UGA 2014 Campus Sustainability Report UGA 2014 Campus Sustainability Report | Page 76

Campus Operations Initiatives
Goal 1: Partner with F&A and Auxiliary departments to implement and promote initiatives in energy, water,

food, waste, transportation and green building
Overall, UGA used 15.64% less energy per square foot in FY14 than in 2007. Specific projects supported by OoS include
holiday temperature setbacks, temperature setting and space heater policies, building assessments for lighting retrofits,
a study of HVAC in server rooms, and a grant-funded student-initiated study of energy strategies to meet 2020 Strategic
Plan energy goals. In 2012, OoS identified funding and developed plans to implement the UGA Solar Demonstration
Project atop the Jackson Street Building. Also in 2012, OoS helped develop a partnership between Food Services,
College of Engineering and Down-to-Earth Energy to create biofuel from used cooking oil at UGA dining halls.
Overall, UGA is using 25% less potable water than in 2007. OoS has supported water conservation initiatives primarily
through continuing the Every Drop Counts mantra, serving as a point of contact for members of the UGA and local
community to report potential water leaks or wasteful activities, and promoting rainwater and condensate water
harvesting and reuse on campus. OoS actively supports water quality improvements and watershed planning,
particularly through spearheading the UGA Watershed Advisory Committee comprised of students, faculty, staff and
community members. The overarching project goal is to engage the campus community in enhancing and restoring
campus watersheds.
Overall, UGA sent 295 fewer tons to the landfill in FY14 than in 2010 (about a 6% decrease). OoS conducted various
waste audits on campus and developed a new standard interior “waste reduction station” for single-stream recycling in
campus buildings, aimed at making it equally as easy to recycle as it is to throw something away. Following
implementation of the new bins in MLC, total waste was reduced by 55% (260 pounds of waste generated each day vs.
580) and only 8% of materials in the “landfill” bin were recyclable. New standard bins have been implemented in over
28 campus buildings toward the goal of converting all R.I. buildings on UGA’s main campus to single-stream recycling.
OoS initiated installation of 30 Big Belly Solar exterior “waste reduction stations” on north campus, the Tate plaza area
and at high-traffic bus stops. The solar-powered trash and recycling bins use solar energy to compact discarded materials
and communicate wirelessly to enable efficient and targeted collection by Facilities Management Division staff. During
the first six months of operation, the new stations increased recycling in the impacted areas from less than 2% to 41% of
materials captured being diverted from the landfill. From mid-September 2013 to the end of March 2014, the Big Belly
units collected 4.91 tons of mixed recyclables and significantly reduced staff time and fuel use. The OoS initiated dining
hall composting program was “scaled up” in April 2014 from a pilot for pre-consumer food wastes in one dining hall to
collection of all organic wastes from all UGA dining halls, diverting an estimated 10,000 pounds of organic material from