Green plan to start in fall 2009
Syracuse University signed the President’s Climate Commitment in 2007, agreeing to lower its carbon footprint and become carbon neutral by 2050.
The PCC Steering Committee at SU expects to issue a plan for reducing carbon pollution by Sept. 15, the federally assigned date, said Mitch Wallerstein, steering committee chair and dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
The university is now in the process of putting together its plan. Early models suggest it will encompass four different components and methods for lowering carbon emissions, said Tim Sweet, director of energy and computing management.
While Sweet declined to provide exact figures for the cost of the program, he said it could cost between $20-80 million.
The committee has already made some progress. But reports show that in recent years, SU has actually increased its energy usage, and the costs of lowering the institution’s carbon emissions could prove expensive and lengthy.
The university’s plan
Sweet is currently working with a four-part model. Each of these initiatives could drastically help lower energy reduction. But the exact make-up of the plan is still in development. The university still has to decide what percentage of the four will be included in the final plan.
‘We need to work through and see what the best balance is,’ Sweet said.
* Behavioral changes – The university, through curriculum changes and outreach programs, will try to change the habits of its employees and students. This could be as simple as riding bikes instead of driving, or turning off lights when leaving class and dorm rooms.
* Conservation – The committee hopes to implement building projects to conserve energy, although Sweet said he could not provide details on individual efforts. Sweet is considering installing high-efficient light and different motors.
* Renewable fuels – New renewable power sources like solar and wind could prove valuable. But right now, the university lacks the funds to invest in the expensive technology.
* Purchasing ‘recs and offsets’ – SU would provide financial assistance to renewable energy plants, offsetting the price of fuel. By encouraging the construction of these plants and the greater use of renewable fuels, the costs of renewable power would fall and make it affordable. But Sweet said this part of the plan may prove difficult to develop.
Under Sweet’s model, the university could be carbon neutral in the 2040s. But Sweet could not provide an exact year.
Sweet said it was crucial to proceed slowly, because if the university acts aggressively and sets an early date for carbon neutrality, it could cost more.
‘Obviously if you say we’re going to be carbon neutral by 2010, we’re going to spend a whole bunch of money getting there and … the university can not afford to do that that quickly,’ Sweet said. ‘So we have to balance this against the cost of running a university. So we’ll be picking a year to be carbon neutral-based without breaking the budget of the university.’
Past actions and success
The university completed a comprehensive inventory of greenhouses gas emissions on campus last September, according to a document provided by Sweet.
SU already uses 20 percent green power for electrical needs, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Web site.
The university also created an awareness committee to help more members of the faculty and staff to join the progress.
‘Human resources has come up with a flexible work arrangement, so that people can work from home one day a week, which will help lower our carbon emissions here on campus or they can work four 10-hour days,’ said Melissa Cadwell, marketing manager for SU Energy and Computing Management.
Green days, when employees have off work, take place over Winter Break, Cadwell said. That reduces carbon emissions, because fewer cars drive through campus on those days.
Further complications
Despite the moves taken toward the PCC, SU used more energy from June 2007 to last July, compared to years past, university officials said.
During that time, SU added new buildings, including Newhouse 3 and the Life Sciences Complex. The university also expanded the hours of Bird Library and accepted more students to campus, said Steve Lloyd, SU’s chief sustainability officer.
The extra space and additional students meant SU used nearly 3 million more kilowatt-hours than the year before, a 2.6 percent increase in energy usage.
The Life Sciences building is one that uses a lot of energy, because it runs on a 100 percent outside-air heating and ventilating system, Lloyd said.
Another problem for achieving carbon neutrality is that carbon-free technology is still rare, and the technology that does exist is still very expensive.
‘The bottom line is technology has not been invented to be carbon neutral today. There’s nothing we can truly do to be carbon neutral tomorrow, because nobody has invented that,’ Sweet said.
‘It’s a guessing game when technology will become available or become financially viable,’ he said.
The future impact
Sweet said he sees no reasons why the university can’t hit the Sept. 15 start date.
‘It’s just the matter of doing this in a fiscally sound manner, because at the same time, people don’t want to see tuition going up 10 percent. So that’s the balancing game,’ Sweet said. ‘We have to do this in such a way that we don’t drive ourselves out of business or raise tuition where it breaks the bank. It’s certainly a challenge.’
But Sweet said the university can’t look at the short-term costs of the program. Even under Sweet’s conservative estimates, the program will prove financially viable for the institution and any investment would be paid back within 15 to 20 years.
‘The models that I have show me that if we go out in 15 years, the university is spending significantly less than they’re spending now,’ Sweet said. ‘Any expense the university spends now will come back to them ten-fold in the future, and that is the most exciting thing we’ve been able to prove with this model.’
Published on April 22, 2009 at 12:00 pm
