Last week, my column focused on the Sustainability Survey results conducted jointly by the Boston Consulting Group and the MIT Sloan Management Review. From the results, it was clear that sustainability is set to play a crucial role in the corporate sector in the months ahead. With businesses around the country bracing for this change, we should take a closer look at home, or, to be precise, at our University.
David Dean, Outreach Coordinator at the University Sustainability Office, shared with me the University’s position on sustainability. According to Dean, N.C. State takes sustainability seriously and has appointed a Campus Environmental Sustainability Team ( CEST ) to guide campus efforts. According to its website, CEST has been an official N.C. State Administrative Advisory Committee since 2009. Members to the team are appointed; however, anyone can be a part of the eight working groups under CEST .
The team, headed jointly by Jack Colby, assistant vice chancellor for Facilities Operations, and Bill Winner, director of the environmental sciences academic program, has a healthy mix of administrators from a wide range of critical departments. This includes Michael Harwood, assistant vice chancellor for Centennial Campus development, and Barry Olson, associate director of University Housing. The team also has adequate student representation in the form of Student Government and the Inter-Residence Council Sustainability Committee chairs.
Having members from the entire spectrum of the N.C. State population, in the form of academics, administrators and students, shows that we are giving this issue the serious consideration it deserves. Already, plans to reduce our carbon footprint are beginning to be implemented. According to Dean, all new buildings being constructed on campus will be LEED certified. Some other steps include installation of a 112-panel solar thermal system on top of the Carmichael Complex to heat nearly one million gallons of water in the two swimming pools. The Cates Utility Plant is also being renovated to provide 11 megawatts of electricity with a 35 percent increase in efficiency. According to Dean, this renovation will pay back itself over time. He claims that in the first year, it has resulted in savings of $4.3 million toward campus expenditures.
If that is indeed true, then such efforts need to be appreciated and commended. At a time when just about everyone is getting a financial headache, we need to save every dime that can come our way. In the long run, it will only help students and the entire campus community.
When it comes to student participation, people such as Jason Meyer, a senior in mechanical engineering, are a prime example of what students can achieve.
The N.C. State Solar House, which was closed in July due to budget cuts, has been reopened to the public thanks to Meyer. According to a news report in the Technician earlier this semester, Meyer works 20 hours a week at the Solar House, giving guided tours to the public. Without his help, it would have remained closed until the budget situation improved, which no one knows when will happen. Others should also think about how they can make a difference through individual effort.
The critical task ahead is to mobilize students on campus toward a concrete, shared goal of greening our campus. While it is true that officials are working in a positive direction by implementing energy saving projects, these efforts will receive a huge shot in the arm if students give as much thought to sustainability efforts as they do to their tuition increase and diversity. Climate change remains an inconvenient truth which all of us must face. The good news is the truth of the present does not need to be that of the future. The only thing needed for change it is the desire to do so.
