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Green Ideas

Welcome to Green Ideas!
The following ideas have been submitted by students, faculty and staff members on how reduce energy, increase recycling and reduce waste to reduce our environmental footprint on the world. Have an idea? Don't be left out, share your ideas with us! Some ideas may be implemented by MSU faculty, staff and students.

Energy

• Join EPA's Change a Light Campaign
• Competition between fraternities, sororities and/or co-op house on energy use per capita
• Campaign in residence halls to reduce electrical consumption
• Ecoimagination - design proposals to reduce emissions
  Continue to investigate burning bio-mass fuel at the Power Plant
• Review equipment schedules, building hours and class schedules to optimize and consolidate building and equipment use
• Employ and Energy Team to perform retrocommissioning of existing buildings with a focus on energy savings
• Employ an in house commissioning group to provide a consistent method of commissioning new facilities
• Continue to explore new technologies with a focus on attaining LEED certification and 20% energy reduction below ASHRAE 90.1
• Provide a forecast for air conditioning on campus, including residence halls
• Evaluate current practices with regard to computer lab and server room operation, including air conditioning of those spaces and conduct a utilization study
• Install DDC controls and connect Manly Miles and Nisbet building to Central Control
• Continue to evaluate and identify areas that occupancy sensors or photo cell control would apply in existing facilities
• Evaluate and identify opportunities to install new technology or equipment that have proven energy savings
• Upgrade existing meters in building to include real time data accessible to campus users to encourage energy conservation and behavioral changes
• Install a digester on south campus to provide alternative energy use, offset Methane projects for the Chicago Climate Exchange and decrease the need for more land to apply existing manure and stay within phosphorus concentration levels allowed
• Offer links from MSU Travel page to Terra Pass to allow concerned employees to offset travel miles.
• Continue to evaluate alternative fuel vehicles for campus fleet
• Continue to monitor installations of occupancy sensors in classrooms and expand the installation in other buildings as funds allow

Recycling

• Increase recycling at athletic events
• Create a video on what, where and how to recycle for Freshman Orientation
• Reduce the number of yearbooks and newspapers that are overprinted each year
• Paper reduction projects - back to back copying, single spacing, using clean side of previously printed paper
• Trash to Treasure Program
• Recyclemania

Environmental Stewardship Research & Education

• Help the Administration Building become an example for other campus buildings
• Educate other to set up personal computers for the stand-by or sleep mode
• Educate others about offset programs such as Drive Neutral associated with the Chicago Climate Exchange
• Investigate barriers to using reusable mugs in campus environments
• Organize a poetry slam around energy and/or waste
• Assess recycled content options for many items from supplies purchased by the University
• Develop a campaign to encourage the purchase of recycled paper products
• Investigate the paper producers in Michigan in terms of types of products we use - identify those with best practices and encourage the University to consider preference

Do you have a green idea? Send your submissions to our green ideas bank!
Disclaimer: Not all ideas will be posted to the web site.