The Beauty of Green @DCTC

Dakota County Technical College is committed to advancing sustainable campus operations that protect the environment and conserve natural resources while creating a collegiate environment conducive to teaching, learning and community involvement. Sustainability has become a buzzword in many sectors of society, but the term still serves as a vast green umbrella for projects and initiatives that champion the biodiversity and geodiversity crucial to the health of our planet's ecosystems. Sustainability in practice is simply wise stewardship of systems vital to human prosperity, including such social mainstays as the environment, economics, health care, education, agriculture, international relations and technology. Sustainability in essence is the inescapably decisive means to support life in every nook and zone of the global ecosphere.

The DCTC Operations department is a driving force behind green practices that save money and reduce energy usage on the college's main campus in Rosemount, Minn. Operations personnel conduct a wide range of remodeling, renovation and construction projects in-house using green materials and energy-saving technology wherever and whenever possible.

The upcoming Transportation and Emerging Technologies Renovation Project is an ideal example of how the college is taking sustainability to the next level. Made possible by $7.23 million in state funding, the project—scheduled to begin fall 2012—will eliminate $3.5 million in deferred maintenance and slash the college’s Facilities Condition Index from .29 to .22 while cutting energy consumption by as much as 30 percent. For more green details on the project, read "Vital Renovation Project Gears Up" on DCTC News.

Common Green Darner (Anax junius), a regular visitor to the DCTC Rosemount campus

Green Thumbs Up

DCTC sustainability accomplishments and objectives
 

• LEED Silver Certification a working goal for college construction projects
• Landscape Horticulture greenhouse solar panels provide supplemental heating
  • Saves on natural gas costs
• Energy Emissions Inventory and Baseline Determination Report completed by TKDA engineers (see below)
• Energy Analysis completed Edward H. Cook & Associates, P.A. (see below)
• Landscape Horticulture students participated in design aspect of front parking lot project
• Landscape Horticulture only PLANET-accredited hort program in Minnesota
• LEED for Existing Buildings under review for possible implementation
• Campus-wide recycling program implemented following baseline study of monthly campus trash generation
  • Student Senate took leadership role, purchasing 45 recycling containers that were distributed throughout campus
  • Two days of student training provided by TKDA and Allied Waste
• New occupancy sensors and lighting controls installed
• Energy management system updated
• New green purchasing guidelines implemented
• Toyota Prius added to college vehicle fleet
  • Promotes fuel efficiency in motor pool
• 100 percent postconsumer recycled paper towels and toilet paper provided throughout main campus building
  • No chlorine or chemicals used during production.
• Photovoltaic panels provided electricity for press box and concession area at Ames Soccer Complex
• Architectural Technology Instructor Beverly Claybrook received course certification at Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago during sabbatical
  • Areas of completion included:
    • Carbon is the New Gold
    • Solar: Integrating Green Curriculum for Tomorrow's Professionals
    • Solar Umbrella House: Responsible Living for the 21st Century
    • Ecoliteracy in Architectural Education
• LEED Accredited Professionals on campus
  • Katharine Huus | Interior Design Instructor
  • Anne Farniok | Interior Design Instructor
  • Beverly Claybrook | Architectural Technology Instructor
• U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) student chapter on campus

Prairie Wildflower Restoration Area on DCTC Rosemount campus

Community in the Loop

• Dakota County Technical College: Energy Analysis
  Prepared by Edward H. Cook & Associates, P.A., February 2012

For more information about sustainability at DCTC, contact:

• Chris Hayes
  Grants & Sustainability Coordinator
  chris.hayes@dctc.edu
  651-423-8266
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