Colleges try to make campuses more environmentally friendly

By Christa Desrets
Media General News Service
Published: June 20, 2008

From switching out standard light bulbs for their more energy-efficient counterparts to planting trees and less-thirsty grasses, local colleges aim to make their campuses more environmentally friendly this summer.
At Randolph College, a unique eco-friendly project involves Helios.
No, not Greek mythology’s god of the sun.
HELIOS - Humane Environmental Laundry Invention for Organized Sustainability - is a homemade lavender-scented, liquid laundry detergent.
With a green twist.
“It’s not so much what we put into the detergent,“ said rising sophomore Karl Sakas, who partnered with fellow student Ludovic Lemaitre to cook up the product. “It’s what we don’t put into the detergent.“
The detergent is made in 5-gallon batches of washing soda, borax, water, organic soap and vinegar.
The recipe doesn’t call for phosphates, which are often used in commercial detergents, Lemaitre said.
“When (phosphates) reach the river, it’s a source of nutrients for algae that kill off fish,“ he explained.
Last year, the two made batches over and over; nixing any that came out too watery, chunky or stinky, until they found the right combination of ingredients.
For the coming school year, they plan to bottle it in sanitized, 20-ounce reused bottles from their soda machines, and sell it to students for $1 a bottle.
Each bottle can be used for six to eight loads of laundry.
The pair also is working with rising junior Megan Roberts and several professors on a larger-scale project - drafting a green master plan to go with a facilities plan already in the works.
The green plan will include suggestions for how to combat wasteful energy practices.
Students at Sweet Briar College are performing a similar energy audit.
Aimee Savage, Kelly Mauri, Sara Sheppard and MaryAnne Haslow-Hall this week finished a heat-load analysis of 20 campus buildings.
“It measures how much heat transfer we have between the inside and the outside of the building,“ Savage said.
From there, they’ll choose five buildings for a more in-depth review showing exactly how energy is used.
“The more work that we do and the more I see how much energy we waste on a regular basis, the more I want to help,“ Savage said.
Steve Bailey, director of the school’s physical plant, said SBC also is changing out lights for lower-wattage bulbs and installing geothermal heat pumps that use about 25 percent less energy than a traditional heat pump.
Liberty University is performing similar measures, said Charles Spence, the school’s director of planning and new construction.
Over the summer, workers plan to replace 30,000 40-watt lamps with 25-watt bulbs throughout the Liberty, Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty Christian Academy campuses.
“It translates to huge energy savings,“ Spence said.
Additionally, the school is changing out toilets that use up to five gallons of water per flush for new ones that use 1.6 gallons.
During the school year, when the campus is packed with 15,000 people every day who each use the school’s facilities once or twice a day, Spence said, “That’s a whole lot of flushes.“
Lee Beaumont, director of auxiliary services, said one recent change was the elimination of food trays in the cafeteria.
The trays no longer need to be washed, and students tend to waste about 10 percent less food when they don’t use trays, Beaumont said.
At Lynchburg College, school officials are considering performing an energy audit of their own, said Steve Bright, vice president for business and finance.
That would give the school suggestions for cost-effective energy plans that also are better for the environment.
Over the summer, the college plans to create more green spaces on campus by planting 100 trees, he said.
“We have a policy of every time we cut down one, we try to plant two,“ he said. “They’ll be with us forever.“
LC also just wrapped up its Year of the Environment, which included numerous environmentally themed projects, discussions, speakers and events.
Central Virginia Community College also is on board with several projects ongoing this summer that center on results of an energy audit performed about a year and a half ago, said Betty Hudson, coordinator of alumni relations.
In addition to changing out boiler systems, lights, toilets and sinks, maintenance crews also have recently made the switch from trucks to golf carts, which burn less gas. They also have aimed to plant trees that require less water, Hudson said.
“Those don’t sound like great big things but, quintessentially, they are altogether important,“ she said. “It gives us a chance to take a whole lot better care of the environment; the indoor environment for our staff and students as well as what we’re doing to the grounds around us.“