CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Bruce Miller, left, Dean Miller and Linda Day stood in front of UH's Energy House to discuss several symposiums that will be held at UH on Earth Day, April 22.

UH to promote
environmental efficiency

Earth Day symposiums aim to
create models for managing resources

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

The University of Hawaii aims to become a model of sustainability for Hawaii and the world.

And it wants you to help, starting on Earth Day, says Bruce Miller, coordinator of the UH Sustainability Program.

Sustainability means "managing resources today so they're still available for future generations," Miller said yesterday at the Energy House on the Manoa campus.

UH President Evan Dobelle will announce plans for a UH "Charter of Sustainability" at 9:30 a.m. April 22 at the Energy House. It was built in 1976 and was a showpiece of climate-appropriate architecture and energy efficiency ideas of the time.

Technologies have been improved upon since, said Dean Johnston, an architecture graduate student who is involved with retrofitting the Energy House for the new millennium with updated solar water-heating panels, solar photovoltaic cells to generate electricity, water conservation measures and more.

Miller envisions the refurbished house as the physical center for students, faculty and community members focused on improving lives while using fewer resources.

On Earth Day, it'll be the staging ground for Dobelle's call for citizen participation in the areas of sustainability that were identified at a Feb. 1 strategic planning event for the Manoa campus that was attended by 1,400. The areas are: sustainability policy, energy, human values and campus experience, transportation, building design, materials use and recycling, water, land use, education and research, natural areas, and outreach and UH investments.

Faculty and staff at each UH campus will help craft what sustainability will look like at each particular location, Miller said. On the Manoa campus alone, Miller said, the university spends $12 million a year on utilities, a cost he said could be reduced by up to 40 percent.

The money saved could be used to further other sustainability ideas, Miller said, such as:

>>	How much could be saved on watering costs by using drought-tolerant plants?
>>	Can the university improve the bike-friendliness of the campus and the streets leading to it?
>>	Can it improve worker satisfaction regarding indoor air quality in its buildings?
>>	Can there be systemwide policies for recycling, for cost-effective purchasing and more?

Some of the sustainability ideas will be "fast-tracked" to show results quickly, Miller said. "At first we'll try to get the biggest bang for the buck," he said.

Another Earth Day event at UH will be the "Genuinely Green Earth Day Awareness Fair" from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Hemenway Hall courtyard. The event is sponsored by the Pacific Action Alliance, a student environmental and social justice organization.

For more information, contact Anne Olsen at 381-5660 or annesurf3@aol.com.

Get more info on UH's plans To participate in UH's sustainability committees, or for more information, contact Bruce Miller or Linda Day at 956-9346, or uhsustainability@yahoo.com