BYU–Hawaii has implemented several programs in recent years to maximize sustainability on campus. These include Give & Take, recycling, energy audits, car sharing, and more.
With April being Earth Month, the university’s Food Services department sponsored a sustainability event on Tuesday, April 23, to show ways BYU¬–Hawaii and several local farmers and other vendors are focusing on sustainability practices. Booths were set up in the Aloha Center Mall including BYU–Hawaii Food Services and Seasider Snack Bar, BYU–Hawaii Resident Housing Association, the Alumni Office, Hawaii Reserves Inc., Kamiya Papaya, Kahuku Farms, and others.
Amanda Williams, a senior from Laie, Hawaii, studying Computer Science, noted, “I wanted to see what our school and community are doing to be sustainable. There is a lot of effort being made. I like how the school has a garden and uses the fresh herbs in preparing food for the Club and Seasider.”
Spencer Tan, executive chef for Food Services, initially started gardening at home, which led him to bring gardening to BYU–Hawaii. The Food Services garden mainly grows fresh herbs, but also has a few fruit trees. Food Services dries the herbs and uses them in their operations and sells them at the university’s Farmers Market every two weeks.
Kea Graham, a senior studying Biology from Maui, Hawaii, works for Food Services and helped educate visitors at the sustainability event on the vermicast organic fertilizer that Food Services produces. “Waste from the cafeteria is put in a bin and after a month, worms are added. It is the waste from the worms that is used as fertilizer on campus, and sold at the Farmers Market.”
There are other programs on campus such as Give and Take—a student-run program that allows students to donate items for others to use for free—with the goal to reduce waste. In addition, the popular bi-weekly Farmers Market provides a venue for local produce to be sold directly to the community.
When it comes to campus construction, BYU–Hawaii continues to keep a steady focus on conservation by emphasizing sustainable and renewable energies. “Our initiative is to do everything we can to be sustainable," said David Lewis, vice president of Construction, Facilities Management and Sustainability. "Whether it be with metal, cardboard, plastic, water, paper, or green waste, our goal is to find a way to recycle it. And, while expanding the student body slightly will make the university more economically viable, we have already introduced programs where students can rent vehicles by the hour and take shuttles to Wal-Mart and Costco – so they don't have to own a car. And we're making sure that plenty of parking for bikes and scooters is available across campus.”
Current construction projects include three single-student dorm buildings, one single student apartment building, two married student apartment buildings, and one multi-use building (named the Heber J. Grant Building) that will have classroom and ecclesiastical space. The new buildings at BYU–Hawaii have been constructed to be cost effective and better for the environment. For example, each of the student housing structures is designed to maximize the use of trade winds as a natural cooling system, making air conditioning unnecessary.
In addition, new and existing classrooms and other campus buildings are now equipped with sensors that will turn the room lights off after a set period of inactivity, saving thousands of dollars per month in electricity usage. A recent energy audit uncovered some hidden costs of having extra lighting in many rooms. “We’ve taken a light meter into every room, office space, and classroom on campus and, using the federal illumination standard, taken out lighting that was excessive," says Lewis. "Hundreds of light bulbs were taken out of operation saving an estimated $40,000 dollars each year.” Along with lighting, computers have been changed to energy saver mode to remove unnecessary energy use.
For more information on construction and sustainability projects, please visit http://orangecone.byuh.edu/.