Spring Newsletter Volume I, Issue II
Inside this issue:
Hydration Stations
2
TGIF Projects in the News
2
Wurster Hall Sub-metering
3
Custodial Communications
4
TGIF by the Numbers
5
“End the Cycle”
6
Berkeley Student Food Collective
7
Announcements
8
Springing into Green Action
10
Real-time water metering in campus buildings: Making “blue” part of a green initiative! by Lindsay Miller We have ordered all of the water meter parts and electronic components in order to connect Stanley, University, MLK, Latimer, Koshland, Minor Addition, Dwinelle, LeConte, McCone, Tan, and Life Sciences Addition to the online water use monitoring system (called Obvius). Stanley’s water use data is online now and just needs final configuration to allow
TGIF Project Spotlight: Water Metering & Conservation
units of water use to show up in gallons instead of “pulses” (see graphs). We are working closely with Physical Plant Campus Services (PPCS) to coordinate the installation and connection of all this equipment. Within months, the campus community will be able to view the real-time water use data all of the above buildings on the Obvius system. A thorough audit was completed on all of the toilets and urinals in Wurster Hall to determine how many gallons of water go down the drain with every flush. Results of this audit allowed us to identify the
most wasteful fixtures, 10 of which will be replaced with high-efficiency fixtures in the coming months. We found that 72% of toilets
and 69% of urinals use more water than their rated 1.6 gallons per flush (see pie chart). Additionally, a (continued on pg. 2)
Page 2
V olume 1, I ssue 2
TGIF Project Spotlight: Hydration Station Installation New Water Bottle Refill Station and Building Design Guidelines for Hydration Stations in Action by Mariah Gonzalez, I Heart Tap Water Intern A few drops can turn into a steady stream. One 2010 TGIF grant, funding the development of the Design
Guidelines for Installation of Hydration Stations in Existing Buildings and the installation of a refill station in Dwinelle, has sparked an expansion of more refill stations being installed. In addition to Dwinelle, Wurster and Haas have new bottle refill stations, where the
departments independently elected to add refill stations. Students couldn’t be happier – even when waiting in line – to fill their bottles with tap water from these new, state-ofthe-art, sanitary, no-touch, sensor activation filling stations. The refill stations even have a ticker estimat-
ing the number of bottles saved from the landfill. Capital Projects managed this TGIF grant, working with the Division of the State Architect to obtain specific approvals for installation requirements, as well as ensuring compliance with all the necessary codes (continued on pg. 5)
TGIF Projects In The News Berkeley Student Food Collective
Hydration Stations & I Heart Tap Water
BicyCal
Strawberry Creek Restoration Leadership Program
Human Powered Gym
UC Botanical Garden Compost Tea Project
Water Metering & Conservation (continued from pg.1) significant percentage of fixtures flushed as many as 4 gallons with every flush, and several flushed up to 6 gallons per flush. These findings indicate a serious need to improve the efficiency of water use. Over spring break, 6 sub-meters will be installed in Wurster Hall in, for example, the towers, studios, and Ramona’s café. After the meters are installed it will be possible to know details about how water gets consumed once it comes into the building and this information can be used for research purposes as well as for
conservation and assessing the performance of building retrofits.
Stay tuned for when all of this data becomes available online!
Water Metering was awarded TGIF grants of $56,000 and $58,600 in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
V olume 1, I ssue 2
Page 3
TGIF Project Spotlight: Wurster Hall Sub-Metering
By Eli Perszyk The Wurster Hall submeter project has recently come into effect with the installation of the electrical sub-meters finishing up in December 2010. This TGIF funded project is designed to track the electrical load of the
ventilation and heating equipment, Ramona’s CafÊ, the Ceramics kilns, and the plug loads on studio floors 4-9 of Wurster Hall. Wurster Hall is home to the College of Environmental Design, where there is extensive academic interest from students and faculty in learning about how much
energy is being used by the facility. Wurster Hall has gone through a campus sponsored energy efficiency project through the Strategic Energy Partnership, and was also the first building on campus to have the water meter connected to the campus realtime metering website.
The purpose of the electrical sub-metering project is to provide information to students about how much power is being used by different areas of the building. It is important to make this complicated information easy to understand for the general public, and give students (continued on pg. 4)
Page 4
V olume 1, I ssue 2
TGIF Project Spotlight: Custodial Communications Currently in six campus buildings, the Custodial Communications Project aims to bridge the communication gap between custodians and building occupants. Student interns have met with custodians as well as building managers to discuss sustainability-related issues, including waste diversion and green projects. To create a more sustainable building community, custodians offered suggestions to building occupants that will be incor-
porated into a "Meet your Custodians" flier. For example, if a building occupant puts a full coffee cup Custodian appreciation events will be held in March in the recycling bin, the custodian is unable to recycle. The suggestion box simply serves as a reminder
that cooperation and support from all parties, custodians and building occupants, are integral to attain the campus's rigorous sustainability goals. Innovative Design, a student group, designed fliers with mini-biographies and photos of the buildings' custodians as well as their suggestions to building occupants. The fliers will be displayed in participating buildings in March. The project promotes the creation of a
building community, in which participation and support from all parties regarding such issues as sustainability are integral. Custodian appreciation events will be held in March as well. Students that have worked with custodians on sustainability related projects or simply want to show their appreciation are welcome to attend. Email alisonamberg@berkeley.ed u for more information. by Alison Amberg
Wurster Hall (continued from pg.3) that want to do research lots of data to work with. The sub-meter information is also being used to support the TGIF Dashboard project, which installed an informational display in the Wurster lobby. With the expert help of Facilities Assistant and Architecture grad student Sean Flanagan, we were able to produce a graph displaying the January 2011 electricity in Wurster Hall and put it up in the Dashboard display. In this highly visible location, the hope is people passing by will learn about the electricity load and how the use of the facilities impacts electrical demand. This display will continue to be
developed as part of the project and we welcome any feedback people have about how to display the information in an easy to understand format. The other purpose of the sub-meters is to enable tracking of efficiency savings when for example the ventilation fan speeds are changed. The meters can also help Facilities Services understand if equipment is deviating from its operating schedule. Next steps in the project include evaluating some additional locations for sub-meters, in particular looking to capture the lighting load in the building.
YOUTUBE VIDEO As part of its 2010 TGIF Grant Award, the Office of Sustainability created a multimedia project for Talking Louder About Sustainability, called “UC Bee Sustainable”. Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability CACS Green Fund Grants -Deadline April 5th, 5pm Sustainability Award Nominations -Deadline April 5th, 5pm CACS Spring Activities
Page 5
V olume 1, I ssue 2
Hydration Stations (continued from pg.2) (plumbing codes, building codes, ADA guidelines, etc.). The lessons learned from this bottle refill installation project are that buildings on campus are all unique, have their own set of challenges, and in-
stallation costs tend to rise with more challenges. When it came to the installation in Dwinelle, the process was not as straight forward as it would seem. The water had to be turned off for the entire building, as opposed to just the limited area of the installation. In Wurtser, because the water fountain set-up before the installation of a refill station was a match to the Design Guidelines, the installation went a lot smoother. All the work and challenges that were encountered with these experiences will help future plans for installing
refill stations around campus. The I Heart Tap Water campaign, also funded by TGIF, is now working on promoting the locations of the new refill stations with Google maps. There are several departments working collaboratively on the I Heart Tap Water campaign, encouraging drinking tap water rather than sugary beverages and as a more sustainable option than single-use plastic water bottles. The refill stations make it that much easier to be a little healthier and a lot more sustainable.
See the campus map for details on the locations of new bottle refill stations.
Introducing ECO: Environmental Clubs & Organizations Environmental Clubs and Organizations (ECO), previously called B-GAIA, is a coalition on campus focused on improving communication and facilitating collaboration among the student sustainability groups at Cal. By forming a student network, the student sustainability community at Cal will have the resources and tools available to expand their efforts and more effectively promote sustainability across the UC Berkeley campus. ECO has two main aspects: the first is hosting a monthly public forum and the second is an online presence and network for the leaders of the student groups. Our mission is to increase overall student sustainability awareness at Cal. We do this by helping to maximize the potential of the student sustainability groups at Cal and by educating students about sustainability. Find us on Facebook: ECO Berkeley. Follow us on Twitter: @ECOBerk. Check out other student environmental organizations at UC Berkeley.
TGIF by the Numbers
TGIF received a total of 43 abstract proposals for the 2011 TGIF grants cycle.
The grand total requested by all 43 abstracts was $1,077,124.70, showing the strong interest in campus sustainability.
Of the 43 proposals, TGIF invited 24 projects to Stage 2, to submit a Final Application by April 1st.
The name “The Green Initiative Fund” was first coined by UC Santa Barbara in 2006. TGIF programs also exist at UC Irvine, UCLA, and UC San Diego.
UC students have contributed well over $2 million to campus sustainability projects: (Total=$2,244,766) UC Berkeley: $708,865
UC Irvine: $76,122
UCLA: $670,257
UCSB: $717,891
UCSD:$71,631
V olume 1, I ssue 2
Page 6
TGIF Project Spotlight: “End the Cycle” Sustainable Laundry Campaign WASHING MACHINES: Maytag Neptune High-Efficiency Washer - Model #: MAH21PDAWW Factory preset hot cycle average, hot water: 4.1 gallons = 15,520.14 cubic cm Incoming water temperature = 60°F = 60 + 273 = 333°Kelvin Heat to 125°F; 125 + 273 = 398°Kelvin Difference = 398 – 333 °K = 65°K Specific heat of water = 4.186 J / (cm^3)( °K) (4.186)(15,520.14)(65) = 4,222,874 J = 4002.5126 btu = 0.040027 therms / hot cycle Average age of water heater in residential halls is 10 years: efficiency factor = 0.5 0.040027 / (0.5) = 0.080054 therms extra / hot water cycle According to PG&E, producing 1 therm of natural gas emits 13.446 pounds of CO2: 0.080054 (13.446) = 1.0764 lbs CO2 / load
In 2010, “End the Cycle” was awarded a $3,100 TGIF grant to implement a sustainable laundry education campaign in UC Berkeley residences. According to the team’s surveys, 86.53% of campus loads are NOT done with the coldest setting (bright colors). Based on the team’s calculations, if this percentage of loads were switched to washing on the bright colors setting, the campus could significantly save both water , energy, and money.
Residential Halls: Approximately 6600 students for the school year (8 months), one load / week: (6,600 students) (8 months) (4.27 weeks / month) (1 load / week) = 225,456 loads / school year (225,456)(.8653)(1.0764) = 209,992.916 lbs CO2/yr avoided if all non-coldest setting now coldest setting If we reach our target of 50% of the not-coldest-setting loads now washed in the coldest setting: (224,456)(.8653)(0.5)(0.080054) = 7,774.115 therms = $7,774.12 savings (224,456)(.8653)(0.5)(1.0764) = 104,540.16 lbs CO2/yr avoided Data and calculations And, now that we know kWh usage depending on setting (Normal, perm press, delicate): 100 – 2.86% = 97.14% do not use the lowest energy setting (delicate) 0.0847 kWh/cycle – 0.0672 kWh/cycle = 0.0175 kWh/cycle saved if Delicate, not Normal If we reach our target of 50% non-delicate loads now washed in delicate setting: (225,456)(.9714)(0.5)(0.0175) = 1,916.3 kWh = $191.63 savings (225,456)(.9714)(0.5)(0.0175)(0.524 lbs CO2/kWh) = 1,004.15 lbs CO2/yr avoided Family Student Housing: If we assume each of the 1043 families living in family student housing do 3 loads / week, campus pays $1.00 / therm of natural gas, and 50% of non-coldest setting loads now use the coldest setting: (1043)(3)(8)(4.27) = 106,887 loads total / school year If we reach our target of 50% of the not-coldest-setting loads now washed in coldest setting: (106,887)(.8653)(.5)(0.080054) = 3,702.07 therms = $3,702.07 savings (106,887)(.8653)(.5)(1.0764) = 49,777.75 lbs CO2/yr avoided If we reach our target of 50% non-delicate loads now washed in delicate setting: (106,887)(.9714)(0.5)(0.0175) = 908.51 kWh = $90.85 savings (106,887)(.9714)(0.5)(0.0175)(0.524 lbs CO2/kWh) = 476.06 lbs CO2/yr avoided
provided by Kimberly Lam and Green Campus
TOTAL Using the COLD setting: 11,476 therms avoided = $11,147.60 savings from heating = 154,318 lbs CO2 avoided Using the Delicate (COLD) setting: 2,824.81 kWh avoided = $282.48 savings from electricity = 1,480 lbs CO2 avoided GRAND TOTAL (Res Halls + Family Housing, Therms + kWH): $11,430 savings / year 155,798 lbs CO2/year avoided
Page 7
V olume 1, I ssue 2
TGIF Project Update: Berkeley Student Food Collective
AASHE Student Diary Series: The Opening of a Sustainable Food Storefront
TV Spot on CalTV
Sales have significantly increased (nearly doubled) since we reopened for the spring semester. We've been able to lower the prices on our grocery items due to the increase in sales.
We've started preparing sandwiches to sell in the storefront and expanded our selection of grab-and-go items. In addition to tracking our weekly sales, we have begun tracking our sales in two hour increments to learn more about our peak times and which items are most profitable.
Sales
$ Produce
$ 1897.35
3680.87
398.5
895.61
1294.11
Grab & Go
2477.68
4374.23
6851.91
Grocery
1794.47
2688.48
4482.95
Refrigerated
609.62
1450.91
2060.53
Bulk
1247.3
1448.6
2695.90
Household Items
177.59
108.15
285.74
Health & Beauty
0
137.56
137.56
Bottle Fees
30.28
59.55
89.83
Bread
130.2
149.93
280.13
Bulk bags
280.2
1394.6
1674.8
Self Serve
270.32
418.95
689.27
-0.1
-0,05
-0.15
-234.88
286/85
-521.73
0
-34.71
-34.71
Sales Tax
42.57
12.24
54.81
$12.62
36.72
0
36.72
10436.67
14765.06
25201.73
5.12
5.37
5.24
10416.02
9201.93
19617.9
POS Credit
21.75
5572.89
5594.64
Total Transactions
2038
2762
4800
Bakery
The 2nd Annual Harvest Gala held in November raised $5,000.
The Collective runs a 35 student DeCal. In addition to guest lectures, discussions, and weekly readings, the students undertake semester long projects that will be featured in our storefront.
Member Discount
Future: ExpoWest, to be held in March in Southern California, is one of the largest natural foods expos and organic product trade shows. It will be a great networking and marketing opportunity to talk to people about our store, build relationships with potential suppliers, and find new items for the store.
Total Sales
Figures and content provided by Kaela Colwell, BSFC Finance Director.
$
TOTAL
1783.52
11/15/10-12/20/10 1/17/11-2/20/11
Bag Discount
Order Discount
Average Transaction Size POS Cash
Berkeley Student Food Collective Location: 2440 Bancroft Way Hours: M-F, 9am-7pm
V olume 1, I ssue 2
Page 8
ANNOUNCEMENTS STeam EARTH WEEK - April 18-22, 2011 The ASUC Sustainability Team (STeam) is proud to sponsor and organize UC Berkeley's Earth Week festival. Earth Week is an annual event that takes place during the week of Earth Day, April 22nd. It is one week jam-packed with a variety of events focusing on what it means to Go Green. From engaging in discussions on ecological issues to learning about innovative ways to implement a sustainable lifestyle, STeam seeks to bring environmental awareness to the public in hopes of inspiring change. The STeam Earth Week committee invites you to join us in appreciation and celebration of our natural environment and beloved planet Earth! Check out our website for more information: STeamEarthWeek.blogspot.com Peace, Love, & Go Green, STeam Earth Week Coordinators Michelle Lowe Michelle Choi
STeam Earth Week Project Leaders Christina Albrecht Ritu Garg Kaya Allan Sugerman
Questions or comments email: STeamEarthWeek@gmail.com
ATTENTION: 2010 CACS Grant and Intern funding recipients Please note that your grant and internship funding agreements include creating a poster of the project/work for display at the upcoming Sustainability Summit on April 19th. In addition to creating the poster, we certainly hope that you can attend the Summit, as well as be available from 9:30am to 10:30am for the poster session. For more summit information, visit the Summit website.
SAVE THE DATE: APRIL 19, 2011 CACS Sustainability Summit Featuring Keynote Speaker, Dr. Peter H. Gleick
The Human Powered Gym team...
*The CACS Summit Poster is due April 5, 2011.*
is in need of EECS majors or anyone with heavy electrical engineering background. Please contact Maha Haji at mhaji@berkeley.edu.
Please send both the report and poster artwork to Sarah Bae. If you have questions or concerns, feel free to contact Sara or CACS Co-Chairs Claire Evans and Kira Stoll.
In 2010, HPG was awarded a $15,000 TGIF grant to harness the human-generated energy in the RSF. HPG will do so by retrofitting ellipticals and stationary bicycles.
Page 9
V olume 1, I ssue 2
ANNOUNCEMENTS Open Shop Hours
Location: Lower Sproul, next to the Art Studio Hours: MWF, 11am-2pm
UC Botanical Garden will be hosting drop-in compost and vermicompost tea brewing demonstrations during National Public Garden Day, Friday, May 6, 2011 . Questions? Contact Anthony Garza at garzajr@berkeley.edu or visit the UCBG website.
Call for Proposals!
2011 AASHE Conference: Creating Sustainable Campuses and Communities October 9-12, 2011 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania Call for abstract submissions, due March 16, 2011 2011 California Higher Education Sustainability Conference July 10-13, 2011 at CSU, Long Beach Call for abstract submissions, due April 4, 2011 by 5pm
Farm Fresh to You is Offering UC Berkeley Students, Staff, and Faculty 20% off their First Deliveries Are you interested in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)? Farm Fresh to You is a local sustainable - organic farm which delivers boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables straight from their farm to your home, apartment, dorm, or office on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. Through an online registration form, Farm Fresh to You also lets you choose what types of seasonal fruits and vegetables you receive in your box. During PLAYgreen, the Farm was giving a 20% discount to new customers, and has chosen to extend this discount to all Berkeley students, staff, faculty and alumni. Simply place an order through the website using promo code 482. This is a great way to support a local organic family farm and save money. If you are ordering from a residence hall, please be as specific as possible to ensure proper delivery. (Use the same address you would for a regular package.) Questions? Call the Customer Service Care Team at 1-800-796-6009.
The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) is a grant-making fund for sustainability projects on UC Berkeley's campus. About $250,000 per year are available for grants; students, faculty, and staff are eligible to submit project proposals. Projects will be selected for funding by an annually appointed Grant-Making Committee consisting of students, faculty, and staff, in which students have the majority vote.
Katherine Walsh Grants Coordinator kwalsh@berkeley.edu 510-643-2992
TGIF is funded by a $5 per semester student fee, beginning in fall 2007 and persisting for 10 years. The fee referendum was approved by the student body during the April 2007 ASUC elections. It received final approval by the Chancellor and Regents during the summer. In Fall 2010, the fee was raised to $5.50 as required by the referendum.
We’re on the web! http://asuc.berkeley.edu/tgif Twitter @TGIF_UCB Facebook Page “The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF)”
University of California, Berkeley 400 Eshleman Hall #4500 Berkeley, CA 94720-4500 tgif_info@berkeley.edu
2010-2011 TGIF Committee VOTING MEMBERS
NON-VOTING MEMBERS
Administration: Greg Haet ASUC: Elizabeth Heredia CACS: Courtney McDonald Facilities Services: Sara Shirazi Faculty: TBD Graduate Assembly: Damian Bickett Back Page Story Headline Student-at-Large Rep: Varun Pande
Committee on Student Fees: Rachel Tenney Ex-Officio: Judy Chess Office of Sustainability: Lisa McNeilly TGIF: Katherine Walsh
UC Berkeley is “Springing” into Green Action March 16th, 12pm: CACS Live It, Learn It Event, “GoodGuide-Consumers and Sustainability with Dara O’Rourke”, Dwinelle 370 April 1st, 5pm: Deadline for 2011 TGIF Grant Applications April 5th, 5pm: Deadline for CACS’s Green Fund Grant Applications April 5th, 5pm: Deadline for CACS Sustainability Award Nominations
April 18th-22nd: Earth Week, brought to you by ASUC’s STeam April 19th: CACS Sustainability Summit April 22nd: Earth Day May 2nd: Announcement of 2011 TGIF Grant Winners May 5/6th: Training for 2011 TGIF Grant Winners July 10th-13th: California Higher Education Sustainability Summit at CSU, Long Beach