As a Top Ten finisher, EMU was awarded the grand prize of a one-year license to equip two buildings on campus with competition sponsor 鈥檚 energy monitoring hardware and software.

The accomplishment was particularly notable. “As a first-time participant, EMU placed solidly in the top 10 reducers, consuming 21% less electricity in just three weeks,鈥� said Lucid CEO Vladi Shunturov. 鈥淭he commitment from EMU鈥檚 students and staff is truly inspiring.”

The win is 鈥渁n affirmation of the 草莓社区’s long-running commitment to reducing our school’s energy use,鈥� said campus sustainability coordinator .

The end result of the CCN competition not only raised awareness about individual consumer habits, but resulted in a substantial savings of resources and finances. The competition monitored 1,374 buildings used by approximately 345,000 student, faculty and staff, and reported a total savings of 1.9 million kilowatt hours, 394,000 gallons of water, and $290,000.

According to the CCN website, this is the equivalent of removing 182 homes from the grid for one year, saving 1.5 million one-liter bottles of water, and averting 2.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide.

CCN, in its fifth year, is hosted by the at the , Lucid, the and the .

Campus ‘climate’ contributes

From March 8-28, ten campus buildings were monitored for energy usage. Roselawn came out on top with a 40.2 percent reduction, followed by Maplewood (39.7 percent) and Elmwood (37.3), Hartzler Library (28) and Cedarwood (23.2).

The results make sense to Lantz-Trissel: such as Roselawn, and the LEED-certified dormitories 鈥渁re carefully designed to heat and cool efficiently in small zones, where older buildings have fewer thermostats and less flexibility and response to users or outside temperature changes.鈥�

However, plays a large role in this success. 鈥淲e also have a strong community ethic to conserve and care for creation, which means in a competition the community responds to the challenge to reduce energy or recycle and EMU usually outperforms our peer schools.鈥�

, whose job is to implement energy management, efficiency and sustainability measures as EMU鈥檚 building automation coordinator, had some idea of how competitive faculty, staff and residents were getting when he heard some voicing disappointment during March that 鈥渢heir building wasn鈥檛 doing better.鈥�

That bodes well for next year, Sachs said, when he plans to implement a social media campaign to raise awareness and get more people involved.

The competition also includes regional sub-competitions, such as the Big Ten Unplugged, the New York Negawatt Challenge, the California State University Conservation League, and the Campus ConseRVAtion Nationals, featuring three Richmond area schools.

Sachs hopes to invite Shenandoah Valley area universities and colleges to compete next year. He鈥檚 also pondering a friendly rivalry among Mennonite colleges.

鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing to watch the influence of CCN continue to grow,鈥� said Chelsea Hodge, director of programs at Lucid. 鈥淓very year, more and more students and staff prove through CCN that they are committed to using behavior change tools to achieve short and long term reductions in their campuses鈥� carbon footprints.鈥�

Publicizing user habits

The grand prize of Lucid hardware and software will complement the monitoring system already present on campus, according to Sachs. Preliminary plans will enable a more public showcase of campus sustainability efforts, with television screens projecting constant data to building users.

鈥淲e were planning to place one monitor in the , which gets a lot of foot traffic and would be a nice feature for that building鈥檚 users,鈥� Sachs said, adding that he鈥檇 also like to track energy use and trends in the newly renovated building.

That feedback will help users adjust their behaviors, 鈥渕uch the same way a fitness monitoring app might help a person be more active, lose weight, or work to improve in a sport,鈥� says Lantz-Trissel. 鈥淏ut in just the same way as a fitness app, data monitoring is only so useful, and improvement is up to the habits and behaviors of the building’s occupants.鈥�

EMU has a history of engaging its competitive spirit towards sustainability efforts: the campus recently , and has .

Last year, the university was awarded a silver ranking by the , based on its sustainability initiatives in operations, curriculum, planning and other areas.

But EMU has tilled its soil for a flourishing 鈥渆dible campus鈥� in the spring.

Springtime visitors can expect to stroll by asparagus hedges on their way to the tennis courts. They鈥檒l circumvent the compost pile and chicken house-on-wheels by the soccer field. And they鈥檒l need to avoid disturbing the four beehives near a popular hilltop meeting room.

Situated on the western edge of the small city of Harrisonburg, Va. 鈥� often overshadowed by nearby James Madison University with 10 times the student population 鈥� EMU is gradually gaining a small measure of fame for its devotion to what it calls 鈥渃reation care.鈥�

鈥淐aring for God鈥檚 creation鈥� started in 1976-77 at EMU when a science professor opted to spend his sabbatical year studying the ways the college could cut fuel consumption. He succeeded. Among other steps, EMU launched into energy-efficient construction, with new buildings heated and cooled by a unique closed-loop system in the 1980s. In the fall of 2010 EMU became the host of what was then the .

1,000 Edible Plants on 100 Acres

In 2011, by sprinkling 1,000 food-producing plants around the 100-acre campus.

鈥淭his started because students saw 鈥楩ood Inc.鈥� [a 2008 documentary, critiquing agribusiness] and began knocking on my door saying, 鈥楬ey, we want to grow food on campus,鈥欌�� said , grounds supervisor at EMU.

The students found receptive ears 鈥� Hairston has a degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech. Yet, in his 20 years at EMU, Hairston had mainly focused on planting ornamentals, believing their beauty to be 鈥渇ood for the soul.鈥�

Suddenly Hairston found himself running to keep 鈥渏ust a half step ahead of the students,鈥� who were pointing out the beauty of lettuce and acorn squash and persimmon trees.

Students, joined by a handful of faculty members, began raising vegetables in three large garden areas on campus. They now sell their produce, when in season, on Saturday mornings near the University Commons. They also give the campus community the option of harvesting their own produce, asking only that harvesters contribute back by weeding or otherwise helping out.

Apple and pear saplings now dot the western hill that backs EMU. 鈥淧runing the trees has been my baby,鈥� said senior Alyshia Zimmerman.

Seminary professor donated four bee hives and is mentoring聽 Tessa Gerberich, an undergraduate student, in bee care.

Zimmerman, who is plotting EMU鈥檚 edible plants on a master map, pointed to other locations of fruit-bearing trees on campus 颅鈥� fig, plum, persimmon, paw paw, and hazelnut trees can be found near sports fields. Alert campus strollers will spot grape vines and bushes bearing cornelian cherries and raspberries. 鈥淲e want to raise awareness to the availability and health benefits that these plants can provide,鈥� she said.

Resurrecting Farm Skills

Students walking to the quad of , with dual-flush, low-flow toilets, recycled bricks, solar panels that preheat water, and so forth聽 鈥� pass asparagus plants that look yummy but shouldn’t be harvested until year two or later.

In June 2012, began collecting the runoff from the buildings, roads and parking lots covering 15 acres at EMU. It is now used for watering the grass on four sports fields and other vegetation, including the edible landscaping.

Chickens lay eggs in enclosures behind the science building, not far from a compost heap where the leftovers from the main dining hall eventually turn into soil to nourish the campus vegetable and herb gardens. Much of the produce in these gardens returns to the serving lines of the dining room. The campus chef steps outside her industrial kitchen to pluck basil, cilantro, dill, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme and sage.

鈥淎ctually being 鈥榞reen鈥� and living in environmentally sustainable ways feels to many of us like returning to the frugality and healthy farming practices of our forebears,鈥� says , who was raised in the Mennonite-thick farm community of Kalona, Iowa.

Long-Term Benefits

In September 2012, Swartzendruber began a three-year term on the board of directors of the , whose mission is 鈥渢o equip, inspire, disciple and mobilize God鈥檚 people in their effort to care for God鈥檚 creation.鈥�

This is a group that does not question the view of the majority of the world鈥檚 scientists that climate change is occurring and that, left unchecked, will have serious consequences for all forms of life as we know it.

鈥淏y tradition and current practice, EMU aims to make decisions that are right in the long term,鈥� says Swartzendruber. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 always see the immediate pay-offs, but we feel we are stewards of the environment in which we all live. The benefits of making the right decisions may accrue to others, or to our descendants, but they are benefits nonetheless.鈥�

“The cistern at EMU, for instance, may reduce the amount EMU pays for using city聽water by up to $4,000 annually. But considering that the cost of the project is聽nearly $100,000 (with about half the cost covered by a grant from the National Fish聽and Wildlife Federation’s Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund), EMU didn’t build the聽cistern to save money in the short term.”

It was built it in part to enhance the health of the trees and stream in a small park owned by the university. The stream connects with waterways that flow into the Chesapeake Bay. So protecting the feeder stream ultimately contributes to the health of the Bay.

So If You Visit . . .

Back to being a campus visitor. . . Here鈥檚 a hint at the subtle differences you might notice. Let鈥檚 just say a rickshaw driver from India would look at home on this campus 鈥� not too different from the EMU employee with muscular calves pedaling a bike hitched to a long cart bearing storage containers. This is the way the recycling bins around campus are serviced. No fossil fuels.

No, no, these Mennonites do not drive horse-drawn buggies. They are modern Mennonites. In fact, half of the campus community isn鈥檛 Mennonite at all. But everyone here tends to walk a lot and ride bikes 鈥� not because they don鈥檛 have drivers鈥� licenses, but because they believe it is good for the environment and their personal health. 颅_颅颅

As an example, the undergraduate academic dean 颅颅鈥� who has close-cropped hair and often wears slacks 鈥� hasn鈥檛 driven the one-and-a-half miles from her home to campus in four years. She walks, bikes, or takes public transportation.

Sure, if you look closely, you can find a woman who sticks to below-the-knee skirts and who wears a prayer cover on her hair. But look more closely, and you鈥檒l see that this woman is the 76-year-old historical librarian who logged nearly 400 miles on her recreational bike between May and September. And who loves to backpack in .

This campus community doesn鈥檛 lend itself to stereotypes. But it does lend itself to great eating.

Committed to eco-great buildings

With the completion of renovations to in time for the Fall 2011 semester, all three residence halls surrounding the 鈥淲oods quad鈥� at EMU 鈥� Cedarwood, Elmwood and Maplewood 鈥� have been constructed or renovated to meet LEED Gold standards for environmental sustainability.

and residence halls have LEED 鈥淕old鈥� certifications from the , with the Gold certification for Maplewood pending in the winter of 2012.

As of July 2012, EMU鈥檚 two LEED Gold-certified buildings were among just 123 such residence halls on university campuses across the country. Besides the ones at EMU, there is just one other LEED Gold building on any Virginia university campus, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

Cedarwood, built to replace the old Oakwood residence hall, opened in the fall of 2009 and was the first to receive the LEED Gold certification. Elmwood was renovated in time for the Spring 2011 semester.

Local and recycled materials

Green features of the residence halls include the use of numerous recycled materials, recycling of nearly all construction waste, high-efficiency lighting and plumbing fixtures, extensive natural lighting, low-VOC materials and an emphasis on locally sourced building materials.

Surrounding the buildings is landscaping with native plants that require no permanent irrigation system and the use of 鈥渂iorentention鈥� beds around the residence halls to control storm water runoff.

Highly efficient 鈥渧ariable refrigerant flow鈥� heat pump systems and other features like efficient exhaust systems afford the two dorms energy cost reductions of about 30 percent compared to conventional new construction. Additionally, after the first year of operation, electrical use in the dorms is more than 15 percent further below those projections.

Each room in the new residence halls is equipped with a switch that automatically turns off the room鈥檚 heat or AC when the windows are open, allowing students to let in fresh air without wasting climate-controlled air from the inside.

鈥淓ven though we鈥檝e upgraded these dorms and made them fully climate controlled, our energy use across campus has gone down,鈥� says , director of .

Reduced energy consumption

After the new constructions and renovation, says Kurtz, EMU added about 80,000 square feet of new air-conditioned space (none of the Woods dormitories were previously air-conditioned.) At the same time, the campus鈥� total electric and gas bill, which averaged an inflation-adjusted $572,000 per year between 1999 and 2008, fell to $519,000 for the 2011-2012 fiscal year 鈥� a 9 percent reduction in campus-wide energy costs since the overhaul of the Woods quad.

, an architecture firm based in Mishawaka, Indiana, designed all three buildings and worked with EMU to meet the stringent LEED standards.

From an energy consumption standpoint, heating, cooling and powering buildings on campus consumed about 45,000 British thermal units (Btu) per square foot of building space 鈥� a common way of measuring energy use 鈥� over the course of the 2011-2012 fiscal year. That鈥檚 a 26-percent improvement from 1999 to 2008, when EMU used a yearly average of 61,000 Btu per square foot across the entire campus.

EMU consumed about 49,000 Btu-per-square-foot on campus during the calendar year 2011, according to data from the , or APPA. The average figure that year for 38 American universities with enrollment between 1,000 and 2,000 students that participated in the APPA survey was 89,000 Btu per square foot.

Because of several concurrent sustainability initiatives on campus, however, including the , it is difficult to measure the precise impact of the dorms alone on EMU鈥檚 total energy use and cost.

The has featured the first LEED certified gold residence hall in the state in its .

Plumbing & Mechanical magazine provides news and updates for plumbing, piping and hydronic heating.

A year ago, EMU gained the largest solar deployment in Virginia, with 328 photovoltaic panels installed on the roof of its library. Other 鈥渇irsts鈥� at EMU on behalf of the environment include: recycling collected by a bicycle-pulled trailer, biofiltration beds to protect a stream that feeds the Chesapeake Bay, and campus landscaping with edible vegetation.

LEED certification for EMU鈥檚 new Cedarwood dormitory represents one of the highest environmental standards that construction can reach.

鈥淭he gold certification for Cedarwood, along with the pending LEED certifications for the renovated Elmwood and Maplewood residence halls, emphasizes EMU’s strategic plan of sustainability,鈥� said , vice president for finance at EMU.

The confers its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications鈥攁t the basic, silver, gold or platinum level鈥攐n buildings that meet its rigorous standards for environmental sustainability.

Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair of USGBC, praised EMU鈥檚 accomplishment: 鈥淎s the newest member of the LEED family of green buildings, Cedarwood dormitory is an important addition to the growing strength of the green building movement. With each new LEED-certified building, we get one step closer to USGBC鈥檚 vision of a sustainable-built environment within a generation.

Cedarwood features

LEED points are awarded for based on the number and type of “green” related systems or designs used in the building process. Cedarwood accumulated 45 points, six more than the minimum ranking for gold.

Cedarwood uses extensive natural lighting; flooring made of recycled and natural materials; a bioretention filtration system to manage rainwater runoff; a bike shed with a “green” landscaped roof; native landscaping around the building itself; and low-flow water fixtures.

Buildings in the United States are responsible for 39 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, 40 percent of energy consumption and 13 percent of water consumption, according to USGBC statistics.

Construction of Cedarwood was made possible through collaboration with several partners鈥攊n particular the , long-time architects for EMU based in Mishawaka, Ind., and , of Harrisonburg. and contractors, who have been involved in EMU projects since 1991, also played key roles.

The total cost of Cedarwood was $6 million.

“The sustainability emphasis of Cedarwood fits with EMU’s mission, from Micah 6:8, to 鈥榙o justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God,鈥� with each other and with creation,” said, director of EMU鈥檚 physical plant. “It’s a place where students experience community as they prepare to serve and lead in a global context.”

More information on Cedarwood and sustainability at EMU can be found at

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