green cents final draft

8/3/2019 Green Cents Final Draft

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Green Cents

History of the UniversitysSustainability and Green Program

The University of SouthFlorida has a rich tradition ofsustainable programs to benefit theuniversity and community at large.In fact, the university had recycling

and water conservation programsdating back to the 1980s and hashad targeted sustainable goals andpractices in place as far back as the1995 USF Tampa master plan.1 Morerecent actions include the 2006hiring of an Associate Vice Presidentfor Academic Affairs and Strategicinitiatives with a focus of identifyingcampus and communitysustainability and the signing of the

American College and UniversityPresidents Climate Commitment byPresident Judy Genshaft.1 Theseevents culminated by the July 2009establishment of The Office ofSustainability with the mission ofbeing the controlling entity for allsustainability related activities forall USF campuses and programs.

The strategic goals of The Office ofSustainability are:1

Strengthening and supportingintegrated and synergisticinterdisciplinary researchacross disciplinary, departmental,college and campus boundaries

Building a sustainable campusenvironment at USF

Constructing an up-to-dateclearinghouse of information aboutall the sustainability engagementactivities currently occurring at USFand encouraging and rewardingfaculty, staff, and studentengagement in sustainabilityinitiatives

Creating a sustainable environmentthat supports an expanded andimproved teachingand research mission, a moreengaged residential community,and a university-basedglobal village


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To achieve its mission, the office isled by a Director with the assistanceof an Assistant Director, anAdministrative Specialists, graduate

assistants, and several undergradassistants. The office reports to theDirector of the Patel School ofGlobal Sustainability and overseesthe Sustainability InitiativeSteering Committee and theStudent Green Energy Fund. Outof the steering committee andenergy fund programs, events,and initiatives are developed.These initiatives help developuniversity policy and curriculum.

(See Fig. 1)

Some of the programs theoffice sponsors are theSustainability ChampionsProgram. This program highlightsoutstanding faculty and staff whodemonstrate a strongcommitment to making the USF

campus and community a cleaner,greener place to live and work.2

They also sponsor the SustainabilityMentors program which recognizesfaculty and staff who seek toencourage others as mentors tostudents and those who provideexemplary mentorship.

There are many initiatives

under way at this time. The studentinitiatives include projects byofficial formal university groups likethe Student GovernmentAssociation which in 2010 createdthe position of Chief SustainabilityOfficer to the Housing andResidential Education organization

which recently started recyclingprograms for the residence hallsand a multitude of recognized clubsall with the aim of improving

sustainability on campus and in thecommunity. There are also

initiatives under way for thedesigned environment, academics,transportation, water, energy,recycling and waste management,and green building.

As mentioned the StudentEnergy Green Fund is overseen bythe department. This fund was

established to meet therequirements of the ClimateCommittee and to provide fundingfor student projects intended tolower energy usage only on the USFTampa campus. Funding occursduring the fall and spring semester

Fig 1


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and students and staff of the Tampacampus can apply. Projects can

also be submitted in the interim forless than fifty thousand dollars and

ill be funded based if excess fundsare available and they havesufficient return on investment.3

Guidelines for submitted projectsare:

Proposals must addressenergy savings and/or renewableenergy technologies thatdemonstrably lower energyconsumption on the USF Tampa

campus.Proposals must include an

educational component that informsthe USF community about theresults of the project.

All relevant universitypaperwork (e.g., Space ImpactRequest, Event Request, etc.) mustbe completed and approved.

All proposed projects musthave immediate application (i.e.,should not be "pure" research).

Budgets cannot includesalaries or stipends for USFemployees but can include stipendsfor undergraduate students andsalaries (but not tuition) forgraduate assistants.

Proposals must demonstratethat funding alternatives (such asfees, grants, etc.) are not available/applicable, and all proposals andbenefitting units must comply withthe reporting requirements of theAmerican College and UniversityPresidents' Climate Commitmentand the Sustainability Tracking,Assessment, and Rating System.

Proposals should specify orestimate the return on investment(eg, KWH reductions, GHGemissions reductions, and/or costsavings realized by the institution).

Project management teamsshould include a combination offaculty/staff and students.

Projects should seekinternal/external funding matches

or cost sharing with other units.

Proposals should show howthe projects align with the USFStrategic Plan and/or Master Plan.

Proposals shoulddemonstrate the sustainability ofthe project after the budget periodhas ended (e.g., a statement fromthe benefitting unit committing tomaintain the project after thebudget period has ended).

Projects should enhancestudent success and contribute toinstitutional sustainability.

Because of the concern aboutsustainability and theresponsibilities of the ClimateCommittee, the university isannually audited by the

independent SustainableEndowments Institute, with theresults published in the CollegeSustainability Report Card. Thisreport monitors the progress madeby campus and endowmentassociated activities and programsat its subscribing institutions.

According to the Institute,they focus on policies and practicesin the following areas:4

Administration

Climate Change & Energy

Food & Recycling

Green Building

Student Involvement

Transportation


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Endowment Transparency

Investment Priorities

Shareholder Engagement

For each practice area, thereport card has a detailed list subareas that are examined and calledindicators. Each indicator has ascore that can be achieved based onindicator achievement, and isequally weighted in the total score,

hich is added up to compute aschools sustainability GPA.4 An

unusual twist is that schools weregiven the ability to achieve extracredit just as in the classroomsetting; this extra credit was givento schools that demonstratedinnovative solutions to satisfyingindicators.

(see fig. 2 below)

The Institute providesinformative and useful tools on its

ebsite, which isww.greenreportcard.org. It allows

you to see how a schools score haschanged over time and to compareits grade versus other schools.For instance USFs grade has wentfrom a D+ in 2008 up to a C- in2009 and has done progressivelybetter and reached B+ for 2011.Much like in football though, SouthFlorida continues to showoutstanding growth the Universityof Florida Gainesville shows littlechange. Its score is still close to itsinitial 2008 score of B-, onlyachieving the same score as USF inthe current year. 4

Narrowing of Focus

As has been discovered, theUniversitys Office of Sustainabilityis responsible for the managementand operation of a wide rangingnumber of programs, initiatives,

and events. It is also responsiblefor coordinating the both theSustainability Initiative Steering

Committee and the Student GreenEnergy Fund. It also plays a keyuniversity role as the principledepartment for the overallcoordination of information used bythe Sustainable EndowmentsInstitute to complete each years theCollege Sustainability Report Card.

Given there is such a breadthand depth to the Universitys

sustainability efforts we felt itimpossible to examine the programas a whole and to be able toaccurately validate and determinethe Universitys efforts given thetime and scope of the project. Wealso closely examined the criteriaused by the College SustainabilityReport Card to determine whatsimilarities existed between thereport and the Universitys efforts;we were looking to see if there wasa natural alignment between thetwo.

In completing our review ofavailable information we observedthat there was not a significantreference to the overall financialimpact of the Universityssustainability programs, initiatives,and events, nor did we find anyfinancial scoring system that

compared net financial gains orlosses to potential environmentalimprovements. The only mention offinancial metrics found was in theStudent Green Energy Fund whichrequires a measured Return onInvestment and in this instance thisreturn is the number of kilowatthours saved which excludes any


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Fig. 3


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improvements. The only mention offinancial metrics found was in theStudent Green Energy Fund which

requires a measured Return onInvestment and in this instance thisreturn is the number of kilowatthours saved which excludes anycost associated with neitheracquisition, implementation, anddisposal costs nor mentions a

minimum Return on Investment forsubmission. It also ignores anyconsideration for a payback period,

net present value calculation usinga prescribed hurdle rate. Further,

hen examining the CollegeSustainability Report Card we foundno instances of financial metrics asa grading factor, nor mentioned asbeing that should be considered aspart of the assessment process.

Why did we look for anypotential financial considerations aspart of the either the Universitys

efforts or the scorecards criteria?Consider the following: The averagecost of tuition has increased overone hundred twelve percent sincethe year 2000 but food prices haveonly increase approximately tenpercent. Healthcare but contrast

has increased approximately sixtyeight percent.5 Closer to home thetuition at University of South Florida

increased fifteen percent this year.The average 2010 USF graduatetoted not only a diploma but overtwenty one thousand dollars incollege debt.6 All of this is occurringwhile the nation struggles with thesecond greatest depression andcollege debt has replaced creditcard debt as the largest source of

(Fig. 5)


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consumer indebtedness. As collegestudents during these trying times

e thought I would be prescient toexplore the financial impacts of theUniversitys sustainability programsand initiatives. We wanted toexamine the financial impacts, bothup-front costs and net cost savingsthat the sustainability program ishaving on the University and theeffect on tuition costs not onlytoday, but in the near term and longterm.

But once again given the sizeof the sustainability efforts it wouldbe impossible to examine thefinancial impacts for sustainabilityimpacts as a whole so we havenarrowed our focus to the financialimpacts of the Universitys greenbuilding initiatives. To furthernarrow the scope we have chosen toexamine the financial impacts of therecently completed Student andTechnology building and theStudent Multipurpose building

hich is currently underconstruction. We selected thesebuildings for several reasons. First,the Student and Technologybuilding is the Universitys firstLEED certified building and achievedthe gold rating. Second, bothbuildings are on our campus, whichis our home.

What is Sustainableand Green Building?

To understand about greenbuilding one must understand whatencompasses the whole of greenbuilding; who determines is whatgreen buildings are, whatconstitutes a green building, and

the process for that one goesthrough to get a building certified

as green.

In the United Statessustainable and green buildingcertification falls under the

jurisdiction of the United StatesGreen Building Council, or USGBC.It is a non-profit organizationbased in Washington, District ofColumbia. Its mission is to ensurethat the country achieves a

sustainable future by changing thedesign and construction ofbuildings in an environmentalfriendly manner. According to theirwebsite, they envision buildings andcommunities that create ansustainable and regenerativeenvironment all within ageneration.7 One of the keyprograms of the USGBC is the LEEDbuilding program used to measurethe sustainability and green aspectsof buildings; be it either newconstruction of significantretrofitting or an existing structure.Another key program is educationin the design, construction, andoperation of buildings in a greenmanner.7 It also provides advocacyin achieving a sustainable and greenfuture within a generation.7

The sustainable and greenprogram administered by the USGBCis the Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design certificationsystem, or LEED.8 According to theLEED website: LEED providesbuilding owners and operators witha framework for identifying andimplementing practical andmeasurable green building design,construction, operations andmaintenance solutions.8 It alsoprovides a rating systemestablished by volunteers acrossmany facets of the building andconstruction vocations. This ratingsystem is applicable to all types of


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u ngs an cons ruc on rang ngfrom single family homes to large

commercial office space andincludes the retrofitting ofbuildings. As part of the LEEDprogram nine key performanceareas are measured:9

Sustainable Site

Water Efficiency

Energy & Atmosphere

Materials & Resources

Indoor Environmental QualityLocations & Linkages

Awareness & Education

Innovation in Design

Regional Priority

After examining the nineperformance areas, the project isissued a LEED grade. The grade

levels are on a hundred point basisith certification going fromCertified, Silver, Gold, andPlatinum.10

(see below Figs.6-7)

Projects are submitted to the USGBCfor evaluation. However, not allprojects that may be adding to thesustainability of local community

ill necessarily quality for LEED

project and the LEED providesguidelines to access whether aproject is a good fit for theprogram. The certification processis as follows:

There are quite a large

number of completed LEEDbuildings on college campusestoday. As of this writing there arealready nine hundred and fifteenLEED higher education projectseither completed or in process atthis time.11 A local example of acompleted project is theHillsborough Community CollegeYbor Campus Student ServiceCenter. According to the Architects

Hunton Brady, The building wasdesigned to meet USGBC LEED GoldCertification and includes a largenumber of sustainable features,such as light pollution reduction,double paned windows, low-flowplumbing, preferred parking forenergy efficient cars, occupancysensors, regionally manufacturedmaterials with low VOCs, andmaximizing daylight.12 Floridasfirst Platinum level college or

university building has also recentlybeen completed. The FloridaAtlantic University Engineering andComputer Science was completed.

(Fig. 8)

(See Fig. 9)


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(fig. 6)


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(fig. 7)


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(Fig 10)

(Gig. 9)


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e n vers y s o ng spart in the area of green building as

ell as it has completed two LEEDGold Certified buildings to date:The Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center forGlobal Solutions, Tampa Campusand the Science and TechnologyBuilding on the Saint Petersburgcampus. Other LEED buildings

projects that are underway are theInterdisciplinary Science Buildingand Wellness and Nutrition Centeron the Tampa Campus, theMultipurpose Student Center on theSaint Petersburg Campus and theUSF Polytechnic Phase I, on theLakeland Campus. The reason thatbuilding programs are beingconstructed to the LEED GoldCertified level is to improve thecampus and community and tofulfill a requirement of the CollegeSustainability Report Card, whichrequires this level of certification toachieve the highest grade. Toachieve its goals the University has

taken many steps. They haveundertaken major renovations thatinclude replacing roofs with higherinsulation values and increasedreflectivity lowering energy needsand costs. It has also designing asystem to remotely managebuilding energy managementincluding the individual metering ofelectricity and water use. It is alsoestablishing standards for allbuilding materials to be used toensure that they are green andsustainable.13

These efforts have greatly

improved the Universitys CollegeSustainability Report Card greenbuilding grade as the grade has

ent from the letter F in 2008 to itscurrent year rating of the letter A.[university officials have said thatimproving the green building grade

as of x importance. In the overallCollege Sustainability Report Cardthe university had focused about xpercent of their overall efforts on

the green building score and plan tofocus more or less in the future. ]

In order to get some real answers tosupport all of the information weresearched, we decided to interviewsome school officials who are highly

involved in USFs SustainabilityProgram, projects, andconstruction. One individual whointerviewed with us was BarbaraDonerly, RA, AICP, LEED APAssistant Director Facilities Planning

and Construction. M.s DOnerly waskind enough to take some time outto answer some questions for us. Ibelieve youll find the responsesboth informing and interesting.

We asked Barbara, We areaware that the LEED is selfreporting; would you say this is costefficient? Have we saved any moneyhere? She said, Yes, USF FacilitiesPlanning and Construction serves asthe LEED Administrator, saving theUniversity several thousands ofdollars in consultant fees. Then weasked In accordance to the greenmovement, how much are thesurcharges and taxes, per credithour, are students paying in tuitionincreases and fees? Is this charge inaddition to the new green fund fee?She answered, The only student feeis the Student Green Energy Fund

per credit hour. Then we askedHow much of that money actuallygoes into green projects each year?She said, 100%. When we asked Ifits not all spent within that givenyear, where does the rest of it go?Are there records to validate thewhereabouts of the rest of theunspent money?, she replied, Theentire fund is apportioned toprojects each semester, selected by

a committee which includesstudents. We asked her When abuilding becomes LEED certified, itautomatically qualifies fornumerous tax breaks, property taxexemptions, and other incentives,


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1. she says TheUniversity does not pay taxes. Wesaid, What is the university doingto pay it forward to green fund feepaying students? She replied, Mostof the green fee projects are not

going toward the LEED certificationof a building. We asked, Whatother parties are involved infinancially contributing to the greenmovement besides students? Shesaid, All university buildingprojects are now required to beLEED certified and therefore theproject budget must fund the greenaspects incorporated into thebuilding. There are also many

sustainability related researchgrants that USF researchers areorking on. You should find out

about them. So then we asked, Doyou feel that going green at allcosts is the way to go? Sheanswered This is too open aquestion for a response. The basicphilosophy and approach toSustainability is to make wise,financial sound decisions. Theintent is to not simply addsustainable elements, regardless ofthe cost, but rather to evaluatesustainability decisions with anunderstanding of life cycle costs.Sustainability is evaluated within thecontext of the three legged stool, addressing social, environmental,and economic aspects. We asked,According to greenreportcard.org,in 2010, USFs overall universitygrade was a C average. However,

their grade for the green buildingas a D average. How do you

think this is possible? Do you thinkits accurate? She says, I do notknow their methodology for gradinguniversities. Green Building is a

small fraction of Sustainability. Onemust contribute to all aspects of theongoing presence of a Universitywithin its community. We askedBarbara, With the increase intuition fees specifically geared

towards the green building seebelow , and the green buildinggrade being a D, do you believethe extra money students arepaying towards it is going to gooduse? She replied, USF has madetremendous strides towardsustainability in the past 3-5 years.These accomplishments speak forthemselves. The green fee onlystarted this semester. You should

do some web searches for USFSustainability. General tuitionincreases are not due to GreenBuilding. University building

The Role ofFinancial Measuresin Choosing GreenBuilding Projects

Measuring Up: Dothe UniversitysGreen BuildingProjects DeliverSolid FinancialResults

One of the major claims ofgoing with sustainable and greenbuilding programs is that they saveenergy costs versus traditionalconstruction. To statistically backup this claim, in 2006 the USGBCcommissioned the New BuildingsInstitute to verify that greenbuildings saved energy versus theirstandard built counterparts for bothsite use energy and source use

energy. Site use energy is the costof electricity to either light orcontrol temperature at the buildingsite. The measurement for this isthe utility bill that shows a kilowattusage and costs. The primaryenergy is the fuel used to eventuallygenerate electricity while sourceenergy is primary energy and any


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osses ue o ne c enc es nopower generation source is onehundred percent efficient and hasparasitic losses so you do not getone hundred percent of what youput in out) as well as transportation

costs to the final usage site. This isthen converted into secondaryenergy which is the final product foruse and it is either electricity orsomething used for temperaturecontrol. For instance, a universitymay have a central steamgeneration plant for example, butthat steam has transportation andefficiencies losses as it makes it wayto the building to be used. Whenthat steam reaches a building is canbe fed through a series of radiatorsfor a source of heat or may be fedto a turbine to generate electricity.A ratio of primary energy tosecondary energy is calculated

based in primary energy units andis called the source-site ratio. Thehigher the ratio the more efficient afuel source is. The most efficientenergy source is power off of thelocal electrical power grid. Oneinteresting note is that solar is nomore efficient than any other powersource.14

In 2008, the New BuildingsInstitute (NBI) completed the studyand issued a final report statingthat LEED certified commercialbuildings used twenty five to thirtypercent less power than othercommercial buildings on averagefor both site and source energy. Ina review of the study several issues

ere raised. First, the data reliedon self-reporting of the greenbuilding site and source use. One

ould expect that individualsresponsible for providing this data

ould ensure that expected savingshad achieved targets or hadexceeded them. There was no thirdparty verification of submittedresponses. Further, the study usedthe median energy used for LEEDcommercial buildings and comparedit to the average energy used for allcommercial buildings. A median isthe is the data point that is exactlyin the middle of all samples

hereas the mean is a calculatedeighted average for all buildings in

the sample. Based on the skewnessof the data the median may belower than the mean, so it isimperative to be consistent in datapoints used for comparison.15

The most critical point raisedagainst the study was how meanenergy intensity was calculated.Mean energy intensity is intended to

show how much energy is used pera given unit and is a reflection ofefficiency. In the study the totalenergy used by each building wassummed together and then dividedby the total number of buildings.By using the total number ofbuildings, the metric ignores theimpact of the variation in energyused between large and smallbuildings. This is intuitive as a

larger building (higher squarefootage) will have higher energyusage, and do to its size wouldmost likely harder to make efficient.(Imagine making a single familyhome efficient versus a campuslibrary.) When the energy intensitywas recalculated using squarefootage the results were quitedifferent. When measuring sourceenergy, the green commercial

building average was not lower thanthe overall commercial average soprimary energy uses were not lowerwhich would indicate greenhousegases are not being reduced; thereduction of greenhouse gasses is aprimary goal of green buildingprograms. When the site energyaverage was recalculated on asquare foot basis, the averagesavings was half of what the studyhave calculated and was betweentwelve and fifteen percent. Thiswould point to a need to reexaminethe measuring tools to determinethe impact of green buildings andthat focus should be primarily onhow to improve the efficiencies oflarger buildings which based on thedata are those over thirty four


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thousand square feet in size.

[how is usf addressing thesecriticisms? Are they aware of thestudy]

[what is usf doing to track and

measure returns after a project hasbeen completed]

Lessons Learned Along the Way

As the sustainable and greenbuilding movement has continuedto grow, questions have been raisedon whether every building projectshould be completed under theLEED certification program.Benefits of completing a buildingproject under LEED is it benefits thecommunity by reducing the use of

depleting resources and encouragesthe use of sustainable buildingmaterials, reduces the amount ofgreenhouse gasses released, andenhances employee productivityand heath and increase resalevalues. It also provides anindependent third party torecognize what design,construction, and operationalfeatures are contributing tosustainability. This third partyreview assist in another way as ithelps to encourage measurement ofsustainable and green buildinginitiatives and help to communicate

hat the impact of differentdecisions have on the overallsustainability of a project. As theold saying goes, what getsmeasured gets managed.16

Criticisms of LEED certifiedprojects start with the up-frontcosts, which can increase by up toten percent as well as LEEDcertification costs which start at twothousand two hundred and fiftydollars and exceed fifty thousanddollars based on building size andprofessional costs in achievingcertification. These costs should beexamined and added to total costsin computing payback period. Andas previously mentioned, LEEDcertification does not necessarilyequate to increased efficiency,especially in lager sized buildings.There is also the concerned that theproject may become LEED checkboxfocused, so that team adds designfeatures in order to achieve LEED

cert cat on or a g er eve oLEED certification although a featuredoes not any real increase inefficiency or environmentalbenefit.16

[USF view of pros and cons]

[Lesson learned along the way,

especially financial impact vs whatwas expected]

[How have lessons impacted thedorm; measurement tools created]

[What new lessons since the dormproject]


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Bibliography

1. History." University of South Florida - A Metropolitan Research I University, with 4 Campuses

Located in Central Florida. University of South Florida. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

2. "Sustainability Programs." University of South Florida - A Metropolitan Research I University, with4 Campuses Located in Central Florida. University of South Florida. Web. 09 Nov. 2011..

3. "USF Office of Sustainability - Student Green Energy Fund: Overview." University of South Florida

- A Metropolitan Research I University, with 4 Campuses Located in Central Florida. Universityof South Florida. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

4. The College Sustainability Report Card - Overview." The College Sustainability Report Card.Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

5. Short, Doug. "Inside the Consumer Price Index." Advisor Perspectives. Advisor Perspectives, 19Oct. 2011. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

6. "University of South Florida Tuition, Costs and Financial Aid - CollegeData College Profile."CollegeData: College Search, Financial Aid, College Application, College Scholarship, StudentLoan, FAFSA Info, Common Application. Peterson's Undergraduate and Undergraduate Financial

Aid Databases. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

7. "USGBC: About USGBC." USGBC: U.S. Green Building Council. United State Green Building Council.Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

8. "USGBC: What LEED Is." USGBC: U.S. Green Building Council. US Green Building Council. Web. 09Nov. 2011. .

9. USGBC: What LEED Measures." USGBC: U.S. Green Building Council. U.S. Green Building Council.Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .


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10. LEED 2009: LEED for New Construction. Publication. Washington, D.C.: US GreenBuilding Council, 2011. Print

11. Certified Project Directory." USGBC: U.S. Green Building Council. US Green BuildingCouncil. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_benchmark_comm_bldgs>.

12. "Hillsborough Community College Ybor City | HuntonBrady." Orlando Architect Firm |Modern Architecture | LEED Architect | Florida Architecture. Hunton Brady Architecs.Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

13. "Green Building Sustainable Initiative." University of South Florida - A MetropolitanResearch I University, with 4 Campuses Located in Central Florida. University of SouthFlorida. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

14. Understanding Source and Site Energy : ENERGY STAR." Home : ENERGY STAR. UnitedStates Enviromental Protection Agency. Web. 09 Nov. 2011.

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