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With biodiesel buses, water-saving showerheads, and increased energy efficiency in buildings, Ohio State is Scarlet, Gray & Green.
Transcript
Aparna Dial: On any given day, we have over 100,000 people on campus.
Niffy Ovuworie: We have so many different types of operations, from running a hospital, to athletic facilities.
AD: World-class research facilities, and laboratories that we need to keep the lights on 24/7 and that takes energy.
NO: We have a $58 million dollar energy budget each year.
AD: If you think about it in term of 10 or 15 years that's over a billion dollars, so just the scale and scope is amazing.
NO: Just because we have a large facility, doesn't mean it has to be energy inefficient, and that's how OSU is changing the picture.
AD: Our whole sustainability program for the campus is under the title of Scarlet, Gray, and Green.
NO: We're focusing on how much CO2 our school is contributing to pollution.
AD: Our program is based on the assisting students who want to learn and help the university. Therefore, there are places in which students received various information, starting who can write my essay ending when there are results to improve the learning system. Our Scarlet, Gray, and Green program extends beyond campus even into our community, and what better to way to unite everybody and teach everybody than Buckeye Football? With a lot of help from the Department of Athletics we started a recycling program in the tailgate lots and in our stadium. Last year we recycled 81 tons from the stadium, and 38 tons from our tailgate lots alone, and that's a huge environmental impact. Every new building has to have 5% of their budget dedicated to energy. The 4-H building is a terrific example of a green building. They have a geothermal heating and cooling system and we're tracking the consumption of this building closely because it gives you real life data and we think it will consume 30-40% of what a normal building would. Students, faculty, and staff want us to be a sustainable campus. President Gee wants us to be one of the greenest universities in our country if not around the world. The basic social institution is the human heart, it's the source from which social action derives its power and purpose. We are The Ohio State University, and if it doesn't work here, it's not going to work anywhere.
NO: The buses that we run are diesel powered, and instead of just using regular diesel fuel, Ohio State is committed to using B-20, bio-diesel fuel. Another program that we also have for transportation is the Zip-Car program, it's sort of a partnership in sharing in cars. Zip-Car allows student and faculty to have a car available for them when they need it. We use two-gallon per minute showerheads at the RPAC. By reducing those to 1.5 gallons per minute we're saving over $200,000 a year in the cost of water.
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