Time: 9:00 am
Present Dennis Easley, Julie Klassen, Norm Vig, Phil Camill, Laila Parker, Richard Strong, Ben Lum, Alyssa Thomas
Secretary: Max Wilson
New Business
Environmental Mission Statement Forum
Max Wilson presented the information he had distributed to the campus concerning the all campus forum co-sponsored with CSA to discuss the possibility and nature of an environmental mission statement.
At issue was the role that the EAC wanted to play in the formation of this mission statement, the language of the statement, and how the statement should move through the governance structure.
The issue of getting language approved by the board of trustees had been brought up and Max noted that he was told that getting a “mission statement” approved by the board would be a tedious and difficult process
It was noted that trustee Bob Larson has expressed interest in sustainability issues
The scope of the statement was brought up and it was agreed that the scope could be extended to include humans but the language should be such that it does not raise any red flags or explicitly favor a position on any of the current campus debates concerning human rights
Norm Vig noted that he did not believe that getting trustee approval would be terribly difficult
The question of whether we wanted to work top-down or bottom-up on environmental issues was raised and it was suggested that a statement would be a top-down measure
The question of what will this statement mean for Carleton was raised it was suggested that other schools with similar mission statements be contacted to determine the effect that their mission statement had on the campus it was noted that the statement would have to be parsed in workable and reasonable language and should be vague and subtle
Middlebury’s mission statement was cited as a good example of what we might want
It was noted that it would be important to emphasize that any language that was developed might be subject to change as it moved through the governance process
**ACTION: the effort to produce an environmental statement of principles was endorsed by the EAC
Energy Issues
Richard Strong brought up the possibility of developing an energy management plan for Carleton
A baseline of energy consumption would have to be established
Carleton is projecting that it will have to add a boiler in the next 7-8 years based on current and projected consumption
It was suggested that we research what could be done to preempt the need for another boiler
The possibilities for emergency power was brought up
– St.Olaf has capacity to provide 100% of its own power during an emergency
– Power rebates are available based on emergency production possibilities
– currently we only have enough emergency capacity to light emergency lights
– critical energy needs should be identified and quantified
– the possibility for Fuel Cell emergency power was brought up
There would have to be additional space created to house any new generators or boilers
In reference to the possibility of eliminating the need for a new boiler:
– the energy needs of events such as reunion weekends and summer programs were raised with respect to air conditioning
– most energy savings at this point would have to come from student behavior modification
– it was noted that comfort issues are hard to fight
– it was suggested that we experiment with different possibilities for energy use levels
– New Student Week was identified as a good opportunity to address energy issues with students – tour of the plant, meet the people who will turn down your heat, etc.
Environmental Reviews of New Buildings
The need and advantages of post-construction evaluations of the townhouses and the Dining and Language Center were discussed
There is a need to determine how well the suggestions and aims produced by the Weidt Group and the Minnesota Sustainable Design Guide were incorporated into the design in order to ensure that our goals are being met
**ACTION: The EAC recommends a post-construction evaluation of the Language and Dinging Center and the Townhouses
Composting Updates
A project to work on between now and next fall is coordinating with other people in town to make the possibility of using Androos processing viable – students?
Composting in dorms and townhouses in past years greenhouse has organized composing efforts in the dorms with mixed success
look at the possibility of getting closed compost containers to put on campus and then haul out to the farm
the college can put out the containers and haul them if a network of students is created to collect the compost and get it to these containers
we should locate the best locations for the compost bins
Laila will look into the prices of different compost bins
possibly work composting into the NSW program as well
Meeting Adjourned