explore the opportunities and challenges to educating business students about sustainable choices.


The Art of Sustainability

Saturday, August 2nd, 9:30am-10:45am

How does art fit into sustainability? These three presentations will show you that theater, on-campus movie festivals, and writing classes are all artistic ways to promote sustainability. The audience will learn how to plan an environmental video festival (VidFest), discuss how theater can be used for public engagement and gain the capacity to design environmental writing assignments that will improve students’ thinking and writing skills while educating them about sustainability.


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Energy

Best Practices in HVAC Retrofit and Monitoring Based Commissioning (MBCx)

Friday August 1st 10:45am-12:15pm

This session will include presentations from winners of the Energy Efficiency Partnership Best Practice Awards competition for projects that demonstrate successful heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) retrofit and monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) projects. HVAC winners this year include, UC San Diego for their campus-wide chilled water valve upgrade, CSU Sonoma’s Darwin Hall remodel and a CCC award winner. MBCx winners include, UC Davis’ Shields Library and CSU Monterrey Bay for nine individual buildings.

Download a copy of the CSUMB 9 Building MBCx report here.


Best Practices in Student Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects

Friday August 1st, 2-3:30pm

This session includes presentations from winners of the Energy Efficiency Partnership Best Practice Awards competition for projects that demonstrate best practices in Student Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects. Student Energy Efficiency Winners include, UC Berkeley and CSU Chico’s Green Campus Program Interns and a CCC award winner. Renewable Energy winners include Fresno state for their photovoltaic shaded parking canopies and a CCC winner.


Climate Change Policies and Committees

Friday August 1st, 4:15-5:30pm

Global climate change has evolved from a buzz word to an issue driving major political, institutional, and corporate policy and planning. This session discusses the mandates, goals, and metrics associated with greenhouse gas reduction, California Assembly Bill 32, the Campus President's Climate Commitment, and the California Climate Action Registry. Learn how campuses are quantifying their baseline greenhouse gas emissions and developing reduction plans to improve their buildings, save on energy and utility costs, and achieve greenhouse gas regulatory compliance or even full carbon neutrality.


Taming the Hood

Saturday August 2nd, 8-9:15am

Laboratory fume hoods are some of the most energy-intensive pieces of equipment on campus. A single fume hood, running 24 hours a day uses about as much energy as three houses, and there are thousands of fume hoods in California universities. This session will present strategies to reduce fume hood energy consumption, ranging from cutting-edge emerging technologies, to student-led education and outreach programs that promote conservation. The strategies highlighted in this session may be applied to existing labs and new construction projects.


New Model for Energy Efficient Technology Procurement and Implementation

Saturday August 2nd, 9:30-10:45am

This presentation will cover the necessity for innovative technologies, RD&D through the PIER program, the results from a range of product demonstrations at UC, CSU, CCC, and state government host sites, and the potential savings and environmental impact state wide. In addition, product performance specifications for new construction and renovation projects, strategic procurement, new “smart” exterior lighting products, and successful implementation of PIER technologies throughout the university systems will be presented. This session will focus on accelerating the implementation of these new technologies in order to achieve the highest levels of savings goals and sustainability. This panel will also coordinate multiple campus walking tours of energy efficient PIER technologies planned for the 2008 conference. The 45-minute presentation will be followed by a 30-minute Q&A panel session to encourage interactive participation from the audience.


Data Centers

Saturday August 2nd, 9:30-10:45am

The average data center uses more energy per square foot than most laboratory spaces and up to 100 times more energy than classrooms. Campuses will need to invest heavily in new IT infrastructure to keep pace with demand for computing power. This session will examine trends and recent benchmark data as well as short, medium, and long-term best practice strategies to improve IT/data center energy performance. Presenters will discuss technologies like virtualization, and power management, which can reduce energy in existing facilities, as well as best practices in data center design and operations.


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Food

Green Best Practices in Dining Hall Construction, Renovation and Operations

Friday August 1st, 10:45-12:15pm

Sustainability remains a complex subject for food service operators. This seminar will be broken into a series of short sections addressing the energy efficiency and water-conservation side of kitchen sustainability and will include the latest on LEED™ and available funding and technical assistance for efficiency upgrades. The session will conclude with a case study from CSU Humboldt: students from the Green Campus Program will describe the FSTC evaluation of the campus dining, tips to look for and how the suggestions were implemented.


Identifying Sustainability Criteria: Finding and Getting the Products

Friday August 1st, 2-3:30pm

Establishing sustainable purchasing commitments and an efficient distribution network for your campus dining service needs can be a formidable challenge. Learn how campuses have been able to partner with farmers cooperatives, farm to college programs and hear about research which gives us an insight to the opportunities and challenges in food distribution and marketing systems. These research projects include studies on developing new cooperatives and marketing systems for small scale producers and a project which evaluated the relative availability of sustainable seafood options.


Greening Your Dining Facility

Friday August 1st, 4:15-5:30pm

This session will include lessons learned from campus operators on putting 'Green' practices to work in dining facilities, Green Dining certification efforts and challenges faced. This roundtable format will focus on ways dining managers have used resources available to them, and how specific data is collected and measured. Energy savings through equipment modifications such as demand ventilation and pulping machines will be addressed. Attendees will come away with a practical 'Green Energy' Checklist and a list of potential funding opportunities.


Student and Campus Farms: Learning from the Land

Saturday August 2nd, 8-9:15am

This session will explore the founding and development of one of the oldest sustainable land-based college learning centers and farming operations in California, the Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems at UC Santa Cruz. We will learn how students have played central roles in the creation of student farms, what the opportunities and challenges are to integrating student farms into “official” sustainable agriculture/food systems curricula and how these farms can inspire interdisciplinary education. In addition, the CalPoly Organic Enterprise will present on how they have sustained themselves as a self-supporting enterprise and how virtually every discipline at Cal Poly utilizes the farm.


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Green Building New Construction Track

Successful Examples of Integrated Building Design

Friday August 1st, 10:45-12:15pm

The Ocean Science Education Building at UCSB is pushing to achieve LEED™ Platinum certification and is striving to become the first Zero Energy Building (ZEB) in the UC system. This presentation will showcase the integrated collaboration of the design team and University officials in a step by step process. A biomedical laboratory facility at UC Berkeley will be the second example of this strategy; describing the collaboration of design teams and building occupants to achieve significant energy savings.


Best Practices in HVAC Design and Lighting Design/Retrofit

Friday August 1st, 2-3:30pm

This session includes presentations from winners of the Higher Education Energy Efficiency Partnership Program Best Practices Competition in the categories of New Construction HVAC Design and Lighting Design/Retrofit. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo will present on their satellite central plant. UC Berkeley will present on their wireless lighting controls retrofit and CSU Channel Islands will present on their new standards for and retrofit of campus exterior lighting. Presentations will also be given by Community College Award Winners.


Best Practices in Overall Sustainable Design

Friday August 1st, 4:15-5:30pm

This session includes presentations from winners of the Higher Education Energy Efficiency Partnership Program Best Practices Competition in the category of New Construction Best Overall Sustainable Design. UC Davis will present on the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo will present on the Bondersen Projects Center. The Community College Award Winner will also present.


Green Building Case Studies for Community Colleges

Saturday August 2nd, 8-9:15am

Learn about buildings from Ohlone College, City College of San Francisco (CCSF) and Butte College. The Ohlone College Newark Center for Health Sciences and Technology is on track to receive LEED™ Platinum certification benefiting the learning environment as well as saving energy and money. CCSF will address building stakeholder involvement in retrofit projects and Butte College will address construction challenges and solutions from concept through construction and commissioning in order to build sustainable public school facilities.


Greenhouse Gas Reductions from Building Energy Use and Alternative Sources

Saturday August 2nd, 9:30-10:45am

This session will summarize an analysis that explored various improvements in building energy efficiency and their potential to help the campus reach the Climate Action goals of the UC Policy on Sustainability. Emphasis of the session will include: building energy use as a portion of total GHG emissions, comparison of energy use within building types, and options to reach policy goals.


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Green Building Operations, Maintenance and Renovations Track

LEED™ EB Case Studies: Implementing Sustainable Practices through Project Documentation and Certification

Friday August 1st, 10:45-12:15pm

Documenting sustainable operations for LEED™ EB Certification elicits the expertise and involvement from numerous campus departments, off-campus professionals and building occupants. In this session three universities will present how the LEED™ EB teams were formulated, the relation of campus policies and procedures to the certification process and provide current certification status updates. UC Irvine involves a lab facility using LBL Labs 21 Benchmarking Tool to measure building energy performance. UCSC uses Monitor Based Commissioning for its Engineering 2 lab and research building while Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo is using a variety of methods to evaluate the predominately naturally ventilated office building. 


Innovative Approaches to Green Renovation Programs

Friday August 1st, 2-3:30pm

Each year, classrooms across all college campuses are renovated. By setting priorities, taking advantage of cost-effective techniques that are also sustainable, and using students to research greening of classroom renovations, the impact of these renovations has been reduced. Additionally, older resource intensive technologies or products are being replaced with more efficient products to make these classroom renovations more “green”. Two case studies from UC Berkeley and UCSF will clearly illustrate the innovative design strategies in green renovation for classrooms.


LEED™ CI: Updates in Campus Case Studies

Friday August 1st, 4:15-5:30pm

Under the UC Policy on Sustainable Practices, all UC renovation projects over $5 million in budget must achieve at least the equivalent of a LEED™ for Commercial Interiors (LEED™ CI) Certified rating. This session will present case studies of the initial green building progress of three of the first UC projects to use the LEED™ CI system.


LEED™ and USGBC Portfolio Program Update

Saturday August 2nd, 8-9:15am

The U.S. Green Building Council is transforming the LEED™ certification process to allow organizations with many buildings, like college/university campuses, to reduce the paperwork and cost of certification. UCSB, UCM, and CSULA are all involved in piloting these new approaches.


Researchers taking the LEED™ in Laboratory Sustainability

Saturday August 2nd, 9:30-10:45am

Faculty from the Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology will present on how they have implemented new practices into the research setting with resources from the UCLA Academic Sustainability Subcommittee and support from the Chancellor’s Facilities Management Team and the student-initiated Education for Sustainable Living Program which provided student researchers for revising their recycling policy.  LabRATS, a program recognized in SCIENCE magazine, will then present on their sustainability assessment program for laboratories and how they are helping to achieve LEED™ innovation points. 


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Institutionalizing Sustainability

Creating the Vision, Finding the Funds

Friday August 1st, 10:45-12:15pm

To engage the UCSD Foundation's Board of Trustees in the campus's sustainability vision, UCSD developed an inspiring presentation that has since also been given to the UC Regents and other audiences. Once you have a vision, you need the funds to realize it, and UCSD's Director of Constituent Relations will teach you "How to Work With Your Development Office to Support Campus Sustainability."


Chancellor's Sustainability Committees

Friday August 1st, 2-3:30pm

All UC campuses have Sustainability Committees comprised of members from across their campus communities to advise top administrators on campus sustainability issues. While each committee is dedicated to campus sustainability, they all have a slightly different focus based on their campus' priorities. Examples include budgeting processes, procurement, sustainability policy implementation review, and outreach and education. This panel provides a forum for other college campuses with Sustainability Committees to learn from the experience of others, while also providing guidance to those that are still forming committees.


Putting Policies into Practices

Friday August 1st, 4:15-5:30pm

The L.A. Community College District passed a groundbreaking green building and clean energy policy in 2002. UC and CSU followed with their own policy in 2003 and 2005, respectively. The administrators overseeing the implementation of the policy goals for each university system will give an overview of their respective implementation efforts. In addition, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors Energy and Sustainability Policy will be discussed.


Making Sustainability Part of Everyone's Job

Saturday August 2nd, 8-9:15am

Every staff and faculty member at each university has an opportunity and a responsibility to contribute to making their campus a successful living laboratory of sustainable practices. Come learn how three campuses are putting sustainability into all job descriptions, creating sustainability performance incentives, and training all staff regarding their role on a sustainable campus.


Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS): California Experiences

Saturday August 2nd, 9:30-10:45am

STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System), is a comprehensive, voluntary, self-administered campus sustainability performance measurement tool. STARS strives to translate disparate sustainability indicators into a single metric that will enable benchmarking within institutions as well as comparisons across campuses. In this interactive panel discussion, representatives from diverse California colleges and universities will share their experiences using the pilot version of STARS.


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Medical Centers, Nursing Programs and Student Health Facilities

Sustainability at UCSF Medical Center: Challenges and Achievements

Friday August 1st, 10:45-12:15pm

Medical centers pose unique challenges to sustainability. Hospitals have a large ecological footprint as well as strict regulations and compliance mandates. Learn how the UCSF Medical Center team is working towards a more sustainable hospital with green cleaners, purchasing, materials management, nursing and operations while continuing to provide superior patient care. Jack Henderson will join the panel to address how UCSF chooses sustainable produce and meats for its dining facility and will also discuss the challenges of composting in the kitchen.


Sustainable Design of Medical Centers

Friday August 1st, 2-3:30pm

This session will discuss challenges and solutions in sustainability in healthcare from
a nurse’s perspective. It will highlight current occupational and environmental health
exposures in the hospital environment, recent developments in this field and the
importance of institutional purchasing policies and capitol projects. The session will also
explore the development of the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay. It will demonstrate
the ways in which the center acknowledged the strong connections between human and
environmental health and how it combined a variety of operational standards in the design
process.


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Procurement

UC's Presidential Policy on Sustainable Practices: Purchasing Best Practices

Friday August 1st, 10:45-12:15pm

In 2007, Procurement was added to the UC's Presidential Policy on Sustainable Practices with guidelines on sustainable economy, energy and water use, recycled content and GreenSeal certified products, reduction of electronic hazardous waste, environmentally responsible packaging, effective recycling, supply chain environmental responsibility, and evaluating environmental claims. A panel of strategic sourcing and purchasing professionals will share how their campuses have interpreted and implemented the policy with successful results and how suppliers can play an important role.


Certifying the Certifiers

Friday August 1st, 10:45-12:15pm
Friday August 1st, 2-3:30pm

What’s in a name, or a “certifier?” for that matter? How do we make choices and assign value to all the levels of certification that exist in the sustainable marketplace? How do we know which certifiers can substantiate their claims? This panel of experts from the EPA, public and private organizations and the University of California supply chain will present and host a participative discussion on the relative merits of sustainability certifiers and their value in the marketplace.


Purchasing Laboratory Equipment

Friday August 1st, 4:15-5:30pm

LABS21 and The Laboratory Research and Technical Staff Program (LabRATS) will present on purchasing choices and how to make energy efficient purchasing decisions considering the high specialization and energy consumption of lab equipment and the rarity of third party certification in laboratories. The presenters will also discuss the recent launch of the LABS21 Wiki site highlighting energy efficient lab equipment and strategies for promoting reuse and surplus equipment exchange and how to implement these programs through a decentralized network of researchers.


Greening the Supply Chain

Saturday August 2nd, 9:30-10:45am

Cal Poly, SLO and UC Merced have incorporated sustainable purchasing practices and LEED™ guidelines into daily purchasing procedures that are easy to execute and manage for a variety of commodities on campus. They will share the University successes and how Contract & Procurement Services continues to provide viable and realistic ways to reduce the University’s carbon foot print and continue to “green” the supply chain. Cal Poly along with OfficeMax will present how by working together they have implemented a continuous proactive approach to greening office supplies.


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Social Equity and Green Economy

The Coming Wave of Green Collar Jobs

Friday August 1st, 4:15-6:00pm (note additional 1/2 hour for Q & A with Jerome Ringo)

We will discuss how to create more jobs and move people from low income to middle class jobs through training in sustainability. CSU Chico will be presenting on employment and training opportunities for tradesmen and contractors in the solar installation sector. There will also be a presentation from Laney College on their Environmental Technology Program, which prepares building technicians with the necessary skills to succeed in this rapidly growing field. The Ella Baker Center will connect us back to the national movement.


Sustainable Solutions for Low Income Communities

Saturday August 2nd, 8-9:15am

The Grub Project plants gardens in backgrounds and shares the food grown with nearby apartment complexes that don’t have land to grow their own food. Another CSU Chico project The Cause House, a home made into a living demonstration of social change, offers community based workshops on living sustainably geared for low income people. The last presenter will be Iris Peppard, coordinator of CSUMB’s Service Learning Institute's Soledad Street Community Garden and Green Team Job Training Program for the homeless.


Case Studies for an Equitable Future

Saturday August 2nd, 9:30-10:45am

Nancy Mary, will address how to train students to understand of the role of social work in sustainable economic and community development. We will also learn how Cal Poly Chocolates, an enterprise project of the university’s Food Science and Nutrition Department, has sold over $40,000 of fair trade chocolates in one year. In closing, Simcha Udwin will talk about how she developed a text book recycling program which effectively meets the needs of prison libraries while helping the campus reach zero waste.


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Student Affairs

Wheeled Migration

Friday August 1st, 10:45-12:15pm

The Wheeled Migration Bicycle Tour is a statewide cycling event supporting an alternative mode of transportation. The tour will link students and faculty from different communities at prearranged points along Highway 1, and culminate in a collective migration of participants and presenters to the UC/CSU/CCC Sustainability Conference in San Luis Obispo. The panel will illustrate how this ride was created. Discussion will then address the potential for growth by connecting schools and communities, and the ride’s relationship to sustainability.


Working for Sustainability thru a More Democratic Shared Governance Process

Friday August 1st, 2-3:30pm

This session will demonstrate an effective partnership between student and faculty governance structures and campus administration in motivating environmental action.  Santa Monica City College will present their new Associated Students Bylaws and recent appointments to the Board of Trustees’ Sub-Committees, lessons learned in engaging students and how keep them involved in these sub-committees and what the impact of new student energy and fresh perspectives on these sub-committees has meant for campus administration.


Student Driven, Student Fee-Supported Green Funds for Campus Sustainability

Friday August 1st, 4:15-5:30pm

Student leaders from UC Santa Barbara, Humboldt State, and UC Berkeley describe their successful efforts to create student driven, student fee supported grant-making funds for sustainability projects on their respective campuses. They will describe how to campaign for a student fee-supported sustainability fund, how to get the fund running after the campaign and why these funds are better than just the money.


Community Partnerships

Saturday August 2nd, 8-9:15am

(Crosses multiple tracks. See "Special Sessions."

Best Practices in Student Sustainability Programs

Saturday August 2nd, 9:30-10:45am

This session will include presentations from winners of the Energy Efficiency Partnership Best Practice Awards Competition for Best Student Sustainability Program. UC Berkeley will present on the Building Sustainability at Cal Program, which trains students to reduce the environmental footprint of campus buildings by educating building inhabitants and identifying structural and operational changes that can be made to the buildings. CSU Humboldt will present on their Center for Appropriate Technology. There will also be a CCC Award Winner presenting.


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Transportation

Collaborations between Higher Education and Regional Transportation

Friday August 1st 10:45am-12:15pm

Universities and colleges are important users of regional transportation, and can work with regional transportation agencies to mutual benefit by increasing transit rider ship and improving transit opportunities for the campus population. In this session, university and college staff will describe collaborative projects with regional transportation agencies and the resulting transportation successes. San Diego State University and UC Riverside will discuss the projects for which they won 2008 Sustainable Transportation Awards.

Measuring Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Campus Transportation

Friday August 1st, 2-3:30pm

The transportation sector is responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions and comprises a substantial component of total campus emissions. Accurate methods of measuring campus transportation emissions are essential for determining the campus baseline and documenting future reductions. This session explores methodologies used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions from campus transportation including campus fleets, commuting, and business air travel.

Vehicles and Fuels: Low Emissions Choices for Fleets

Friday August 1st, 4:15-5:30pm

Vehicle and fuel technologies are advancing rapidly, and new low-emission choices for vehicles and fuels are becoming more available. This session will overview current advanced fuel choices including biodiesel derived from campus-generated waste oil, and explore a variety of alternative fueled vehicles including hybrid buses.


What State Greenhouse Gas Regulation Means to College and University Transportation

Saturday August 2nd, 8-9:15am

Emerging state laws are shaping greenhouse gas regulation in California. This session discusses how the laws may affect California college and university transportation. The session will also highlight UC Irvine’s comprehensive program aimed at reducing vehicle emissions, vehicle trips and vehicle miles traveled on campus, for which they won a 2008 Sustainable Transportation Award.

Sustainable Transportation Elements in Campus Planning and Capital Projects

Saturday, August 2nd, 9:30-10:45am

This session will discuss advancing sustainable transportation efforts through the physical planning process, including integrating sustainable transportation into campus master plans, long range development plans, and project plans/budgets. The session will provide tips for helping sustainable transportation elements withstand value engineering, budget priority challenges, and campus competition for space.

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Waste Reduction and Recycling

Case Studies for Reaching Zero Waste

Friday August 1st, 10:45-12:15pm

The state of California and our campuses are increasing minimum diversion rates each year. The UC system has already set a goal of Zero Waste by 2020. From Cal Poly, we will hear about a student-managed printing enterprise on campus, which trains students to lead a changing industry into a sustainable direction and a surplus auction program which raises over $100,000 annually. From UCSB, we will hear about a comprehensive recycling program run by students, departmental staff and faculty which achieved an 88.76% waste diversion rate.


Innovative Construction and Demolition Initiatives

Friday August 1st, 4:15-5:30pm

UC Merced will address how to incorporate waste management practices into construction projects. UC Merced has successfully reached a diversion rate of 95% waste diversion on new construction projects. At UC Berkeley, staff worked together to diagram the process for moving, excess/salvage programs, and demolition work scope. Students worked with the project team to expedite the removal and reuse of building materials.


Best Practices in Innovative Waste Reduction

Saturday August 2nd, 8-9:15am

Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and a Community College will be presenting on their award winning innovative waste reduction programs. Dennis Elliot’s presentation will focus on their Integrated Waste Management Program. These awards are given out annually thanks to the generous sponsorship of the California Collegiate Recycling Council and the CCC/IOU Energy Efficiency Partnership.


Post-Consumer Composting; Campus and Community Led Examples

Saturday August 2nd, 9:30-10:45am

Learn about campuses who are taking the lead in recycling post-consumer materials from food waste to biodegradable dishware. The presentation will address both off-site composting where the local waste hauler is willing to accept post-consumer materials as well as examples of where the campus had to take the lead and implement their own way to process post-consumer materials. We will compare start-up costs and savings and hear about tangible examples of how the various options work on a day to day basis.


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Water

Best Practices in Water Efficiency and Site Water Quality

Friday August 1st, 2-3:30pm

Established in 2004, Best Practice Awards are designed to recognize campus groups who have demonstrated “best practices” in achieving the goals set by the Governor’s Green Building Action Plan, the State Energy Action Plan, and the California Public Utilities Commission. For 2007, in the category of Water Efficiency and Site Water Quality Best Practice Award, San Diego State University will present on their CalSense Irrigation system and UC Irvine will present on their water efficiency project. A Community College Campus will also present on their award winning project.


Mapping Your Route to a Sustainable Landscape without Pesticide Risk

Saturday August 2nd, 8-9:15am

As California’s population continues to grow, high demand for fresh water and pesticide use will only accelerate the water shortage problem. UC Santa Barbara will be presenting their methodology of curbing pesticide use which involves color-coded maps to evaluate sites, reduce risk, and plan for long-term sustainability. Their presentation will also include the benefits of native plant communities and the steps essential for creating these communities, such as: planning the site, removing invasive plants, restoring site soils, purchasing the native plant material, planting, irrigation, and mulches and amendments.


Case Studies in Water Management and Collection

Saturday August 2nd, 9:30-10:45am

San Francisco State University will present on their landscape water resources master plan, which looked at options for eliminating use of domestic water while maintaining the aesthetic values of a high profile public landscape. CSU Monterrey Bay will be presenting how similar climates have enhanced water supplies by harvesting fog drip and how this might be applied. Several senior student capstone projects at CSUMB have looked at various aspects of water collection from fog and they are in the process of setting up longer-term experiments.


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Renewable Energy Institute
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
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