Bldg D gets ClimateWise Platinum!

USDA ARS (Building D, NCGRP, and CRL) received the Platinum Partner level for the 2012 reporting year!  This is the highest level of achievement currently available from the Fort Collins recognition program, and we are one of only a dozen organizations that reached Platinum this past year. Thank you all for your efforts to increasingly “green” your jobs.  Your outstanding work has really paid off.

Results from 2012

Utility Data:

Electrical consumption for all 3 buildings combined = 6.8 million KWh (up by 0.8%)

Natural Gas for CRL and Bldg D = 237,000 therms (up by 5%)

Steam for NCGRP = 3,575 million BTU (down by 1.5%)

Domestic water for all buildings = 3.2 million gallons (down by 8.2%)

Raw water for irrigation at Sugarbeet Farm and LIRF = 36 million gallons (up by 320% due to drought and research needs)

 

GOV transportation:

147,000 miles driven (down by 13.3%)

11,200 gallons of gasoline, diesel, and biodiesel purchased (combined) (down by 20%)

 

Air travel:

585,000 miles traveled by air (up by 28.3%)

 

Solid Waste:

49,000 lbs of waste landfilled from Bldg D and NCGRP (down by 62% – I’m guessing there must be an error in the data I received from CSU, but I don’t know for which year)

320 gallons of food waste vermicomposted at Bldg D (up by 237%)

12,600 gallons of research (including some food and paper towel waste) and germination waste composted commercially by CRL and NCGRP (down by 33.7%; but the vast majority of this is dictated by SBRU research needs)

13,100 lbs + 50.6 cubic yds of comingled materials recycled from all 3 buildings (different units make comparison to last year impossible)

 

Commute Travel:

52,148 commuter miles saved!!  (up by 44%) The breakdown of car travel saved can be seen in the graph below.  Numbers are likely an underestimate since not all users of alternative transportation report mileage.  Because the level of reporting varies each year, the difference in miles saved could reflect, at least in part, this reporting difference.  However, the increase in teleworking between 2011 and 2012 is real.

Can the Can, Building C

Can your garbage can and win! We are launching a 10-day campaign at USGS FORT (NRRC Building C) to reduce the number of garbage cans in our building.

Why? This is an effort to reduce the amount of trash we send to the landfill and instead redirect our waste towards recycling and composting. In the coming weeks, we will be rolling out a new recycling program and a new composting program. Our janitors will be reducing the times per week that they empty trash cans and they will start emptying the new recycling bins and new compost bins.

Our goal is to encourage employees to get rid of their personal office garbage cans and share garbage bins across wings and among cubes. If you and your office neighbors join together, your wing could win! Win prizes! Win for the environment! And win a little bit of exercise taking your trash down the hall.

How can you Can Your Can? Bring your garbage can to the 2^nd floor Atrium behind the front desk and put it under the label for your floor/wing. Label your can with your name.

The number of cans that are “canned” per wing will be tallied and the wing with the highest percentage of people Canning Their Can will win!!

Can-the-Can Timeline:

March 6^th, 2013 to March 15^th, 2013

Please post comments/questions/concerns below.

Building A is GOLDEN!!!

YES WE ARE! This year  A has achieved a City of Fort Collins Climate Wise GOLDEN partnership level! It was due to a lot of hard work, cupcakes, trees, paper towels, laughter, cooperation, mulch, and planning. But most of all it was due to the involvement of the Building A folks who rolled up their sleeves and reduced, reused, recycled, planted, ate cupcakes, rode bikes, and cheered us on. Thanks everyone!!!

New Green Team Logo

We have a new Green Team logo! Our thanks to Sheryl from the Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team for volunteering her time to create it for us! The logo includes icons representing our four main goals: energy and water conservation, waste reduction and alternative transportation. These goals match those of the City of Fort Collin’s Climate Wise program, of which we are a Silver-level partner. There’s a cool graphic of Horsetooth Rock in the center and it also looks great in black and white.

We Should Double Our Daylight Saving Time.

Is there really some value with the use of Daylight Saving Time (DST), including here in Fort Collins, or is it just another Government imposed initiative that just won’t end, but should?
I conclude that DST still makes sense and is still a good & green idea, and I’d even shift another hour just for good measure; it could be called Double Daylight Saving Time (DDST).
First, the concept of DST started during World War I with the intent of conserving some of the energy used to produce artificial light in the evening hours when most people were still awake. I think a different way of looking at the issue may be to start at the other end of the day – the morning and how most of the industrial world functions.
It could be sensible to consider +/-8 a.m. as being a reasonable, not an average, not your specific circumstance, but a reasonable starting time for industrial production and normal business day. That seems to be when much of the parking lot is loaded up in front of NRRC Building-A. Excluding morning gym-rats and various school schedules, let’s say it takes most of us about an hour to wake, prep, and make it to work – that would have us getting out of bed and needing some functional light by 7 each morning.
To be more green and energy efficient, a society could coincide and maintain the general working clock in our lives with the sunrise where we’d get up with the sun every day and without the need for artificial light. All that ‘extra’ natural light could be used while we’re all still awake and doing stuff long after our work day.
In looking at a Sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk time graph for Ft. Collins (see Gaisma Graph), DST shifts our sunrise clock from 6 to 7 a.m. this weekend and then back again the early part of November. I see the logic!

Gaisma Graph

So, being a left-handed engineer . . . OK, now I hear the rumblings . . . I again look at the graph and think “why not have another 6 to 7 a.m. shift for the same reason” starting in early May through the end of August. No, better yet, make it through the Labor Day weekend. Just add back that ‘lost’ hour Tuesday morning, which could help sell the idea, ease the back-to-work pain, and truly salute the end of summer – the end of night baseball leagues, neighborhood tennis not under-the-lights, and boating on Horsetooth.
Hey, who goes to sleep before 10 o’clock in the middle of the summer anyhow – we might as well be as naturally lit as we can be. Show me where I’m wrong – a national DDST movement – Brilliant!
By the way, the graph came from: http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/fort-collins-colorado.html, an excellent website for checking climate & sun stats for other places almost as awesome as Ft. Collins.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new NRRC Building A Green Team web site!

This site is designed to be your one-stop shop for information on local green events and updates for Building A projects. We will also post summaries of meetings and seminars attended by the Green Team. From time to time, we will post polls and surveys to get feedback and ideas from you.

Please bookmark us! You can also subscribe to our RSS feed or sign up for an email update each time we’ve posted a new topic.

We want to hear from you! Please visit our suggestion box and send us your thoughts or add comments on our posts.

We have been working hard to implement green projects for Building A! We’ve recently gained Climate Wise membership, designed the new bike and motorcycle parking area, and pushed for the installation of an energy-efficient revolving door at the entrance and whole-building composting and waste reduction—coming soon! We also have a comprehensive “to do” list of future projects, including water-wise landscaping and starting our own People’s Garden. Check back regularly to see how these projects are progressing.

Climate Wise Fall Fair

Today I attended the Climate Wise Fall Fair, which celebrated 10 years for the Climate Wise Program here in Fort Collins. The focus this year was reaching out to engage employees.  Our NRRC Building A Green Team has this as a goal for year 2 of our Climate Wise membership.  There are great presentations on being a “learning organization” and how people retain information.  You guessed it…we learn best by participation and teaching others.  All of the presentations from today will be posted on the Climate Wise web site.

Also, they shared tools for sustainability evaluation and planning.  Check out www.oneplanetvision.org for a free Sustainability Management System you can use at home or for ideas in your office.

Building A Becomes a Climate Wise Silver Partner!

You may have noticed two new plaques in our front lobby. One recognizes Building A as a City of Fort Collins Climate Wise partner and the other recognizes us for achieving the Silver partnership level.

Climate Wise is a free, voluntary City of Fort Collins program that is dedicated to helping local business and the environment.

The goal of the Climate Wise program is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by promoting waste reduction, energy savings, alternative transportation, water conservation, and practicing pollution prevention.

The City’s Climate Wise Team, working closely with your Green Team, conducted a comprehensive environmental assessment of Building A in late 2009. If you work in Building A and would like a copy of the report, send us an email!