Assessment Plan

In my environmental science class I was asked to determine which factors I would assess to know how green my college campus is. So I started thinking about the energy RCC uses. The first thought that came to my mind was electricity and the energy we might use on campus. If we could change how we get our electricity I think it would help the planet and the school to save money. I also researched to see if any other college campuses were going green and I wanted to know what they were doing. In my researched, I found out that in two thousand and twelve UC Davis made an approach to go green. According to the UC Davis News and Information website, they became the first California campus to have interior lighting. This means that they changed the way they used electricity in order to go green and now they are using “Smart lighting”. This not only minimized the amount of energy they were using, but also helped them save money. This helped reduced their electrical bill. I liked what UC Davis did and I thought maybe RCC could also changed the way they use their electricity in order to go green. In addition, I also found out that North Lake College in Dallas County is assessing their college by doing different things. For example, the school has students groups or clubs that are involve. Some of the things they do are collect storm waters and also monitor the lights at the campus and they audit the energy in school buildings. Furthermore, I assessed the way we use electricity at RCC. There are more than a hundred classrooms and rooms at RCC imagine how much the electricity bill cots? I also thought about how many classrooms or offices abuse this resource. This could cause a strain in our environment if electricity is being misused. How can I Assess sustainability at RCC? First, I would find out exactly how we are abusing electricity and I would like to go to every classroom with the help of volunteers to help me keep track for three weeks how we use our electricity at RCC and also how many classrooms are misusing it. I would put charts in all the classrooms and offices that specify at what times the lights and any other devices that need electricity go and off. I would ask everyone that is in charge of a classroom or office to please write down the times lights are staying on and by whom they are being turned off and on. This will apply as well with computers and other electrical devices. This will give us a clear view of how we are using our electricity in all the buildings at RCC. I would ask Mr. Wolde-Ab who is the interim president at RCC if I can do this observation to assess how green is RCC for three weeks. . Secondly, if Mr. Wolde-Ab allows for me to start my investigation, I will ask for students and staff volunteers to help me monitor the electricity at RCC. I would ask the staff to please write on the charts I provided and also to monitor their classrooms and offices. In addition, I would ask students volunteers to go around and check the charts that will be in all the rooms to see if they are getting filled in. I will try to get students to volunteer, but I know that sometimes as students we do not like to help. For this reason, I will ask staff to make their students help in going to check charts by giving them extra credit. I will ask students and staff to write in the chart what electrical devices were being used or on when they checked their assigned classrooms. Students will only be able to check classrooms, while staff can check offices. I believe that charts can help me determine how green RCC is. This is an example of what my charts would look like. Works Cited http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10248 http://www.northlakecollege.edu/about-us/sustainable-campus/Pages/Sustainability-Initiatives.aspx