Sustainability Advisory Committee

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Meeting Minutes

In Attendance (red-absent) – Members: Dennis Elliot (chair), Gary Clay, Hunter Francis, Michael Lucas, Mike Thornton, Nelson Lin, Patrick Lemieux, Rafael Jimenez-Flores, Ron Skamfer, Samantha Kin, Scott Bloom

Ex Officio: Joel Neel, Julie Moloney

Guests: Eric Veium, Claire Balint, Stacey Kolegraff, Megan Coats, Ron Hostick, Scott Loosley

Introductions:

Approval of Minutes – The minutes of the May 29th meeting have not been issued yet, and will be sent with next month’s packet.

CSU Energy Information System - Dennis Elliot presented an update on this CSU system wide project:

· The RFP evaluation process has been finalized, and four firms were selected for contract award under a Master Enabling Agreement – these include Siemens, EnergyCap, EcoVox, and Enernoc.

· Once the MEA contract is issued from the Chancellor’s Office, campuses will be able to contract directly with any of the four firms to develop and implement a project, or solicit multiple proposals to evaluate capabilities and get competitive pricing.

· The first phase of implementation will include the Chancellor’s Office and four campuses – Cal Poly SLO, San Diego State, San Marcos, and Humboldt.

Solar PV Update – Eric Veium presented an update on an opportunity to pursue a large scale solar PV system through a little know utility program and tariff:

· RES-BCT – Renewable Energy Self-Generation Bill Credit Transfer. This program allows government agencies including CSU to develop renewable energy generation systems, either on campus land, or on private land under the University’s control (through lease agreement), that would connect and generate power directly into PG&E’s transmission or distribution infrastructure rather than into Cal Poly’s electrical system. This avoids a number of physical limitations of the campus infrastructure, Ag land use concerns, and takes advantage of streamlined permitting in SLO County for renewable energy projects. The system would generate power under an A6 tariff worth about $0.11/kWh, and the University would pay the developer/owner/operator a lower price (potentially as low as $0.07/kWh) for this power through a Power Purchase Agreement.

· Facilities is proceeding with a fast tracked RFP to solicit such proposals and hopefully take full advantage of the Federal Investment Tax Credit, which drops from 30% to 10% at the end of 2016. President Armstong has endorsed the project and potential sites are being evaluated. Academic applications will be a component of the RFP and selection criteria.

Reclaim/Recycled Water – Eric Veium presented information regarding opportunities and planning around potential use of recycled/reclaim water on campus.

· We are in conversations with Sustainable Water to evaluate the potential of a Water Hub on campus to treat sewer effluent for reuse in irrigation and process water use – see: http://sustainablewater.com/waterhub/

· Conversations are ongoing with the City of SLO for a potential partnership on a Prop 1 Recycled Water Planning Grant, and possible development of a recycled water facility at Santa Rosa Park.

Recycling/Composting Update – Eric Veium presented an update on progress of campus recycling and composting initiatives:

· Campus is in the process of developing a new RFP for our solid waste contract. Eric has been working with San Luis Garbage to get more transparency of the cost structure and how costs are impacted by container/dumpster size and fullness, frequency of pickups, how data is measured and reported. Opportunities to improve operations have been identified and are being pursued.

· A recent waste audit of Kennedy Library found 75% of solid waste destined for landfill was either recyclable or compostable.

· Monitoring of Housing moveout found that a significant amount of reusable, resellable, or recyclable materials were disposed of in the garbage dumpsters/rolloffs. Conversations with University Housing are ongoing to improve. Attendants, educational outreach, and signage will likely be needed.

Sustainability Conferences and Best Practice Awards – Registration is open! Cal Poly will receive and give presentations regarding three Sustainability Best Practice Awards at CHESC 2015:

· Water Conservation and Site Water Quality (Drought Response Plan)

· Sustainability Innovations (Creative Energy Project Finance)

· Sustainability in Academics (Sustainable Environments Minor)

Next Meeting/ Future Agenda Items -The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 30th at 11:00 am. An agenda item to discuss the purpose and focus of this committee’s work and how it can be more impactful was tabled until the next meeting.