Ithaca College’s Climate Commitment Committee met last night to discuss possible solutions for reducing the college’s carbon emissions and begin creating a climate action plan it would put in place by next September.

The committee has spent the past year completing an inventory of the college’s

greenhouse  gas emissions, the first phase of the President’s Climate Commitment.

Research conducted by both professors and students showed the college emitted more than 32,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2007.

Making each building more energy efficient is the top strategy for decreasing carbon emissions, said Carl Sgrecci, vice president of finance and administration and co-chair of the Climate Commitment Committee.

“Anything we could do, from more efficient boilers and lights to better insulation, will serve to reduce our carbon footprint,” Sgrecci said.

The pact was signed by  former President Peggy R. Williams in May 2007, along with more than 500 other college presidents who committed to developing long-range plans to neutralize greenhouse gas

emissions on college campuses. The college formally began committee meetings in

September 2007.

“The commitment itself said that during the first year we would establish the college’s carbon footprint,” Sgrecci said.

Susan Swensen, associate professor and chair of biology, and Beth Ellen Clark Joseph, associate professor of physics, discussed several methods for decreasing the college’s carbon emissions at last night’s meeting. These methods included the potential use of wind, solar, geothermal and solar thermal hot water

energy sources.

“What I’m proposing are energy projects that will cost the campus less money in the future so they pay themselves back in savings,” Clark Joseph said.

The presentation also gave breakdowns of how much each method would cost the college and how long it would take

the college to earn back its

 initial investment.

“All of these things have major price tags associated with them and have different paybacks on how they impact our energy consumption,”

Sgrecci said.

After comparing these different strategies, Clark Joseph concluded that increasing energy efficiency of the buildings was the least costly way to keep the college on track with its annual 2 percent reduction rate. This reduction, suggested by the National Wildlife Federation, would achieve more than an 80 percent reduction in the college’s emissions by 2050.

“For example, if we put up a wind turbine that provides 5 to 10 percent of our electricity,” Clark Joseph said. “Well, that is 5 to 10 percent of our electric bill that we are no longer paying for.”

Clark Joseph said the college just signed a new policy that states all departments must purchase Energy Star certified energy-efficient products in all categories for which such ratings apply.

The college is also looking into hiring Associated Engineers Inc., a Wisconsin-based firm with expertise in the assessment of carbon impact energy options. The firm will help the committee write the Climate Action Plan, which will state exactly how the college plans on becoming carbon neutral.

In addition to discussing ways to decrease emissions the committee also discussed the possibility of purchasing Renewable Energy Credits to offset carbon emissions.

Renewable Energy Credits, also called Green Tags or Tradable Renewable Certificates, are certificates issued by a government agency to a power company which utilizes

environmentally friendly methods to generate electricity. The Renewable Energy Credits can in turn be traded and sold on the open market, providing an incentive to companies that

produce “green” power.

This allows the college to purchase renewable  energy from a place that produces “clean” energy, which would compensate for “dirty” CO2 emissions produced by the college.

“With RECs you are purchasing renewable energy that is being produced by someone else, and you are paying them to produce it,” Swensen said. “We decrease what our net emissions would be by facilitating clean energy.”

At the conclusion of the presentation, students were asked to share their ideas about reducing the college’s carbon emissions.

“Students really have a role to play in making these calculations and helping us decide what is the best approach,” Swensen said.

Sophomore Norman Nguyen suggested the committee focus their efforts first on student residence halls.

“We should start in the dorms because we spend only a few hours in all these buildings, but we spend more time in our dorms than in the classroom,” he said.

Clark Joseph said the campus has made a bold promise to reduce carbon emissions.

 “We made that statement because we believe that educating the next generation is one of the most important things we can do in addressing this challenge.”

Swensen said she hopes to see more students attend future committee update meetings.

“I hope that students can share the vision that we have for the future of the college in terms of carbon neutrality,” she said.