WJH Wins FAS Green Contest

Who’s the greenest of them all?

That would be William James Hall, winner of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Environmental Competition 2008.

The competition monitored the environmental practices of 13 different FAS buildings from November to March, evaluating which building was the most eco-friendly of the bunch.

Having recycled 73 percent of its waste, William James Hall was announced as the winner, and Hoffman Labs was the runner-up.

The prize: an eco-trophy, made of salvaged materials and designed by Meredith M. Lanoue ’06-’07.

“We have a long tradition of recycling,” said Herbert H. Fuller, the building manager of William James Hall. “Our recycling just gets better and better all the time.”

All together, the buildings saved 229 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, and saved FAS $72,472, according to a Harvard Gazette article.

In its trial run last year, the FAS Environmental Competition focused mainly on reducing buildings’ energy consumption, said Gosia Sklodowska, the coordinator of FAS’s Campus Energy Reduction Program.

Sklodowska said that this year’s competition did not just look at recycling or energy conservation, but also many other practices that contribute to overall environmental performance, including the state of fixtures, water use, and building occupancy behavior.

At William James Hall, the entire building got involved in the competition.

“We actually signed letters to commit to do our best to keep our carbon footprint low,” said Steven C. Caton, a social anthropology professor in William James Hall. “The building managers got us into it more.”

Sklodowska said that the Environmental Competition was a good way to get more building occupants involved in “green” practices.

“Many of our buildings are not designed in an efficient way, so focusing on their operations is the only strategy that we have to make them more environmentally friendly for user impact,” Sklodowska said.

She said she found the building managers to be very open to trying out new ideas in their buildings during the competition and they “really stepped up” in brainstorming what could be done in addition to what they were doing before.

Fuller, the William James Hall building manager, helped initiate such practices as installing motion-sensored lights in bathrooms and classrooms and putting up signs to get people to think about taking the stairs instead of the elevators to save energy.

“This has been a long time coming,” Fuller said, referring to the changes made as a result of the competition.

Harvard Green Campus Initiative Director Leith J. Sharp said she hopes that the green attitudes practiced will spread beyond the competition’s participants.

“This is a way of encouraging people and fostering excitement,” she said. “It encourages other buildings and schools across campus.”