Group 5 - MSU Green Campus

More and more, efforts are being made to reduce green house emissions, and the concept of "going green" is more wide spread than ever. Two years ago, just about everyone was concerned with their carbon foot-print, and what it meant for the environment. As these concerns continue to grow, University and College campuses have increased their attempts to go green. According to the United States Green Building Council, more than 110 Universities and Colleges have either built, or are building environmentally friendly and energy efficient buildings.

It is our group's intention that the information collected and suggested can be used by the students, faculty and staff, and board of directors of the university. Here we seek to provide information that is properly researched, and documented. We hope to deliver a clear, and concise perspective of the problems, and there possible solutions. We hope to provide a detailed documented copy of our findings to the administrators of the university. In addition, a simplified version highlighting simple, but meaningful practices can be posted or issued to the student body.

Problems or Opportunities:

It is inevitable that there maybe a few hindrances and complications into the enhancement and implementation of new and/or existing projects.
Firstly, the initial cost of implementation in a few instances maybe capital intensive. Consequently, the administrative body of the University may not openly accept the proposal and idea. In addition, the governing administration may find it bothersome and may never implement the new ideas.

Conversely, there exist many opportunities that can be exploited and will directly benefit the university in countless ways.
There exist an avenue for marketing the university can use to aid in its promotion and student recruitment program.
The long-term recurrent utility expenses can be significantly reduced.

Research Strategies:
Individual questionnaires and personal interviews will be conducted

Purpose of Proposal:
To award the university and opportunity to save money.
To employ the existing available resources as a revenue source.

Research questions:

• Why should MSU go green?
• Are there any requirements or restrictions for a school to go green?
• How much money will it cost the school to implement energy efficient products/buildings?
• Will the initial investment in renewable energy pay of itself? If so, how long will it take?
• How will MSU benefit on a whole by making their campus green i.e. the impact to their business?
• What are some of the best energy efficiency products MSU should implement?
• Building vs. Upgrading i.e. would it be better to demolish the old buildings that are not environmental friendly and build new ones or just upgrade the existing structures?
• Will the school have to raise funds, take a loan, etc, in order to implement this idea? Basically, were will the school get the money from to pay for this?
• Is there a healthy bottom line for going green?
• How long will it take MSU to make its buildings environmental friendly? Also, is the process time consuming?
• Going green all at once Vs. Taking it in stages i.e. How should MSU make its transition toward going green?
• Should MSU consider going green beyond individual building i.e. making the entire campus environmental friendly? E.g. hybrid vehicles for the administration.
• Are there any tax benefits or incentives for going green? If so, will it benefit both the school (administration) and the students?
• How much money will the school save year if they decides to go green?
• Is it expensive to maintain an environmental friendly building?
• Has MSU made any efforts to go green? If so, what are they? If not, why not?
• Who is the information available to?
• What are MSU's physical limitations, i.e. if they had to construct a new building, with regards to going green?

HERE WE SEEK TO ANSWER A FEW OF THE QUESTIONS

• Building vs. Upgrading i.e. would it be better to demolish the old buildings that are not environmentally friendly and build new ones or just upgrade the existing structures?
Considering how relatively young the green movement is, it would not be advisable to completely demolish the existing structures. Since standard of care requirements, labor and building codes are constantly evolving, it is not clear exactly how durable a completely green building would be. MSU is in a zone where tornados are frequent. Should such a building be destroyed, repairs would be very costly for the University. In addition to this, completely demolishing these buildings would mean displacing the students, faculty and staff that are housed in these buildings until rebuilding is complete. It is for these reasons that simply upgrading the existing structures seems to be the more feasible option at this time.

• Will the school have to raise funds, take a loan, etc, in order to implement this idea? Basically, were will the school get the money from to pay for this?
Although the returns of going green are great, and cost of going green is constantly decreasing, the initial cost is still quite expensive by regular building standards. Therefore, it is highly likely that the school may have to take a loan to pay for these changes. Just recently there was an increase in tuition and fees, and as the economy is only just beginning to recover from the recent downturn, it is unlikely that the cost of these repairs would be offset by another increase. The school may have to seek donations to supplement any loans taken to complete such a venture.

• How long will it take MSU to make its buildings environmentally friendly? Also, is the process time consuming?
It is unclear exactly how long it will take for MSU to make its buildings environmentally friendly. Converting the existing structures would take quite a bit of time, simply for the fact that these buildings are currently in use.

• Going green all at once Vs. Taking it in stages i.e. How should MSU make its transition toward going green?
Outfitting these buildings with green technology all at once sounds nice; however, it is not a very viable option. To install such technology would mean having to find alternate classroom and office spaces for the students, faculty and staff who utilize these buildings all at once. Taking it in stages however, may inconvenience a few for a short time, and may pose a bit of a problem with regard to classroom scheduling especially, but it is not impossible.

• Should MSU consider going green beyond individual buildings i.e. making the entire campus environmentally friendly? E.g. hybrid vehicles for the administration.
Hybrid vehicles would mean a major reduction in MSU’s carbon footprint, simply because they are fuel efficient. This means that these vehicles burn fuel in a cleaner way which results in fewer carbon emissions, and less money spent on fuel.

• Is there a healthy bottom line for going green?
Yes, there is a healthy bottom line due to the number of Federal Grants and incentives that are being made available to Universities and college campuses that make the move towards a greener existence, since buildings generally account for 30% of carbon emissions in the United States. These grants would be some of the immediate benefits, since returns on the upgrades may take longer to come into effect. The biggest benefit of going green, however, is in reputation. As many more individuals become eco-aware, many seek to maintain a lifestyle that is environmentally friendly in every respect. Any efforts by MSU to go green will give the university a leg up in the Public Relations arena.

A8Group5Artifact:

For our group artifact we published a web page. Evaluating the consumption of energy and ways in which operational cost can be decreased. Our web page summarizes the current situation, recommendation and a conclusion.

https://sites.google.com/site/greenmsuproject/

Gary.Clarke	Latest page update: made by Gary.Clarke , Dec 2 2010, 2:31 PM EST (about this update About This Update A8 - Gary.Clarke 36 words added view changes - complete history)
	Keyword tags: None More Info: links to this page