Walking by UMD's observation deck to the on-campus ice rink, you may have one question- where's the ice? UMD is replacing the Olympic-sized (100'x200') ice rink floor and the cooling system underneath which keeps the ice frozen.  (Not familiar with campus? This is the rink located in the Sports and Health Center). The old rink floor was made of steel pipe embedded in concrete and coils filled with hydrochlorofluorocarbons, a refrigerant otherwise known as R-22. The new system will have fusion-welded poly pipe in a new concrete slab. Waste heat from chiller compressors heat glycol that circulates in the floor heating system, which helps to prevent permafrost. This will stop future cracking and breaking of the concrete slab due to permafrost heaving in subsurface soils.

The new system will eliminate use of R-22 in the rink floor. While R-22 is still needed in some parts of operation, the total amount used is reduced by 89%. The in floor system will run glycol instead of R-22, which is a powerful greenhouse gas that is accounted for in UMD's carbon footprint calculation. 

Project Benefits:

•       Prevents future permafrost damage to concrete slab

•       Improves rink operating efficiency

•       Reduces greenhouse gas emissions

Sigg ^©, Klean Kanteen^©, Nalgene^©- all of these brands of water bottles and more can be seen in the halls of UMD any given day. Have you made your New Year's Resolution yet? If not, make it be to carry your own water bottle!  We hear all the time about the disadvantages of bottled water, but sometimes that's just not enough to convince us to grab a trusty bottle and fill it up throughout the day.

Americans are the largest users of water- we use up to 150 gallons in just one day. Doesn't seem like much? The British use a quarter of what we do, only 40 gallons; the Chinese, 22. Those in third world countries, for instance Kenya, don't use the minimum 13 gallons a day to satisfy basic needs.

"Water is overtaking oil as our scarcest natural resource in the world," said Steven Solomon, author of the new book ‘Water: The Epic Struggle For Wealth, Power, and Civilization.' "And even we're going to find, in the United States as well."

It takes more than 3 liters of water to produce just 1 liter of bottled water. Avoiding bottled water is also results in savings of oil and energy usage. Of course, there will always be those days when you might forget and have to buy a bottle. In this event, just remember to recycle! More than 80% of plastic bottles end up in the landfill or an incinerator.

A reusable bottle is a cheaper investment than buying a new water bottle every day, and won't take up that much space in your backpack. You can fill it up at any water fountain on campus, or at a water spigot for more convenience. You will find spigots on fountains near ITSS, near the Kirby Lounge, and in the Med School.

Even if you already have a plan to ditch extra pounds, this resolution will help reduce the pounds sent to landfills and incinerators.  Good for you, good for the earth. Grab a reusable bottle today!

Sources: CBS Evening News, America's Dwindling Water Supply; USA Today, Breaking the Bottled Water Habit

What would a sustainable dorm look like if money were no object?  Students in Dr. Andrea Schokker’s Fall 2009 Introduction to Civil Engineering (CE 1025) were charged to find out.   

The UMD Sustainable Dorm Project tasked students to design and model a LEED Platinum dorm.  Students addressed issues in the following categories:

•             Sustainable Sites: minimizing impacts to land and water

•             Water Efficiency:  reducing water use

•             Energy:  promoting energy efficiency and clean energy

•             Materials and Resources: selecting regional, recycled, products

•             Indoor Environmental Quality: air quality, daylight and views

Students marketed their research by presenting posters for each green building category. Their sustainable dorm ideas were presented to the campus community on December 15, 2009. 

Please join your fellow staff and faculty in reducing utility expenses and helping the environment over winter break.  Before leaving campus, please take a few simple steps to help minimize consumption of energy:

*  Turn off all lights and office equipment.

*  Power down your computer, monitor, speakers, and printer.

*  Unplug unnecessary appliances, including cell phone and other electronic device chargers.

*  Close and lock windows to minimize heating losses.

*  If you have access to it, lower your thermostat to 60 degrees.

*  Ensure all fume hoods are closed and turn off research equipment, where possible.

UMD is home to over 12,500 people each day. That's a lot of people and space to maintain at a comfortable temperature. With the start of another Duluth winter, it is more important than ever for campus users to be on the lookout for ways to help UMD save energy and reduce our shared carbon footprint.

Scott Miller, a Financial Aid and Registrar Counselor, sent the Sustainability Office a question this fall regarding a thermostat setting which he thought was too high. The thermostat in question was set in an entryway in between an interior and exterior door, and read about 70 degrees. Sustainability office staff contacted the Building Systems Automation Center (BSAC) office to ask about it.

Ed Allan from Facilities Management set out to take a look at this thermostat and explain the issue: although the temperature reading said 70 degrees, the reading on the thermometer had nothing to do with the heater- it only controlled the fan. Ed's explanation was:

"There is a thermostat in this entry between the interior and exterior doors. The thermostat controls the fan motor inside the cabinet unit heater which is located on the same wall as the thermostat. There is not an automatic control valve inside of this cabinet unit heater, so the unit will give off heat even when the fan is not running."

Since the manual valve was closed, the unit was not actually giving off heat, although the thermometer read a very high temperature. While searching for this thermostat, Ed found a similar situation in another area. However, this valve was open and wasting energy. Ed says it's frequently the case that the BSAC staff uncovers ways to save energy while investigating other issues.

Being on a campus so large and structurally diverse, it can sometimes be intimidating to try to learn about the systems which heat and cool our campus. If you spot something you think is an issue, don't hesitate in reporting the issue so it can be checked out.

• If an area is consistently too hot or too cold, report it. The room, or an adjacent room, may have a manually controlled thermostat that is improperly set.
• During the heating season, always make sure windows are properly shut AND latched- if not latched properly, that cold outside air can cool a room very quickly.

 

Have an issue you'd like to report?

Call Facilities Management at x8262. Other ideas you have about energy conservation? We'd love to hear them! Just go to the Adding Up To Zero homepage and click on the Add Your Ideas link. Be an "Energy Bulldog"- you may help reduce our shared carbon footprint!