What's New

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Tuesday, February 02, 2010 0 comments Fezzie's Manifesto Posted by: Arnica Rowan at 11:22:00 AM Okanangan College has a new set of guidlines for food services providers, which include sustainability requirements. Our new cafe in the Centre for Learning, Fezzies, wanted to share their Sustainability Manifesto with us all. Please feel free to ask them about what they are doing to take care of the earth and our College community. FEZZIE'S CARES... About THE EARTH. It is our intention to utilize recycled & recyclable packaging as far as possible and encourage our customers to return or re-use items responsibly. About QUALITY OF LIFE. It is our intention to provide healthy, nourishing, locally-sourced, fair-trade organic foods as far as possible to our customers. About YOUR HEALTH. It is our intention to enable our customers to make healthier choices this is reflected in the products we choose to sell. About THE OC. It is our intention to be respectful of the beautiful surroundings we share with the Faculty & Students of Okanagan College. About YOU. It is our intention to listen carefully to the needs and requests of our customers and respond accordingly. Fezziwig’s has been in business in Kelowna for the past four years. In that time they have implemented many accountability procedures in regards to the sustainability of the community and they intend to carry on that tradition at their new location at Okanagan College.
Monday, May 18, 2009 0 comments Help Clean Fascieux Creek May 26 Posted by: Arnica Rowan at 9:11:00 PM Join the creek cleaning crew from the Okanagan College KLO campus on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 @ 3:00pm. We are meeting at the bridge between the waste treatment plant and the student residences. Gloves, bags and pinchers are supplied. Please wear sturdy shoes and bring a hat if it is sunny out. According to the regular crew, there is now more wildlife in the creek; the turtles, muskrat and large fish have returned. You may spot a few of them while cleaning the banks of the creek. Our clean-ups seems to be making a difference: join in!
Monday, May 18, 2009 0 comments College Creek Clean-up Crew wins Mayor's Environmental Achievement Award Posted by: Arnica Rowan at 9:09:00 PM The City of Kelowna's Mayor's Environmental Achievement Awards recognize community memebers and groups making a positive difference in Kelowna. This year, the Okanagan College KLO campus Creek Clean-up Crew, lead by Angie March, has won the Most Environmentally Dedicated Group award for their fantastic contributions to the Adopt A Stream Program. The College staff often go out on their lunch hour to clean-up their Fascieux Creek site throughout the year. Okanagan College has been an Adopt-a-Stream group since July 2007. In that time they have removed over 100 bags of garbage and 40 bags of noxious weeds. Volunteer hours are rated at 132 so far. This dedicated group have taken the Adopt-a-Stream clean-up international by inviting their international students to participate in their spring clean-ups. The dedication to the environment and volunteer effort is amazing to some students. The students often mention that they would like to create a similar volunteer effort when they return to their respective countries.
Friday, April 24, 2009 0 comments From bamboo shirts to 80% recycled binders – OC bookstores stock sustainably Posted by: Arnica Rowan at 10:11:00 AM If you haven’t browsed one of the OC bookstores lately, you might be surprised what is on the shelves! Most of the clothing is made from bamboo and soy, both renewable materials. Look for the renu brand to support sustainable farming and fair labour practices. If you are shopping for classroom supplies, read the back of the notebooks: many are Greencycled, with 50% recycled content. 80% recycled binders make a statement – and when you are no longer using them, the components are recyclable and compostable. The bookstores will even be carrying Elephant Poo Poo brand paper notebooks and other supplies in the fall, made from – you guessed it! – elephant waste. For your summer reading, learn about social responsibility with a copy of Fashioning Reality by Ben Barry, or explore the beautiful Okanagan with your own Lone Pine guide to hikes or local flora and fauna. Students walking away with $500 in purchases (usually a semester’s worth of textbooks,) get a free multiuse bag to carry them; for your purchases, you can buy a cool peace sign multi-use bag for $2 or choose a biodegradable plastic bag (although these will soon be phased out.) Even better, you can BYOB – bring your own bag. Happy shopping!
Tuesday, April 07, 2009 1 comment Cafeteria Takes a Leadership Role Posted by: Arnica Rowan at 2:07:00 PM At the KLO cafeteria, change is in the air - or should we say, in the food! The cafeteria has taken several steps to make our food service more environmentally sustainable and socially responsible: Currently, all of the vegetable waste resulting from cafeteria food production is composted at Bylands Garden Centre. (Watch out for composting available throughout the KLO campus within the next year.) Goodbye Styrofoam take-out! For a meal on-the-go, they now offer molded fiber containers that are biodegradable, made from sugarcane and bamboo, and meet the ASTM D 6868 standards specifications for compostability. The cafeteria’s coffee provider, Seattle’s Best, offers several Fair Trade Certified and organic coffee choices. Showing real leadership, the cafeteria has committed to offer exclusively Fair Trade Certified™ and organic coffee within a year. To do your part to eat responsibly: Bring your own travel mug to the cafeteria for coffee. The maximum they charge is for a 16 ounce cup, even if you have a larger travel mug. Don’t use take-out! unless you are actually going somewhere. Choose ceramic plates and metal cutlery and save yourself the take-out fee. The cafeteria even offers “to stay” small coffee mugs. Choose organic and Fair Trade Certified™ coffees… and tell the staff that you appreciate those choices. Choose vegetarian meals more often; animal protein takes 10x the energy and makes 10x the CO2 emissions as plant protein. Watch your waste: take only what you plan on eating, even at the sumptuous buffet!
Saturday, March 21, 2009 0 comments Our first LEED Gold building is in progress Posted by: Arnica Rowan at 11:18:00 AM You may have walked by the construction on the KLO campus... But did you know under those tarps and fences is a fantastic sustainable building in progress? The Centre for Learning is an exciting and innovative building being constructed on the KLO Road campus in Kelowna. The 70,000 square foot building will be located in the heart of the KLO Road campus and demonstrate the College’s commitment to be a student focused and learner centered institution. Did you know that our Centre for Learning will be the first LEED GOLD certified building in Kelowna? That is something we can really be proud of! The goal of the Centre for Learning is to be living, breathing building that showcases the best sustainability practices and environmental stewardship possible by the College. You can watch the construction webcam here. Design Highlights Theis project uses LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) principles and is targeted for LEED’s Gold certification. A portion of the building’s electrical energy will be supplied by renewable resources. The building’s heating and ventilation system will be supported through the College’s geothermal system that uses the waste heat from the adjacent Sewage Treatment Plan. The College will utilize environmentally friendly and non-toxic cleaning chemicals, continuing Okanagan College’s practice of green housekeeping. Energy & Resource Consumption Energy, Electrical, Acoustical and Mechanical Engineers were an integral part of the Building Development Team to ensure that energy and resource management was maximized Energy performance of the building is targeting a performance of better than 30% of the ASHRAE 90.1 standard Building orientation and landscaping were developed to optimize energy performance of the building The building was designed to be five storeys to minimize the footprint of the building on the campus and maximize remaining green space The building is on a site that had been used as a landfill Extensive building system commissioning ensures electrical and mechanical systems are installed and calibrated for optimal performance Environmental Loadings Waste management plan implemented to recycle/salvage 75% of construction waste Central recycling area with easy access to the building loading dock Low-flow toilets, waterless urinals, and sensor-controlled faucets account for a water use reduction of approximately 30% over baseline conditions Indoor Environmental Quality Materials with low embodied energy, off gassing of toxins and VOC levels are used throughout the building Natural ventilation supplied by operable windows and the use of the skylight as a central air chimney. Building will continue Okanagan College’s practice of 'green’ housekeeping, adopting a program that utilizes environmentally friendly and non-toxic cleaning chemicals Strategic location of glazing to maximize daylight and views for all occupants Learn more about this amazing building.
Saturday, March 21, 2009 1 comment Wastewater heats KLO campus Posted by: Arnica Rowan at 11:03:00 AM In 2004, Okanagan College's Facilities Management ran clear water lines from the City of Kelowna Waste Water Treatment Facility to the KLO campus boiler house. Now our college extracts the heat from the clear water to contribute heat to the surrounding buildings. This is achieved by using heat recovery chillers and "harvesting" heat from the clear water. In addition, we replaced old boilers with high efficiency boilers and replaced old cooling units containing environmentally hazardous refrigerant with new high efficiency, environmentally friendly cooling units. These steps, along with many others to come, greatly reduce energy consumption and pollutant discharge equivalent to 819 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. More pictures here.