2008 UC/CSU/CCC Sustainability Conference and Green Campus End-of-Year Meeting

Green Campus Interns were featured prominently in the 7th annual Sustainability Conference, as three campuses were awarded with Best Practices in Student Energy Efficiency:

• CSU Chico was awarded for their residence hall energy competitions. By incorporating innovative real-time energy metering into the contest, interns at Chico are able to more accurately track results. Additionally, the 420 students participating in the competitions each year are afforded instant feedback to encourage energy saving behaviors.
• UC Berkeley was awarded for their energy-focused academic courses. Over 7 semesters, the student-led Energy Decal course has given 165 students a solid introduction to energy issues of the day. Their ER 199 course, “Applications of energy efficiency and conservation,” trains students to do building assessments around campus.
• UC Santa Cruz was awarded an Honorable Mention for their sustained CFL exchange campaign. Using Change-a-Light month – October 2007 - as a frame for their outreach, interns exchanged 3,225 CFLs in just one month.

Supplemental to the Sustainability Conference, Alliance staff planned a Green Jobs Luncheon, featuring conference keynote speaker and President of the Apollo Alliance Jerome Ringo and PG&E Senior Program Manager Keith Reed. Facilitated by Alliance Senior Program Associate Renee Lafrenz, these individuals spoke directly to the student audience about current energy issues as well as professional opportunities in the energy efficiency field.

The Green Campus End-of-Year Meeting

During the Green Campus End-of-Year meeting, interns from across the state met as a group to reflect on a complete school year of energy projects, to share their accomplishments, and to plan for next near. Interns were awarded for accomplishments in team management, financial excellence, innovative energy savings projects, and outstanding marketing efforts.

Green Campus interns attended a Climate Action Planning Panel with representatives Matt St. Clair (UC Office of the President); Marlene Nang (CSU Chancellor’s Office); and Fahmida Ahmed (Stanford University). The speakers presented on long-term climate initiatives for their organization, as well as the personal journey they took to reach their current profession. The panelists also spoke about skills and projects that would be most effective for the interns to focus on during this year and beyond.

The projects workshop wrapped up the End-of-Year meeting with a peer exchange on the following:

• Dining Halls: More Than Just a Place to Eat, presented by Noel Crisostomo (Stanford) and June Reyes (UCSD)
• I Audit, You Audit, We All Audit!, presented by Tami Kautz (Chico) and Rachel Shiozaki (UCSC)
• Making Tabling Work For You, presented by Tami Kautz (Chico) and Rachel Shiozaki (UCSC)

The Student Convergence

Finally, the Student Convergence of the UC/CSU/CCC Sustainability Conference provided an opportunity for students from all campuses to come together, share best practices, and learn about opportunities for state-wide organizing. Alliance Green Campus staff and representatives presented four sessions.

• Morgan King presented an Audit Training session demonstrating the use of diagnostic tools.
• Jennifer Alvarez and Peter Jenkins facilitated a session entitled “Setting the Stage for Energy Efficiency” which highlighted Green Campus best practices and program successes. Chris Escarcega and Sarah Schneider spoke about the student facilitated internship course at Humboldt State that combines in class lectures with project-based learning. Clayton Carlson presented on the highly successful residence hall energy competition at UC Santa Barbara, and Courtney Gill shared how to build key stakeholder relationships to broaden media outreach at UC Irvine.
• CSU San Bernardino intern, Ashley O’Neill, UC Berkeley intern, Kameron Kitajima, and Campus Lead, Stephen Miller presented best practices in communications in the “Writing Effective Newsletters,” session.
• Stanford Green Campus Interns presented a case study on Stanford Green Campus’s Lighting Efficiency Projects.