Conserving the Environment and Resources

The Department of Facilities is accelerating efforts to make MIT a model environmental citizen. The Institute’s environmental goals guide the department’s efforts to manage the life cycles of new and old buildings, reduce waste and increase recycling, produce green power, and conserve resources. MIT received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2002 award for the cogeneration plant, partnered with the EPA to run a design competition to improve Charles River water quality, and installed an innovative biofiltration storm water management system at the new Stata Center.

In 2006 the City of Cambridge presented MIT with a GoGreen Business Award in the recycling and waste reduction category. MIT has more than tripled its recycling rate since 2000, reaching 40 percent in 2005 and placing third in the country for the amount of paper recycled during the 10-week Recyclemania collegiate contest.

Building
Facilities staff develop standards to assure that environmental and conservation initiatives are designed into each construction project. Facilities has registered two new buildings for the prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Renovations focus on conservation and sustainability and recent demolition projects recycled 96 percent of waste.

Recycling
The department works with EH&S to develop and implement a recycling effort that aims to increase campus recycling above its current rate of 40 percent. MIT has boosted the range of recyclable items to include printer cartridges and computer monitors, food waste and cardboard, and made buying recycled products an Institute priority. A "Do's of Recycling" flyer lists what's recyclable on campus.

Energy Efficiency
Facilities award-winning cogeneration plant saves resources and reduces pollution by producing electricity with a natural gas turbine engine then turning resulting hot exhaust gases into steam. The plant reduces MIT's pollutant emissions by 45 percent.

Conservation
Since 1990, MIT has instituted conservation efforts throughout the physical plant. Recent equipment upgrades in six campus buildings and low-flow bathroom fixture improvements in both residential and academic buildings save more than 37 million gallons of water each year. Replacing steam valves on 3,000 campus radiators resulted in annual savings of nearly 18 million pounds of steam valued at $233,000.

The Department of Facilities has installed 70 "VendingMisers" on cold beverage machines across campus. Using a custom passive infrared sensor, these systems power down vending machines when the area around the machine is unoccupied and automatically re-power the machines when traffic returns. The result is a potential 46 percent reduction in energy consumption on each machine. Over the course of a year, this translates to a savings of approximately $140 per machine.