蹤獲扦s fleet of hybrid and electric campus vehicles reduces the Universitys dependence on fossil fuels. Additionally, the University recently purchased its first electric, zero-turn lawn mower and has plans to convert all campus grounds equipmentfrom utility vehicles to lawn mowers to leaf flowers from gasoline/diesel to electric.
蹤獲扦 converted all exterior lighting as well as the interior lighting in several major buildings from halogen and incandescent to energy efficient LED lighting. In total, 10,162 lighting fixtures were retrofitted.
Working with PlugSmart, an Ameresco company, 蹤獲扦 installed an automation and control system in approximately 90 percent of campus buildings in order to remotely control and monitor energy utilization in each building. The system alerts 蹤獲扦 to energy spikes caused by equipment failure, and allows staff to remotely adjust HVAC and heating levels to reduce energy usage during academic breaks.
The Lehr Kennedy Engineering Building is a Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building.
The grassy area surrounding the retention basin on the south side of campus between the presidents home and Stadium View Apartments is home to a colony of bees.This prairie area featuresnatural vegetation (i.e., 100 small flowering trees, shrubs and wildflowers) that providesa perfect habitat for 10 beehives. Seeding this former grassy space eliminates the need for mowing, thereby reducing the Universitys use of gasoline and polluting lawn mowers.
The past few years have seen the reduction of landfill dumpsters and an increase of recyclable dumpsters on campus. In fact, the Universitys landfill waste has been cut in half. Although these efforts have not led to any cost savings, they have reduced the number of trash hauls and were doing something that we know is good. In conjunction with Allied Waste Haulers, Ohio Northern is funding a recycling program at Ada Schools. A recycling dumpster has been placed on the Ada Schools campus.