Last August, a little-known school girl sat outside the Swedish Parliament doors holding a sign that read, “school strike for climate” (translated from Swedish). Her simple action would trigger climate strikes across the world, including here in Chattanooga on September 20. Greta Thunberg’s movement is becoming influential on Covenant’s campus, resulting in multiple climate articles written and increasing discussions on climate change in general.
Earlier, the Bagpipe talked with Campus Stewardship Committee (CSC) Recycling Coordinator Zoe Kiratzis ’21, who also attended the climate strike in Chattanooga on September 20. She talked about how—thanks to the advocacy of the Campus Stewardship Committee—the administration has begun to start providing the Committee with the money and resources to expand recycling efforts. However, she said, “There is so much more we can be doing on campus.”
Will Payne ’20, the head of CSC, echoed these statements, but also provided information on the current status quo of sustainability projects on campus. “Recycling used to be paid for out of the student activities fee, which was a burden for an already-stretched Student Senate budget. Now,” according to Payne, “as of last semester the administration pays for recycling.”
This has two immediate impacts in that it clears up room for Student Senate to fund more activities around campus, but it also means that recycling and sustainability is being taken more seriously by the administration. “CSC’s overarching goal is to have Covenant College pay for and maintain a single stream recycling program for every building; that’s been our goal for the past five years or so,” said Payne.
But what exactly is Covenant doing to become sustainable and greener beyond recycling? Director of Facilities Management Corey Dupree said that Covenant is already implementing multiple ways to improve its sustainability and energy efficiency through the implementation of Building Automation Systems (BAS), reconfiguring HVAC systems, upgrading lighting technology, and increasing the insulation value of buildings on campus.
According to Dupree, BAS is “a glorified programmable thermostat for an entire building. Its controlling lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems, and turning things on and off throughout the building. Its coordinating functions in the building to save on energy consumption.”
Dupree also mentioned how Facilities has implemented utility tracking software which assists them in measuring building performance in order to further leverage new BAS for better effectiveness. With this data, Facilities can then determine ways to improve the energy efficiency of the building BAS as well as measure the effectiveness of other energy conservation projects undertaken.
One example of how they have done this with notable success so far is in Carter Hall. Using the new tracking software, they were able to identify significant savings in winter heating costs as the renovation of Carter Hall restored the building’s envelope, which increased the buildings “r-value” (or its insulation rating).
“The old skin of the building had a lot of air infiltration, so in the winter you were spending a lot of gas to heat the entire building, and we saved a fair amount of gas last winter because the building is now sealed up,” said Dupree. Other success stories can be found in buildings like Jackson, where all that was needed was a simple reconfiguration of the HVAC system, which saved the school $200 in energy use per month.
Going forward, Dupree talked about what Facilities has planned in the near future. “Lighting changes is another thing on the docket, which is a much simpler equation [than BAS] in determining potential savings.” “Anywhere customers of our size can save on energy, means there’s less need for new [power] plants,” said Dupree.
When asked about how students can assist in recycling or energy conservation, Dupree said, “If people throw trash into the recycling dumpster, and it reaches a certain percentage of trash, we have to pay for that entire dumpster as if it were trash, and not recycling.” Not only does it cost the school more, but it also goes straight to a landfill. “We save nothing and help nothing” said Dupree.
CSC also plans to ramp up its sustainability and stewardship initiative. At the end of the interview, Payne said, “We want to associate stewardship with liturgy. We are talking to the chapel department to try and integrate the two in some way,” and that “we need to continue sponsoring events, speakers, and opportunities for students to engage and see others engage in this to help create awareness.”