projects
FALL 2006 — PRESENT

Spring 2009

Behavior Study Survey - Energy

The main purpose of this behavior study survey was to explore the MSU community’s preferences, understanding, and concerns as they relate to campus energy use, carbon emissions, and power generation. The study was designed to directly contribute to MSU’s efforts to create a campus culture of sustainability as well as advance faculty, graduate student, and undergraduate student research. The feedback is helping to design MSU’s future energy strategy, just as a previous recycling survey informed the design of the new campus recycling program.

Transportation Data Survey

Transportation is a necessary component of a large university such as Michigan State University. With a campus community of 55,000 citizens on 5,200 acres and involvement around the globe, students, faculty and staff move quite a bit. How, how often, how many we move have impacts on our environment. The transportation committee was established in 2008 to address these issues.

The first transportation team project was to conduct a survey to gain a better understanding of how employees get to, and travel around campus. Results will be available in fall 2009.

Summer/Fall 2008

Energy Modeling

Forestry Professor Dr. David Skole assessed the energy and greenhouse gas profile of Michigan State University in a three tier approach. The first tier was to understand and quantitatively evaluate energy use at the campus-wide aggregate level by looking at performance characteristics of the power plant itself. The second was to understand and characterize building energy use, looking at the energy characteristics comparatively across various general building types: administrative, classroom, science, and residences. The third tier was to understand energy usage at the level of the end-user through a quantification of plug load in buildings, focusing on behavior and technology strategies that could be deployed to reduce plug load demand.

The results of the study suggest more significant gains can be made with technology solutions, such as using Energy Star equipment, than human behavioral changes, and technology changes can be made permanent much more easily than continued reliance on new modes of adopted behavior. But on-time is greatly affected by behavior modes by individual users, and except for HVAC, requires active participation by users to reduce on-times. This entails turning off lights and computers when not in use and taking advantage of opportunities for better power management and lowering light levels in some areas. For instance, automatic light sensors can be a practical way to decrease on-time without heavy reliance on active user behavior.

Energy models were created after the initial energy profiles were created. Refinement of models will allow MSU to determine how much energy can be saved in particular types of buildings by making changes such as replacing current equipment with Energy Star rated equipment, or upgrading to more energy efficient lighting.

Bio Processing Center

Michigan State University has committed to reduce CO2 emission by 6% from the year 2000 baseline by committing to the Chicago Climate Exchange. Burning of alternative fuels, especially biomass was proposed by the Environmental Stewardship Team for the T. B Simon Power Plant at MSU, so that a third of the 2010 Chicago Climate Exchange targets could be achieved from a combination of alternative fuels (bio-solids). An equivalent coal amount of 8,000 tons will be replaced with biomass fuels which will result in an offset of a third of the CO2 target reductions (around 20,000 tons). Wood waste will account for one half of the total biomass quantities use to substitute the coal at the power plant. Wood waste is one of the most viable choices for replacing coal as a biomass in power plants due to its abundance and low cost, especially in Michigan.

The purpose of this project was to size a staging area for urban wood waste processing to be used as a bio-fuel at the T. B Simon Power Plant at MSU. Such a staging area would need receiving, sorting and potential grinding operations. To achieve this purpose, the project team conducted several activities including: a literature review; a questionnaire-guided inquiry and committee meetings; and site visits to wood burning power plants, wood and equipment suppliers, and related MSU facilities.

The project activities revealed that wood use at the T.B Simon Power could take any number of directions including contracting for wood from a commercial source, operating an ongoing community waste program, utilization of wood waste from existing MSU Landscape services operations, participating in a joint venture relationship with an off campus firm to receive, process and deliver wood to MSU; and or develop a forestry operation to cultivate wood as an ongoing renewable fuel source.

Read the report in full.

Spring 2008

Researchers from MSU's Environmental Stewardship Behavioral Team conducted a detailed behavioral study of MSU students and faculty to determine common recycling attitudes and behaviors. Open-ended interviews were conducted with participants in order to better understand the current attitudes and knowledge the MSU community has toward recycling. Results and recommendations can be found in the final report.

MSU Community Preferences for Recycling Program Characteristics

Researchers from MSU's Environmental Stewardship Behavioral Team investigated what preferences MSU community members had for a recycling program on campus. Study participants were first asked to identify characteristics of a recycling program that they would find most appealing. They were then asked to compare three different recycling programs and to select their most preferred. Results and recommendations can be found in the final report.

Fall 2007

Kitchen Recycling Program Pilot – Snyder/Phillips Hall:
New containers were introduced to begin to recycle kitchen materials such as aluminum, cardboard, tin and other kitchen waste. Additionally new educational signage focused on what could be recycled was introduced.

Individual student recycling in Snyder/Phillips Hall:
Using lessons learned from the individual student recycling pilot in spring semester 2007, new bags were given to Snyder-Phillips residents to collect recycled materials. Students took trash and recyclables to a common area. Recyclables were source separated by students.

Library Restroom Pilot Project:
Many restrooms at Michigan State have not updated equipment for several years. New technology has been available to create more energy and water efficient restrooms. The 1st floor men and women’s restrooms at the Main Library are two of the busiest restrooms on campus. A combination of researchers, building staff and engineers will upgrade the bathrooms with equipment that use less energy and water and measure the savings (environmental and cost savings) of the installment.

Campus Recycling Behavior Survey:
The Behavior Technical Team administered a comprehensive survey on recycling behaviors to help the systems and operational teams design a waste reduction and recycling program to best meet the needs of the Michigan State University community. State of the art sampling and survey techniques was used. The results shaped the communications campaign and the operation of the proposed recycling facility.

Summer 2007

Energy/Materials/Behavior/Communications/C.R.E.S.T. Summer Study:
From June – August 2007, twelve buildings were part of a study that tested different hypotheses for reducing energy demand and waste. Six buildings tested variables related to materials and six building were focused on energy.

Academic Building Pilot Recycling Study Key Informant Process Interviews:
After the summer studies were complete, key informant interviews were conducted with environmental stewardship team members, building staff, and key operational staff to evaluate the study and the communications tools they were given. The feedback included the communications tools provided to the environmental stewardship teams were very useful; however communications regarding operational changes will need to be more clearly communicated to all operational staff to avoid confusion.

Spring Semester 2007

Mental Models Study of undergraduate students:
Mental modeling is a behavior research method to understand how a particular topic is perceived by the target audience. In this case, recycling was chosen as a topic among students and they were asked several questions about their knowledge of recycling (e.g. do you recycle? What do you recycle? Where do you recycle? What are barriers to recycling? What is your knowledge about recycling? Why do you recycle?) At Michigan State University. The key findings showed that most students were confused about what can be recycled and where people could find recycling locations. The research concluded that communications messages should be educational and focused on how and where to recycle on campus.

April 2007

Faculty Recycling Survey:
In an effort to better understand the current recycling behaviors of faculty, a survey was administered. The key findings showed that faculty had a lack of understanding of where materials could be recycled and which materials were recyclable at Michigan State University.

March 2007

Manly Miles Recycling Pilot:
The Manly Miles building was used as a pilot site to explore methodologies for evaluating waste reduction and recycling variables. Trash sort techniques as well as recycling data collection methods were tested before efforts were scaled up for the 2007 Summer Study.

C.R.E.S.T. double-sided printing study:
The Cost and Returns Environmental Stewardship Team (CREST) conducted an analysis on the cost and environmental savings that could be realized by purchasing a duplex (two-sided) printing option on high volume printers and copiers. Their research concluded that there was significant environmental and operational cost savings by replacing high volume one sided printer copiers with two-sided printer copiers. Additional research was conducted for lower volume printers, and a chart was created to show the printing volume that was required to “break even” to offset the additional cost of purchasing the duplex option on the printer.

February 2007

Kill-A-Watt Case Hall Energy Reduction Competition:
The goal of the Case Hall pilot project was to increase student awareness of their energy consumption rates and educate students on how to conserve/reduce their energy demands.  Residents of the North and South wings of Case Hall competed against each other to see which wing could reduce its energy by the greatest percentage during the allotted time.

The competition winner was awarded the ECO Kill-A-Watt Trophy and registered students from the winning wing won numerous prizes through a raffle.

Residence Hall Recycling (individual) Pilot:
(project is ongoing)
Test of individual canvas recycling containers in Holmes, Hubbard, Williams and Shaw Hall. Pilot was successful, so individual recycling was continued through May 2007. The above halls will now be part of the first phase of a more comprehensive environmental program to be launched in the residence halls for 2007-08.

November 2006

Michigan State University announces that it will join the Chicago Climate Exchange:
The University announces that it will join the Chicago Climate Exchange in November 2006.  This commits the University to a six percent reduction of CO2 emissions by 2010. 

Recycling Focus Group Study of clerical technical staff, operations/custodial staff, and undergraduate students:
The main purpose of this study is to explore what MSU students and non-students know and do about solid waste and recycling on campus. The results of the study will be used to gain information about perceptions and uses of the campus solid waste disposal system and recycling efforts.

Creation of Commissioning Teams:
A Commissioning Team was developed to identify buildings that would result in energy savings and reductions through re-commissioning, retro commissioning, or commissioning. 

Anaerobic Digester Study:
An anaerobic digester research study is underway using food waste from the residence halls (50,000 meals per day for 16,000 students) and animal waste from the south campus farms area in anticipation of a permanent digester to be developed resulting in using methane as an alternative energy source for MSU. 

Pack Up, Pitch In:
When students pack up for the year, items such as food, clothing, furniture, loft lumber, and electronics are taken to a designated location and donated to a charitable organization that supports members of the community. Housing & Food Service, the Office of Recycling and Waste Management and the environmental stewardship systems team will be working to expand the program this year.