Penn State has made environmental issues one of its priorities since last year's Earth Day, university officials say.
According to the 2002-2005 Finance and Business Strategic Plan, environmental stewardship is one of Penn State's five key initiatives.
"There is a focus on improving the quality of life and the environmental health of our area by minimizing long-term effects on environmental systems," said Paul Ruskin, communications coordinator for the Office of Physical Plant.
The university is attempting to become more sustainable when making purchasing decisions, such as buying energy efficient business equipment, Ruskin said.
OPP has been experimenting with the possibility of using solar power at University Park and at Penn State Delaware County since last May. The solar power could help ease electric bills that reach about $1 million per month, Ruskin said.
"Initial results are not promising, but we will continue to investigate and as technology improves we hope that solar power may become a practical source of energy," he said.
Early studies show that solar power only provides enough energy to power six to eight desktop computers in the summer months and one or two computers in the winter.
Despite the dim outlook on solar power, Penn State has turned to wind power and is the second largest purchaser of wind energy in the United States.
The wind power, which comes from three of the windmills off the Pennsylvania Turnpike, generates 5 percent of the university's electricity.
"Wind power is completely emission-free and we look to expand our contract to the Commonwealth Campuses," Ruskin said.
To keep facilities running efficiently, OPP has started a process of continuous commissioning.
"Every building we go in, we find something that is in need of fine tuning or repair," said Don Partsch, a continuous commissioning engineer.
"While we're fixing systems, we also put in energy conservation measures. For example, we coordinate building operation with occupancy by installing variable speed power drivers," he said.
Penn State's green campus efforts have not gone unnoticed.
The 2001 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence went to Penn State for a program that composts pre-consumer dining hall waste.
The food scraps are mixed with manure from the dairy herd to landscape, fertilize turf and conduct research. As a result of this program, 1.6 tons per day of waste have been recovered, saving the university about $16,000 in landfill costs.
The Beaver Stadium Recycling Program has also contributed to the reduction of waste, and in the last three years, 105 tons of materials have been recycled after football games. The money, totaling about $27,800, is donated to the United Way.
A new initiative is the "Trash to Treasure Moveout Sale," which will take place at the end of the semester.
Bins will be set up in each residence hall and commons area for students to put unwanted items.
The bins are an alternative to throwing away the typical 158 tons of usable materials left behind by students leaving residence halls. These items, as well as proceeds from a yard sale May 25 at the Agricultural Arena, will go to the United Way.
"We've done similar programs before with great success and our goal here is to get usable items to people who need them and keep them out of the landfill," said Fraser Grigor, assistant director of housing services.
In light of recent budget cuts, money for environmental projects will be tight, but it is unlikely that funds will be severely cut because such initiatives make the university more efficient, Ruskin said. In this way, the projects eventually pay for themselves.
