UAA is an excellent example of an organization that has taken significant strides toward maintaining the Green Star Standards after receiving its Green Star Award in 1993. UAA was the second organization in Anchorage to receive Green Star's Air Quality Award in 2000. By meeting the Air Quality Standards, UAA was able to expand its environmental policies and strengthen existing ones.
The U-Pass program allows UAA employees and students to ride the People Mover at no cost. More than 800 rides a day are taken under the U-Pass Program, removing about 400 cars off Anchorage’s roads. Not only does this program generate less traffic on the UAA campus and, it also alleviates a growing parking dilemma. UAA also boasts an extensive system of bike trails and the campus provides bike racks for students and staff who wish to travel via bicycle.
UAA prides itself in having the “clearest sidewalks in midtown,” ensuring that students and staff who wish to walk on campus rather than drive during the winter months can do so easily and safely. In spring, campus sidewalk and parking lot maintenance programs cut back considerably on dust and other pollutants generated by the sand and gravel used during the winter months.
To ensure optimal vehicle performance and reduced emissions, the Facilities Maintenance Department inspects all fleet vehicles. All vehicle usage is tracked to determine more efficient ways to use the vehicles. Campus vehicles also are plugged in at 20 degrees F or lower. Another winter program being developed is designed to reduce pollution, as well as ease the burden on staff caused by snow shoveling. The program would allow staff to borrow a vehicle from the University’s motor pool rather than dig out their own vehicle on campus. The motor pool vehicles would be maintained regularly, reducing emissions and other wastes.
All furnaces and boilers on campus are controlled through automated control systems and are inspected and tuned annually. Energy requirements for all buildings are optimized through a building automation control system at UAA. Maintenance staff also uses only low-VOC paints in campus projects to reduce VOC air emissions.
UAA developed a creative program called “Space Heater Amnesty” to make it fun for employees to save energy. Employees challenge maintenance staff to fix their office heating problems. If the maintenance staff can fix the heating problems, UAA give the employee who made the initial complaint an award in exchange for turning in his or her space heater, which should no longer be needed. If maintenance staff cannot fix the heating problem, UAA allows the employee to keep his or her space heater while a long-term fix for the heating problem is investigated. Overall, this program reduces energy needs and improves air quality through reduced emissions.
University of Alaska Anchorage http://www.uaa.alaska.edu
