Ka Leo Sustainable Saunders Article

"Every month nearly 1.5 Million Dollars of student tuitions pays UHM's Electricity Bill"†

So hopefully you've heard the great news... that there's some real action in the area of campus sustainability underway. The Chancellor and some devoted faculty members have chosen Saunders Hall as one of the university's pilot projects. The plan is to try to make Saunders Hall as sustainable as possible, measure the results and roll out successful projects to the rest of the campus. So there are many ways to join the HUB [Help Us Bridge] team in creating a sustainble future for UHM, Hawaii and beyond! A professional energy audit report of the building is here.

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Energy Team

Interested in exploring the dark corners of electricity use? The energy team has learned all about the whopping $760,000 annual electricity bill at Saunders Hall. Check out the detailed notes from our Energy Workshop Series if you're curious. 70% of the Saunders community residents responded to our survey and the top two complaints were the rooms being too cold and the flourescent light too bright.

The exploration is well under way with a diverse group of passionate students, but we could always use more inquisitive minds... all you need is a sincere interest to jump on board! For more information, please contact Shanah Trevenna 808-772-1874, trevenna@hawaii.edu, or click here...

Bike Club: Cycle Manoa

Meeting on campus weekly at Manoa Gardens/Baile, check the calendar or see Cycle Manoa website for more information.

What Have We Accomplished So Far?top

Ongoing:

Saunders Delamping Pilot Project

We've removed about 250 bulbs for the pilot delamping test. Assuming our Saunders test subjects are in their offices an average of 30 hours per week, those 250 bulbs reduce the energy load of the building by about 245 kWh per week. We have requested 50% of our energy savings and 100% of the HECO rebates to return to a revolving fund to support more sustainable projects. For more information, please contact David Nixon dnixon@hawaii.edu

Saunders Hall Sustainability Courtyard

Building on many of the ideas developed in the Sustainability Courtyard, we're looking to create a lively atmosphere surrounding the building. We have built picnic tables using boards made from recycled plastic, check them out on the lawn between Saunders Hall and Hawaii Hall. Please contact Shanah Trevenna 808-772-1874, trevenna@hawaii.edu for more information.

Sustainable Saunders Electric Metering

HECO worked with UH Facilities and the Public Policy Center to install an Aquisuite data capturing modem, capable of accurately collecting and transmiting data from each of the two electricity meters of Saunders Hall in near-real-time at a sampling rate of once per minute. Data collection began in late March 2007, and the data are being stored on a web server run by Obvius.

for more information, please contact David Nixon dnixon@hawaii.edu

Departmental Recycling Program

Saunders now has one of the most complete recycling programs on campus as well as a comprehensive study of the waste stream. Glass, Aluminum and Plastic - are currently collected on each of the seven floors of Saunders. Cardboard - is collected on the first floor of Saunders and picked up as needed by the custodial staff. Please see policy brief about Sustainable Saunders workplace recycling.

Contact trevenna@hawaii.edu to get involved.

Water Catchment System
Rain water catchment for Saunders Hall is on its way. Teaming up with Engineers Without Borders, Sustainable Saunders will fund, design and build rain catchment system for watering plants at Saunders Hall. For more information, please contact Mike Foley mfoley@hawaii.edu
Rooftop Wind Turbine

One of our Earth Day guests, Energy Management Group, has donated a building mounted wind turbine to Saunders! Check it out on the 7th floor lanai. What makes it so special? It's silent, birds safe, and creates electricity in low winds while operating with minimal vibration. Did I mention we can actually mount it on a building?

We're still jumping through the necessary hoops to get it connected, finally a big step toward renewable energy on campus!

Completed:

Bathroom Water Saving Retrofits

The bathrooms on the 6th floor Saunders Hall are retrofitted with water saving features such as sensor faucets, low flow toilets and orderless waterlessurinals. This pilot will provide data for potentially retrofitting the entire building and others on campus. We invite you to check them out, although admittedly, the men's room is much more interesting in this case.

Earth Day 2007: Interactive Launch Party

Earth Day at UHM was a huge success with hundreds of students, faculty, staff, experts and community members contributing ideas for a sustainable future for the campus and beyond. The wrapup report is available here.

Energy Team Seminar Series

An interdisciplinary team of students met weekly with experts to understand why the electricity bill is such a doozy. Click here for our detailed reports.

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Make A Donation

Donations to Sustainable Saunders are tax deductable (501.3c). Gifts are made through a secure server. To make a donation, please click the following link:

Donate Now to Sustainable Saunders!

All donation into the account are owned, maintained, and directed entirely by the students of Sustainable Saunders. Thank you for furthering the cause for a greener campus!

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About Ustop

The HUB [Help Us Bridge]

General Information

Teams

  • Air Conditioning: Vance Arakaki *
  • Art: Naomi Iwabuchi *
  • Built Environment: Keith Blake *
  • Energy: Shanah Trevenna * | Tamara Armstrong | Daniel Alexander | Michael Foley | Vance Arakaki | Isao Kaji | Keith Blake | Jeremy Kowalczyk | Assif | Matt Wolfe | Tom Hagner | Uili Tupouhiua | Joe Palumbo
  • Bike Team: Daniel Alexander * | Cyrus Camp | Harry Partika | Isao Kaji | Melissa Takaaze | Michael Kimmitt | Pattie Dunn | Peter Engler
  • Communications: Norman Wang *
  • Green Balconies: Tai McClellan *
  • Green Cleaning Products: Isao Kaji *
  • Earth Day: Tamara Armstrong *
  • Lighting/Delamping:: Tamara Armstrong *
  • Water Catchment: Mike Foley * | Keith Blake | Vance Arakaki | Shanah Trevenna | Isaac Foss | Jacob Tyler
  • Worm Bin: Patrick Garcia *
* Point of Contact

Interns

  • Matt Wolfe | Tom Hagner | Uili Tupouhiua | Tiffany Isobe | Puanani Langi | Patrick Garcia

Faculty

  • Susan Chandler *
  • Dick Dubanoski *
* Steering Committee

The HUB Alumni '06-'07

Special Thanks To

The Sustainable Saunders pilot project for the University of Hawaii could not have been possible without the help from the following people:

Mary Tiles [UH Sustainability Council] Linda Day [UH Sustainability Council] Harry Partika [College of Social Sciences] Michael Kimmitt [Economics] Joe Hagedorn [Mechanical Engineer on LEED Guidelines]