During the Summer of 2013, a geothermal heat pump was installed in the Admissions Office. This system is expected to save up to 50% of our heating bill and 30% of our cooling bill for that building! For more information on geothermal units, see the Renewable Energy page.
Archives for September 2014
Calvert Hall Recycling
Calvert Hall now has a recycling bin! It is located under the stairs at the main entrance of Calvert, inside of a brown and green storage container with recycling stickers. It will be collected daily thanks to Grounds!
Composting Program
The composting program at SMCM is up and running successfully! Compost is being collected from all residences with kitchens as well as the Great Room and is being delivered to the Campus Farm. For more information on the Campus Farm, email kchandler@smcm.edu, or to volunteer to help with the program, email Shelby Kalm at sustainability@smcm.edu
Oyster Shell Boxes
During Fall of 2013, the Oyster Shell food box program was converted from a token-based system to a computer-based system. All students now have the option of taking out up to two green “to-go” boxes at once, which are tracked using the student’s one card. Each student need only return his or her used Oyster Shell box to either the Pub, the Grab-n-Go or the Great Room to receive a cleaned Oyster Shell box at their next meal. This has cut down dramatically on the amount of styrofoam waste that is produced by SMCM, and students are happy to see the campus looking cleaner!
Heat Pump Installation
41 new 16 SEER/9.0 HSPF heat pump units will be installed this summer in all of the Greens units! These will replace the 8 SEER/6.8 HSPF units and will save the College an estimated 200 MWH per year and $21k in electricity bills! This project was funded by the GSMRF, so many thanks to the SGA and the Fellow for putting this together!
Admissions Field Renovation
The admissions field was renovated in order to provide a more useable recreational area for students. We identified admissions field as an important open space for the College and wanted to make sure that we maintain it in a way that benefits the campus visually as well as recreationally.
The turf on the admissions field was transplanted from the stadium field when that field was re-graded and renovated in 2007. The turf is a Bermuda grass which can stand up to higher recreational use and is more disease resistant than the fescue/bluegrass mix that we use elsewhere on campus. In order to establish and maintain the turf, the College came up with an innovative method of using the stormwater that is stored in the Townhouse pond. By using the pond water, we are eliminating the use of potable water for the irrigation of this field.