2002-2003 Progress Report
GREENPRINT

Greenprint had its most successful year to date!

Greenprint helps Shape new College Identity

This Spring, Southampton Graduate Campus adopted a new identity statement to help define its new curriculum. That statement reads:

Southampton Graduate Campus, Long Island University’s small liberal arts and sciences college, is dedicated to creating an environmentally sustainable and humane world through critical thinking, creativity, and global citizenship. The curriculum emphasizes academic excellence, inter-disciplinary, and experience-based learning, and takes full advantage of Long Island’s marine, environmental, literary, and artistic wealth. Our mission is to empower students to care for the world.

In addition, the new core curriculum for Fall 2004 will require all students to take courses that fulfill an environmental literacy requirement. The college defined this as: an understanding of basic ecological facts and theories in a way that integrates natural sciences, social sciences, the arts, and humanities, and develops an awareness that dependence on the natural world is a fundamental condition of human life and that the natural world is also a source of inspiration, creativity, and connection to life.

Greenprint has worked for several years to achieve these goals.

David Orr Visits Southampton

Prof. David Orr, Oberlin College, visited Southampton Graduate Campus in the Fall and explained the importance of developing new curricula around the theme of environmental sustainability. Prof. Orr emphasized that there is no one approach to this topic. It is inherently interdisciplinary and the more exciting findings come from exploring new possibilities and not being wedded to old models.

Environmental Coordinator Hired

Southampton Graduate Campus has hired Peter Maniscalco as its Environmental Coordinator. Peter is responsible for stewarding campus energy conservation and recycling programs. Peter will coordinate his efforts with Physical Plant, Student Activities, and the Greenprint Committee. The hiring followed a one-year Greenprint campaign to create this position. The position will be funded through student activity fees. The Student Government Association voted to pay to have students pay for this position!

Energy Conservation

Greenprint initiated two environmental audits this year, by LIPA and an independent consultant, Michael Pope. The results indicated that the College would save significant amounts of energy and money through a range of management and technology retrofit strategies. Funding is now being sought to implement these strategies. LIPA consultants indicated that the College would realize a net saving of $500,000 over the next ten years by making an upfront investment of $160,000. Financing those upfront costs over five years would allow the College to realize net savings every year over the ten years. In May, the College began investigating Energy Service Contracts as a mechanism for financing these costs.

Consultant Michael Pope demonstrated that the College could save additional monies by consolidating its multiple electric meters. The consolidation would allow the College to receive a better rate structure from LIPA. That information was forwarded to LIU administrators.

The College completed its first successful year of operation of its 10kW Wind Turbine.

Recycling

Last year Greenprint and PEACE successfully expanded the campus-recycling program. This year, a new shed was constructed where bottles and cans are washed prior to their transit off campus. Planning also continued on ways to expand recycling on campus. PEACE also did a pilot study of using recycled paper in campus Xerox machines. That study found that staff had few problems (jams, etc.) with using recycled paper.

Earth Day

Thanks largely to the efforts of P.E.A.C.E., the campus enjoyed a successful celebration of Earth Day this April. There were vendors representing environmental organizations, bands provided music, and local companies provided alternative energy exhibits.

Solar Aquatic Treatment Plant

The College remains committed to constructing an Ecologically Engineered Sewerage System. Work on this project has temporarily slowed, with more attention focused on the new library. The goal is also to join this facility to a new environmental center, the Center for Environmental Conservation, which will use green technologies, like solar energy, and will house classrooms, offices, and environmental displays. The proposed building will be a center for community-college collaborative research projects.

Bishop Burke Library

The College broke ground a new 29,600-square-foot Library/Learning Center. The College will seek LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. Greenprint has met with architects from Mitchell/Giurgola Architects to discuss building design issues and the certification process. Greenprint has also sought advice from Library Director, Robert Gerbereux.

Graduation Pledge

166 students took this years graduation pledge. The voluntary pledge, in its fifth year at Southampton Graduate Campus, reads: "I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work." Southampton College is the only Long Island school involved in the pledge. Over 130 colleges and universities take the pledge nationally.