IT Open House 2008

Vote for an entry in: What can my department or group do to ensure a sustainable future for Stanford?

Thanks to all who participated in the contest. Here are the entries:

Entries
1 Put commonly used documents on a shared server so that we don't have to print them out and pass them around...this will save a lot of paper, and not to mention printer ink and the need to walk from office to office with copies.
2We can pitch in for a wrecking ball to demolish the Forsythe Data Center, the largest consumer of electricity and water in a poorly designed facility.
3Require students to submit thesis copies to department as pdf files on CD's rather than as bound paper copies for our departmental library.
4We could use GreenPrint enterprise edition software to reduce the number of pages we print and save ink and toner. If this software was available to all of the departments at Stanford we could save thousands of trees and prevent tons of CO2 emissions a year. See http://www.printgreener.com/ for more information.
5Our work involves a lot of travel that could be reduced via webinars, while still accomplishing what needs to be done.
6There are some simple things within our control that our group can do to get some immediate results:
  1. Use a ceramic coffee mug
  2. Stop printing multiple copies of hand outs in meetings and use electronic versions
  3. Be responsible for turning off lights and monitors
  4. Stop using plastic water bottles
7Stanford should ask its preferred car rental company to make hybrid cars available to Stanford travelers at preferred rates. If successful, Stanford should then encourage its travelers to request hybrid cars when renting from the car rental company. This puts Stanford's purchasing power and influence behind the move to a less polluting mode of transportation.
8Instead of using so many carts on campus, offices could maintain a fleet of bikes to get staff members to meeting across campus.
9Stanford needs to stop publishing the annual Stanford Directory. I know of few depts or staff who use the Directory. The on-line Stanford Who system is the way to go.
10When purchasing new printers for departments and/or individuals, make sure there is a duplexer capability and the default setting is to print on both sides of the paper.
11By using more electronic documentation methods.
12My department could create campus-wide “at a glance” maps that show the change in daily average energy or water consumption since the previous year for each Stanford building. A map could be generated for each of six utility services: chilled water, steam, electricity, domestic water, lake water, and waste water if desired. The maps would use colors to highlight the buildings, showing the change (in a series of ranges from 5% to 20%). They could be used by Stanford energy, Zone and building managers to 1) save time determining which buildings should be evaluated further (allowing them to focus on exceptions), 2) eventually analyze trends over a period of years, and 3) possibly as a communications tool for building occupants. Maps could be produced electronically in lieu of hardcopy. Based upon geographic information (GIS) technology, the maps could be generated quickly after initial setup. While a textual list of the exceptions could also be generated, new patterns may be observed, and additional questions may arise that could be analyzed further through the maps.
13I think my department could come up with a better system of recycling old hard drives, cd's and misc. cords. We should be more conscious about what goes into the trash can.
14I work in the Department of Biochemistry in the Beckman building. Our roof is perhaps 10,000 sq ft and my department could install photovoltaic panels to harness the sun's rays. Last year I submitted this suggestion to the Facilities Operations Utilities people. They said “Generally speaking, it is still more cost-effective to invest in energy efficiency improvements than renewable energy”. I don’t think this approach is cost effective for our environment, people who breathe polluted air, customers of oil companies.

Our department, together with the building managers, could do a study to find out (1) the type and number of panels we would need, (2) where to store the inverter and other equipment, (3) how much the panels, inverter, etc and installation would cost, (4) how much rebate we would receive from the PGE or the government, (5) how much we would save yearly. We could use Akeena Solar, which has installed the panels at Stanford’s Synergy House or TDN Electric of Sunnyvale which did the Stanford Reservoir 2 project.

From the information I gathered from Reservoir 2, I think the PV system size could be the same, or 30 kW AC. Annual production would be about 51,000 kWh, with 220 BP Solar PV modules (model BP3160S). Normal electrical power would still be fed from PG&E. For the Reservoir 2 project, Stanford received a $135,054 rebate through the Self-Generation Incentive Program administered by PG&E. Excess power produced by the PV array is sold back to PG&E according to the Net Metering (E-Net) rules. The project eliminates 61,000 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions per year according to California Energy Commission estimates.

Why not? At the very least, the study would make our department think a lot about doing something to promote renewable energy.
15Our university has an excellent shuttle system. More often at off peak hours the buses are running almost empty. A suggestion would be to have electricity run buses.
16The Facilities Dept of the University should convert as much as possible of their equipment (like the street/sidewalk sweeper) from Diesel to Propane - safer for the equipment operators and the public.
17My department are turning off the lights in the bathrooms and offices when is unused.
18As an admin asst, I enter a lot of requests into the iOU system for reimbursements. A long time ago, when Stanford was getting ready to switch from iProcurement to iOU for reimbursements, several training classes were held. At these classes, we were promised that the University would be distributing to all iOU users, plastic sheets in which we could place small receipts to enable them to go through the fax machine without jamming. Well, they never delivered on this promise, and I have to make photocopies of all odd-shaped receipts in order to be able to fax them to iOU as backup. We would save a huge amount of paper and toner if we had these plastic sheets to hold the receipts, especially because they are reusable.
19To motivate faculty members and students neutralize the Green House Gas emissions of their frequent business trips, the Geophysics department could implement a Carbon Offset Program, in which the carbon emissions of each faculty air trip would be offset through a retail carbon offset provider.

Facts: Every 2,000 miles traveled by air produces a ton of CO2. To offset this same quantity of CO2 one would have to:
  • move 145 drives from large SUVs to hybrid for one year
  • run one 600 kW wind turbine for an average year
  • replace 500 100-watt light bulbs with 18-watt compact fluorescent lights (10 year-life)
  • install 150 home solar panels in India (20-year life)
  • an acre of Douglas fir trees (50 year growth)
  • protect four acres of tropical rainforest from deforestation.[1]
The national air travel miles average is 2,528 passenger miles/year[2], but the Geophysics department average is 130,000 miles/year (10 domestic and 6 international trips a year), or the equivalent to 65 tons of CO2 /year per faculty member.

A carbon offset program can be arranged through one of dozens of a carbon-offset provider, which achieve net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through a wide variety of offset methods - from tree planting to investments in renewable energy and energy conservation. These companies sell offsets that range from $5 to $25 per ton of CO2, averaging about $10/ton.

For about $650 a year per faculty member, the Geophysics Department can take the first step towards an “environmental conscious” administration by offsetting 65 tons of CO2 generated by its faculty members’ business trips every year. Certainly, going carbon neutral will only be the beginning of a long journey but it will, hopefully, set an example for other departments and schools at Stanford.

1. A Consumers Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers. A report from Clean Air, Cool Planet, December, 2006. Retrieved on April 28th, 2007.
2. Cool It! (joint project of Acterra, the Sierra Club's Loma Prieta Chapter, and 3 Phases Energy)
20
  1. Stop using plastic cup
  2. Stop printing multiple copies of hand outs and use electronic versions for presentation
  3. Be responsible for turning off lights and monitors
  4. Check tap water leaking
  5. Use shuttle or bike in campus
21I realize that everyone means well, but I think that give-away trinkets that most people throw away, like plastic necklaces, should not be handed out at events like the campus walk.
22Stanford programs and departments should stop sending out so many postcards and flyers through interdepartmental mail. Departments should save on paper, printing, money, and labor by publicizing through websites and using email.
23Cut copy usage in half. Ask faculty not to print slide handouts but rather put them on the web for students to view. Have a contest amongest departments to see who can cut their copy usage the highest percent.
24-For a greener IT at Stanford, department or university should have a printing center/room on each floor of the buildings so we only need one printer per floor. In this way, we can save at least 10 printers on each floor and make everyone gets up and walk 100 yards or more to exercise and retrieve the printing jobs. Be well, Be green!
25
  1. We can recyle ink cartridges
  2. We can use duplex mode and print at 50% to get 2 pages onto one, front and back when it is feasible.
  3. We can refrain from printing emails unless absolutely necessary to do so.
  4. We can better implement a clinical trial data management system to save paper and track revenue.
  5. Create linkage between the Stanford Hospital system, Epic, CareCast, BeWell, Stanford Who etc.
  6. Walk, bike and take stairs.
  7. Recycle plastics, batteries, ink jet cartridges and old computer parts.
  8. Lobby the computer manufacturers to make systems more 'upgradable' with less waste of hardware.
  9. Conduct seminars using gotomeeting.com and allow telecommuting on a percentage of days.
  10. Carbon Credit system for all the good things we do.
26
  • Stop printing things.
  • Have all student papers be emailed PDF's. Grading comments and drawings can be made in the PDF and emailed back. If desired, post all homework to a webpage so all students can see what other students did for the assignment; it makes students perform better and helps learning by letting them see more feedback. (I've done this with students at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design.)
  • have all administrative forms be web-based, none on paper.
  • (note that both of the above points require an alternative to Axess that doesn't suck.)
  • Enable and encourage work at home, by using online collaboration tools such as Google Docs, video iChat, GoToMyPC, etc.
  • The PD program doesn't have many computers, but I'm sure the ME dept. does; for them, switch to dumb terminal systems (such as Sun Ray or Zonbu) as much as possible, centralizing computing services in a data center. This can save somewhere around 30 - 100 watts per computer
  • Upgrade computers instead of replacing them, wherever practical. (see http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007573.html .)
  • For data centers:
    • use virtualization
    • use blade servers
    • use water cooling
    • use centralized efficient power conversion
    • use power-throttling software like Verdiem (see http://www.worldchanging.com/archives//007532.html .)
  • send old dead computers to GreenCitizen so they can be properly recycled or even taken back by manufacturers.
  • Install sensors to shut off lights when rooms are not occupied. This can save 40-60% of lighting energy for some rooms. (see http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006746.html .)
  • Serve less beef in the buildings; 1 kg of beef uses about 15,000 L of water to raise the crops & cattle, while 1 kg of chicken only requires about 3,000 L and 1 kg of wheat uses about 1,300 L.
  • Have the Marguerite actually be useful for getting to/from the Caltrain station. (Service is too infrequent & slow).
  • Have a bike-checkout system like Bicing in Barcelona, for short trips on/off campus and to/from the Caltrain station.
27My department could 1) place composting and recycling bins next to trash cans on every floor and in kitchen areas, 2) stop printing emails/handouts, and use electronic versions, 3) provide an internal department (email) rideshare bulletin board
28Turn our head to virtualization - we can save quite a bit of energy if we combine servers/desktops - not to mention space!
29Telecommute! Have departments buy into the idea of having administrative personnel telecommute at least one day a week. If certain areas need to have a warm body present, perhaps the personnel could coordinate which days of the week to telecommute.
301. reward people who commute to work - either by small bonus, or by entering them in a monthly lottery with a small prize. This would be in addition to the incentive the Parking department gives for referring a friend.
2. Find a way to replace the water bottles with a tap water dispenser.
3. Get a double-sided printer. Please.
4. allow flexible hours and work-at-home hours for work that can be done online.
31Less food waste, and even more importantly, use catering that has less or no meat (since it is so energy intensive to farm meat as opposed to grains, fruits and vegetables). All catering done on real dishes that are washed right after an event as opposed to thousands of disposable water bottles, plates, forks, etc. Fully encourage biking to work...Stanford could lead the world in cutting emissions if the entire community took real steps to cutting out their car from their commute.
321. Install motion sensors on lights in public areas.
2. Create a class that will involve students in converting Marguerite to greasel. Use the grease from on-campus eateries.
3. Set aside one shuttle (or perhaps a golf cart at first) to be used as a test vehicle for alternate power. That way students working on alternate power sources can have real world data and feedback on their ideas.
33Develop more bike routes in/around/to campus (UCD is a really good example). That way, it will be more convenience for both students and staff to bike to/in campus. This will encourage more people to bike.