TechNews I Special Summer Issue

Campus-wide Sustainability efforts aim to meet 2020 goal

Ryan Kamphuis
EDITOR-iN—CHIEF

In recent years more than ever, the
topic of sustainability has been at the forefront
of the world’s goals. Nations, companies,
universities, and individuals are all taking steps
to ensure that they live in ways that are more
environmentally friendly and sustainable. An
IIT student doesn’t need to be on campus long
to see that IIT’s commitment to sustainab' ty
is large. This commitment manifests itself in
many ways: the College of Architecture ensures
that all architecture students learn about
sustainable building practices and the College
of Engineering’s Engineering Themes focuses
both on sustainable energy and water practices.
Another key manifestation of HTS commitment
to sustainability is the Office of Campus Energy
and Sustainability (OCES.)

OCES has its roots in a university
published plan to become the most sustainable
urban campus in the country by the year 2020.
This original plan contained metrics to track
the progress towards this goal, and it quickly
became clear that some of these metrics were
unrealistic, while others were too easy. OCES
came into existence in order to ensure that

progress was made at achieving the goal set out
for the year 2020, but also to refine the metrics
set in place so that they were challenging, yet
attainable.

OCES has two jobs on campus. The
first is that they are in charge of energy and
utilities billing for the university. They receive
all of the university’s bills, and then work to split
them up by building, department, and entity. The
second job of OCES is to handle our university’s
sustainability efforts. OCES has a staff of full-
time employees, and student employees that
allow them to focus on transportation, storm
water and landscape management, supply
chain and waste management, food, energy,
and emission. They also have a Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
specialist that allows them to focus on green
construction. These staff members work both
independently and as a team to further the
university’s sustainability goals in each of these
sectors. Some things that the staff members
are working on independently include helping
Sodexo embrace sustainable cooking methods
and determining steps the school can take to
collect rainwater for use.

The office currently is working on

several projects to make our campus greener.
One project is to determine IIT’s carbon
footprint. This is being done by determining
the emissions produced by campus buildings,
students and faculty commuting to and from
campus, university-funded travel, the co-
generation plant, and more. Once this is known,
steps can be taken to lower our carbon footprint
by doing things such as encouraging commuters
to rideshare and using resources more efficiently
on campus. Another project is to redesign the
garbage and recycling bins across campus.

“Our campus is only recycling about
30% of what can be,” Stephen Pepper said, an
OCES student employee. “We decided that
this can probably be attributed to the current
recycling bins being too complex.”

By redesigning the bins, the oflice
hopes to make it easier for students to recycle,
raising the amount the university community
recycles. Another thing OCES is doing to help
boost recycling on campus is having students
staff the trash bins at large events such as the
Homecoming Carnival to ensure that items that
can be recycled or composted aren’t thrown out.

One final major project OCES has
undertaken is retrofitting all of the exit signs on

campus so that they use LED bulbs. According
to Pepper, switching the exit signs to LED will
save the school about $4,500 a month.

OCES’ key projects have garnered
them a lot of visibility on campus, but much
of their work is behind the scenes, not visible
to students. This includes the office partnering
with the city of Chicago. The city just hired a
sustainability coordinator that often meets with
OCES for advice. The office also performs quite
a bit of community outreach to help Chicago
residents be greener, and this can be seen
through their support of national bike to work
week and community gardens.

IIT’s commitment to sustainability
and meeting their 2020 goal is clear because of
the hard work of the Office of Campus Energy
and Sustainability. While the office takes care
of the big sustainability efforts, what can the
average student do to help OCES meet the
university’s goal?

“Recycling is huge,” Pepper said.
“Focusing on the easy stuff: turning off the
lights when you leave the room, not opening
windows when the air conditioner is on, and
being cognizant of how much energy and water
you use.”

International students should expect whole new world @ IIT

Utsav Gandhi
CAMPUS EDITOR

Coming to the United States of
America for my undergraduate studies was my
first real time going abroad Between deciding
I wanted to take up II'I“s offer, my US \I’ISA
interview and my tlight to Chicago, I barely had
six full days ofliectic packing wherein I didn’t
even get a moment to fully comprehend what
exactly I was getting into. There wasn't an online
community on any ”Admitted Undergraduate"
Facebook page for me to orient myself about
III or any known acquaintances Ioi on to talk
to in the (Ihicago area before I turned around
and said that tearful goodbye to my parents at
the airport I remember that everything was so
new to me that I stood perplexedly, trying to
learn how water fountains worked at ()‘Hare
International Airport terminal 3, while w .iiting
for 1H 's‘ International Center shuttle bus to
come pick me up. Somehow, intuitively, I never
looked at anything new as a scary prospect ot
revisiting my fundamental belief systems 7
instead. I was always curious to try and learn
something new every day. .\merica. even in
the post‘recession world. presented a gamut
of opportunities and .i personalitymolding
education I could never ha\ e access to back
home. .\nd that in itself was the single biggest
factor which kept me going despite .ill the
honiesickness of freshman year.

You‘ll miss hometooked food.
you‘ll probably condemn the (‘liicago weather
multiple times. you‘ll Ieel jealous of your local
friends who can easily hop onto the .\Ietra
suburban train every time they miss seeing
their little siblings and, if you‘re anything like
me, you‘ll wonder why Americans don‘t play
cricket, eat dinner at a normal dinner time
like 9:00 pm. or watch Bollywood movies at
the rate of one new release every weekend.
You'll also probably question, at some point,
why they cant pronounce your name right.
and why you have to resort to an alias at
Starbucks or liinstein's Bagels. But if you care
to take a moment and appreciate what makes
this country different 7 and special, in its own
way 7 you’ll start growing in ways you never
thought possible. livery day. every conversation.
every new acquaintance will be a window into a
new culture, and with that realization you will
hopefully come to understand one thing which
is by far the best piece of advice I have ever
received: take advantage of every opportunity
you get to step out ofyour comfort zone 7 that‘s
always where our biggest growth happens.
Never shy away from exploring a new part of
the city. participating in ‘foreigii traditions like
Thanksgiving, learning more about .v\nierican
history. or taking advantage of the large set
of resources that [If and our wonderful city
of Chicago pi'onclL‘S. liven three years later I
cannot understand how baseball works, or why
bipartisan politics can become such a touchy

topic. or how the current state of weather or
football (not “soccer", you‘ll soon understand
what I‘m talking about) are guaranteed to
initiate a conversation for you. But what I do
know is that I‘ve had some great conversations
based on a bilateral curiosity to explore and
explain cultures. Of course I‘m not telling you
to abandon your identity and become a new
person altogether 7 even though I‘ve had the
fortune oftraveling across America and making
friends from many different states, I remain
authentically Indian and love my country very
much.

Moic than that, I tliiiilc (and
you'll probably hear this a million times)
that one of II'I'Vs' most unique strengths is its
international student body. Residence halls,
the cafeteria, and your classes will abound
with fellow international students from
places all around the world that I cannot
even point out on a map. I‘ve made friends
from Rwanda. Iraq. I-lolivia. Mongolia and
Romania during my time here. It‘s these out7
of7the7box experiences that you have access
to during your time .it III which might iust
enliven your Il'l' story a whole lot more. (iet
involved in student organi/ationsr there are
over 130 catering to literally every possible
student ititei‘csl, professional degree, religion
and tliinkable quirk (there used to be a Beard
and Moustache club. and it‘s up (or revival. if
anyone ieading is interestcdli. It you don‘t
find one you‘re looking Ior, create one of
your own. Use the student transit card to lose
your way on the city‘s transportation system
(always keep a friend and a CIA map with
you, ofcourse). l’mi'cd ot the residence halls?
(.‘heck out His t‘ireek system (trust me, it‘s
very, very different from anything you ever
saw portrayed by mainstream 'mediat, luven
if you have no interest in joining a Greek
orgnnimtion, you‘re guaranteed to hit it off
with someone. and make at least one new
friend! (ii'eektown, Devon, Italian Village,
Chinatown, and the Iitliiopian restaurants on
the North Side 7 Chicago probably caters to
cuisine from most parts ofthe world at some
location or the other in the city -- so when
you’re craving that Pad 'Ihai or Biryani, go
out into the city and get it, and don't forget
to take along a friend to introduce them to
something new as well!

finally, another cause for thought
in your mind is (most likely) that job.
limployment. Work. 'Ibe main reason you‘re
here in the first place. You‘ll hear all sorts
of rumoi's about on~canipus employment,
social security numbers, “here‘s a quick way
to make money!“ and the works. My advice is
to study hard and develop soft skills, not get
sidetracked by the gazillions of distractions
around. 'I Iiejob will come at its own time, and
there are resources on campus to help you get
there. Don‘t worry about it, at least for now.

Resident Advisors, the International

Center staff, the many different cultural student
organizations (African, Syrian, Indian, Korean,
Caribbean — just to name a few), the various
oIl‘ices on campus catering to student needs,
the International Students Organization,
the Student Counseling Center, even your
professors and classmates — III has every built—
in support system you might need to make
your time here feel enjoyable. You just have to
take the initiative to go out and ask for what
you need. Studying abroad doesn't have to be

a scary. nervous time filled with uncertainty
about the ne.\t experience and apprehension
to try new things. It can definitely be the most
rewarding few years you might experience.
So, welcome to III, and
congratulations — taking that plane ride was
itself a first step towards stepping out of your
comfort zone. I hope you take advantage
of the many more similar opportunities an
educational experience like this provides.
Good luck!

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