Carbon Commitment Committee

Voting members present: Lety Cavazos, Tess Collins, Ed Dever, Maricruz Gomez, Laurie Houston, Remy Hystad, Cinamon Moffett, Jacob Putney, Shelley Signs, Brandon Trelstad, Erica Walker, Beth Filar Williams
Ex-Officio member present: Scott Elmshaeuser – OSU Foundation
Guest present: Salah Miller

Welcome and Brief Self-Introductions

• Thanks for joining
• Introductions, Keith Jayawickrama chairing

Updates on Membership for FY 22-23, Welcome New Members

• Erica Walker, Public Policy/Political Science, recently joined

Updates on new C3 Leadership for FY 22-23

• Recruiting a co-chair
• Keith: Co-chair role will entail running meeting, taking notes, OSU leadership, setting the vision for the committee, energy, direction. If you feel motivated to help out in this role, please inform Keith. It will need to be approved by Faculty Senate
• Keith: In the absence of a co-chair he will not take on as much as he did last year. Only so much that he can do. Please let Keith and Faculty Senate know if you want to be co-chair.
• Added attendance by Shelley for the last meeting. Shelley took notes at the last meeting.

Approve September 21, 2022 Meeting Minutes

Action: Motion to approve the September 21, 2022 meeting minutes, seconded. The motion passed

Working Group Updates

• Education – Lety set up the meeting last week. Lety summarized on the review goals from last year. The work group reviewed the goals from last year and out of the three-they chose one. Promotion of Baccalaureate Core courses related to climate change. OSU Faculty are asking for volunteers for Core. Non-Credit sustainability certificate complete.
• Lety Cavazos: Look at courses in sustainability and see gaps. Office of Sustainability has a research report that looks at courses offered at OSU to take inventory of courses with sustainability.
• Box folder work group meeting and notes available for this.
• Keith: Conservation, Efficiency, and Transportation (CET) met November 1.

Fume Hood Campaign:

• Brandon: Control shop joined meeting to fill out some details and answer questions. Detailed notes available in the workgroup folder. Focus on fume hood campaign 2-3 prong strategy. Awareness subset of building-fume hood sliding door-air volume-exhausting fumes lower hood the air reduced in other buildings. Go through campaign different technology in different buildings. Start with two or three buildings educational-reduce sash heights in buildings walking through science hoods opened tubes and contraction prevent sash from opening. Suspect portion of the issue fume sashes open all the time. The behavior change is very important. There is tech that is available to deal with this issue but it is expensive and automated and highly unlikely the technology will be bought for OSU. They will do a more modest approach. Thousands of dollars a year lost from open sashes, will start with a modest approach of education on sashes.
• Cinamon: Hood tested in Newport launch campaign.
• Brandon: Will launch a campaign awareness for different audiences. Lab worker, part planning, and background too detailed. Graphic design sustainability-compelling signage laboratory fume. Summary of findings similar data significant open 25% of the time without anyone using the lab. Through these buildings being open it is a cost of 4000 a year and release of 18 tons.
• Scenario table aggregate opportunity for PL Science Center. $126,000 annual energy savings – realistically under 100,00 but 500 measures of carbon saved. Will invest in time to change the behavior and refresh the behavior to keep momentum.
• Keith: There seems to be little awareness. The consequences are too big to leaving the hoods open.
• Ed: Did anyone ask the lab why the sashes are up? Thoughts or reasons given on why the sashes are up on a regular basis?
• Survey LPSC – then sit with building and lab manager to discuss the issue. There seems to be a lack of awareness.
• Ross: Lack of knowing that closing the sash will save energy. Lack of knowledge that if you close these sashes, it will save money and energy.
• Brandon: Not enough data whether hood justified. Tackle in the future not in the round focus.
• Cinamon: After meeting biorat training does not talk about closing shaft-should include education – Cinamon, think about that after CET meeting. Opportunity to augment language.
• Brandon: Will start with buildings in Linus Pauling Science Center (LPSC) and Johnson Marine Science and then move to the other buildings. Let us know if you are interested.
• Keith: Communication workgroup is interested.
• Brandon: After content is drafted, we will run it to the communication group.
• Keith: Love to see that.
• Beth: Team HUDS meeting on December 2 at 12:45PM under bridge – see fume heights join shaft height.
• Ross: Is the timing for this January?
• Brandon: Realistically the time table is January. Milestone that syncs with Newport.
• Keith: What about alerting department heads?
• Brandon: I think it would be better to get feedback from workers and lab managers. Have the principal investigation with the lab workers and lab managers instead of department heads.
• Keith: It may be useful to tell the department.
• Brandon: Want to work for now primarily with operation managers.
• Jennifer Alix-Garcia: Supported the need to communicate with department heads – not for approval but to tell them what is happening. Since this is focused on a university change of behavior it could be helpful.
• Brandon: Shared lab no unit know message before distribute information to department heads. We want to get feedback from those managing the lab.
• Jennifer: Department heads can be helpful.
• Keith: Carbon Commitment Committee (C3) first initiative this year excited=carbon emission-faculty emission can communicate with peers. Great for C3 to get behind.

Carbon Offset

• Beth: new person on committee not here wanted to know about the carbon offset program. Approach department and units in different ways about this program.
• Important to remind people about the carbon offset and what has happened.
• Keith: What is the program? What is the traction? What does the carbon offset program look like?
• Brandon: Link in chat – similar ability renewable – traveling for research conference no Zoom alternative bulk purchase sustainability request form.
• Lety: carbon offset needed contact to get approval. Bond purchase. Buying carbon offset use locally sourced third party. High quality product-overview of program. Last year, 1 or 2 tons from our office and another office.
• Lety: Not a lot of interest. Last year there was not a lot of travel as much as today. The program launched six months before the Pandemic. Organization for a whole year and had promotion of it.
• Beth: CET group before COVID-instead of doing the form as an individual we did it holistically. Air/Travel did it that way. Budget differently. How would you inform people of this program? Or approach the dean/unit about this?
• Keith: Someone approved travel permission from Dean.
• Brandon: The library used this program as a unit.
• Keith: Rather than an individual it would be helpful to do it as a group. Make sure to approach the business/finance office in early June for this since they are busy at the end of the year.
• Brandon: Not queried vendor – no solid numbers, but probably 10-12.
• Keith: Put announcements for this program in OSU Today.
• Ed Dever: Zoom meetings as a way to offset travel. This caused for a huge offset of travel. NSF and federal procurement still not on board with offsetting travel.
• Perry: Is there a way to make the reporting of the offset automatic?
• Lety: The Concur system is an option. Make sure Concur program is robust before adding features. Most likely a box will be added next year about offset of travel.
• Brandon: Concur using an integrated system. Having a box to check in Concur will reach more people.
• Keith: It is more convenient to have an integrated system where you check a box.
• Brandon: Ways of reaching peers about the carbon offset is to think creatively. Choice made by end user. C3 awareness and action changed. Annual day of giving 2020-2021 did raise money for student travel offset.
• Perry: That seems like a good opportunity to raise money.
• Brandon: Day of giving raised $1700 dollars for Sustainability Office initiatives. Easier to donate for a material thing (i.e. a building or a scholarship) than a concept (emissions reduction).
• Perry: Can anything be changed? Attaching it to the foundation?
• Julian Greg: Is there a way to get tie offset money to go to Carbon Commitment (CC) and then a specific CC project? Or get amount high enough to offset carbon?
• Trying to get the word out of this carbon offset program through OSU Today. There is a barrier toward awareness and action. The awareness and action are still two distinct entities that have not been merged.
• Beth: There is also a barrier in terms of access of federal grant money.
• Brandon: Outreach social media, integrate Concur system than a one-off approach. Innovative ideas forum and high-profile CC did not result in dozens of people. Willing to hear different ideas on how you think we can integrate the awareness and action.
• Julian: There was not too much travel because of COVID.
• Perry: Focus on structure, system, and incentive changes.
• Brandon: The difficulty with carbon offset is that people think of it as buying a thing they do not need.
• Perry: Offset faculty travel through departments. Rather than individuals as seen by Beth.
• Beth: Talk helped buy in great work doing push in library work. National Library Association built it into registration.
• Perry: Carbon emission saved travel Zoom documentation of decision.
• Keith: After remote meetings were adopted, I found that foresters I work with were no longer so keen to jump in their pickup to drive for a meeting that lasts 1-3 hours.
• Brandon: Provide data C3 alternative-not move the needle a ton. We will tell the story through the data. Lety is working on the Greenhouse 2022 report. 10%-12% of air travel before the Pandemic changed to 2% during Pandemic.
• Julian: Could we ask Concur to add departments to make a list and name and shame for high carbon emissions.
• Jennifer: Naming and shaming interesting by college is useful.
• Brandon: Difficult to do comparisons. Different departments and colleges will have different travel needs (some work almost entirely at OSU Campuses, other units need to travel for fieldwork etc.) that cannot be compared.

Washington Oregon Cascadia Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC), March 6-8, 2023 at OSU

• Washington Higher Education at OSU, March 6-8. Call for proposals already ended. Funding available for anyone wanting to attend-free up to a limit-100 students head count.
• Brandon: Want students to attend this engagement and community leadership. There is a fund for 100 students. Get registered program for conference not out. Start of December program out. Local and national names on the program. Chuck Sams to be the keynote speaker if it comes through. Early registration. Shelley helping out event management. What do folks want to hear?
• Lety: There is an early bird registration.
• Brandon: Apparently today the early bird registration says test mode. Social enterprise to run the website registration. Late last week it worked. Stay tuned.
• Beth: What is the process for students to get free registration.
• Lety: We have not talked about the process. There will most likely be a registration form at the end that asks students to write a summary about what they learned and how it connects to the major.
• Brandon: Rotating events in Northwest CEL Student Affair Qualtrics form refresh to OSU Today and tons of channels.
• Lety: Get speakers and recommendations.
• Brandon: In tough receive newsletter C3 Sustainability office email find out – send link or look at the roster.

Other Business

• It would be good to meet the new OSU President.
  • Brandon: It would be a good idea. It should come through Faculty Senate. I do not know the protocol. Having a small group that engages is a good idea. I hear that climate change is in the President’s agenda. How to materialize this? We need to ask her and find out from leadership about smaller group. We should keep talking about that.
  • Keith: We should approach faculty executive committee.
  • Brandon: Ask so we know see if there is a transition plan. Faculty Senate leadership.
  • Shelley: Communicate with the President. Not only group but take it to Steve and come back to us. Reply to Keith and Brandon.
• Recruitment
  • Adding to heating and cooling building control people that steer energy demand. Ross is part of the team. There have been some vacancies in this department because of retirement and leave. The new hire is important in implementing a carbon strategy. Decision they make can save money and carbon output. If you know of folks spread the word. Advertise in Oregonian, CC, and Sustainability across the United States. Hiring three students from an application pool. The form of advertisement for the student hires was through blog posts. These positions include software engineer meter data student intern, implement project know students then you should help spread the word. There are applications for student interns. Mostly focusing on full time hires. We can extend the application but would rather find someone before we have to.
• There are differences in buildings in terms of heating and cooling.
  • Brandon: Motivate to recommend hires since they are a major component of heating and cooling in the buildings.

Next Meeting

• Next meeting set to January 10, 2023 from 2:30-4:00 PM.

Adjourn

• Thank you for attending and all your help is appreciated. We did have another person interested in joining the committee. The person is an energy economist from the College of Liberal Arts. Faculty senate will have to approve the admission.

This meeting is adjourned.

Minutes prepared by Maricruz Gomez