Green Fee Award helps shine light on VIMS
The William & Mary Committee on Sustainability will support another eco-friendly project at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science as part of its fall 2017 Green Fee awards.
VIMS will use the $10,239 grant to reduce electricity usage and improve working conditions by replacing 52 dated, energy-demanding bulbs with new light-emitting diode (LED) lamps in 3 buildings on the VIMS campus. The funds were requested by VIMS Ph.D. student Jaclyn Friedman, Maintenance Superintendent Mark Rogers, and Director of Facilities Management Mark Brabham.
The new bulbs will replace high-intensity work lights in the Field Operations Center, as well as security “night” lights in Andrews Hall and Chesapeake Bay Hall.
“Replacing bulbs that are in use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, will drastically cut back on electricity usage, save money, and promote more sustainable conditions,” says Friedman.
Describing the new bulbs in the Field Operations Center, Rogers adds, “Not only will these be more efficient—consuming just 30 percent of the electricity currently being used—they have a higher light intensity, allowing for meticulous work like ship repair and welding to be completed under optimum conditions.”
The Green Fee program began in 2008 as a grassroots initiative among W&M undergraduate students. Since then, it has funded more than 200 sustainability projects led by students, faculty, and staff, including 27 projects at VIMS totaling $156,524.
This semester, in addition to the lighting project at VIMS, the Committee on Sustainability supported 4 other projects on W&M’s main campus in Williamsburg, for an award total of $48,366.
Detailed descriptions of this semester’s funded projects, as well as those from earlier funding cycles, are available on the Committee on Sustainability’s Green Fee website.
| Year | Title | Amount | Proposed By |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Reducing Electricity Usage and Improving Worker Safety at VIMS | $10,239 | Jaclyn Friedman, Mark Rogers, Mark Brabham |
| 2017 | Decreasing Water Usage at VIMS | $12,630 | Lydia Bienlien, Mark Brabham |
| 2016 | Shark Tagging and Signal Analysis in Chesapeake Bay | $5,160 | Benjamin Powel, Kevin Weng, Wouter Deconinck, William Laney |
| 2016 | VIMS Community Garden Beds and Compost Co-op | $3,055 | Mark Stratton, Dave Wilcox |
| 2016 | Replacing HID exterior lights with LED lights | $5,867 | Kelley Uhlig, Mark Rogers, Mark Brabham |
| 2016 | Improving Recycling Visibility at VIMS | $7,629 | Kelley Uhlig, Mark Brabham |
| 2016 | VIMS Community Garden Rain Barrel | $837 | Pamela Braff, Scott Lerberg, Sarah Nuss |
| 2016 | Updating the VIMS Greenhouse Gas Survey | $5,000 | Kelley Uhlig, Carl Hershner |
| 2015 | Reducing Nutrient Loads to Crim Dell | $8,000 | Kirk Havens, Randy Chambers |
| 2015 | Educational Wetlands Exhibit for VIMS Visitors Center | $7,500 | Susan Maples, Kattie McMillan) |
| 2015 | VIMS Community Garden Wildlife Management | $1,250 | Mark Stratton, Kory Angstadt, Dave Wilcox |
| 2015 | Installation of a Fix-it/ Personal Bike Repair Station | $1,500 | Randy Jones, Bruce Pfirrmann, William Horacio |
| 2015 | Installation of Elkay Refilling Stations | $4,671 | Randy Jones, Jaclyn Beck |
| 2015 | Investigating juvenile sea turtle mortality in Chesapeake Bay | $8,500 | Bianca Santos, David Kaplan |
| 2014 | Tool and Supply Shed to Support the VIMS Community Garden | $500 | David Wilcox |
| 2014 | Deep Blue Pro Underwater Camera for Outreach | $1,870 | Kattie McMillan |
| 2013 | Tribe Truck Farm | $4,676 | Jes Carr, Nicole Broder, Sarah Glaser |
| 2013 | Solar Powered Vehicles | $11,500 | David Malmquist, Patrick Foley |
| 2012 | Greening of Williamsburg Campus Child Care | $500 | Janet Yang, Marta Sanderson |
| 2011 | Floating Treatment Wetlands | $8,000 | Karen Duhring |
| 2011 | Community Supported Fishery Feasibility Study | $14,400 | Troy Hartley |
| 2011 | VIMS Community Garden | $2,400 | Jenna Luek, Brandon Conroy, John Graves |
| 2010 | VIMS Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory | $5,000 | Carl Hershner |
| 2009 | Fluorescent Light Upgrades in Hargis Library | $18,000 | Mark Rogers, Carol Coughlin |
| 2009 | Green Team Lighting Motion Sensors | $3,040 | Heidi Geisz, VIMS Green Team |
| 2009 | Hybrid Renewable Energy Stations | $1,500 | Todd Nelson |
| 2009 | Replacement of Exit Signage with LED units | $3,300 | Richard White |
