Green Fund rewards student sustainability efforts
Total of $30,000 goes to projects, organizations in inaugural round
BY MICHAEL PEÑA
The planting of new gardens at campus residences, a friendly water and energy conservation contest between dormitories, and seven other student-driven sustainability projects and organizations were chosen in the inaugural round of grants awarded by the Stanford Green Fund.
An initiative to expand dining hall gardens and Stanford Farm programs by planting new patches at student residences including Hammarskjöld, Kairos and EAST won $6,000. The initiative also calls for the construction of a greenhouse and a compost system at the Stanford Community Farm.
The second biggest grant, for $5,200, will help fund a Stanford wind-power project in the Salinas Valley, where Stanford's Solar and Wind Energy Project owns a 50-meter anemometer tower. The project has "a high potential for energy savings" and would let students get involved with installing the tower and performing wind energy data analysis.
PlugVIEW, a project to bring highly descriptive electricity metering—on the individual, appliances-specific level—received $5,200. The grant will allow PlugVIEW to begin developing a prototype and a pilot system, for implementation in campus residences.
A $5,000 grant will pay for monitoring equipment for two domestic solar water heating systems being installed at Governor's Corner. The systems should account for about 60 percent of the solar water heating energy needed by the Adams and Robinson dorms. The monitoring equipment will verify energy savings.
Another $5,000 went to the Stanford Green Campus program, which supports student projects in on-campus energy efficiency, such as fume-hood education and laundry efficiency.
The Conservation Cup, which is put on by Students for a Sustainable Stanford, received $1,000. The competition pits all undergraduate residences against one another in a battle to conserve the most water and electricity during winter quarter. Last year's competition resulted in a 6 percent decrease in electricity consumption and a 13 percent drop in water usage.
Smaller amounts went to other student sustainability projects and organizations, for a total of $30,000 in grants awarded. The money comes from Students for a Sustainable Stanford and is awarded by a committee that includes four students, a faculty member and two staff members.
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