Committee Members Present: Michael E. McKay, Executive Sponsor; Shana Weber, Chair; Patrick Caddeau, Pablo Debenedetti, Katharine Hackett, Robin Izzo, Julia Kaplan ’11, Tom Kreutz, Jenna Losh, Tom Nyquist, Stu Orefice, Derek M. Welski ’11, Don Weston

Committee members Absent: Paul Lewis, Denise Mauzerall

Other Attendees: Jon Baer, Mary Banfield, Rick Curtis, Roger Demareski, Jeff Domanski, Steve Elwood, Chad Klaus, Lisa Leisinger, Art Murphy, Ruth Stevens

Welcome & Announcements – Shana Weber
Shana welcomed everyone to the meeting and announced that Julia Kaplan ’11 has joined the PSC.

Shana reported the Sustainability Progress Report 2009 was presented to the Trustees at their November meeting. The report was well received. Challenges for the future, which includes a culture change within the campus community, new technology for energy conservation, and renewable energy were also discussed.

Discussions: Campus Culture Change, Part II (continued from last meeting)

• Adopting culture change as priority for PSC policy development
  The discussion focused on ways to build the culture at Princeton to attract a broader audience. Shana stated that increasing the visibility of sustainability efforts across campus and spreading a better understanding of the sustainability efforts that are on-going will help to change the culture on campus. The group agreed that there are challenges as to how sustainability is communicated to the students. In addition to information on the web site, a physical presence is important and identifying the right venue for sustainability information is a priority.
  
  Roger Demareski, Facilities Assistant Vice President for Plant, suggested researching how other universities and companies approach their sustainable programs. Don Weston, Director of Purchasing, reported that David Banks has been hired in the Purchasing Department. David is working on a feasibility study on developing and implementing a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) program for Princeton. Don stated that David has been in conversations with several of our contract vendors who have Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) programs and environmentally safe products are coming down in price. David will be invited to attend the March PSC meeting.
   
• Communicating sustainability more effectively
  The group discussed several ways to communicate sustainability efforts on campus, such as an annual event, forums, guest speaker series quarterly, and message boards with sustainability information. These efforts will help to change the behavior on campus and build a culture that is supportive of sustainability. Shana stated that at other institutions there are messages everywhere which serve as a constant reminder about sustainability and this needs to be explored at Princeton.
   
• Continued discussion of alternatives to Sustainability Open House
  The group discussed the feasibility of hosting another Sustainability Open House.

I. PSC Policy and Process Discussion
Tray Free Dining Policy – Stu Orefice reported that Dining Services has successfully implemented “tray-free” dining in three of the six dining halls: Forbes College, Wilcox, and Wu. This project saves the colleges up to $120,000 in food purchases and reduces energy costs by approximately $4,000 a year. In addition the amount of food wasted has been reduced by up to 30 %. Stu stated that the goal is to have all dining halls, the Center for Jewish Life, and the Graduate College tray-free by the year 2012.

II. Discussion/Action
The group discussed other proposed priorities such as a centrally located sustainability office, lectures and workshops, and notices on bulletin boards throughout the campus to showcase sustainability efforts that are currently underway.

III. Next Meeting – February 3, 2010

Respectfully submitted
Mary Banfield, Executive Assistant
Office of the Vice President for Facilities