Sustainability leaders honoured
Students, faculty and staff who have gone beyond the call of duty in making the University of Calgary a more sustainable institution have been recognized for their outstanding achievements.
“These awards recognize those exceptional individuals whose contributions are making an extraordinary difference here on campus and in the community,” said President Elizabeth Cannon, who took part in the Office of Sustainability’s 2011 Year in Review awards ceremony on Friday.
“Sustainability is one of the eight core values in Eyes High, the University of Calgary’s strategic direction, and our leadership in this area is integral to our success in earning our place as a leader in a community of leaders,” Cannon added. “Of course, where leadership is concerned, actions speak louder than words, so it is especially gratifying to recognize the difference-makers, and the tangible contributions of our many involved staff, students and faculty.”
This year’s recipients reflect a wide range of successful programs and activities that advance the university’s performance in environmental, social and economic sustainability. They include:
Student Sustainability Leadership Award: Lauren Rooney
Rooney is president of the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy Students’ Association. She was the logistics co-ordinator for the 2009 Team Alberta Solar Decathlon team and a lead organizer of the International Student Energy Summit.
Staff Sustainability Leadership Award: Co-generation team
The Cogeneration team’s multi-year efforts ensure the university’s new cogeneration facility will improve campus energy efficiency by approximately thirty per cent, providing annual cost savings of approximately $3 million and reducing annual institutional greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 80,000 tonnes. The team includes Jim Sawers, Murray Sloan, Keith Altenhof, Raymond Mohl and Ian Thompson.
Undergraduate Research Symposium, Sustainability Category Winner: Emily Hicks, iGEM team leader
The University of Calgary’s iGEM team developed a genetically-modified bacteria capable of monitoring toxin levels in oil sands tailings ponds. The team won awards at several competitions last year, including Best Environment Project at the World iGEM Jamboree at MIT last November. Team members include: Emily Hicks, Felix Chung, Stephen Dixon Niko Hornbruch, Chelsea Leishman, Robert Mayall, Peter Qi, Saeed Quershi, Jacqueline Smith, Ellen Widdup and Patrick Wu.
PowerOFF Challenge, Winning Building: Materials Handling Facility
Employees of the Materials Handling Facility reduced energy use in their building by 23 per cent over the entire three-week challenge last fall and set a record weekly reduction of 49 per cent in their final week. They achieved this in part by using power bars to completely shut off all unused equipment and eliminate phantom loads. And they turned down unnecessary building systems like lights and fans when no one was in the building. The university’s total energy reductions over the three-week challenge were enough to power five average family homes for one full year. Five cents from every kWh saved by the winning building was donated to the United Way.
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