The Ithaca College Student Governance Council heard from Scott Doyle ’98, director of Energy Management and Sustainability, at its April 7 meeting to discuss environmental sustainability at the college.
In 2009, the Board of Trustees approved the Climate Action Plan which aims for the college to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Doyle said reaching climate neutrality by 2050 is still attainable.
Since 2007, the college has been tracking its greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions are made up of Scope 1, direct carbon emissions from stationary and mobile fuel sources; Scope 2, emissions purchased from electricity; and Scope 3, indirect emissions. The college has completely reduced its Scope 2 emissions after the college started getting 100% of the college’s electricity from renewable resources.
Doyle said some buildings on campus are almost completely gas-free. He gave the example of the Peggy Ryan Williams Center where, other than a fireplace, the building is completely cooled by geothermal wells underneath the IC flowerbed.
“New buildings we build need to be fossil fuel free,” Doyle said. “But also, we need to think about how we can transition other buildings.”
Doyle updated the council on the college’s on-campus electric vehicle charging stations. He said the college now has 37 EV charging ports.
“We can hopefully invest in this more,” Doyle said. “More of those types of vehicles can help us with Scope 1 emissions.”
Doyle said one of the reasons he came to the council was to promote sustainability week. He said sustainability week will take place starting April 21 and will include events like a demo day, a student colloquium and a keynote address with Terry Carrol, chief sustainability officer for Tompkins County.
Junior Marshall Long, club athlete senator, said that when representatives from the college’s Applications and Infrastructure team spoke about the college’s implementation of artificial intelligence at the Feb. 17 meeting, they said they were working with Doyle to ensure the implementation was sustainable. He asked Doyle to talk about the environmental impact of AI.
Doyle said that while he recognizes the benefits of AI, it is important to recognize the environmental impacts of AI, particularly its water and electricity use.
“Know that if you’re using [AI] it’s coming at a cost,” Doyle said.
First-year student Abe Marron, senator-at-large, asked Doyle if the college would expand the Friday Night Food Donation to Terrace Dining Hall, which currently takes place from 7:45-9 p.m. every Friday at Campus Center Dining Hall.
Doyle said the college piloted a Terrace Dining Hall food donation this semester. He said student athletes were recruited to package and label unused food at Terrace Dining Hall, which is donated to people in need in Tompkins County through the Friendship Donations Network.
The SGC passed the motion to go into executive session — restricting the meeting to only members of the council — to plan for its open house from 7-9 p.m. April 14 in the Taughannock Falls room of the Campus Center. The open house is being held so campus community members can learn more about SGC and what its senators do.
The SGC is the sole representative body for the Ithaca College student community. The SGC meets from 7-9 p.m. every Monday in the Taughannock Falls room of the Campus Center. The SGC can be contacted at [email protected].
