(top) Green Labs inventories its styrofoam collection. (bottom) Beevo Beekeeping Society keeps
an eye on its bees. Both are just two of more than 100 Green Fee funded projects on campus.
The road to continuation has been an unexpectedly precarious one for the University of Texas Green Fee. Numerous students, faculty and staff have devoted time and effort to ensure that the fee goes beyond its initial five year funding.
After a failed attempt to seek renewal via clarification of the state legislature in spring 2015, the only option left for renewal was support directly from the Office of the President. Students Jaclyn Kachelmeyer and Tanner Long assembled proof of student support and made their case directly to Dr. Fenves.
On February 29, the Board of Regents voted to approve a 3.1 percent tuition increase for the upcoming 2016-2017 academic school year, followed by a 3 percent increase the following year. This approval came only a month and a half after President Fenves submitted his recommendation that such an increase include the $5 per academic long semester and $2.50 per summer session representing continued funding for the Green Fee.
The Green Fee was initially approved by the Texas legislature in an effort to provide reliable funding for sustainability research, projects and initiatives for all state-funded institutions of higher education. UT Austin, UT El Paso, and UT San Antonio are the only system institutions currently administering a Green Fee under this legislation, with potentially more to follow. Since its introduction in the fall of 2011, it has become an important asset to many individuals working on sustainability at the university.
Having seen the successful outcomes of the Green Fee, Karen Blaney, the program coordinator at the Office of Sustainability, appreciates its significance. “Students on campus have direct control over this fund that they have created themselves, which is an unusually powerful example of student governance and leadership,” she says. “The projects have created dozens of meaningful employment and research positions, and have had a significant impact on the campus environment and the future of sustainability at the university.”
Over the last five years there have been a total of 136 grants provided to the 105 distinct projects that have been funded by the Green Fee. Many of these would never have been possible without such funding. Some have gained considerable notoriety and success across campus including UT’s Microfarm, The Orange Bike Project, Sol Design’s solar charging stations, The UT Farm Stand and many others.
“The Green Fee is important because it shows everyone from faculty and staff to students and the community that an individual can make a difference,” says Mariana Silva, a team member of one of the programs funded by Green Fee. “It has become a platform for anyone to take on these very real challenges and get out there and do something. I find that truly inspiring.”
Student-Led Project Tackles Issues of
Affordable and Accessible Local Food
Students, faculty, staff and the general public line up to buy produce at the first UT Farm Stand event.
The launch of the first-ever UT Farm Stand on February 26 was an eventful day for the student team behind it. All of the hard work and logistics for the pilot program was payed off with the long lines of eager buyers.
For the last two years the team of eight students has worked tirelessly with UT’s Division of Housing and Food Services, several environmental science students, as well as funding from a Green Fee grant, to make their vision a reality.
“The student-led and student-run initiative will continually strive to create an environment where people can learn more about sustainable agriculture, climate change, the global food system and many other things,” says Mijal Grosman, materials coordinator for the UT Farm Stand.
Grosman sites issues such affordability and access as key motives behind the creation of the farm stand. “Students created this project and were able to tackle an issue that is very real for a lot of individuals,” she says. “Not only students, but anyone who lives in in urban environments in general. We’re lucky to be able to provide this service in the university context with the support of a lot of different entities at the university itself.”
Five local farms, an Austin-area bakery and the UT Microfarm were all invited to participate in the initial program launch. Also included were fun incentives for attending such as free face painting, a raffle and several games where individuals could win prizes. In the future, the team also hopes to possibly have live music or yoga as sources of entertainment.
As a result of feedback from exit surveys taken at the event, the team is also looking into ways to change the set-up of the event so that it is easier to navigate. “Basically, we want to make this better every single time in every way we can, and make it as pleasant of an experience for people as possible,” says Grosman.
Should the rest of the pilot program, which includes the UT Farm Stand’s first five events, go equally as well as their February event, the team wants to hold them every few weeks starting next semester. Their greatest hope is that these fresh, locally grown products will serve as a steady, sustainable source to meet anyone’s grocery needs.
Specialty Campus Tours Leading
Young Students to Sustainability
(left) High school students learn about Jester Gardens and (right) sustainability
in engineering during their green tours around the UT campus.
Currently in its second year as a Green Fee funded project, UT Green Tours has established itself as a valuable campus program. Starting in the fall, the group will work under the auspices of UT’s Office of Sustainability to gain wider exposure.
Originally proposed by graduate Ph.D. student Kristen Cetin in 2014, Green Tours provides K-12 schools with an open connection to sustainability at UT Austin. The program’s team is made up of eight students who have worked to create both an online-interactive platform for individuals interested in learning more about UT’s sustainability initiatives, as well as educational programming for middle and high school students who come to take onsite tours.
The team has given a total of nine tours to middle and high school students from the Austin area. “These tours aren’t just generic tours of our campus, but another way to get children excited for college,” explains tour leader Marianna Silva. “Seeing how sustainability can be a part of so many majors at our university from engineering and architecture to geography and business, allows students to get a different feel for what they can get involved in later in life,” says Silva.
In order to provide an overall interdisciplinary experience, the tour takes students around campus to places including Jester gardens, the Environmental Science Institute, engineering’s Maker Space and many other locations. “The goal is to get the kids involved with whatever they want to learn about. Sometimes that means they help plant fruits and vegetables,” says Silva. “Other times they may help with composting. We try to make the experience as interactive as possible in order to keep their interests up.”
At a time when climate change and environmental awareness have become hot-topic issues, Green Tours could not have come at a better time. The team strives to broaden the awareness of everything related to sustainability at UT Austin.
“While the university is developing a new campus sustainability master plan, we also need to do more to promote what we all are doing and have already done,” emphasizes Silva. “We want students in middle school and high school to recognize UT as a school at the forefront of sustainability when making their college choices.”
What Starts at this Plant May Change the World
(left) Juan Ontiveros shows how technology powers the control room at the power plant.
(right) Workers clean out one of the turbines that produces campus energy.
Many people casually stroll by the Hal C. Weaver Power Plant on a daily basis without ever noticing it or learning anything about its significance to the UT Austin campus. Located at the intersection of 24th and San Jacinto, the 140-megawatt plant runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to ensure proper utility distribution throughout main campus.
The university first started making its own energy on campus in 1928. Now, 88 years later, UT Austin is considered a world leader in utility production since it provides electricity, cooling and heating for 100 percent of the main campus while operating at an unparalleled 87 percent efficiency.
Juan Ontiveros, associate vice president for Utilities, Energy and Facilities Management, makes it clear that the university motto “what starts here changes the world” is not something to be taken lightly. He exudes determination, dedication and pride as he discusses his life’s work to make the university’s energy facilities the best.
As the realities of climate change become more and more real every day, Ontiveros believes that resiliency has become a top priority not only for UT Austin but utility provides around the world. “UT is the first university in the world to get certified under PEER (Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal). This rating system for power plants looks at things such as resiliency, efficiency, reliability and water use together,” he says. “We’re the world’s first. That’s something to add to our campus pride.”
Some 100 universities in the United States are currently working to provide their own electricity. UT Austin is the only one so far to be completely self-sufficient, and it’s also the largest. “Texas A&M, to provide a comparison, only produces about 40 percent of their own power,” explains Ontiveros.
The effects of campus-wide utility improvements are most apparent when analyzing total fuel use, which despite an increase in almost eight million square feet of campus area being served, has returned to the same levels it was at back in 1976. “No one else in the world has done that. No one,” says Ontiveros. “We’ve doubled our space while doubling our efficiency, and thus we use the same amount of fuel that we did 40 years ago.”
Through their complex system of natural gas turbines, steam production, and chilled water use the plant provides our school’s utilities as optimally as possible. “My goal, at the end of the day,” says Ontiveros, “is to produce what this campus needs efficiently and reliably.”
President’s Student Employee of the Year Award Congratulations to Nathalie Kip, student manager of Green Labs, who is set to receive an award as one of the seven finalists of the President’s Student Employee of the Year! This award recognizes student employees who excel in five areas: reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism and uniqueness of contribution to the university.
Green Labs Green Labs Spring Challenge will run through April 1. Its overall aim is to raise awareness of and encourage all labs on campus to adopt practices that can save energy, water and reduce waste. Each week, labs may complete up to three goals, which have a varying point range based on the level of difficulty. The types of goals are arranged into categories such as materials management/recycling, behavioral practices and energy, and water conservation. The winners of the competition will receive a prize and special recognition.
UT Farm Stand Are you looking to catch the next farm events of the semester? Mark your calendars for the following:
March 31, 2016 – East Mall, noon to 5:30 p.m.
April 13, 2016 – West Mall, noon to 5:30 p.m.
April 27, 2016 – West Mall, noon to 5:30 p.m.
Surplus Property Auction The Surplus Property unit of Facilities Services will hold an auction of university property and equipment on March 30 at 9 a.m. at J.J. Pickle Research Campus, Building 45. Public viewing and registration for the auction will open on Tuesday, March 29, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on sale day starting at 7:30 a.m. See the list of The University of Texas at Austin auction items.
Earth Week Earth Week will be held on campus April 18 through April 22. Several sustainability entities and initiatives across campus, including the Campus Environmental Center, Energy & Water Conservation Program, UT Farm Stand, Engineers for a Sustainable World, Green Corps and many more will be hosting fun-filled celebratory events throughout the week. Stay tuned for further details to be released soon.
The Office of Sustainability at The University of Texas at Austin collaborates to advance ideas and programs that transform the physical, social and educational environments of campus for the enduring benefit of society and the planet.
Editor Laura Boss Designer Heather Patterson Communications Coordinator Merry Bateman
