Conservation Efforts

• Updating the Sustainability Studies Minor which will help attract students to sustainability issues.
• The Sustainability Club advances sustainability at SUU through individual action, community education and outreach, and working alongside administration to create meaningful change that is environmentally and socially just as well as economically responsible. The programs span from a community garden to a campus-wide bicycle lending program, with many projects and events in between.

• Annual heat plant emission reporting: Current production of campus emissions values reported to the Division of Air Quality are within the allowable amounts.
• Uses only ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel on campus to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions.
• Refrigerant recovery/reclaiming recovers and recycles 100% of campus refrigerant, reducing the impact on the ozone layer.

• As new buildings are built, they are built with energy efficiency in mind.
• Center for Health and Molecular Science Building is LEED Gold Certified.
• While LEED certification remains a popular credential for building construction, it is a very expensive stamp of approval. However, the State of Utah has its own "high-performance building standard" that public entities like SUU must follow, and it is comparable to LEED Silver rating. SUU is committed to highly efficient building practices, regardless of the LEED designation.

SUU's Energy Planning Team developed a Campus Energy Action Plan.

• This plan called for reducing the campus environmental footprint, specifically related to electrical energy consumption.
• Focus Areas are Sustainable Culture, Curriculum, Renewable Energy, and Campus Facilities.
• SUU has a goal to increase electricity savings of 500,000 kWh over two years, a savings of over $40,000, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 150 metric tons.

• • Campus Energy Action Plan

The following efforts increase energy efficiency on campus, resulting in energy and cost savings.

• Photovoltaic Solar Array installations at Facilities Management Administration Building/Shops – 94.5kW solar net metering systems saving the equivalent electrical power used by 70.19 homes in a year.
• Recommissioning projects -a systematic process developed to evaluate, document, and improve the operation throughout a whole building or within a single system (HVAC, etc.).
• Weather stripping and caulking windows reduces energy waste across campus.
• LED lighting upgrades across campus save as much as 90% energy usage over older lighting technologies.

• Areas of xeriscaping and drought tolerant plants lower the use of irrigation water and the use of fossil fuels for mowing and weed eating.
• The Grounds and Gardens team plants 50-100 trees every year on campus (each tree can filter up to 60 lbs. of pollutants annually).
• The Native Plant Garden serves as a demonstration garden for campus curriculum and for community members.
• The Utility Services team supports "Dark Sky Friendly" lighting across campus.

• Paper products are made from recycled materials.
• Require designers to select water-efficient fixtures and appliances, including low-flow faucets and shower heads, waterless or ultra-low flow urinals, sensor flushometer toilets, and other efficiency measures for new construction.
• Use of “Green Seal” certified chemicals – Spartan product line is effective and cost competitive, reducing the use of harmful chemicals for custodial use.

• Recycle, compost, and salvage construction waste.
• Recycle copper, brass, steel, aluminum, and stainless steel.
• Over 80 recycling bins available across campus.
• Installed water bottle refill stations to reduce plastic water bottle usage.
• Compost pre-consumer kitchen food scraps, and leaves on campus

• Replacement of natural turf in the football stadium with synthetic turf, saving thousands of gallons of water annually.
• Installed 54 waterless urinals on the SUU campus, saving 40,000 gallons of fresh water annually on each urinal.
• Utilized a computerized water management system to water only when necessary, lowering usage of irrigation water whenever it rains.
• Utilized secondary water for irrigating campus between 800 W and the freeway.
• Replaced water-cooled ice machines and split system A/C units with air cooled units. Each new machine saves several hundred gallons of water each day.