Category Archives: Energy Smart New York

10 Ways to “Go Green” in your Dorm

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College Campuses are a hub for young emerging advocacy. National and world issues are widely discussed, then change and awareness becomes the goal of many, even if it is on a smaller scale.

One of these issues is being environmentally-aware. While it has always been something instilled in us at a young age, it is the follow-through that could use still use a little help, especially when it comes to the dorm life.

Living greenWhile on campus, faculty and students are surround by not only messages of “Being Green” but the accessibility to recycling options is at their fingertips. However, think of the difference that could be made if instead of just “Being Green” you practiced “Living Green” as well.

The second students move into their dorm rooms, there are no longer signs reinforcing environmentally friendly changes, or parents telling you it’s your turn to sort the recycling. The doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue to do it. With the help of SUNY’s Director of sustainability, Deborah Howard, here are the top 10 ways to save energy in your dorm, all of which are quick and easy but make a world of a difference.

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Stony Brook University Rooftop Garden A Win-Win

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Image: SBU Sustainability Studies Program

A group of volunteers and interns, with a little help from Mother Nature, have turned a rooftop of Stony Brook University’s Medical Center into a bountiful vegetable garden.  In first year that the garden has been grown, the University has yielded enough crops to incorporate them into at least one meal a day for patients.

The “farm”, appropriately named Stony Brook Heights, is headed by the Hospital’s Department of Family Medicine, Nutrition Division.  The Division is filled with staff members, interns, and other students all volunteering their time to work the “field”.  The farm is a result of a grant from New York State Department of Health’s Healthy Heart Program, which for the next two years provides over $80,000 in funding.

Stony Brook University’s Sustainability Studies Program says that the farm began as a somewhat neglected plot receiving little or no attention, but saw a complete 180-degree flip about a year later.

Stony Brook Heights now boasts enough vegetables to serve in at least one meal every day for the patients of the Hospital.  The produce, including cabbage, kale and eggplant, is result of a larger step toward sustainability than simply growing food.

“We’re trying to teach them — if they don’t already know — about the problems with food, whether it’s pesticide issues, transportation, the price of hauling food from outside areas,” coordinator Iman Marghoob explained to Newsday. “So it’s a lot of learning going on at one time.”

The success of the garden was embellished with a fundraiser on September 10, featuring local chefs’ preparation of dishes using the vegetables and herbs from the garden.  The money raised is to be used to continue funding the garden once the Healthy Heart Program grant expires.

But sustainability doesn’t stop at the edge of the roof; the same grant that funds the rooftop garden also enables the hospital to maintain 10 more community gardens in impoverished neighborhoods throughout Long Island.  Now, that’s Healthier New York!

More:  Newsday (Video) | SBU Dietetic Internship | SBU Sustainability Studies Program (Pictures)

$6 million wind power system headed for SUNY Canton

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The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has granted a $6.6 million contract to Syracuse-based firm Northland Associates to design and build a wind power system on the campus of SUNY Canton.   The project will allow the college to become more energy efficient using an alternative energy source and reduce dependency on purchased electricity, especially during periods of low energy use.

The project will be handled in two phases.  The first involves the design of the power system and the permitting for eventual construction.  Input from SUNY Canton and the surrounding community would be sought before commitment to a final design.

The new system will include a single wind turbine, rather than entire wind farm.  “I think it is a 2.8 megawatt — it is the size of the ones you see in Lowville or Chateaugay,” said David Gerlach, SUNY Canton vice president for advancement.  “It is capable of providing one-third of our power for the campus.”  Upon completion and authorization, the construction of the project will begin.Gerlach stated the project has been in development for some time. “This project is something we’ve been talking about with NYPA for a long time, three to four years.  We are finally down to a level of serious review.”

There are other benefits to having this new wind turbine on campus, Gerlach explained.  “We have a four-year degree in alternative and renewable energy,” he said. “These students would be able to have a very strong academic component built into the project, to be able to see live data and analyze the outputs from the turbine. It would be a wonderful learning possibility.”

Morrisville State College hosts a beautiful architectural transformation

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Morrisville State College's Sheila Johnson Design Center. Photo: Perkins Eastman

A barn on the SUNY Morrisville State College campus has been designed and rebuilt into a stunning design studio with soul of the barn it takes after.  The entire facility is expected to obtain LEED Certification for its energy sustainability and serves as a centerpiece for the entrance to the agricultural college.

Originally built at the turn of the 20th century, the barn fared fire and relocation and stayed in use until just eight years ago.  Once the barn was decommissioned, it remained a staple of the campus’ environment.  Campus officials, students, alumni and community members couldn’t have imaged the barn gone so it was decided that the building would be renovated to a design studio, using most of the existing structure to preserve the barn’s character.

Resulting is the 25,000 square-foot Sheila Johnson Design Center.  Its description is not something one would expect of a farm: Stunning, modern and clean.  Although the exact structure was not completely preserved, its silhouette and footprint mimics that of the barn.  According to Professor Anne Englot of Architectural Studies and Design, the Center provides “A connection between the agricultural traditions and technological future” of the college. Continue reading →

Saranac Brewery Taps SUNY ESF to Go Green

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Crews are working to install a new biodigester at F.X. Matt Brewing in Utica, N.Y. (Ryan Delaney / WRVO)

The F.X. Matt Brewing Company in Utica is working with SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry to go green.  Cleaner wastewater, less energy usage and an environmentally-friendly landscape will result.

The Brewery, also known as the Saranac Brewery, is investing $4M at its century-old site.  But instead of putting that toward beer production, the company is installing five 30,000-pound anaerobic digester tanks that will clean wastewater from the beer crafting process.  Millions of specialized bacteria will work inside the tanks to eat away at the particles in expelled water from the brewery—yeast and grains, mostly—to make the water 85% cleaner before it hits the sewer.

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