Business View Magazine September 2018

66 67 THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA We know we can help connect people and build networks and bring people together for events where we profile both local researchers, as well as researchers we bring from outside.We are al- ready working with our Facilities and Operations group to explore funding models for students and faculty members to undertake research projects on campus. “ Leblanc: “The other half is Facilities and Oper- ations. A lot of the existing initiatives within the Office of Sustainability were partnerships with Facilities and Operations, around campus sus- tainability work– things that impact buildings, grounds, energy, waste, water, greenhouse gasses – those sorts of things. A lot of those programs that are focused on sustainable operations will be housed within Facilities and Operations, with a leadership role from Energy Management and Sustainable Operations, or EMSO. “EMSO will continue a lot of the work focused on reducing the environmental impact of the University’s operations, and we’ll continue to work really closely with other units on campus that are service providers, operational units, and across facilities and operations, as well.We hope to partner with the new Sustainability Council on initiatives that allow researchers and students to do work that focuses on campus, something that’s become commonly known in the sustainability community as ‘campus as a living lab’ or ‘experien- tial learning opportunities’ for students.We will also seek opportunities for researchers where we can partner to make improvements to operations using a research or learning approach. “I also want to speak a little bit about our Greenhouse Gas Inventory because it fits really well with what we had before around our dis- trict energy system, and our energy management program, and several other topics that we deal with in Facilities and Operations. The Greenhouse Gas Inventory tracks emissions data from both our onsite, district energy system, as well as our purchased electricity. The Inventory also goes beyond energy emissions to capture other sourc- es of greenhouse gas emissions at the University – from things like solid waste, wastewater, agri- cultural research animals, fleet vehicles, fertilizer used in landscaping, and much more. “So, we’ve got a pretty comprehensive inventory and it’s been a great way to measure progress to- wards our emission reduction goals of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. Since 2012, when we first conducted our Inventory, we’ve reduced our emissions by approximately eight percent, and we’re always trying to improve our methodology and grow the Inventory, as well. To that end, we’ve begun to look at emissions sources like how students are commuting to campus every day, or business-related air travel. “Another program that we’re pretty excited about is our water management program.We’ve started a University-wide conservation program that’s investing in water efficient technology and water fixture upgrades, and we’re tying that in with other ongoing maintenance work, in order