云顶赌场app's Student Green Energy Fund financed new lights in the Collins Boulevard Parking Facility. [Photo by Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing]
By Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing
When walking the Tampa campus, it seems nearly impossible not to stumble upon a Student Green Energy Fund project that has become an integral part of University of South Florida life.
Since its inception on the Tampa campus, more than 60 projects have been funded for about $20 million. Examples include electric vehicle charging stations, solar umbrellas with USB charging stations, hydration stations, about 100 trees and solar panels on building roofs.
鈥淭hrough the Student Green Energy Funds, students, faculty and staff can help 云顶赌场app to become a more sustainable campus through energy reduction, decreasing our carbon footprint, and promoting renewable energy options,鈥� said Jay Souza, 云顶赌场app assistant vice president of student success and chairman of the fund鈥檚 council.
Since 2012, 云顶赌场app has been allocating $1 per credit hour to projects that can reduce and eventually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.
The St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses have their own set of initiatives. For an alternative mode of transportation, St. Petersburg鈥檚 Green Energy Fund recently funded one dozen new bikes that students can check out through Campus Recreation. Sarasota-Manatee recently installed two electric vehicle charging stations in its south parking lot.
Proposals must include the cost, environmental benefits and information detailing how a project will be completed and then maintained. They are then approved or denied by the Student Green Energy Fund Council made up of six students and six 云顶赌场app employees.
A treadmill creates electricity on the Tampa campus [Photo by Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing]
Sarasota-Manatee's electric vehicle charging station [Photo by Marc Masferrer, University Communications and Marketing]
Bikes available to St. Petersburg campus students [Photo by Cliff McBride, University Communications and Marketing]
Each campus鈥� student projects must have a campus sponsor, typically a department or professor to lend expertise, but a student should head the endeavor 鈥� a process designed to further mold them into leaders.
鈥淪tudents gain tremendous hands-on experiences with project and proposal development as they lead these projects,鈥� Souza said. 鈥淭hey need to work with stakeholders, various departments and determine accurate budget needs.鈥�
Miguel Goni Rodrigo, Mar铆a Teruel Echeverr铆a, Patricia Zamora Diaz and Mauro Sempere Sanz at Magnolia Fields [Photo courtesy of Mauro Sempere Sanz]
A group of engineering students led by Miguel Goni Rodrigo, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, investigated several ideas for the Tampa campus in search of the one that they deemed to be the most cost and environmentally efficient.
They researched and spoke to 云顶赌场app officials about purchasing solar-powered car ports, solar panels for buildings and treadmills and stationary bikes that power the Campus Recreation Center.
The Tampa campus鈥檚 云顶赌场app Recreation and Wellness department then recommended that the group investigate ways to save the amount of energy used at Magnolia Fields.
The fund鈥檚 council approved the group鈥檚 proposal to replace the intramural sports fields鈥� halide lamps with 54 bulbs that boast energy efficient LED technology.
That 鈥渋s one of the most basic measures that should be done because it鈥檚 easy, not costly and brings lots of savings,鈥� said group member Mauro Sempere Sanz who is majoring in mechanical engineering.
The purchase and installation cost $332,375. The lights use 24,000 fewer kilowatt hours each year, last longer and require less maintenance.
The Marshall Center's automated floor cleaner [Photo courtesy of David Timmann]
鈥淲e thought we would pitch an idea and that was it,鈥� said biomedical engineering major Patricia Zamora Diaz, a member of the group that also includes Mar铆a Teruel Echeverr铆a, who is majoring in industrial engineering. 鈥淚t was a lot more than that. We learned a lot along the way. It was fulfilling to see it through to completion.鈥�
Employees can propose ideas on their own too.
David Timmann, associate director for operations of the Marshall Student Center, recently purchased an automated floor scrubber that converts water into bubbles rather than using chemicals.
鈥淚t has no toxicity on the environment,鈥� Timmann said of the scrubber, for which the fund covered two-thirds of the total cost.
If future students and employees need other ideas, student Morgan Mathews鈥� project can provide those too.
The fund awarded her funding to compile two connected reports.
Morgan Mathews
For the first, the environmental science and policy major, who is minoring in biology and Spanish, performed a holistic campus-wide assessment of waste management practices.
With the help of 云顶赌场app sustainability manager Suchi Daniels, she engaged with campus stakeholders to envision possible long-term improvements. Those were compiled in a second report.
Ideas include corporate food vendors using reclaimable to-go containers and a campus thrift store.
鈥淭hink of it like a blueprint,鈥� Matthews said. 鈥淚t provides a foundation for what can be done. Hopefully, future students take the ideas to the Student Green Energy Fund.鈥�