Eastern Iowa Community College District: Organization is only
Q-C signer of document

Font Size:

By Alma Gaul | Saturday, March 22, 2008 11:29 PM CDT | () comments

By signing onto the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, Chancellor Patricia Keir pledged the Eastern Iowa Community College District to undertake specified tasks to eliminate their campus’ greenhouse gas emissions over time and ultimately to achieve climate neutrality.

One of the big challenges right off the bat is to complete an inventory of the district’s greenhouse gas emissions so officials know where they stand at the outset.

EICCD staffer Julie Plummer is charged with that task, which has a September deadline. She is looking not only at emissions caused by heating and cooling systems but also at student commuting and staff air travel.

To brainstorm ideas for meeting other goals, Keir organized a retreat at her Bettendorf home in November, and, out of that, teams were formed to study and make recommendations on various areas such as new construction or transportation.

“We’re very enthusiastic about sustainability in general and trying to do a better job at EICCD,” Keir said.

Other initiatives include:

** One of the tasks of the climate commitment is to establish a policy that all new campus construction will be built to at least the “silver” standard of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.

With recent voter approval of a $33 million bond referendum to renovate and expand buildings at its campuses, the EICCD has many opportunities to address that goal, Plummer said.

** The district has developed a new Renewable Energy Systems Technician training program that will debut this fall. It will train students how to install, repair and maintain small wind and solar technology systems.

** Since 1990, the district has operated the Iowa Waste Exchange, funded by the Department of Natural Resources, in which Plummer offers free consulting to area companies to help them find markets for waste materials, locate recycled materials that can be used in manufacturing processes and provide expert technical assistance on pollution prevention and environmental issues.

Her work has helped 2,500 eastern Iowa businesses divert at least 115,000 tons of material from area landfills and save $4.5 million in disposal and related costs.

** The EICCD has taken over educational programming at Nahant Marsh in Davenport, providing environmental learning for the public and schoolchildren in grades K-12, as well as offering lab study and field work for college students.

“This is an ongoing initiative,” Plummer said of the district’s commitment to addressing environmental and climate change. “It’s not going to end.”