The Green Fund

Below are students, faculty, and staff who received the Green Fund Grant for the 2008-2009 academic year - a lump sum of $2,500. They were recognized at the Fifth Annual Sustainability Summit on April 21st.

Office of the Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S): Electric Delivery Vehicle - Pat Goff
This project proposes to purchase an electric vehicle from the Campus Surplus Overstock Den for EH&S' pickup and delivery needs. Besides the obvious benefit of less greenhouse gas emissions, acquiring the vehicle from the Campus Surplus Overstock Den will promote commodity reuse. The vehicle will also be outfitted with billboard postings promoting sustainability.

Etcheverry Hall: Waterless Urinals - Trey Cauley and Professor Albert Pisano
This grant proposes to replace several urinals in Etcheverry Hall with waterless urinals and upgrade 40+ water faucets with ultra low flow rate water filters. These upgrades will result in significant water savings and will pay for itself within 1 to 3 years, depending on usage.

University Hall: Sun Mirrors - Jeremy White
This project consists of illuminating exterior and interior space using experimental sun tracking mirror technology called Heliostats in the University Hall annex. During daylight hours, redirecting sunlight using a Heliostat is a very inexpensive way to illuminate low-light space with full spectrum light. Once installed, the Heliostat will help illuminate the north-facing exterior and interior space on the basement and 1st floor levels, which house the new Public Health Library and administrative office space.

Green Campus Program - Kameron Kitajima & Green Camus Team
The Berkeley Green Campus team strives to educate students, staff, faculty, and the local community about the importance of energy conservation and achieve substantial energy savings. The Green Campus portfolio of projects consists of diversified programs from within the campus housing to projects on the main campus with an educational core centered on energy efficiency. The foundation of the Green Campus program was built upon achieving energy efficiency, resulting in $165,000 in energy savings to the University since the program's implementation in 2004.

University Hall - Task Lighting and Education: Rebecca Jones
Together, the occupants of University Hall have begun an initiative to Go Green! with LEED - Existing Building certification as the end goal. This project fits in with that overarching goal, contributing towards LEED credits in optimizing energy performance. Specifically, the goals of this project are:

• Purchasing task lights with compact fluorescent bulbs for office distribution
• Educating occupants on the importance of using task lighting vs. overhead lighting (energy savings and improvement in ergonomic factors) via presentations, conversation, a "green message" printed on the task light and sustainability pledges
• Educating occupants on using daylighting, if they have offices with windows
• Educating occupants on recycling procedures for compact fluorescent bulb

Weather Station to regulate Irrigation - Gary Imazumi
This project will purchase, install and program a WeatherCon weather station system from SeaCom on the existing Motorola (ICC) Irrigation Central Control System. More than 90% of the UC, Berkeley main campus irrigation is centrally controlled. By programmatically integrating weather system data into the base irrigation cycle routines, the system is automatically adjusted to increase time and cycles when weather extends towards extended dry periods and automatically reduces usage when periods of lower temperature, cloud cover, or rain are prevalent.

Mulch Training for Groundskeepers - Theron Klos
This program will demonstrate how to sheet mulch and the benefits of sheet mulching. Every weekend in March (7, 14, 21) for two hours each weekend, volunteers will learn how to sheet mulch through a hands-on approach. The benefits of sheet mulching are: suppression of weed growth without using chemicals, labor reduction and maintenance costs, weeds are composted in place, improved nutrient and water retention in the soil (thus reduction in water usage), encourages favorable soil microbial activity and worms, enhance soil structure, improve plant vigor and health which often leads to improved resistance to pests and diseases.

Workshop for Architecture / Design Students - Merrian Fuller
This grant will bring Rick Chitwood, one of the most experienced and highly regarded building energy performance experts, to campus to conduct a daylong educational workshop for architecture and design students in Fall 2008 on campus. This workshop will be run by S-Club, the organization for design and architecture students interested in sustainability issues. Participants will receive learning materials (handouts, booklets, etc.) to compliment the training. The workshop will be based on a course Rick gives at the Pacific Energy Center entitled "Green Home Energy Retrofits for Architects and Designers," but will be tailored to current students.