A student-based group on campus is working to create a green campus by making Chico State offices gold.
Drawing from a concept at Humboldt State, three student organizations aim to rate campus buildings and offices on environmental efficiency, and award them gold, silver and bronze ratings for their efforts.
Green Campus, Net Impact and A.S. Sustainability have united to perform "sustainability consultations" with campus offices, said Amelia Gulling, Green Campus director.
The consultations will look at energy consumption, waste and recycling practices, she said.
Offices will be informed of when the group will come to perform the consultation and will have a week or two to make the changes after they receive a report of the group's findings and a list of areas that need improvement, Gulling said.
Green Campus will help offices make changes by providing funding and labor if needed.
The more an office changes and improve its habits the better rating it will receive.
"It's something that they can display in the front of the office that will show how sustainable they are," Gulling said. "With how concerned this campus is with sustainability, I think it will be something that they can show off."
Ratings will have an effect on students and employees, said Green Campus member Tami Kautz.
"It works twofold," she said. "Students working in the offices will receive the knowledge of modifying their behaviors, and students using the office will be aware of the attempts the school is making."
The group hopes to test the program early next semester, Gulling said.
Katherine Bajjaliya, vice president of Net Impact, is excited about the project because it is student based and run, she said.
"We made it. We are gonna be the ones to use it," she said. "That's just awesome."
Humboldt State and Chico State are in a group of 14 other California universities that have Green Campus programs, she said. The programs collaborate by sharing project ideas and experiences.
"Humboldt experienced huge success with their office energy audit program," Gulling said. "We wanted to bring it to Chico, but with our own special twist on it."
The Chico State project is in its second phase, she said. The group had planned to start using its new energy-auditing tool this semester until members decided to collaborate with Net Impact and A.S. Sustainability.
Initially the project aimed to only look at offices' energy usage and waste, Kautz said. Things such as decorative lighting, printers, stereos and computer monitors left on when not in use are all examples of what the consultation will look at.
"Now on top off all that, we will incorporate in things like the amount of plastic bottles used and the office's recycling practices," Gulling said.
Nicholas Jester can be reached at njester@theorion.com
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