University of Wisconsin-River Falls
EN-5: Outreach Campaign

"Just Local," A UWRF sponsored, community event, focuses on bringing people together to learn about the importance of being an engaged community member and supporting the local economy. Participants in the "Just Local" event on campus can sample local foods and learn how local businesses, organizations, and student clubs meet everyday needs. Learn how to reduce your carbon footprint through eating local, buying local and utilizing alternative modes of transportation. The events are free and open to the public.

31 non profits/clubs and orgs/local businesses were at the event to engage students, staff, and the wider community. 450 t-shirts were given away that day and to get a t-shirt an individual must have visited 10 of the 31 tables.

"Just Local" Responsible Party: Karyn Wells, UWRF Student Life event coordinator UWRF is in the process of re-designing an energy and water contest pilot and national demonstration project with MAMAC Systems to provide a real-time energy, carbon, and water usage dashboard complete with pre-/post-surveys to assess the degree to which real-time data availability influences students decisions. No known commercially available dashboards currently allow for real-time display due to BACnet data-logging delays and therefore cannot accurately influence real-time decisions. Proposal for residence hall energy contest from SCISCD Director, 4/3/13: Background: With primary cooperation between Residence Life and Facilities Management, UWRF conducted an Energy & Water Conservation competition for three years (from 2009-2012) among all residence halls. The competition was dropped at the end of 2012 primarily due to questioning of the integrity of data, and the lack of real-time public access to such due to limitations of the current Metasys monitoring and management system. Besides the co-curricular benefit of exposing students and staff to conscious use of energy and water and their related costs, this tabling of the contest subsequently led to our pending loss of points on the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS) report. In the Summer of 2012, UWRF entertained the donation of MAMAC Systems new Maverick line of data monitoring equipment for energy and water. Independent monitoring systems for both energy and water were installed in Grimm and McMillan Halls on a pilot basis. This donation and subsequent conversations have now resulted in this (and pending Maverick installments in other buildings, such as RDI), becoming a national demonstration project. Real time data is now publicly available in digital form through the web link on the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development. http://www.uwrf.edu/Sustain/Residence-Hall-Energy-and-Water-Usage.cfm MAMAC Systems is also in design phase for real time monitors and dashboard style meters that transform digital to much more visually appealing forms. This demonstration project at MAMAC’s expense is the pilot for moving this system into the national market with significant long term benefit to UWRF, as well as U of MN-Morris where MAMAC is now metering their commercial wind turbines and integrating into a new residence hall design. Proposal: The UWRF Office of Sustainability (OoS) is requesting that Residence Life consider and approve a pilot energy and water conservation competition between Grimm and McMillan Halls for the Fall and/or Spring of the 2013-14 academic year. This competition would utilize the live / real time data of the MAMAC Maverick Systems that would be available 24/7 by web links, lobby monitors, and remote access platforms (e.g. smartphones). The OoS is happy to share in financial support for competition prizes as deemed appropriate. The OoS would also like to propose a simple pre- and post survey of students in the two halls to assess the degree to which the real time data availability influenced their conscious choices for energy and water resources use during the competition timeline.