Watts up with that? Borrow a Kill-A-Watt Meter from the PSC Library!

You can borrow more than just books from the PSC Library now! Kill-A-Watt Meters are now available at the PSC Library. So, are you low on beer money? Is your beer fridge empty and still plugged in? Have you ever wondered how much electricity your fridge uses? Or charging your phone takes? What about how much electricity is being used to sit back and watch Netflix all day? We have the solution to your questions. You can now borrow a Watt-Meter from the Paul Smith’s College Library and find out just how much electricity it takes to charge your phone! See how much beer money you could have if you just unplugged the fridge while it was empty! Watt meters are made available through the Library right from the front desk. We challenge you to save as much energy as you can and send us your results!

Residence Hall Energy Info Displayed on the Flat Screen in the Student Center

Check out the display on the flat screen in the Student Center this month- April 1st to April 22nd. We are running our fifth annual Energy Conservation Competition. Electric meters were purchased and installed in all 15 residence halls on campus in 2013 by student Jon Buyl. The goal of the energy meters was to show that changes in behavior can make a big difference in how much electricity is used on campus. This was a $43,000 project that was funded by the Campus Sustainability Fund.  Below is a description of what the colors represent. All color changes are based on BASELINE data that has been collected throughout the semester.

COLOR SCHEME:

Red: Legend will read “Worst Energy Use.”  This value is a KW/sqft value which is above the “High Energy Use” value (yellow).  This boils down to the worst performing buildings at any current time.  Students should react to this by working to shut off devices to lower their present demand and move them into the “yellow”

Yellow: Legend will read “High Energy Use.”  This value is a KW/sqft value which is above the neutral building load value (Brown) but not as high as those in red.  To summarize, these buildings are use more energy than the neutral and students should be working to move these buildings back down into the “Neutral Building Load” range.

Brown: Legend will read “Neutral Building Load.”  This value is a KW/sqft value which falls in an acceptable range (tbd) of energy use.  Students in this range should be concerned that they possibly could jump into the Yellow if additional load occurs.  They should be working to get below this range and turn their background Blue which would show low energy use in their building.

Blue: Legend will read “Low Energy Use.”  This value is a KW/sqft value which demonstrates the building is performing better than the average (Brown) building.  Students who live here, should be excited that they are doing their part in conserving energy, but should continue to push forward to get their building into the Green.

Green: Legend will read “Best Energy Use.”  This value is a KW/sqft value which demonstrates the building is performing in the best range possible.  Students who live in these buildings should continue to do what they are doing in their conservation efforts and should be proud that their buildings are in this range.  The buildings that spend the most time in this Green range will have the best chances to win the overall prize.

VALUES:

Total KWH- This value is Total KWH for the building.  This is a value that is accumulated continually.

KWH/sq/ft – This value is Total KWH divided by sq/ft per building.  This is a value that is accumulated continually.  This gives an overall equal playing field no matter the size of the building.  This will be the value which will continue to be accumulated over the month to award the overall winner of the Green Games Contest.

KW/sq/ft- This value is based off of present demand.  This value is the driver for the changing colors throughout the day.  This value is changed in intervals of every 15 minutes.  To sum this up, if the colors are going to change, the changes will occur once every 15 minutes based on the current usage in each building.

 

March for Science

 

We will be kicking off this years 3rd annual SAMfest (Science Art and Music Festival) at Paul Smiths College VIC with our very own “March For Science”. The march will start at 10am, April 22nd. We will meet in the parking lot across the street from the campus entrance and march to the VIC. Please get there before 10am. There will be parking on campus, across the street from the main entrance, and at the VIC. Please dress appropriately it will be a walk in the woods in the Adirondacks in late April. Before the event we encourage you to make posters. It is important to keep in mind that this is a march for SCIENCE, we want to put forward a positive message with a strong showing to start off the day.

In order for this to happen we need people. This is a reminder for you to spread the word until the event. It is happening Earth day April 22! Tell your friends, family, friends of your family, family of your friends, strangers, pets, other students, students from your local schools and anyone else you can possibly think of. This was Curt Stagers idea so drop that name if you have to get people to go.
http://www.samfest.org/

New Farm-to-Table Assistant!

This semester, we have hired a new Farm to Table Assistant for our staff. We welcome Andrew Cassata, who will be supporting us with our local food initiatives on campus and in our community.

Andrew is from Hilton, NY, and is currently a freshman in the Sustainable Communities and Working Landscapes B.S. program. In 2012, Andrew started his own organic produce business, called Twin Hill Farms LLC. After graduating from Paul Smith’s with his degree, Andrew plans to continue working with his farm. When he’s not busy with school, the farm, or working in our office, Andrew enjoys hiking and skiing on the VIC trails.

Welcome Andrew- We’re very excited to have you on the team!

New Waste Reduction Team!

Recently, the Center for Campus Sustainability has hired four students as part of a new Waste Reduction Team: Zoe Plant, Grace Seltzer, Thomas Szabo, and Julie Hogan. As part of their duties, they will be assessing our current recycling and food waste systems, while developing and implementing a plan to collect and sort recycling and food waste for proper disposal. We look forward to improving our recycling and waste management efforts here at Paul Smith’s College with all of their great help!

SRI LANKA PART II- HERE I AM!

By Jack Gallagher

Being part of The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program was the best thing that I could have possibly done for myself in high school. It opened so many opportunities for great educational experiences. Being able to travel to different parts of the country and now the world with the Youth Climate Program has allowed me to meet people from all over trying to make a positive change in their communities. Also, during all these trips we have had a great group of people who became very close working together on these projects.

One of the biggest challenges I have endured working with this program has been staying focused when we were preparing presentations. However, without doing those presentations with the AYCP, I would not have the public speaking skills that I do now. It’s a result of all the practice doing the presentations, and it actually opened up a job opportunity for me. Anyone new to the program or thinking about joining it should take as many of these opportunities are possible and put in a serious effort. A lot of people are willing to listen to what you have to say and want to see what you can do.

The trip itself was really eye opening. I had a lot of culture shock and never fully adjusted. It was hotter and more humid than any place I’ve been before. However, I was able to see places I never imagined I would go to, and liked how we were able to see so many different places in such a short amount of time.  The religious temples we went to were amazing, and we drove by some that were just as impressive. Everywhere we went, we had delicious food, including the fresh fruit on stands just off the side of the roads. I was overjoyed when I had the opportunity to see elephants being able to roam freely on their own terms. Whenever we stopped and talked to anyone they would ask us lots of questions, like: “Do you like Sri Lanka? How’s the food? What is it like where you are from? Still getting used to the heat?”

The actual summit was great- The students were enthusiastic and ready to find solutions in their schools. Presenting to a group from halfway across the world was challenging, as I had to speak slow to make sure everyone was able to understand the material. It took some practice and concentration, since  I normally get excited and talk fast when I present. Presenting to people where English was their second language was challenging, but I think most of the students could understand what I was saying. The workshops were mostly panel discussions, and not quite as hands-on as other summits I have been to. My favorite one was the climate justice workshop, which was a really intense discussion on how climate change is going to affect the world’s poorest people. It also discussed how Sri Lanka can play a role in a force for good, even though it’s such a small country. My favorite part of the summit was being able to talk to the students during our tabling session, and I was impressed with how prepared they were. They had everything they needed and then some, and we even gained some ideas to use at future summits. Most of the climate action plans I saw were achievable projects that students were ready to work on. My favorite one was a proposal to build an outdoor study area out of bricks made from recycled material.

The thing I will remember the most from this trip other than the heat and incredible food will definitely be the opportunity I had to talk to these students, and their views on how to fix the word. This program has given me all sorts of knowledge that I will have for life- Not just all the scientific facts, but also the people skills. I really hope this program will be able to continue the positive work they are doing for a long time.