SNC Sustainable Energy Update

Lately we have been bombarded by a variety of environmental and energy-conscience buzz phrases: carbon footprint, going carbon neutral, being sustainable, living the R's- renew/reuse/recycle/reclaim/restore/re-?, global warming, being green-and the list goes on. What do these all mean? And what do they mean to us-St. Norbert College? If you were to survey a group of people to define these phrases, the results would probably be quite varied. And that's okay. Each one of us has our own take on these topics. It is all of those diverse ideas we want to continue to look at and talk about. In hearing your thoughts and talking about your ideas, we can then better identify what directions we may wish to pursue. We recently have reached out to you by means of articles such as this one and by presentations to different groups on campus. We will continue to do this. Speaking to as many of you as we can and listening to your comments and suggestions regarding the "Green Movement" and what sustainability means to you, we can better direct our efforts toward being "Carbon Neutral."There are a lot of very interesting things happening, both globally and regionally, in the sustainable energy front. As a result of the recent new awareness in environmental issues, we have witnessed significant advancements in green energy technologies. Solar water heating has become more sophisticated and now has what we call a relatively short-term payback (a quick return on investment). Consequently this type of alternative "renewable" energy has become attractive for many applications. If you have not noticed yet, stand at the intersection of Marsh and Third Street and look up at the top of the newly-constructed, beautiful Mulva Library. There sits an array of water solar panels mounted on the roof, which will provide all the domestic hot water needs for that building. We will continue to look for additional uses of solar water panels on campus.

Another somewhat attractive alternative "renewable" energy source is geo-thermal heating and cooling. Simply put, geo-thermal is using in-the-ground earth temperatures to cool or heat. There are many examples of this technology in Wisconsin, even in Brown County. We are working to identify potential applications on our campus for geo-thermal.

Solar PV electrical generating panels are a great idea, but the ability to produce cost-effective PV panels has not yet arrived. Practical solar PV technology has many different faces. It can be interesting arrays like those located at the Botanical Gardens next to the NWTC campus in Green Bay, to the small one-inch squares on tops of solar walkway lights you and I buy at a big box store. There are even PV roofing products made which can be used to replace an entire shingled roof, which can then be used to charge electric cars and personnel transporters. As the cost of PV systems comes down and the payback becomes more attractive, we will certainly consider their use for our campus.

Wind energy is something we are looking into. We are not to a point yet in our studies to identify whether it will be a small wind farm on the roof of our proposed renovated science building, larger wind turbines placed on some of our properties remote from campus, or something in between. We are currently conducting a couple of feasibility studies into the use of wind energy. We hope some day to have either working/teaching models or alternative renewable energy turbines to offset our carbon footprint.

One of the other interesting ideas we are considering is to collect our cooking waste oils, to then distill those oils into a product which we can mix with our diesel fuels, then use it to power our College diesel machinery (refuse trucks and lawn mowers).

And then one of my favorites.we are considering investing in a garbage-to-electricity machine. There is a proven system available which you can put all of your garbage (except glass and metals) in one end and electrical and heat energy comes out the other end, without polluting the air or ground water. St. Norbert College generates about 1.7 tons of refuse per day. This machine will take that 1.7 tons of waste which we currently haul to landfills and recycling stations and turn it into enough electricity and heat to provide the needs for the likes of Madelaine/Lorraine Hall, Bergstrom Hall, and Mary Minahan McCormick Hall combined-and have a little left over. These units are very expensive to purchase and install, but they possess that favorable payback or short return on investment.

These types of new ideas require a lot of research on our part. Just because something sounds like the "right thing to do," it sometimes is not. We are proceeding very carefully with our eyes wide open. We want and need to make the best choices. Our goal is to end up with systems that work efficiently well into the future and will favorably impact our quest toward becoming as carbon neutral as possible. We ask for your input and ideas and thank you for all of your support.



Editor's Note: Lewis Pullen is the Manager of Mechanical Systems/Facilities at St. Norbert College.