November 13, 2008: Volume 74, Number 10

Green Grants help harness Union creativity for sustainability

Projects ranging from an innovative way to clean car exhaust to the design of a micro-wind turbine received the first Presidential Green Grants this week. The new initiative is aimed at supporting environmentally sustainable projects at Union. 

“These grants should help us find the mechanisms by which we can improve the world,”  said President Stephen C. Ainlay, who highlighted 10 projects that will share $16,000 in grants. 

Each project will receive between $500 to $2,000, and plans call for similar grants to be awarded over the next two years. 

“We are actually asking the Union community, 'How are we going to do this? What are the new ideas?’,” Ainlay said in making the announcement at Old Chapel. “Over the next couple of years, I hope we see even more good ideas that could become part of the way we do business at Union College.”

The grants are part of wave of sustainable and environmentally friendly efforts at Union. All of these projects, including the student-driven U Recycle program, which covers the whole campus, are monitored by the U Sustain Committee.

The committee is made up of about 70 students, faculty and staff. 

“At an institution like Union, one person can make a really big difference," said Jeffrey Corbin, professor of biology and leader of the sustainability committee. "The grants let us harness the creativity across the Union community by giving a little bit of startup money to get these ideas off the ground."

 

The Green grant winners and their project goals are:  

Michael Bono '09: “Fabrication of an aerogel composite catalytic converter”

Goal: Develop composite aerogel catalysts capable of converting the pollutants in automobile exhaust into less environmentally harmful compounds.

Kevin Donovan '09 and Malysa Cheng '09: “Design and implementation of a micro-wind turbine to assess wind power generation on the Union College campus”

Goal: A joint senior project among engineering students to design and manufacture a vertical axis micro-wind turbine with which to test the feasibility of turbine locations and applications on campus.

Kimberly Floeser '11:  “Canvas bags for U”

Goal: To replace plastic bags on campus with reusable canvas bags made out of recycled materials by making such bags available at various locations across campus. 

Cathy Griffin '09:  “The Union Exchange Web site”

Goal: To create an online forum for Union students, faculty and staff to exchange used items and help the College community reuse goods.

Edward Hancock '09 and Malcolm T. Dennison '09: “Examination of ocean wave energy through the method of a point absorber wave energy buoy”

Goal: To build or design an ocean wave energy buoy to better harvest ocean wave energy at a cost-efficient level.

Hugh Jenkins, professor of English: “Octopus’s Garden Organic Garden expansion”

Goal: To double the size of Octopus’s Garden, an organic garden run by students, faculty and staff that provides fresh food to local food shelters, campus Dining Services and the Ozone Café.

Tom McEvoy, associate dean of students, Minerva Programs director: “Mugs for Minervas”

Goal: To buy 1,200 reusable coffee mugs for most Minerva houses to replace disposable plastic cups.

David L. Sanders '09

“Eco-Friendly Potting Shed”

Goal: To build a shed made entirely of environmentally friendly materials that will operate off the electricity grid, provide Octopus’s Garden with a storage facility for tools and educate the Union community about the possibilities of building green.

Jordan Silletti ’09: “Energy audit of Golub House and Fox Hall”

Goal: To use data loggers that measure the kilowatt usage of lights in Golub House and Fox Hall and to determine the percentage of power used to light each building. After the analysis is complete, Silletti will propose lighting projects to decrease energy usage in these buildings. 

Tyler Willey '11: “Lighting the way to a more environmentally friendly campus”

Goal: To cut down Union’s energy usage through the installation of motion sensor lights in the showers and bathrooms in Davidson, Fox, West and Richmond dormitories. By installing motion sensors, the lights in these facilities will be running only when the facility is in use.

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