BROWN AND GREEN
A Quarterly Newsletter from the Brown Office of Sustainability
Happy Spring
"This edition marks the one year anniversary of the Brown & Green newsletter. Over the past year we have made great strides enhancing sustainability at Brown. Most notably, Brown recently released its first sustainability plan and unveiled a new University sustainability webpage that reflects the breadth and depth of our community’s sustainability work.
We hope you enjoy our Spring 2021 newsletter!"
- Jess Berry, Director of Sustainability
NEWS @ BROWN
Sustainability Updates From Campus
Update on Brown’s Path Towards Carbon
Net-Zero Goal
The path to net-zero emissions continues to be Brown’s largest-ever investment in sustainability, and the work is well underway. In 2019, Brown entered into two renewable-energy power purchase agreements (PPA). Currently, the University is exploring a third project to offset campus natural gas use.
In the coming years, Brown plans to further renovate the campus heating infrastructure and convert the central heating plant from natural gas to renewably-sourced electricity. Additionally, Brown will take steps to electrify its vehicle fleet and deploy charging stations across campus. Through the newly-released Sustainability Strategic Plan, the University also commits to quantifying indirect emissions (scope 3) from activities such as commuting and work-related travel, and developing targets for reduction. All emissions reductions will be verified by a third party, the Climate Registry, to ensure consistency and accuracy in reporting.
This graph shows the projected emissions reduction to meet the 2040 net-zero goal.
Facilities Management, the School of Engineering, and Environmental Health and Safety hibernate vacant laboratories in Prince Engineering
Research facilities use roughly half of the energy consumed at Brown and a large portion of the energy is related to the ventilation needed to ensure the safety of lab personnel and the surrounding areas.
To save energy while enhancing safety, Facilities Management, the School of Engineering, and Environmental Health and Safety hibernated vacant laboratories across campus. For example, two laboratory spaces in Prince Engineering were vacated when a researcher relocated to ERC. The hibernation was achieved by reducing fume hood exhaust and locking the fume sashes for safety. Though in hibernation mode, the spaces have adequate ventilation for normal occupancy and the temperature and humidity have been maintained to ensure the integrity of installed equipment. Moreover, the lab can be restored for research use quickly if needed.
More lab hibernations are under consideration. The Office of Sustainability welcomes ideas for energy savings in labs; please reach out to Senior Energy Engineer, Dave Larson (arthur_larson@brown.edu) if you have any ideas!
This graph shows fan speeds on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) units before and after energy-saving adjustments were made.
BEYOND BROWN
Climate News You Might Have Missed!
The U.S. Officially Rejoins the Paris Agreement
Effective February 19th, 2021, the U.S. reentered the Paris Agreement. This agreement was adopted in 2015 by 196 parties that pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to avoid fatal climate change impacts. Before the Paris Agreement, the world was headed for a 3.6˚ C increase in global temperatures by 2100. The Agreement’s mission is to keep temperature increases below 2˚ C and ideally below 1.5˚ C compared to pre-industrial levels. At 1.5˚ C of warming, the world will still experience severe climate impacts, but above 2˚ C, impacts would be catastrophic. Along with rejoining the Paris Agreement, the Biden Administration has established a goal for the country to achieve a 100% clean energy economy and to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Source: UNFCCC. Former Executive Director of UNFCCC - Christiana Figueres (left), Former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (second left), Former Foreign Minister of France and President of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21) - Laurent Fabius, and Former President of France - François Hollande (right), celebrate historic adoption of Paris Agreement.
Incredible Underwater Farm Could Be the
Future of Food
“The goal is to die on my boat one day, right? And to die in my boat one day, working, the oceans need to stay alive.” Fisherman Bren Smith created an underwater farm growing sustainable shellfish and protein-rich seaweeds with hopes that ocean farming can boost global food production by 10%.
Earth Week at Brown
From April 5-9th, the Office of Sustainability will be hosting a series of fun events to celebrate Earth Day. Virtual events will feature content from Brown's staff and faculty as well as invited guests. Our guests, whether speaking to us about their careers in sustainability or teaching us how to cook sustainable meals, are eager to share their knowledge!
Did you know the fashion industry produces 10% of the world’s carbon emissions, and 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year? Here’s how you can make an impact:
Avoid purchasing “fast fashion” items whenever possible. Fast fashion refers to the manufacturing of high volumes of clothing utilizing low-quality materials to create inexpensive styles. These clothes deteriorate quickly and often end up in our landfills.
Support fashion brands that are ethical and environmentally-conscious.
Buy second-hand (Brown Buying and Selling, Zaar, Poshmark’s “Closet” section, etc.), thrift locally, and keep staple items in your closet that will last you longer.
If you no longer want a clothing piece, donate it to a charitable organization or to a discount second hand store.
Project Spotlight
Since 2018, Brown’s Facilities Management office has worked extensively to implement energy efficiency measures on-campus to reduce Brown’s carbon footprint. One of the key ways Brown has taken action is by launching the Thermal Efficiency Project. Under this initiative, the University has upgraded its decades-old steam heating system by reducing the steam load, which means using a lower-temperature hot water strategy. This shift has allowed Brown to take advantage of increased efficiency by modifying its boilers to rely primarily on warm water instead of high-pressure steam. The Thermal Efficiency Project has shown promising results as the office has noted an annual reduction of 4,682.6 metric tons of CO2 equivalent since its implementation.
Brown University Chief Engineer Thomas Demanche looks over decades-old equipment in the central heating plant. The plant is undergoing a complete overhaul as part of the University's thermal efficiency project.
Plant-Based Milk: Meet Uproot
As Brown finds ways to create more plant-based options for students, Uproot plays a key role in providing milk alternatives in our dining halls. One of Uproot’s founders, Kevin Eve ‘18, is a Brown alum who studied Engineering and Computer Science as an undergraduate. Kevin was always interested in dairy-alternative products, and during his time at Brown, he was able to explore efficient ways to design and reduce waste in packaging. Kevin’s commitment to sustainability is evident in the company’s commitment to finding less water-intensive plant-based milk options such as oat, soy, and pea milk. Normally Uproot uses large dispensers to distribute its milk, but the pandemic has pushed them to think of other options to deliver their product in a safe manner. Kevin is looking forward to launching individual milk cartons for Brown students in the next few weeks so students can always enjoy a dairy-free alternative!
Photo of Jacob Conway and Kevin Eve, COO and CEO of Uproot, respectively. Kevin Eve, on the right, is a Brown alumna who studied engineering and computer science.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Providence EJ Plan
The City of Providence is paving the way for cities around the nation to set ambitious environmental justice goals with the release of its Environmental Justice Plan. Released in 2019, the plan sets goals that aim to create an equitable and climate resilient city. With carbon-reduction targets and more collaborative governance structures, the strategies outlined in the plan are meant to ensure that all communities are fully able to transition into cleaner sources of energy with as much community involvement as possible. The plan touches on a series of important topics such as housing, community health, clean energy and more.
RESEARCH @ BROWN
Greenland’s Melting Glaciers Project
The Greenland ice sheet currently fills the world’s oceans with more meltwater than any other source on Earth, and the melting ice is transforming the lives of Greenland’s vulnerable, coastal communities.
Professor Laurence C. Smith and his colleagues are working to measure glacial melt, while other members of his Northern Change Research Laboratory are working with Greenland’s Indigenous peoples to better understand how the melting ice is impacting their livelihoods and how their research can be most useful to them.
OS RECOMMENDATIONS
Vegan Products to Look Out for in 2021:
Breakfast & Snack:
- Jessica’s Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Granola - Intern-verified: It literally tastes like crushed choco-chip cookies!
Haagen Dazs’ Chocolate Salted Fudge Truffle Non-Dairy
Lunch & Dinner:
- Treeline's Herb Garlic French-Style Cheese - Spread on a toast and enjoy!
- Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo
- Gardein’s Chipotle Lime Crispy Fingers
- Beyond Meat’s Ground Beef
Book Recommendation: Who Knew, Green Hints and Tips to Save Time, Money, and the Planet by Jeanne Lubin & Bruce Lubin.
This book gives hundreds of small tips and changes you can make to your home and everyday life to be more environmentally-conscious while saving money and improving your health. Tips include home remedies, transportation ideas, house plants to brighten your space, how to live without harmful chemicals, and so much more!
