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Bemidji State University

1500 Birchmont Dr. NE, #31 , Bemidji, MN 56601
Environmental Advisory Committee

Bemidji State University is the place to be…bold, real, innovative, creative, global, aware, successful, and so much more! Through our signature themes, BSU and its nearly 5,000 students are committed to environmental stewardship, community service, and global understanding. You’ll see that commitment in what we teach and in what we do.

Located on the western shore of Lake Bemidji, our north woods campus environment reminds us daily of the need to be in tune with our world. Similarly, the American Indian culture of our region beckons us to begin our global journey by understanding our past as we prepare for the future. See for yourself by visiting us soon at www.bemidjistate.edu

President Les Duly established the Bemidji State University Environmental Task Force (ETF) in October 1992. The Task Force included individuals appointed by Dr. Duly and representatives from student, faculty, and staff organizations on campus. The Task Force was charged with making recommendations to the University Cabinet, on pertinent environmental issues including, but not limited to, University policies and practices for procurement, waste reduction, recycling, energy use and conservation, and heightening environmental education and awareness.

In 1996, President Jim Bensen established the Environmental Task Force as a permanent, standing committee. The Task Force was renamed the Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) in 1997. In 1998 it adopted a set of by-laws that includes broadened membership. For more information go to: http://www.bemidjistate.edu/offices/environmental_health_safety/envadvco...
Erika Bailey-Johnson, EBaileyJohnson@bemidjistate.edu, 218-755-2560

Kill-a-Watt at Bemidji State University

Energy conservation

Students applied for a Green Fee Mini-Grant to purchase six Kill-a-Watt energy monitoring devices. The first stage of the project will entail volunteer faculty participation to monitor office energy comsumption over the course of one month. Students will then determine ways faculty and staff can reduce energy consumption. The second stage of the project will allow faculty to “check out” the Kill-a-Watts from the Sustainability Office on as as-needed basis.

To educate faculty and staff on individual behaviors that use energy while in the office. To encourage faculty and staff to reduce energy consumption by providing specific tips.

Trayless policy, letter to the editor in Northern Student (BSU student newspaper)

Energy conservation

Bemidji State University went tray-less at the start of Spring Semester, 2009. The following is a letter to the editor in our student newspaper dated November, 2008:

The title “Say Goodbye to Trays” in last week’s Northern Student was a little disheartening. Many students and staff at Bemidji State University have been fact-finding, surveying, and doing trial runs since last spring to make the best decision for our campus. Many colleges and universities such as the University of Minnesota, NDSU, Hamline University, and the University of South Dakota have already implemented trayless policies.

The reasons for going trayless are clear. Forgoing a tray at Dining Services saves water (up to ½ gallon per tray), energy (to run the dishwasher, and heat and pump the water), dish detergent, and labor. It also reduces food waste (up to 1.5 oz per tray). Concordia College, Moorhead, held a “Try Trayless” event for two days in September. Their Dining Services staff conducted a two-hour waste study, comparing a day when students could use trays to a day when student could not use trays, and found that food waste was reduced by 110 pounds (40%) and liquid waste was reduced by 7.35 quarts (43%). NDSU tested the trayless policy last year and found a 42 percent reduction in wasted food, a 27 percent reduction in wasted orange juice and a 65 percent reduction in wasted milk.

This amount of waste has many implications. Food waste is heavy and significantly adds to the cost of solid waste pick up. In addition, since Dining Services uses the total amount of food served to calculate the quantity to prepare the next time, some food is needlessly prepared.

Obviously, care will be taken to ensure that a tray is available to those that require one. Even if a tray is available in the Union, I encourage you to try going without. My bowl of soup, utensils, chocolate milk, and bag of chips seem to have found their niche in my palm and fingers to make their way back to my office unscathed. Please do your part to conserve energy and reduce waste at BSU. It all adds up!

Erika Bailey-Johnson
Sustainability Coordinator

Bemidji State University’e Northwoods dining services will reduce food waste, water use, and energy consumption by removing trays.

Light switch labels

Energy conservation

Various labels have been designed and laminated to attach to the wall, above the light switches in classrooms, offices, and residence hall rooms. There is a different design for each location. In addition, both sides of the label were used and have a different design. The thought is to flip the label over after one to two months, so individuals do not get used to one design.

To increase energy conservation by reminding individuals to turn off the lights.

Less Lawn to Mow

Energy conservation

Several areas on campus are easy targets to replace either annual flowers or lawn with native perennials. We plan to use approximately $250 of the Schools Cutting Carbon grant funds to replace lawn or annual flowers with native perennials. The plants will be purchased from a local native plant nursery and planted towards the end of May (weather-permitting). The remainder of the grant funds ($50) will be used to purchase an educational display for the area.

Native plants yield several economic and environmental benefits due the reduction in fertilizer, herbicide, and watering required. The amount of mowing required would also be significantly reduced, positively impacting our carbon footprint.

Bottled Water Campaign

Energy conservation

In order to increase awareness about the negative impacts of bottled water, a portion of the Schools Cutting Carbon grant funds will be used to create laminated signs for the residence halls. The signs will contain a few statistics about bottled water, and encourage students to use reusable bottles. Twelve stainless steel bottles will be purchased to randomly give to students carrying around a plastic water bottle. The names and email addresses of the students will be recorded, and students will be monitored for the use of the water bottle.

Bottled water is used heavily on campus, and the environmental toll plastic bottles make is readily apparent to some. Plastic water bottles account for a large percentage of our municipal solid waste and recycling, thus impacting us financially since we pay for both to be collected. Our carbon footprint is impacted by the amount of municipal solid waste we produce, so if we can decrease the amount of plastic bottles in the waste, we can decrease our overall municipal solid waste.

BSU Update on Education and Lighting Retrofit

Energy conservation

Minnesota Schools Cutting Carbon December 31, 2010 Interim Report
Project Title: Beavers Cut More Than Trees
Principal Investigator: Erika Bailey-Johnson
Sponsor Award #: CFMS No. B39202
The Minnesota Schools Cutting Carbon project for Bemidji State University has been going very well. The project is on schedule. Below, we describe the progress to date by objective. Updates are provided in red, italicized font (these are the updates since the last interim report). Please contact Erika Bailey-Johnson at 218-755-2560 or ebaileyjohnson@bemidjistate.edu if you have any questions or need additional information.
a. Update on the status of the workplan, including each objective and task; and
b. indication of whether project is on schedule; and c. update of the budget showing how much of the grants funds and matching funds have been spent, including the cost of materials, labor and other expenses.

Objective 1: Retrofit inefficient lighting.

Task A: Replace fluorescent T12 fixtures with fluorescent T8 fixtures in Deputy Hall.
Time frame and Schedule: Physical Plant completed the Deputy Hall retrofits during the Spring of 2010. The Ottertail Power Company rebate has yet to be finalized. Budget / Estimated cost: Grant funds: $9,180 Match: $7,000 [Physical Plant ($2,000) and Information Technology Services ($5,000)]
• Physical Plant spent $15,924.84 to purchase the materials to accomplish this lighting retrofit. Some of these funds may need to be reimbursed by the grant funds. In Kind: $10,588.50 (Physical Plant; 234 hours at $45.25 per hour) Total: $26,768.50 ($26,513.34)

Task B: Replace 400 watt metal halide with fluorescent T5 high bay fixtures in the BSU Gymnasium.
Time frame and Schedule: Physical Plant completed the BSU Gymnasium retrofits during the Summer of 2010. The Ottertail Power Company rebate was $1,747.20 (estimated at $1,528.80).
Measures for Success/ Evaluation Plan: The project team can report kilowatt hours of electricity used monthly as compared to previous years.
Budget / Estimated cost: Grant funds: $4,000
Match: $5,000 [Physical Plant ($4,000), Athletic Department ($500), Campus Recreation ($500)]
• Physical Plant spent $11,581.00 to purchase the materials to accomplish this lighting retrofit. The costs were approximately $2500 more than estimated because of renting a lift and additional costs for the switching. Some of these funds may need to be reimbursed by the grant funds.

In Kind: $6,018.25 (Physical Plant; 133 hours at $45.25 per hour) Total: $15,018.25($17,599.25)

Task C: Replace high wattage incandescent lighting with higher efficiency and LED lighting in the performance areas of Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex.
Time frame and Schedule: Dr. Ellen Jones initiated a purchase order on March 5th for the stage lighting. Quotes were under budget, so she was also able to purchase six, 750 watt worklight lamps to replace the existing 1000 watt lamps. Ellen also had a few issues with the auditorium lights. She had purchased an LED to try, and, due to its shape, Physical Plant staff was having a difficult time installing the light. In the past, they utilized a suction cup attached to a long pole, but the LED light was not smooth, so, thus, the suction cup would not work. They were working this semester to try to resolve this issue. Ellen had some remaining grant funds, so another purchase order was initiated for more stage lights at a cost of $7,588.62.
Budget / Estimated cost: Grant funds: $6,820 ($14,590.10)
Match: $19,500 [Physical Plant ($14,000), Information Technology Services ($5,000), and Theatre Department ($500)] ($17,588.62)
In Kind: $1,200 (Theater Department; 120 hours at $10 per hour)
Re-investment of Ottertail Rebate from Task A: $8,094
Total: $35,614.00 ($33,378.72)

Objective 2: Educate the campus and community on project results and environmental impacts.
Task A: Educate formally and informally the student, faculty, and staff regarding this project and its impact on reducing our carbon footprint.
Time frame and Schedule: Discussion started in the Spring of 2010 of how best to complete this task. Students have decided that the team will focus each week during Fall Semester on a different sustainability topic and use the various methods at our disposal to disseminate information. One week will be spent educating the campus body on each of the lighting retrofits. One ad ran in the student newspaper regarding the gym lighting retrofits (see attached pdf). Our office also worked with the Athletic Department to announce the lighting retrofits at athletic events held in the gymnasium. The Athletic Department agreed to announce the following statement: “Look up for a second…Bemidji State University has changed their light fixtures from 400 watt metal halide to T5 flourescent high-bay fixtures. Not only does this save approximately 22,000 Kilowatt hours per year, but it provides more lighting, and more lighting options. This change even saves money…. approximately $1500 per year. This project was partially funded by a grant from the Minnesota Schools Cutting Carbon. BSU is green in many ways!” Our office also purchased twenty large posters to hang up in the gymnasium and Deputy Hall to inform the campus of the lighting retrofits in those buildings (see attached pdf). More recently, we plan to enter the CERTS video contest and one portion of the video discusses the lighting retrofits.
Budget / Estimated cost: So far we have used $100 of funds to pay for an advertisement in the student newspaper and $120.01to pay for 20 large posters (see attached pdf’s). Grant funds: $0 Match: $500 (Physical Education and Health Department) Total: $500 ($220.10, so far)

Task B: Coordinate an event during Earth Day week with on-campus student organizations emphasizing their relationship to this project and the environment.
Time frame and Schedule: Students did a fabulous job recruiting five student organizations to participate in this event during Earth Week (April 19th to April 23rd, 2010). The Nordic Ski Club (which was not available to present) was substituted with the Student Senate. Each student organization presentation was held at noon with a local food dish available. Each participating student organization was awarded a $100 stipend. Presentations were informative and well-attended. Approximately 30 students participated in either presenting or participating in the presentations.
Budget / Estimated cost: Grant funds: $0 Match: $1000 [Green Fee ($500) and College of Arts and Sciences ($500)] ($750) Total: $1000 ($750)

d. Results achieved
We are saving energy! Since the lighting retrofits have occurred recently, it is difficult to ascertain quantitative results. We are optimistic that the Deputy Hall lighting retrofits will achieve a carbon reduction of approximately 175 tons CO2e or 191,030 kilowatts annually. Currently, this calculates into a $11,461.80 annual savings and a return on investment of approximately two years. The BSU Gymnasium lighting retrofit will achieve a carbon reduction of approximately 14 tons CO2e or 15,288 kilowatts annually. Currently, this calculates into a $917.28 annual savings and a return on investment of a little more than sixteen years. The Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex lighting retrofit is not yet complete, but quotes were slightly under budget, so even more energy efficient bulbs were purchased. During Fall Semester, much work will be done to educate the campus and community about the lighting retrofits.
The Earth Week celebration went well, with the student organizations doing a great job educating faculty, students, and staff on ways their group is connected to this project and the environment. We feel we could have had a little better turnout if we had advertised sooner and in more venues. This Fall will be an exciting time to further disseminate information to the student body. Each week will focus on a different area of sustainability and all the possible avenues of advertising and educating will be utilized. Thank you for this opportunity!
This fall semester has been spent educating the campus community on the lighting retrofits and finishing up the Bangsberg project. Our office has put much effort into making the lighting retrofits “visible”. I went to a few volleyball games, and it was fun to here the announcement about the project!
This spring semester we should be able to gather hard data regarding energy savings of the lighting retrofits.