Posts tagged sustainability
CU-BOULDER’S NEWEST RESIDENCE HALL SHOWCASES SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
Aug 16th
The RAPs, “Sustainable by Design” and “Social Entrepreneurship for Equitable Development and Sustainability,” or SEEDS, will allow students to use the building as a living and learning laboratory.
CU-Boulder now has 12 campus RAPs that allow students to live and learn together in the same residence hall with other students who have shared interests. The RAP programs are designed to introduce students to faculty and to allow them to take selected courses and to participate in educational and social events — allwithin their residence hall.
“One of our main objectives with the SEEDS RAP is to bring students from different academic backgrounds together and have them work together to learn about sustainability,” said Professor Susan Clarke, faculty director of the SEEDS RAP. “Figuring out how to solve problems coming from different disciplines is what we want the students to take from this program.”
Professor Joann Silverstein of the College of Engineering and Applied Science is the faculty director of the Sustainable by Design RAP.
As an introduction, students from both new RAPs are required to take a course titled “Social Innovation and Design for Sustainable Communities,” which highlights the multidisciplinary aspect of the programs. Architecture Assistant Professor Matthew Jelacic will serve as the faculty in residence for both of the RAPs, and he will be one of the professors team teaching the course.
The course is centered on the concepts of design, innovation and sustainability, and uses the concept of design to bridge engineering and social science domains, according to Jelacic.
“My hope for this course is that it helps prepare students to work on solving the complex local-to-global problems faced in the world today such as environmental pollution, sustainable resources, energy scarcity, hunger and socio-economic disparities,” Jelacic said.
The RAPs also will have an annual theme, and this year they are focusing on food.
“The issue of sustainability is not a straight forward concept,” Clarke said. “Sustainable food production is a very difficult problem to solve, but it is also something that students can relate to and learn about with a hands-on approach.”
Throughout the school year, local chefs, farmers and others involved in sustainable food production will visit Williams Village North to share their experiences with the students. And since the new residence hall has its own kitchen stocked with energy-efficient appliances, students also will get to sample some recipes made from locally produced food.
“Having vibrant sustainability entrepreneurs in Boulder is a real bonus to our program because it shows our students the value in what they are learning,” Clarke said. “There are numerous opportunities available to graduates who can apply sustainability to real-world problems like food production.”
Built to a high Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standard, the Williams Village North building has numerous sustainability features. In addition to the usual sustainable items such as efficient lighting and water fixtures and appliances, the facility also includes energy-efficient lighting with windows that maximize daylight use, occupancy sensor lighting, advanced heating andcooling systems with automatic controls and native landscaping.
Additionally, more than 50 percent of all of the construction waste was diverted from thelandfill. The building also is on track to be the first LEED Platinum building on campus.
“Compared to a building of the same size that wasn’t constructed with these sustainability features, Williams Village North is expected to use about 39 percent less energy,” said Heidi Roge, building project manager from CU-Boulder’s Housing and Dining Services department. “This translates into more than $220,000 in annual utility savings.”
The $46.5 million residence hall includes 131,246 gross square feet, 500 beds, five classrooms, one faculty apartment, a residence hall director apartment, a great room/lobby and study spaces on each floor. Construction on the residence hall began in January 2010.
The total cost of the residence hall has been financed through bonds taken out by thecampus Housing and Dining Services department. The bonds will be repaid through revenue generated by the 500 additional beds.
Additional building features include:
— Solar-heated water
— On-site solar photovoltaic renewable energy on the carport at Bear Creek Apartments
— Covered bike parking
— Phantom load switches
— Light emitting diode, or LED, lighting
— Building materials and construction maximized by the use of regional, high recycle content and low Volatile Organic Compound, or VOC, materials
— Storm water diverters for roof drainage to provide irrigation to landscaping
— Energy Star appliances
City staff recommends that voters be asked to support a local power utility
Jul 15th
City Manager Jane S. Brautigam
Brautigam also said she is confident that the process following a vote for municipalization will provide adequate opportunities to address concerns raised by some that the cost of purchasing the system from the current provider, Xcel, could exceed current estimates.
A positive vote is required before the city can enter into acquisition negotiations and/or condemnation proceedings. During this process, the city would determine what the final price would be. If the costs of buying Xcel’s system turned out to be significantly higher than anticipated or would result in rate increases that were unacceptable to the community, council would be under no obligation to issue the bonds necessary to pay for buying the system and launching a utility. The city could then re-consider how to proceed.
“There are off-ramps in place that allow the city to move forward with its eyes wide open,” the city manager said. “Our community has spelled out both its goals and its expectations. City staff and elected officials take the responsibility of balancing these very seriously.”
The recommendation follows more than two years of discussions about whether to enter into another 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel Energy. In 2010, City Council rejected that option, determining that a business-as-usual contract for two decades was too long and would limit Boulder’s ability to take advantage of exciting changes in the energy industry. Since then, the city and the community have been involved in an intensive study and discussion of other options.
The Boulder community has set clear energy future goals. These include cleaner energy, with as much local generation as possible; reliability; rate stability and more local decision-making and control.
The city hired industry specialists to conduct a detailed financial assessment of the possible creation of a local utility. They have concluded that Boulder could buy the system from Xcel, pay off the debt associated with those costs, start a utility and operate it reliably while still making money. The local utility would be able to keep customers rates lower or equal to what they would be under Xcel, maintain emergency reserves and still have a net present value of $112 million over 10 years. The cost model developed by the consultants has some room for increased costs. This flexibility is spelled out in more detail in a staff memo to council.
The staff recommendation also includes support for an increase and extension of the Climate Action Plan tax. While a locally owned power utility would cover its costs entirely through its revenues once it was up and running, the city would need additional money to cover engineering and legal expenses before that time. It is estimated that the city would need about $1 million a year for three to five years before a final determination could be made about whether to issue bonds to buy Xcel’s system. This funding mechanism would allow the city to continue this process without impacting existing programs and services.
City Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, July 19, starting at 5 p.m., to discuss items for the November ballot. The full memo and other valuable information about the energy future project are available at http://www.boulderenergyfuture.com. There is also a comment form on this website if community members wish to give input to the staff team and City Council.
CU-BOULDER VICE CHANCELLOR FRANK BRUNO LEAVING CU FOR PRIVATE SECTOR VP POST
Jun 29th
Bruno’s portfolio as vice chancellor of administration covers the physical infrastructure of the campus, human resources, public safety and energy and sustainability. He joined CU-Boulder as vice chancellor for administration in June of 2008.
“We wish Frank well in his future endeavors,” Porreca said. “He has been a key member of our leadership team, a collegial leader who has strengthened our partnership with local government and other CU stakeholders, and he has overseen a large number of programs and personnel with energy and diplomacy.”
Bruno is credited with coordinating the campus’s Ten Year Capital Facilities Master Plan in partnership with community stakeholders, with overseeing campus capital construction that included $500 million in projects, and with expanding CU’s police presence and building key partnerships for sustainability on campus.
“This is a marvelous opportunity for me and my family,” said Bruno. “I want to thank the university community for the last three years. It has been an honor to serve our faculty, staff and students, and to work with great partners in the city, county and state to help one of the great universities in the nation during a time of transformation.”
The university has not announced a successor to Bruno, but expects to take action toward that end in the coming weeks.