Category: Building and Planning

When I first arrived in 2010, Fred [Rogers] and Steve [Spehn] said the top two priorities were to install a commercial-scale wind turbine and write a climate action plan to…

The 2017-2018 year was full of new and exciting projects and events from our office, some highlights:
Click here for more information about the Sustainability report for fiscal year 2018.

Points of Intervention Tour

The Points of Intervention Tour was in partnership with the Post-Landfill Action Network, the CCCE Office, Convocations Committee, Custodial Services, Bon Appetit, Environmental Advisory Committee, Zero Waste Task Force, & Dick’s Sanitation (Carleton’s waste hauler). The tour stop consisted of a convocation panel presentation entitled, “Challenging the Linear Consumption Economy” followed by a Repair Fair where volunteer fixers helped over 80 people repair bikes, clothing, small electronics and musical instruments that may have otherwise been destined for the landfill.

Free & For Sale Frenzy

The Free & For Sale Frenzy was built upon the existing Free & For Sale Facebook page on campus. Students can post when they would like to sell something, then it’s first come first serve to claim it. The Sustainability Assistants worked to consolidate this process into a one-day shopping frenzy! Over 100 students participated with over 1,200 articles of clothing.

Utility Master Plan, Year I

This past year, campus has been undergoing a transformation to replace our out-dated steam system with geothermal energy. Progress in year I includes: 

• Converted Cassat, James, Myers to operate on 120 degree F supply water
• Isolated Faculty Club on its own boiler
• Completed Bell Field and Mini Bald Spot geothermal bore fields
• East Energy Station constructed and equipment installed

For more information on the Utility Master Plan, please visit go.carleton.edu/geothermal

Click here for more information about the Sustainability report for fiscal year 2018.

Carleton has been featured in Audubon Magazine’s September/October special issue on Green Design!

Want to know how much electricity your favorite building on campus used in March 2007? Now you can look it up online!

Sam Friedman ’09, here in Northfield for the summer, has gotten an article published on the front page of the Northfield News about Carleton’s plans to install a second wind turbine near campus.

Over the last few years, the popularity of smart meters has grown substantially.  Something else that has seen massive growth in use are online social networking and role-playing games.  Recognizing what a powerful tool both of these can be Stanford Professor Byron Reeves (a specialist in psychological processing of media) has decided to design a computer game that encourages productive use of smart meters.  His prototype will connect a virtual world, where players interact and compete, with the real data of home, building, and city energy consumption.  The hope is for more motivated citizens, higher efficiency in energy use, and more saved money.  This article contains a YouTube demo video well worth your time.

As our college emphasizes the development of new energy sources and pursues means by which we can reduce our own energy consumption, it is important that people educate themselves on what kinds of systems are providing them with energy and utilities in the first place. Carleton offers an excellent opportunity to see very large systems, unfortunately these opportunities are underutilized by students.