Compliance and Best Practices Subcommittee 4/22/2004 “Initiatives for making a better tomorrow”

Mission Statement The mission of the Compliance and Best Practices Committee is to examine initiatives that impact day to day operations at the University.

Initiatives After considering 47 possible projects, the Committee selected as its initiatives the areas of: Waste paper reduction; Climate change – Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions reductions; and Water conservation

Waste Paper Reduction Goal: quantify average weekly waste paper volume and implement measures to reduce that volume by at least 10-20% versus the average volume for the comparable week in 2003.

Current Efforts To promote the conversion of paper forms to an electronic format and replace hard copy submittals with electronic filing requirements, the Waste Paper Reduction Workgroup met with UITS to discuss options available which would allow more University wide forms to be submitted electronically. UITS is currently working on a system to authenticate electronic signatures. Once completed, this topic will be revisited. The Purchasing Department printed its last paper copy of the Husky Buyer in March of All future issues will be available on-line. This is a savings of $4,064 annually.

Under the new stationery contract with Advanced Printing, 90% of all stationery orders are now processed directly on-line. Between September of 2003 and March of 2004, this contract has allowed the University to recognize a $138,100 cost savings by promoting on-line ordering. Invoices are also being sent as a flat file directly to Accounts Payable for payment, allowing for an almost non-existent paper system. Fisher Scientific, the University’s Scientific product supplier, has 59% of its orders placed on- line. Training continues in this area, so this number is expected to increase.

The Museum of Natural History & Archaeology Center will now be providing information pertaining to their summer programs on-line. Under the current contract with Boise Cascade, our contracted office supply vendor, 58% of the office supply orders are placed on line. This number continues to increase as departments are trained how to order on-line. The copy center at the Library has moved its biggest mediated service to scanning and uses discarded copies for draft printing/scrap paper, thereby reducing their paper usage by 30%.

Action Plan Determine waste awareness on campus through a recycling survey. Promote double-sided copying by placing Eco- Husky logos on all copiers on campus. Develop a program to authenticate electronic signatures. Promote the use of electronic communications so as to reduce printed materials.

Climate Change – Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction (GHG) Goal: become a signatory to the State of Connecticut’s Climate Change Action Plan and a partner with the New England-based non- governmental organization, Clean Air-Cool Planet.

Current Efforts Construction has begun on UConn’s natural gas- fired Co-Gen Facility. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions considerably. Using donated CA-CP software, Tami Cruickshank has been able to create a GHG emissions inventory for the main campus. Preliminary estimates show that UConn emits approximately 120,000 Metric Tons Carbon Dioxide Equivalent per year, and at least 90% of those emissions come from electricity, heating and cooling.

During the upcoming summer, a Chemical Engineering student will research the use of bio- diesel on campus. The University currently has 3,000-4,000 gallons of waste (vegetable oil) a year. This waste could potentially be mixed with diesel to create bio-diesel which, if used to run half of the University’s bus fleet would reduce emissions by 2.4%. If all buses ran on B-20 in the future, emissions could be reduced by 15%. Exploring options to reduce energy consumption of office equipment.

Action Plan Develop bio-diesel for an alternative fuel use on campus. Implement a sleep software program that will shut computers down after a period of time. The use of this software will reduce energy used by 65%. The estimated global potential savings is $800,000 a year in energy saved.

Water Conservation Goal: Implement a best management practice or demonstration project that results in water usage reduction of 10% during the next year in the areas of research/academic laboratories, facilities maintenance, grounds maintenance, animal science and personal use (students, faculty and staff).

Current Efforts Dining Services is preparing an inventory of current kitchen equipment which will be measured for water usage. A waterless urinal was donated to the University and has been installed in Facilities. It will be tested for a period of one month to measure the reduction in water usage. Recently installed 522 Maytag Neptune, high efficiency – front load washing machines on campus. Use gallons per load, compared to the with top loader machines. Based on the 2002 actual usage with top load washers, the University will save more than 2,600,000 gallons of water annually with the front load machines.

Installation of sub-metering in buildings has begun on campus. They will be used to monitor areas for extreme usage/waste. Upgrade of current watering system used for the chicken coops to install a closed loop system which will provide recycling of flowing water to prevent waste.

Action Plan Installed or portable flow meters will be used to test water flow in the following areas: –Dining Facilities: Towers, McMahon, South Dining Hall, and Whitney; –Academic/Research Buildings: Chemistry, Math/Science, new School of Business, and the Young Building. –Residence Halls: South Campus Dorms A, North Campus Residence Halls, Greek Housing Community, and Buckley Residence Halls.

– Athletics: pool usage, showers, and laundry facilities; – Animal/Farm Sciences: chicken coops, dairy barns, and the greenhouse. A test period will be set up to perform a water meter reading in the Spring, and again in the fall. The reading will be done under the same conditions on both days. This will assist in determining how much water is used and/or wasted.