Hartford Business Journal

www.CTGreenGuide.com FALL 2016 • CONNECTICUT GREEN GUIDE 25 Interns boost SCSU's environmental efforts S outhern Connecticut State University first pledged to pursue carbon neutrality in 2007, and many efforts have gone towards that goal since. Last year, the New Haven School opened its new Academic and Laboratory Science Building, which SCSU hopes can attain LEED Gold certification. The building features a 40,000-gallon underground cistern that col- lects rooftop rainwater, allowing it to be used for irriga- tion, which lowers water use. Throughout 2015, the university worked with Ameresco to analyze energy behavior in the largest classroom building on campus, Engleman Hall, which helped optimize building-system settings and is on track to save approximately $90,000 per year. In addition to those efforts, SCSU's Office of Sustain- ability grew its internship program last year from just a handful of students to 11. The interns have helped update the school's climate ac- tion plan and complete a feasibility study with United Illumi- nating and Celtic Energy studying a one-megawatt solar array. They also help man and track inventory at SCSU's office supplies "swap shop," from which various depart- ments give and take supplies when extra are available. The shop has saved $70,000 since 2013. One intern worked with SCSU's food services provider, Chartwell, to collect unused food to donate to a local food bank. Another completed a semester-long audit aimed at optimizing on-campus waste collection schedules — an effort expected to save as much as $20,000 per year. Interns also manage the school's 2,800-square-foot community garden, which donated almost 200 pounds of fresh produce to soup kitchens last year. The garden benefits from an intern-supported composting program. Finally, two interns cleared invasive species and helped maintain an urban oasis site near Beaver Pond that's a pollinator and bird habitat. Southern Connecticut State University PROJECT ELEMENTS: Facility-wide; energy & climate change; water; material management; civic im- provements; innovation START DATE: Jan. 2015 COMPLETION DATE: Dec. 2015 SCSU interns run "Compost Happens," which supports a community garden that donates to local soup kitchens. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED CATEGORY: Universities GreenCircle Sustainability Awards 2016

• Cover