Energy bills in the millions combined with idealistic environmentalism are forcing campuses to become laboratories of new conservation tactics.
By Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler, Times Staff Writer
Published June 15, 2006
GAINESVILLE — The building that houses the University of Florida’s school of construction uses half the energy of most buildings its size.
The urinals are waterless and rainwater flushes the toilets. Classrooms have sensors that make the lights go dark when the last person walks out.
When workers finished Rinker Hall three years ago, it was considered revolutionary: The first building in Florida to receive a gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
Today, such energy-efficient construction is the norm at UF, where President Bernard Machen is making sustainability and energy conservation a priority.
All newly purchased university cars must be hybrids or operate on alternative fuel. UF works with environmentally conscious vendors, like food suppliers who use recycled packaging. In winter, the thermostat is set to a chilly 68. In summer, it sits at a balmy 78.
By 2015, Machen wants UF to produce zero solid waste. That’s no small feat at a university that is larger than many cities.
In part, this emphasis on conservation is a bow to Mother Nature. But it also is the product of ballooning energy bills at Florida universities, where annual utility costs are approaching the stratosphere.
The University of South Florida is looking at a power bill as high as $20-million — $5-million more than last year.
The University of Central Florida expects to surpass its utility budget this year by at least $3-million.
Little surprise, then, that USF is requiring more energy efficiency. And UCF is considering converting its entire vehicle fleet to alternative fuels.
Suddenly, environmentalism is a bargain.
“We’ve already been doing some of these things, but there hasn’t been a big emphasis until it hits you in the pocketbook,” says David Norvell, energy manager at UCF. “Then it becomes a priority.”
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The nation’s 4,000 colleges and universities have a combined annual operating budget of $300-billion, or almost 3 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, according to Second Nature, a Cambridge, Mass.-based firm that promotes sustainability in higher education.
That means they have the power to affect demand for environmentally-friendly products, helping companies who produce such things to survive, says Anthony Cortese, Second Nature’s CEO.
Universities also are filled with creative, smart, enterprising people who graduate and apply their ideas throughout society.
“We can bring a whole life change to this community,” Machen says. “And then they’re going to take it with them when they leave.”
Several years ago, conservation at UF was a scattered effort. Reclaimed water sprinkled the grounds and free student bus passes discouraged cars. University police drove a few hybrid cars. The school of construction began offering a graduate-level concentration in sustainable building.
Then came Machen and his wife, Chris, a devoted recycler who longs for a large organic supermarket in town. They brought new emphasis to the idea of a sustainable campus, and President Machen vowed to implement changes that had been proposed years earlier.
“I said, 'Bernie, we’ve got to get moving on this,’ ” says Chris Machen, a vocal supporter of UF’s greening efforts.
“All people needed was the top person to say, we’re going to do this.”
President Machen created the Office of Sustainability to coordinate UF’s many efforts. Since then, “it’s been like a snowball going down hill,” he says.
There are plans to start a “flex vehicle” program in which employees share university cars rather than drive their own. The president’s home, built in 1953, will be renovated into a model for “green” living. UF is working to better incorporate the tenets of sustainability into its curriculum. And officials hope to offset carbon dioxide emissions through more plantings and other measures.
“People are so passionate about this, and it’s not even just economic,” says Chris Machen. “It’s: 'This is the right thing to do. Why aren’t we doing more?’ ”
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Other Florida universities are moving in UF’s direction. Economics demand it.
The state is having to kick in almost $21-million this year to offset some of the university system’s rising utility costs. Those budget-busters are a major reason Florida State University, Florida Atlantic University, USF and the University of North Florida are conserving far more than in the past.Last month, UCF became the latest school to commit to the push.From a distance, the sunflowers and honeysuckles blanketing the roof of UCF’s student center look purely cosmetic, a nice landscaping touch.
But all those plants, paid for with a $340,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection, help insulate the building. They reduce stormwater runoff and will extend the life of the roof by more than 20 years.
When UCF planted the “green roof” last spring, it became the first university in Florida to do so.
Mark Freeman, a graduate student majoring in environmental politics, sees the roof as a sign that UCF is trying to balance its explosive growth with environmental needs.
“It’s innovative. It’s a step in the right direction,” says Freeman, 25, of Vero Beach. “We have all these great minds, and it’s good to see them help the university by making it more sustainable and environmentally-friendly.”
Mark Hostetler, an associate UF professor of wildlife ecology, sits on the task force working to eliminate UF’s production of solid waste.
He sees both promise and challenges ahead.
It’s easier to stick to old habits, and some sustainable efforts like construction or hybrid cars cost more up-front. Universities like UF, UCF and USF are huge bureaucracies, so changing policies for construction and vendor contracts is no small feat.
But slowly, things are changing.
“Think about it,’’ Hostetler says. “Thirty years ago, nobody was recycling. Now in Gainesville, if you don’t recycle, they look at you funny.”
Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at (813) 226-3403 or svansickler@sptimes.com.
