?President Wayne Clough has appointed the Campus Water Conservation Task Force, which has been charged with addressing what Georgia Tech can do beyond
what has already been done through the campus master plan and sustainability program goals to conserve water and respond to the 10 percent water restriction recently announced by the Governor. The task force is comprised of representatives from across campus, including students, faculty, recreation, athletics, Housing, Facilities, GTRI, Student Affairs and others.
A second committee will be announced later that will have a more academic and research orientation to address broader water conservation and sustainability issues as part of Georgia Tech’s mission to be the defining technological university of the 21st century, as well as to assist the state with the broader challenges it faces.
The Campus Water Conservation Task Force will report its preliminary recommendations in mid-November, working to comply with Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue’s request to reduce water usage by 10 percent. Marcia Kinstler, in Campus Environmental Stewardship in Finance and Administration, will lead the task force.
“We are giving a more intense focus,” Kinstler said. “In the past, we’ve been involved in water conservation as we have constructed new buildings or carried out renovations and retrofits under our sustainability strategies, Campus Master Plan and Campus Landscape Plan. Because of the water shortage, we are evaluating a wider and a faster implementation schedule.”
The task force will have from 15 to 20 core members, and is expected to include additional subcommittees, Kinstler says. Some steps that can be taken right away include reducing water usage, especially in restrooms, being vigilant in looking for water leaks in the system and conducting community outreach. She adds the task force has “typical water-usage charts” showing water usage patterns for residence halls, research laboratories, households and office buildings.
“Most people wonder why the water-saving tips focus so much on the bathrooms, but that is a major usage, whether in a residence hall, apartment or house or in an office or a laboratory,” Kinstler said. “Using less water per flush, or even avoiding two to three flushes per person per day, takes us a long way toward the 10 percent reduction in water. The other major restroom strategy is to limit your shower to 5 minutes a day.”
“We anticipate identifying how Georgia Tech can reduce its use of city water by the amount we’ve been asked to do,” Kinstler says. “And we are working on outreach programs and volunteer efforts where we can help those who need it the most. We hope the students, faculty and staff will work to reduce water use on three fronts: their own daily lives, their families and friends and also do outreach to others who don’t have the knowledge or other resources to implement low-flow fixtures or otherwise reduce their water usage.”
Georgia Tech began its water conservation efforts as part of the Institute’s sustainability efforts in 1992 and continues to implement and expand them today. Facilities, Housing, Athletics and others have taken several steps to reduce consumption—many before the extreme drought hit the region. Infrastructure changes, such as low-flow fixtures in campus restrooms and residence halls, as well as maintenance improvements to the Institute’s central plant, have helped to staunch significant water usage. Over the last five years, upgrading and repairing the chiller systems has boosted efficiency 25 to 30 percent. Facilities has a Utilities Committee which works with Housing, GTRI, Athletics and others across campus to identify ways to save water and energy.
And with all of this, the Institute has made managing water usage a part of its growth and sustainability strategies. In 2001, nearly 350 million gallons of water served 10 million square feet. For fiscal year 2007, the water usage has remained the same, while the campus has grown an additional 3 million square feet.
More advanced improvements also have come to the fore in the last few years as sustainable buildings, which adhere to federal benchmarks of energy, water and materials usage, contribute to conservation.
Georgia Tech is a respected leader in sustainability, and was enlisted as a partner in 2002 when Atlanta was examining its aging water infrastructure. “This water shortage is part of a long-term situation,” Kinstler said. “The second committee being formed at Georgia Tech will focus beyond our campus and on a longer term solution to the water shortage and other sustainability issues. Policy and Planning aspects of water management and usage will also be fundamental to solving these issues long-term,” she said. “Research and Technology are a key to our planet’s and society’s long-term sustainability. These are Georgia Tech’s strengths.”
For more information, visit www.gatech.edu/conservation/. |
