WSU Celebrates 47th Earth Day

OGDEN, Utah – Earth Day activities at Weber State University this year will include the annual Earth Day tree planting, a water forum where the community can suggest ways to help WSU create its first water conservation plan and a panel for WSU employees to learn more about making their departments sustainable.

The annual celebration of Earth Day, which began in 1970, has been a staple at Weber State University for years, with community members and students from local elementary schools joining Weber State students in planting trees and learning sustainability practices.

Earth Day Activities

Tuesday (April 18) – The student Environmental Ambassadors will host the annual Earth Day tree planting at 1:30 outside the McKay Education Building. They will plant eight trees, including flowering cherry, ponderosa pine and shade trees. Tree planting is free and open to all.

Wednesday (April 19) – Learn about WSU’s Green Department Certification Program, 1-2 p.m., Shepherd Union Building Room 316. Program participants are involved in a friendly campus-wide competition to implement sustainable practices in their departments.

Wednesday (April 19) – Weber State Energy & Sustainability Office is creating the university’s first water conservation plan and is seeking input during a water forum open house, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Shepherd Union Atrium.

Saturday (April 22) – To learn more about WSU’s sustainability successes, meet SPARC (Sustainability Practices and Research Center) representatives at the Ogden Nature Center’s Earth Day celebration April 22, 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Tuesday (April 25) – WSU professor Dan Bedford will discuss global warming and facts about the scientific consensus, and debunk myths during his presentation, “Global Warming: A Tool Kit for Dismantling Misinformation,” Elizabeth Hall Room 229, 6 p.m., Light refreshments served, free and open to all.

As a result of its many sustainability efforts, Weber State has saved money and significantly reduced energy and water consumption. In fiscal year 2016, WSU saved $1,711,785 on its electric, natural gas and water bills.

Since the baseline year of 2007, Weber State has reduced its electricity consumption by 29 percent, its direct carbon footprint by more than 30 percent and its natural gas consumption by more than 33 percent, while the university has grown by more than 375,210 square feet. The university adopted its Climate Action Plan in 2009 and committed to being carbon neutral by the year 2050.

Those successes are garnered through administrative support, creativity, passion and campus-wide commitment.

WSU’s Green Department Certification Program:

The purpose of the Green Department Program is to get WSU offices and departments involved in the work of making the university more sustainable and carbon neutral. The voluntary, competitive program allows participating departments to assemble a “Green Team” and earn points by making their departments more sustainable. Depending on the number of points achieved, the department may be certified as bronze, silver, gold or green.

Departments implement strategies to reduce waste and increase sustainable campus practices such as going paperless, switching to tiny trash cans and large recycling bins and using sustainable paper goods in breakrooms.

WSU has 26 departments involved in the program. Seven are bronze certified, one is silver certified, and in March 2017, Human Resources became WSU’s first green-certified department, followed by the English department in April.

Davis Campus

Ground-mounted solar panels installed in summer 2016 cover nearly seven acres of land on the southeast side of Weber State University Davis in Layton. The project is one of the largest solar installations at a public institution in Utah.

The approximately 2-megawatt solar array, financed, designed, installed and maintained by SolarCity, is expected to produce enough energy to power 100 percent of WSU Davis’s electrical power needs. To put that in context, the array generates enough electricity to power the equivalent of more than 250 homes for one year.

The array will provide predictable and stable power for at least the next 20 years. It is expected to generate more than 57 million kilowatt-hours of energy over its lifetime and offset more than 85 million pounds of carbon emissions.

Groundsource Systems

The Utah Association of Energy Users presented WSU with its Outstanding Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Conservation award, noting a number of innovative projects including one now hidden below the parking lot on the north side of Stewart Stadium.

Since the 1960s, WSU has warmed and cooled its buildings with super-heated steam or chilled water circulating through 1.5 miles of pipe in tunnels connected to every building. During the summer of 2016, crews bored more than 200 wells, 275 feet deep, to take advantage of the earth’s consistent temperature. WSU will continue to use the pipes, but now part of the water’s path will travel through the wells, where temperature is restored to an even 57 degrees. This dramatically reduces WSU’s energy consumption.

Helping the Community Go Electric

In fall 2016, WSU’s Sustainability Practices and Research Center (SPARC) collaborated with Utah Clean Energy, Utah State University and community members to spread the word about the Drive Electric Northern Utah (DENU) program. DENU aims to improve air quality and community health by reducing tailpipe emissions, which account for about half of Utah’s urban air pollution. More than 200 people learned about the benefits of driving electric vehicles, and 28 households took advantage of DENU’s bulk-purchase discount and transitioned to driving electric vehicles.

Sustainability Summit

More than 550 people participated in the Eighth Annual Intermountain Sustainability Summit, hosted by SPARC in March 2017. The event explored the latest topics such as sustainability policies, clean energy, climate and conservation. This year’s summit featured nearly 50 speakers, including Mary Robinson, former — and first female — president of Ireland, and John Cook, founder of Skeptical Science, a website dedicated to debunking climate myths.

As part of the Sustainability Summit, the public could tour WSU’s Tiny House, a project built by students from the College of Engineering, Applied Science & Technology. The net-zero, sustainable Tiny House is a tool for students to learn about energy efficiency.

 “Green Guide” Recognition

For Weber State’s strong and continued commitment to sustainable practices, “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 361 Green Colleges: 2016 Edition” included WSU on its annual list for the fifth year.

Sierra Club Recognition

WSU was recognized for the fourth time on the Sierra Club’s 2016 Cool Schools list, which ranks colleges and universities in the U.S. based on their dedication to environmentalism.

Visit weber.edu/sustainability for more information about Weber State’s sustainability projects.

 Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.

Author:

Ivonne Dabb, University Marketing & Communications
801-626-7439 • ivonnedabb@weber.edu

Contact:

Jennifer Bodine, sustainability specialist
801-626-6421 • jenniferbodine@weber.edu

Bonnie Christiansen, SPARC academic sustainability coordinator
801-626-6326 • bchristiansen2@weber.edu