The buzz of sustainability is heard all over, especially in Hawaii, a small set of isolated islands in the middle of a large ocean. Over the past several years, BYU–Hawaii has implemented and completed a number of initiatives to increase sustainability while decreasing utility costs, allowing the university to expand and serve more students. The efforts are making a difference, seen not just in cost savings but also through widespread campus engagement in sustainability programs.
See an infographic of BYU–Hawaii Sustainability Projects
In November 2011, the university organized the Sustainable World Action and Technology Team (SWATT). SWATT is a student and faculty group dedicated to helping the university’s sustainability effort. David Lewis, Vice President of Facilities and Sustainability has coordinated the campus initiatives, he commented about the many people that have produced great results, “This has been a collaborative effort with students, volunteers, missionaries and the Facilities staff. And what we have been told in the past is true that out of small things proceedeth that which is great.” Recent SWATT projects include removing and de-lamping 3,000 unnecessary light bulbs, installing programmable thermostats to coordinate air conditioning with class schedules for each semester, programming computers to have an energy-saver mode, replacing many of the exterior and parking lot lights with LED lights and installing low-flow shower heads in on-campus housing facilities. These projects alone have lowered the university’s annual electricity kilowatt usage by 950,000 kilowatts a year.
Another ongoing SWATT project is the operation of the university’s Give and Take Center, BYU Hawaii’s version of Deseret Industries. The center, founded by former student, Kelly Nelson, collects items donated by students who are leaving campus and gives them to new students who need them. Students volunteer their time to organize and sort through the donations and are given items in return for their service. “We want to encourage students to make use of the Give and Take and to take advantage of these facilities,” says Aaron Ng’ambi, a student who currently over sees the Give and Take Center. In 2013, Give and Take gave away 41,000 items, saving students an estimated $366,000 they would have had to spend to purchase the items.
In June 2013, BYU–Hawaii established its own recycling facility with the contribution of a baler, a machine used to compact recyclables, from BYU–Idaho. By November 2013, the Recycling Center had processed about 42,000 pounds of recyclables. Because of increased recycling, the university reduced trips to the landfill from six times a week to four.
Also, both BYU–Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center have a great need to process biodegradable garbage, or green waste, from trimmed plants and food. A tub grinder processes the green waste into mulch to be used in landscaping and gardening projects. By September 2014, the flow of green waste to mulch will be simplified, taking as little as two to three hours per week to process.
These sustainability efforts are part of BYU–Hawaii’s master plan to serve more students while decreasing the overall cost of utilities. And it is working. In the first phase of construction, completed in 2013, four additional student dormitories, two Temple View Apartment buildings, and the new Heber J. Grant Building were added to campus without increasing the utility costs.
“We encourage students to participate in the projects,” says Les Harper, a founding member of SWATT and a service missionary specifically assigned to the sustainability projects. “We are always looking for student workers and volunteers. There is much potential that can come from working with us. The projects can serve as a way to educate international individuals, so when they return to their own countries, they can implement many of the same sustainability processes we use here.”
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In March of this year, universities around Hawaii gathered at the second annual Hawaii Sustainability in Higher Education Summit. The summit was geared to help Hawaiian universities become more sustainable through planning, program sharing, and skill building. BYU–Hawaii was specifically recognized at the event for its campus sustainability programs. Visit the University of Hawaii’s news page to read more about the 2014 summit.