George Brown College Green Plan Update

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George Brown College

Green Plan Update– 2013

GeorgeBrownCollege Green Plan Update | 2

Introduction

As George Brown College moves forward on its journey towards 2020, the College has committed to “create a college experience that enhances student satisfaction … by e nsuring resources are used as responsibly, ethically and efficiently as possible.” This includes the need to operate facilities as efficiently as possible, reducing waste and conserving resources. This approach is at the basis of the College’s environmental commitments as outlined in this Green Plan.

Another key element in the College’s Road Map 2020 is the commitment to “Guide the financial and physical resources of the organization so that it can grow responsibly and in a manner that enhances the college environment to the benefit of the entire George Brown College community.” An important part of this is the need to oversee stewardship of the college’s physical growth. That’s why the Green Plan sets the bar high in terms of how the College can work to model environmental sustainability.

Building on this theme, environmental sustainability of the College’s built environment supports the College’s intention to “create campus environments that are innovative, creative and nurture graduates… and to provide students with environments — inside and outside classrooms and labs — that are highly conducive to learning”.

As a LEED Gold certified building, the new Waterfront Campus is a model for how the College will grow into the future, demonstrating best practices in terms of “green”, high performance buildings that promote healthy indoor environments proven to increase learning outcomes as well as to increase staff productivity.

This Green Plan II represents an evolution of Green Plan I especially in terms of defining tactics and goals for integrating environmental sustainability into the College’s culture through the

Go Green Campaign. By increasing awareness of how individuals can model environmental stewardship in their personal and professional lives, we can all help to advance the College's Green Plan commitments.

The College has made good progress onmany fronts to fulfill its Green plan goals but there is still work to do.

This Green Plan II is the green road map that the College will follow to continue on its journey to become a greener College.

Contents

GeorgeBrownCollege Green Plan Update | 3

Introduction

Background

George Brown College Sustainability

Guidelines

Facilities Management

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

WATER CONSUMPTION

WASTE MANAGEMENT AND RECYCLING

HOUSEKEEPING AND GREEN CLEANING

Policies and Practices

ISSUE: GREEN PURCHASING

ISSUE: PAPER CONSUMPTION

ISSUE: GREENING FOOD SERVICES

ISSUE: TRANSPORTATION

GeorgeBrownCollege Green Plan Update | 4

Background

In 2005 staff interest let to the establishment of a “Green Team” as part of the College Council structure. The ideas and energy of this group was able to accomplish some results but they did not have a direct accountability within the overall college structure.

As a result, in 2006 the College formalized creation of the Green Team as an official committee of the college. It is Co-Chaired by the Vice President of Corporate Services, Eugene Harrigan, and the Dean of the Centre of

Construction and Engineering Technologies, Nancy Sherman. The Green Team includes representatives from across all areas of the College, including faculty and administrative staff.

The main goals of the Green Team are to:

Develop the College’s Green Plan to promote the use of environmentally sound practices campus-wide;

Be accountable for implementation of the Green Plan and measure progress over time;

Engage and educate the College community in conservation and demand management practices aimed at reducing the College's overall ecological footprint;

Identify opportunities for transforming the College’s campi into learning laboratories for demonstration of sustainable technologies;

Support faculty in developing curricula to prepare students with skills required to tackle the challenges of a sustainable society;

Leverage and align college-wide Green initiatives with the college’s strategic plan.

In 2007 George Brown College released its first Green Plan Framework. It summarized the College’s “baseline” environmental performance across a number of key indicator areas, including energy and water consumption, waste management and recycling, food services, housekeeping and transportation. The Green Plan Framework provided the foundation upon which the College’s Green Plan I was developed.

In 2008 George Brown College released its first Green Plan I (2008-13) which included environmental objectives, targets and measurable outcomesfor reducing the College’s environmental impacts over a five year period. Itset targets in a number of areas including facilities and operations, green purchasing, policies and practices. It also set goals to encourage greening of academics and the curriculum.

This updated Green Plan II (2013-17) includes revised targets for reducing the College’s environmental impacts.

It also summarizes progress achieved to date, identifies areas where further work is needed to advance the

College’s environmental sustainability goals, and includes some new areas of focus such as communications and engagement initiatives.

George Brown College

Sustainability Guidelines

GeorgeBrownCollege recognizes that Colleges have a major role in the education, research and information exchange necessary support society’s transition to an equitable and sustainable future. The following

Sustainability Guidelines are the underpinnings upon which specific Green Plan goals are based.

Institutional Culture of Sustainability

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Initiate, promote and conduct programs that promote sustainability in co-operation with academic and administrative departments and engage and educate the College community in conservation and demand management practices aimed at reducing the College's overall ecological footprint.

Demonstrate Environmental Stewardship

Work to reduce the College’s ecological footprint by establishing institutional policies and promoting practices for resource conservation, recycling, waste reduction and environmentally sound operations.

Implement the College’s Green Plan, including an ongoing process of sustainability measurement, implementation and evaluation, understanding that the Green Plan is dynamic document which will change over time in response to changing needs.

Green the Curriculum

Develop “green” curriculum to produce expertise in fields related to sustainable development and support faculty in developing curricula to prepare students with the knowledge and skills needed to tackle the challenges of a sustainable society, while enabling them to benefit from the economic opportunities that will arise as a result of solutions they develop and implement.

Inter-Professional Approaches

Encourage inter-professional approaches to applied research, education, policy formation and information exchange on sustainability issues, including development of opportunities for transforming the College’s campi into learning laboratories for demonstration of sustainable technologies.

Maintaining Momentum

Support the College’s Green Team to maintain momentum in promoting sustainability at the College and to inform and support each other’s efforts in fulfilling the expectations of this Policy.

Facilities Management

Energy and Climate Change

Energy and Climate

Change

TOTAL KWH

TOTAL NATURAL GAS

METRIC TONNES CO2E

ENERGY INTENSITY PER

SQUARE FOOT (EKWH/SF)

2005 – 2006

Total Square

Feet:

1,250,000

2011 – 2012

Total Square

Feet:

1,350,000

21,786,000 23,470,717

1,958,000 m 3 1,681,267 m 3

7973

33.61

6465

30.25

Green Plan I Targets

Increase energy efficiency of existing College buildings.

Maintain greenhouse gas emissions at 2006 levels.

Reduce consumption of energy from fossil-fuel based sources.

% Difference

7.73%

-14.13%

-.019%

-10%

GeorgeBrownCollege Green Plan Update | 6

George Brown College Carbon Footprint Breakdown

9,000

8,000

7,000

6,000

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12

CO2e Natural Gas

CO2e Electricity

Green Plan I Energy Results

The College has exceeded its goal and successfully reduced its carbon footprint by 20% compared to 2006 levels in spite of adding approximately 100,000 square feet of buildings (excluding the Waterfront Campus) and increasing occupancy as student population has increased from approximately 18,000 to 28,000 full time students.

The College has also achieved its Green Plan Phase I goal to reduce energy consumption per square metre, having increased energy intensity (Giga Joule 1 per square metre) by 10%.

George Brown College

Total Equivalent Kilowatt Hours

44,000,000

43,000,000

42,000,000

41,000,000

40,000,000

39,000,000

38,000,000

20

05

-0

6

20

06

-0

7

20

07

-0

8

20

08

-0

9

20

09

-1

0

Fiscal Year

20

10

-1

1

20

11

-1

2

34.00

33.00

32.00

31.00

30.00

29.00

28.00

Green Plan II Future Plans

Work with the College’s Green Team to implement a demand management and conservation program to reduce total energy consumption at the college

Continue with the implementation of energy retrofit plans for 200 King and 160 Kendal as recommended in previous energy audit reports. Current estimates indicated that these retrofits would result in a GHG reduction of approximately 790 metric tonnes which is almost 10% of the College’s current carbon footprint.

Seek out financial mechanisms and governments incentives to support funding of energy retrofit plans.

Ensure that renovations to new College buildings (leased and owned) include installation of state of the art energy efficiency measures.

Link building automation systems for disparate College campus buildings to enable a coordinated approach to tracking and managing energy consumption.

Investigate opportunities for more pilot or demonstration scale renewable energy projects on campuses and consider more purchase of clean energy from renewable energy sources.

1 A gigajoule (GJ) is a metric term used for measuring energy use using a single number to represent all your energy sources. 1 GJ is equivalent to the amount of energy available from either: 277.8 kWh of electricity, or26.1 m3 of natural gas. Ref: Natural Resources Canada: http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/commercial/technical-info/tools/gigajoule-definition.cfm

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Water Consumption

Objective: Use Water Efficiently

Baseline and Current Water Consumption Rates

Water

Consumption

2006 – 2007

Total Square

Feet:

1,250,000

2011 –

20012 Total

Square Feet:

1,350,000

TOTAL CUBIC

METRES

CUBIC METRES

PER SQUARE

FEET

97,088

0.08

130,765

0.098

% Difference Per Capita Water

Consumption

34.8%

24.8%

5.39

5.03

George Brown College Water Consumption

160000

140000

120000

100000

80000

60000

40000

20000

0

0.1100

0.1050

0.1000

0.0950

0.0900

0.0850

Total

Per Square Foot

2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Green Plan I Water Results:

Overall water consumption has increased 34.8% in total reflecting the increase in building footprint of 100,000 square feet. However, on a per capita basis, water consumption has actually decreased slightly.

Water consumption has increased primarily in 300 Adelaide and 215 King St. and can be attributed to new cooking facilities for the Culinary Arts program and in The Chef’s House Restaurant.

Water consumption at 200 King and the Casa Loma Campus has stayed more or less the same over the last 4 years despite increased FTE student occupancy levels from 16,000 – 20,000.

GBC Water Consumption Per Square Foot

0.45

0.40

0.35

0.30

0.25

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00

1 Dartnel

160 Kendal

175 Kendal

500 MacPherson

200 King

215 King

300 Adelaide

2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Green Plan II Water Target:

Maintain or reduce water consumption on a square foot basis.

Green Plan II Future Plans:

Water fixtures in renovated and leased spaces (193 and 222 King St. E.) will all be high efficiency.

Waste Management and Recycling

Objective:

Use materials efficiently

Minimize waste and maximize recyclability

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2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

Diversion Rate

49%

47.70%

63.00%

Total Waste to

Landfill (MT)

471.99

550.3

594.87

Metric Tonnes Per

Capita

0.021

0.023

0.021

GBC Total Waste and Recycling (2012)

E-Waste

0.30%

Paper Shredding

1.76%

Sheet Metal

0.39%

CCET Diversion

0.70%

Total Diversion

Rate: 63%

Organics

17.45%

Cardboard

19.97%

Waste

37.02%

Paper, Cans &

Bottles

19.92%

CCET Waste

2.49%

Waste

CCET Waste

Paper, Cans & Bottles

Cardboard

Organics

Paper Shredding

CCET Diversion

E-Waste

Sheet Metal

Green Plan I Targets

Increase total diversion (recycling rate) to 70%

Reduce total waste stream (garbage/waste and recycling) per capita by 15% over 3 years

Reduce hazardous substances/materials on campus

Increase recycling and salvage of construction and renovation by 25% over 5 years

Results:

The College’s recycling rate has increased from 49% to 63% over the last 3 years.

Amount of waste generated increased in the last 3 years however the amount per capita has decreased.

Green Plan II Targets:

Achieve 70% waste diversion

Reduce total waste by 10%

Divert 100% of electronic waste

Divert 25% construction and renovation waste

Green Plan II Future Plans

Develop a College-wide communications and education campaign to inform the community about the College’s recycling and waste management goals.

Expand food waste collection to also include pre-consumer food waste, Student Association-run cafeterias, post-consumer food waste from College cafeterias and leftover food from meetings and events

Install recycling bins at outside locations including the 2 nd floor patio at 200 King and “Moose Park” at Casa

Loma Campus

Reduce the number of black garbage containers outside of classrooms and at miscellaneous locations around the college

Collect wood/saw dust from Casa Loma Campus for inclusion in the organics diversion stream.

Start a battery collection program operated out of the Health & Safety offices at both campuses

Recycle non-clinical wax from the Denturism Program.

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Housekeeping and Green Cleaning

Green Plan I Objective:

To demonstrate best practices in terms of environmental sustainability in terms of products and processes used in the College's Housekeeping program and thus ensure a college environment with indoor air quality that is comfortable, clean and safe.

Results:

90% of the cleaning products used by the College have either Green Seal or Eco-Logo certification.

200 King is using a chemical-free, water based aqueous ozone multi-purpose product for all cleaning which eliminates the need for even certified green cleaning products.

New steam vapour vacuum cleaners use no chemicals and are excellent for cleaning carpets, upholstery and difficult to clean surfaces like elevator tracks.

Green Plan II Future Plans:

Expand use of aqueous ozone cleaning product at all campuses.

For more information contact: Anthony Scarlato, Manager of Housekeeping

Policies and Practices

Issue: Green Purchasing

Objective: To reduce the environmental impacts associated with the College’s purchasing decisions, including

“upstream” impacts related to the extraction of natural resources, manufacturing, transportation and packaging, and “downstream” in the final disposal, recycling and reuse of products.

Results:

The College has a Green Purchasing Policy which specifies environmental attributes as preferable (recycled content, recyclability, LEED Criteria, toxics contents, local, environmentally friendly, etc.) It also makes recommendations regarding purchase of various product categories that should meet the standards of thirdparty environmental certification programs, including for: paint; furniture, fixtures, floor coverings; computers and electronics; appliances and equipment; housekeeping and cleaning products and services; and wood products/lumber.

The College has Green Purchasing Sustainability Guidelines for furniture, fixtures and equipment. These guidelines which are also made available to contractors, specify certain criteria that should be met in terms of a product’s manufacturing process, off-gassing properties and in terms of recycled material content and being locally manufactured. Categories include wood products, carpets and flooring and paints and coatings.

The College’s Policy and Procedures for Purchasing ITS (Information Technology Services) Equipment includes specifications that equipment meet certain levels under the EPEAT (Electronic Product Assessment

Tool) program

The College has a Paper Use and Purchasing Policy that includes guidelines for College use of paper. The

College has also switched to photocopy paper which has 30% Post Consumer Waste (PCW) recycled content and is either certified by the forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Sustainable Forests Initiative (SFI).

Green Plan II Future Plans:

Ensure the consistency in terms of the weighting of environmental criteria when carrying out Technical

Evaluation of proposals received in response to Requests for Proposal and Quotes. Where feasible, increase weighting for environmental criteria to 10% of total points.

GeorgeBrownCollege Green Plan Update |

Reduce paper consumption associated with proposals by requesting vendors not to submit a copy of the

College’s RFP with submissions and requesting that all paper submissions be printed double sided.

For more information contact: Wray Hodgson, Manager, and Purchasing

10

Issue: Paper Consumption

Green Plan I Goal: To reduce total consumption of paper by 15% over 5 years and to purchase paper that has been manufactured with minimal impact on the environment.

Progress to Date:

Over the last four years the College’s photocopy paper has increased by 10.2%; however, per capita paper use has decreased by approximately the same amount.

2009-10:

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

GBC Photocopy #

Sheets

17,977,000

21,277,838

21,679,241

19,971,392

Grenville Printing #

Sheets

9,827,612

11,280,772

10,617,675

10,667,347

Total # Sheets

27,804,612

32,558,610

32,296,916

30,638,739

10.19%

Photocopy Paper

Per Capita (GBC &

Per Capita GBC

Photocopy Sheets

Grenville)

Photocopy Paper per Capita

Grenville

1,159 749 409

1,163

1,114

1,057

760

774

689

403

379

368

-10.17%

Green Plan II Future Plans:

Launch a Photocopy Paper Challenge to all departments to reduce paper use by 15%.

Be more proactive in encouraging faculty to provide course outlines on-line and to accept and mark assignments electronically.

Consider adding a surcharge to departments for paper use to serve as an incentive to reduce paper consumption.

Start tracking student paper consumption such as in the Learning Commons and Computer Labs and other classroom with printers

New campus locations at Waterfront Campus, 193 and 341 King do not allow single (personal) printers.

For more information contact: Geoff Swift, Senior Manager, Business Services

Issue: Greening Food Services

Green Plan Objective:

To reduce the environmental impacts of the College’s food service operation by modeling environmental sustainability practices.

Green Plan I Results:

The College developed a Green Meeting Guide that is used as a resource by the College community in planning events and functions with minimal impact on the environment.

Only Fair Trade certified (organic and shade-grown) coffee is used in College-run cafeterias and for catering.

Customers are offered 10 cent discount for bringing their own reusable coffee/tea mug to the cafeteria.

The use of Styrofoam in College food services has been eliminated; take out containers in College run cafeterias are biodegradable as are all coffee cups.

The College no longer uses bottled water for office catering; bulk water is provided instead.

New vending machines with healthier food options have been added to St. James campus as a pilot.

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We switched to single serve Pizza Pizza servings instead of a whole mini-pizza box reducing cardboard use.

Used vegetable oil is collected and sent to a local chicken farm where it is used as a feed additive.

All pre-consumer food waste is collected for compost including from Tim Horton's/

Condiments are served in bulk rather than single serve packages.

All napkins are 100% recycled, unbleached napkins.

Green Plan II Future Plans:

Be a resource to the Student Association in helping them to specify environmentally friendly food service options for their food service vendors such as at La Doice Vita. For example, an effort needs to be made to eliminate use of Styrofoam take-out containers.

Start with the Waterfront Campus, efforts will be made to track purchase of local (Ontario) food and percentage of "sustainable" food.

For more information contact: Geoff Swift, Senior Manager, Finance

Issue: Transportation

Green Plan I Objective:

Encourage alternatives to conventional vehicle use.

Progress to Date:

The College has added over 40 new bike parking spots on Casa Loma and St. James Campuses.

The College provides incentives for public transit by providing discounted TTC Metropasses for students and employee as well as a College discount for Auto Share membership.

College is working with Smart Commute Toronto to develop an overall Sustainable Transportation Strategy.

Green Plan II Future Plans

Set-up an on-line Smart Commute Car Pool Zone for College employees.

Investigate possibility of putting shelters over some of the bike parking racks.

Explore feasibility of designated carpool parking for carpoolers.

Make special parking spots available at Casa Loma Campus for hybrid vehicles and car pool cars.

Encourage employees to take advantage of the City's Activate Your Commute web-site and resources.

For more information: Contact Stephanie Foster, Green Team/ Sustainability Coordinator.

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