06-07 FMS Sustainability Efforts

Facilities Management and Services provides the construction management for new construction as well as the maintenance of the buildings and grounds on campus. The following is a snap shot of what we have been doing on our campus this year (2006/07) in increasing our sustainability efforts, which is our Campus Strategic Priority # 6.

Our department oversees the actual construction proponent of the new building as it comes out of the ground. We have found that we need to be vigilant during the construction process as well as the design process in finding opportunities to make sure the building is constructed using sustainable products. In the case of the Student Services Center (SSC), the Project Manager, Rob Thacker, is also our department's recycling coordinator and submits the AB 75 report. He is acutely aware of how important oversight is on this project. Rob worked directly with BCM Construction on the waste management plan for this block. Our campus received an award for reaching over a 95% waste diversion. We appreciate the contractor, BCM, who made this extra effort to reach this high diversion rate. Another recent example on the SSC is that through Value Engineering a carpet tile was submitted in place of the broadloom. Again, the Contractor, Turner Construction, plays a big role in reaching our goals during the value engineering, submittal stage or substitution process. In this situation, the architect and project manager researched the specifications and discovered that the carpet tile had a higher recycled content then the broadloom and cost less. We really like those kinds of win-wins. That is an example of what we are now discovering; if the market is there, the vendors and manufacturers will provide the supplies and some are even costing less!

During the demolition of the Wildcat Activities Center site, we coordinated with the contractor to provide 40 tons of the ground-up concrete to fill an old below-ground trash location which was removed because of its proximity to Big Chico Creek. The Facilities department working with the contractor is able to help each other reach the building and campus goals for sustainable construction techniques.

In the area of maintenance, our department has been changing over to Green-Seal certified paper products for the past three years. This change took time due to existing contracts that were in place, the existing paper dispensers and what products would actually fit, and the availability of the paper products. We also had relationships with local vendors and distributors that we needed to maintain as we changed our products. But, we are proud to say that we have converted our paper products to Certified
Green-Seal and Certified by Environmental Choice products.

Changing over to Green Seal cleaners and waxes for our floors has also taken a couple of years to convert. We had a supply of materials to use, then we had to strip the old floor waxes with compatible strippers before beginning to use the new products. The major part of the floor wax conversion begins this summer and by next summer, we will use 100% Green Seal certified floor care products in all of our buildings. Again, this takes persistence on the part of the Managers to oversee the purchases while conforming to the State bidding requirements and to provide training to the staff for these new products. We provided training to many of the custodians this spring at our FMS EXPO. We invited one of the green seal certified floor care products companies, BETCO, to provide a seminar. He was excellent in explaining the health benefits to not only the building occupants but also to our custodians who work around these waxes and strippers and how much healthier these products are for them. We know that some of these cleaners will take a little more elbow grease then the stronger products, but by explaining the health benefits, we are gaining buy-in to use these new products. As we change our products, it is not just for the upcoming LEED certified building, but is now the standard for all of our buildings.

I'm sure you have noticed our grounds. We are very proud of our natural environment and how the trees and creek play an important part in this beauty. Part of our goal is to reduce the amount of pesticides that are used on campus. This is gained by removing the weeds and then using bark and other natural covers to prohibit growth. We have started a Riparian Pull Day where we invite the campus to join us in pulling weeds. Our first event last February was a success, and we expect to have these in the spring and fall. After the weeds are removed, we cover the areas with bark which not only prohibits weed growth but is better then lawn or weeds around our larger trees. We will need on-going help in this area to keep the campus as beautiful as it is and use less sprays.

In the area of storm water runoff prevention, we are exploring using pervious concrete. We have installed a small sidewalk area by Langdon Hall as a test site. Due to the size of aggregates we have had a few complaints by those that wear high heels. However, we want to keep developing a mix until it works. The advantages to this type of material is not only the water runoff that goes through the concrete, but we have been told that tree roots will not come to the surface adjacent to these concrete areas because the water will go through the concrete and to the root systems. With our large arboretum of trees on campus, we are hoping that this is a benefit to our tree health.

We also have several areas in the core of campus that are reserved for handicapped parking. There are, however, catch basins adjacent to these stalls creating a slope in these areas. Rather then relocating these stalls to our grass and lawn areas, we are planning on removing the existing asphalt and catch basins and using the pervious concrete with a smaller aggregate to create flat parking areas for handicapped parking. We think this is going to be a very valuable use for this product. Using the product in this area not only solves the grade problem, but also storm water runoff.

In summary, we are rolling sustainability into our normal operations and it is becoming part of how we do business. It does take time to develop new specifications and procedures, much communication and training, but we believe it is well worth the effort.

Please visit our site again in the next few months to find out what other exciting changes toward becoming more sustainable are being made.