College officials make changes to reduce environmental impact

By Jennifer Nessmith

stahl@hometownnewsol.com

The school colors may be blue and white but Brevard Community College was recently recognized for going "green."

The college has earned designation as a certified green business, becoming the first green campus in the state and the nation.

BCC received its certification from the Green Business League, an organization based in Plainfield, Ill., that offers training in green technology best practices.

Richard Paradise, associate vice president of facilities for BCC, oversaw campus-wide green efforts. He said the certification is oriented toward day-to-day operations, rather than construction, and that the school has made numerous changes to each of its four campuses.

"This is an ongoing process, not an event," Mr. Paradise said. "Our goal is to create an environment for our students and staff to be successful."

Changes include new gas-powered boilers with a higher efficiency rating; monitoring systems that regulate air conditioning college-wide; the use of an all-natural cedar oil product to conduct insect treatment on a building at the Cocoa campus; and the low use of volatile organic compounds such as paint, adhesive and carpeting.

Mr. Paradise said the college's decision to transition to a four-day workweek has also had a significant impact on Brevard County. All Brevard Community College campuses are closed on Fridays, excluding student support services such as the library and the learning resource lab.

"We're not using as much energy, which means our demand to Florida Power & Light is reduced and they don't have to produce as many greenhouse gases to produce energy. We also take a lot of vehicles off the road. That is a real benefit."

Mr. Paradise said the decision to go to a four-day workweek, in which employees work four, 10-hour days, has also produced fringe benefits.

"Absenteeism went down and productivity is now up," he said. "For example, people aren't taking time off from work to go to the doctor because they're scheduling their appointments on Fridays."

School officials plan to institute several more changes designed to reduce energy consumption.

Future plans include controlling lights in conference rooms, offices and classrooms with motion sensors and converting exterior light fixtures from high-pressure sodium to LED, which saves 200-300 watts per fixture per hour.

Bob Jones, the college's certified green consultant and director of custodial services contracts, presented the certification to BCC president James Drake during a recent board of trustees meeting. The certification process began in January of 2007.