Draft recommendations and timetable for achieving "Climate Neutrality“
March 13, 2012
Paul Pancella, for the subcommittee
Subcommittee members
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Paul Pancella, Chair, Physics faculty
Haluk Aktan , Engineering faculty
Jeff Alexander, Transportation services
Dave Barnes, Geosciences faculty
Steve Bertman, Chemistry faculty
Kate Binder, graduate student, Office for Sustainability
Chris Caprara, Facilities management
Cari DeLong, Natural Areas manager
Kirk Dillery, Facilities management, Energy
Duane Hampton, Geosciences faculty
Sarah Hill, Environmental Studies faculty
George Jarvis, Power Plant manager
Steve Kohler, Environmental Studies chair
John Miller, Chemistry faculty
Chris Pyzik, Facilities management, planning
Yusuke Saito, undergraduate student Acronyms, abbreviations, jargon
 Sustainability
 ACUPCC
 Carbon footprint
 GHG
 Climate Neutrality 
zero net GHG emissions
 PUSC
 CAP
 eCO2
 Mitigation
 Purchased offsets
 Sequestration
 Absorption
Context Review
 President signed ACUPCC in July, 2009
 We need to choose a target date and develop a plan to make WMU climate neutral by that date
 The final plan must be approved by WMU administration and submitted by April 15 of this year
Interesting facts:
 President Dunn is now a member of the ACUPCC Steering Committee, its chief governing body.  Although 674 colleges and universities have signed on to the ACUPCC, we are the only research/doctoral university in Michigan to do so to date. 13 other colleges and universities in MI have signed.
Timeline to date
 July 2009: The commitment is made
 2010 second GHG inventory done, covering 2009, but extrapolated from more detailed 2008 inventory
 Late 2010: PUSC charges me to develop the CAP, I begin to form a committee and do background research
 May 2011, committee starts meeting for real
 Fall 2011, draft recommendations shared with PUSC, Faculty Senate, and VP business & Finance
 Early 2012, putting the final touches on, responding to feedback
Required elements of the plan:
Introduction, contains prior accomplishments, geographical boundaries, other context, and the target date for neutrality. We have chosen 2065 AD
II. Current GHG Emissions, recent trends, projections for future growth in operations
III. Strategies for reducing GHG emissions
IV. Educational Efforts, plans to integrate climate change into the general curriculum
V. Planned research efforts relevant to climate change
VI. Community Outreach plans
VII. How we plan to finance the recommendations
VIII. Tracking Progress, interim targets, structures for implementation and assessment
I.
Assumptions, philosophy
System boundary: WMU in Kalamazoo Includes Engineering College, not BTR, not Aviation Does not include WMU medical school, a separate entity
Growth projections: A.
B.
1.
2.
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F.
Total enrollment will slowly increase to 26,500 head count (target of current administration). Fraction in Kalamazoo unchanged.
Physical Plant will grow very little in the foreseeable future (+4% in current model)
A larger fraction of undergrads will live on campus in the future, due to new construction and renovation
No major increase in revenue is foreseen for the next few decades
No major changes in how we do business are assumed
We want our report to be concise and realistic, overall approach
could be described as conservative, certainly not radical
Current GHG emissions, metric tons eCO2
Scope I:
• Stationary Combustion
• Direct transportation
(campus vehicles)
• Fugitive emissions
Scope II:
• Purchased power from utility
Scope III:
• All Commuting (25740)
• Travel (outsourced but paid for by
the university, including study
abroad)
• Solid Waste
• Wastewater treatment
• Overhead from scope II
A finer breakdown
GHG reduction strategies
Starting with the small stuff
 All university‐owned vehicles to be zero‐net‐carbon fueled or electric by 2040 (50% moved to electricity)
 Encourage alternatives to air travel. Require purchased offsets for 100% of air travel by 2020.
 Eliminate fugitive emissions by 2050.
 Continue to work on increasing recycling to reduce solid waste stream. Continue to develop local composting (affects solid waste and wastewater). Target is 80% reduction in GHG impact in these two categories combined by 2065.
 Other negative inputs are also small stuff.
GHG reduction strategies:
the BIG STUFF
 That leaves the three major sources, which are really only two:
 Stationary combustion (our own power plant)
 Electricity purchased from the utility company
 Commuting
The first two are combined to satisfy the need for centralized power, currently in the form of electricity and pressurized steam
General Energy Demand reduction is crucial
 Perform campus‐wide energy audit to identify next round of efficiency/conservation projects. Continue to reduce demand with maintenance, renovation, and replacement projects financed by a revolving fund.
 Comply with recently revised Facilities Life Cycle Design Guidelines. When buildings are renovated/replaced, observe at least LEED silver requirements.
 Enforce Climate Savers Computing Initiative and Energy Star Purchasing policy
 Decrease/eliminate architectural lighting (exterior lighting not
contributing to safety)
 Close, demolish, or dispose of underutilized buildings on East Campus and elsewhere
Trend in electricity use
Trend in Steam use
Purchased electricity
 Demand reductions, load leveling, and the assumption that we will eventually be able to send our own power to the Parkview campus means no electricity purchased after 2035
 State renewable energy portfolio standards reduce carbon impact of purchased electricity in the near term, 10% by 2015
 Further reductions in GHG intensity likely in later decades, but not very relevant
Commuting
 Increase the amount of desirable on‐campus housing for students significantly. Add 3500 beds by 2035.
 Facilitate car‐pooling for employees who work regular hours. (online tools?)
 Continue to support/improve mass transit options.
 Incentivize alternatives to single‐occupancy automobiles via:
Infrastructure improvements, smoother connections for non‐motorized traffic in several directions, better snow clearing, clarifying conflict points between pedestrians, bikes and cars, financial incentives through the parking pass system?
Power Plant
 Continue operating natural gas fired co‐generation plant as is for next ~25 years
 Use this time to study and determine a way to deliver future centralized electricity (and heat) base demand in a way that emits much less GHG
 Implement these major changes in perhaps two phases, the first in ~2042 and the second in ~2055
 End state is a centralized facility capable of meeting remaining power demands with only 6% of today’s GHG impact per delivered energy
 Specific technology(ies) not yet determined
Renewable Energy
 We will recommend ramping up distributed sources of renewable energy starting immediately
 Again, specific technology could change, but we model the financing of this on current grid‐tied photovoltaic panels, mounted at ground level or on building roofs
 This has the effect of reducing the demand on the centralized power plant further
 Must also include thermal collection, via solar panels and probably some shallow geo‐thermal heating (cooling) at some favorable sites
 New buildings must be built with all this in mind
Distributed renewable is distinct from centralized renewable
 In the model I am showing, distributed renewable electricity is only 9% of total electric demand at the target date, intermittency not a problem at this level.
 One or the other phase of the central power plant changeover could be solar or wind, but would require additional cost & effort to develop energy storage capacity.
 Analysis on the steam/heat side is not as well developed.
Education efforts
 PUSC has discussed this, in the context of sustainability across the curriculum; many of the same ideas will apply
 We believe that this Study Group also has a role to play here, and would like to mention that in the final draft of the report
 We will also look to you for participation in future committees charged with assessment of interim targets, possible course corrections going forward
Questions?
V Research Efforts
 Carbon capture and sequestration
 Advancing practical, local, energy storage methods
 Renewable energy generating technologies
 New technologies for energy management and conservation in buildings and manufacturing
 Biomass as an energy source for stationary power generation or as fuel for transportation
VI Community Outreach
 Office for Sustainability should coordinate several efforts in this area, with contributions from Environmental Studies Program, Lee Honors College, SSE and possibly other RSOs. Increase the profile of past and future GHG reduction efforts by producing web site content, utilizing social networking, periodic press releases, and perhaps a specialized public lecture series. We could also organize some of the experts on campus to make consultation services available to the public at some level, on the model of the cooperative extension service at land grant universities
VII Tracking Progress
 Schedule for Progress Reports
 Who is responsible
 Interim Targets
6‐year cycle
 Options if targets are not met in the interim