Metropolitan Community College
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

Formal plans are currently in development.

N/A

Formal plans are currently in development.

Formal plans are currently in development.

In 2010, MCC and its Board of Governors directed an update to its 2003 Master plan. The 2010 Update was meant to position MCC for smart and sustainable growth of space and facilities to efficiently accommodate its growing population. The Executive Summary focuses on Sustainability Integration and unprecedented growth in Enrollment. MCC should require an integrated design team approach for each new construction project. An integrated design team approach facilitates multidisciplinary strategies toward sustainability by integrating all aspects of the project from conceptual design to operations and maintenance, resulting in a better end product. In addition, MCC should require each project design team to provide cost-benefit life cycle analyses for proposed building systems. Utilizing multidisciplinary strategies will assist in achieving energy use goals that help MCC to move toward net-zero aspirations, ensuring that newly constructed buildings utilize current technologies to maximize energy efficiencies. MCC should also encourage consistency in sustainable practices across all new construction projects. In order to do this, MCC should create campus standards that mandate specific sustainable strategies. A few of these strategies could include the following: • Integrate daylighting design into the building’s architecture. With proper daylighting, electric lighting is not required during the day, reducing the cooling load and the energy consumed. • Provide daylighting controls in spaces that are within 1.5 times the ceiling height of all exterior windows. • Integrate HVAC, lighting, power, security, and A/V control building-wide systems to optimize their performance. • Install high performance glazing systems with low assembly U-values, optimizing the solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC). • Implement demand-based heating and cooling, which provides heating and cooling in spaces only when required. • Utilize CO2 monitoring for optimized outside air quantity. • Utilize energy recovery units to exchange heat between outside air and exhaust systems, reducing the energy needed to condition outside air. Long-Term Strategies Net-zero energy strategies beyond the 10-year plan horizon should include constructing new buildings that produce as much energy as they use, reducing the energy consumption of existing buildings, and continuing with the development of on-site renewable energies to account for the energy use of existing buildings. MCC should leverage both public and private partnerships as it pursues these initiatives. The implementation of renewable energy production at MCC’s campuses and centers will play a key role in achieving net-zero energy use. Although the current regional utility rates inhibit renewable energies as an economically feasible alternative, this gap will close over time. As this gap closes, MCC needs to begin to implement market-ready renewable energies including wind, solar, combined heat and power, and biomass to forward its stance on environmental stewardship and innovation within the workforce.

Facilities and Campus Planning and Sustainability.

On campus, MCC is committed to achieving LEED Certification for all new buildings. Additionally, Buildings shall be as close to net-zero energy as possible without the need to buy carbon credits.

MCC should require an integrated design team approach for each new construction project. An integrated design team approach facilitates multidisciplinary strategies toward sustainability by integrating all aspects of the project from conceptual design to operations and maintenance, resulting in a better end product. In addition, MCC should require each project design team to provide cost-benefit life cycle analyses for proposed building systems. Utilizing multidisciplinary strategies will assist in achieving energy use goals that help MCC to move toward net-zero aspirations, ensuring that newly constructed buildings utilize current technologies to maximize energy efficiencies. MCC should also encourage consistency in sustainable practices across all new construction projects. In order to do this, MCC should create campus standards that mandate specific sustainable strategies. A few of these strategies could include the following: • Integrate daylighting design into the building’s architecture. With proper daylighting, electric lighting is not required during the day, reducing the cooling load and the energy consumed. • Provide daylighting controls in spaces that are within 1.5 times the ceiling height of all exterior windows. • Integrate HVAC, lighting, power, security, and A/V control building-wide systems to optimize their performance. • Install high performance glazing systems with low assembly U-values, optimizing the solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC). • Implement demand-based heating and cooling, which provides heating and cooling in spaces only when required. • Utilize CO2 monitoring for optimized outside air quantity. • Utilize energy recovery units to exchange heat between outside air and exhaust systems, reducing the energy needed to condition outside air. Long-Term Strategies Net-zero energy strategies beyond the 10-year plan horizon should include constructing new buildings that produce as much energy as they use, reducing the energy consumption of existing buildings, and continuing with the development of on-site renewable energies to account for the energy use of existing buildings. MCC should leverage both public and private partnerships as it pursues these initiatives.

Facilities and Campus Planning and Sustainability.

Formal plans are currently in development.

Where appropriate, establish renewable and alternative energy generation and energy management systems on a campus scale. Examples include co-generation, geo- thermal, solar, wind, smart grid, etc. Additionally, MCC is utilizing controls systems to better adapt systems and track usage patterns.

Energy use at MCC over the last 3 years (2007-2009) has increased 40% over the previous 3-year time frame, which, in conjunction with rising energy costs, has increased MCC’s yearly expenditures on electricity and gas to upwards of $1.1 million. Reducing this annual operating cost will create significant benefits for MCC in the next 10 years and beyond. Goals • Reduce MCC’s consumption of natural gas and electricity, which will in turn reduce MCC’s carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. • Pursue the adoption of an initiative that will reduce the energy consumed by MCC’s existing buildings as of the end of fiscal year 2009 by 2% or 3% each year. The creation of multiple smaller goals will help to leverage an ultimate reduction of 20% to 30% over the next 10 years. • Identify and implement large-impact sustainable strategies that will significantly reduce energy consumption by a minimum of a double-digit percentage factor. This large-scale goal will help MCC begin to approach net-zero energy consumption and zero carbon emissions annually. Strategies for Existing Buildings Historical energy consumption data is crucial in order to quantify current energy usage and identify strategies that will provide the best return on investment for MCC. MCC’s Facilities Management Department has been collecting energy use data for every water, gas, and electric meter, typically by building, since 1983. This data can be leveraged to better understand the energy consumption at campus-wide or building-specific levels.

Facilities and Campus Planning and Sustainability.

Formal plans are currently in development.

Formal plans are currently in development.

MCC in part with reducing greenhouse gas emissions is committed to increasing sustainability in transportation. MCC is continually looking to update our campus fleet to reduced emissions vehicles. MCC also supports multiple modes of transit options for getting to and from campuses by providing students with free bus passes and offering preferred carpool parking, as well as providing amenities for bicyclists.

MCC has begun to address transportation issues on its campuses and centers through strategic links between educational space and Metro. The transit hub located on the first floor of the Connector Building on the South Omaha Campus is a model for future partnerships. In addition, MCC has partnered with Metro to provide a free bus pass to all MCC students. The “Pass to Class” program has produced 40,000 rides in the first 4 months of service, between October 2009 and January 2010. MCC should expand this win-win partnership as it continues to pursue the reduction of pollution and costs associated with single-occupancy vehicles. In order to develop a more efficient transportation model for the 21st century, it is recommended that MCC implement a transportation demand management (TDM) strategic plan. A TDM strategic plan will provide opportunities, ideas, and potential incentives for students, faculty, and staff to use alternative transportation rather than single-occupancy vehicular travel. TDM strategies can include the following: • Review the free parking policy and implement changes that can help reduce parking demand. • Establish a bicycle-sharing program. • Provide subsidies for transit and bicycle use. • Develop a carpooling program. • Establish a car-sharing program.

Transportation Subcommittee, Facilities, and Campus Planning and Sustainability.

Formal plans are currently in development.

Formal plans are currently in development.

Formal plans are currently in development.

Formal plans are currently in development.

Formal plans are currently in development.

Formal plans are currently in development.

Sustainability is the ability to endure by meeting our needs today and ensuring our children have the resources they need for generations to come.