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Air
Purchasing,
Consumption, Waste Disposal, Research/Projects,
Education
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Current Green Strides at Colgate
- Environmental Health and Safety Officer
follows current EPA indoor air quality guidelines
- The University has done a good job of
keeping the majority of tested areas well ventilated.
- Willow biomass facility to offset need for
mass oil-burning
Research/Progress
Made
- Preliminary greenhouse gas inventory
completed
- Measures to reduce emissions have been
examined by students and administration
- Reported indoor air quality problems are
investigated and mitigation strategies are carried out
- ENST 480, Fall 2002 Project
Results:
The majority of
buildings tested for radon showed concentrations well below the EPA action level
of 4pCi/L due to airflow and circulation. There are three hotspots in
Colgate-owned buildings in Hamilton, NY They are (1) the crawlspace in
Huntington Gymnasium, (2) the basement bathroom in Conant House, and (3) the
basement of The Loj on Broad Street.
Abstract/Summary
- Indoor air quality is an issue that is
typically ignored as a major environmental and public health threat. Since most
people generally spend 90% of their time within indoor environments, the air
quality of these environments should be of interest to those who occupy the
building on a regular basis. Indoor air pollutants have various impacts on the
health and productivity of building occupants. In university and college
settings, additional pollutant source are present in laboratories, art studios,
and gyms. In addition, building occupants are close together both in the
classroom and in living quarters. Due to these unique conditions, managing
indoor air quality at colleges and universities can be a challenging task.
- We sought to evaluate the indoor air
quality management plan at Colgate as part of a larger environmental audit of
the university. A common problem in many of the older buildings at Colgate is
excessive moisture levels in below grade spaces. Based on current EPA
guidelines, such problems are addressed as they arise through complaints from
building occupants. While Colgate currently follows EPA guidelines, various
aspects of this investigation led to the creation of recommendations to improve
indoor air quality policy at Colgate.
- The inhalation of radon gas is potentially
harmful to humans that breathe it in increased concentrations. It is important,
therefore, to ensure that radon levels within buildings are kept below the EPA
action level of 4pCi/L. This study examines sixteen Colgate-owned buildings in
Hamilton, NY and the results produced three areas of concern, however it is
possible to mitigate the problem through various techniques of ventilation and
filtration. These areas of concern, which are located in the basement of Conant
House and the crawlspace of Huntington Gymnasium, have concentrations of three
and four times the EPA action level, respectively. Another area of concern, the
The Loj basement, shows a concentration just slightly above the action level.
The majority of the data, however, suggests that there really is not a problem
with the rest of the tested Colgate-owned buildings.
Contacts/Resources
- Jennifer Martin, Environmental Health and
Safety Officer, jamartin@mail.colgate.edu
- Shackford, Julia. Radon Analysis of
Colgate Owned Buildings, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY. 13 December
2002.
- ENST 480
students:
Brian
Wolyniak | Jennifer Molina | Julia
Shackford | Bill Sadlon | Milt Geiger | Blair Goodridge
Initiatives at other
Universities/Communities
- Tufts Climate Initiative---committed to
meeting the goals of the Kyoto Protocol through many energy saving
actions
- Brown Is Green--- facilitates the conservation
of resources, waste reduction strategies, and increased awareness of
environmental issues on campus
- Middlebury Environmental Council---aims to
conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions
Potential Green
Strides at Colgate
Site
Specific
- More research needs to be done in terms of
the radon concentration levels in buildings that have not been tested at this
point.
- The hotspot areas identified in Radon
Analysis of Colgate Owned Buildings (Shackford, 2002) need to be ventilated
and/or filtered for radon. This would consist of installing fans and/or HEPA air
filtration systems to expel radon from the
buildings.
University
- Smoke Free Campus
- Active education on indoor air quality
issues to the Colgate Community, specifically: Health effects and resources
available on campus
- Movement towards a proactive management
plan, including regular testing of high risk spaces (e.g., below grade spaces,
older buildings, laboratories) and more frequent observation and testing of more
buildings
- Further investigation into HVAC system
design, operations, and maintenance with respect to indoor air
quality
- Education about radon and its potential
side effects would be useful if a larger scale study were to eventually
commence, in order that students, faculty, staff, and townspeople understand the
reasons behind the testing.
- Installation of scrubbers to filter out
particulate matter (PM-10), sulfur and nitrogen
emissions
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