The College of Charleston should be commended for keeping emissions relatively steady over the past 8 years. Despite a growing population of faculty, staff, and students, greenhouse gas emissions have not increased. This is solely due to the purchase of high efficiency boilers for the Physical plant. All other sources of emissions increased over the same time period, with electricity and commuting students, faculty and staff growing at a rate exceeding College growth. It is apparent that the College of Charleston is following the national trend towards more energy intensive operations and it is unlikely emissions will decrease without a formation of an energy task force and adoption of the concept of sustainability throughout all College operations. There are many recommendations that cannot only lower the College's greenhouse gas emissions, but that will save money in the long run. Implementing these types of policies makes economic and environmental sense, and their enactment should not be delayed.

Recommendations

The College of Charleston is presented with the opportunity to implement greenhouse gas reducing measures that are not only good for the environment, but that also provide attractive financial incentives. Increasing campus sustainability should also be a driving concept in the implementation of the Fourth Century Initiative. Such concepts truly set institutions of higher learning apart from their peers. To reduce emissions, increase sustainability and improve the quality of campus life, the following recommendations should be considered.

• Creation of a Presidentially Appointed College of Charleston Energy Task Force - Without direct support from the College administration, it is extremely difficult to assess the strengths and weaknesses of C of C's current environmental impact. An energy task force would be able to keep a centrally located archive of energy use by the campus community. This allows for a continual tracking of energy uses and associated costs, permitting comparisons of implemented programs to monitor progress. A task force would also be able to pinpoint the most effective measures the College could implement in order to reduce GHG emissions and save money.
• Mandatory Lifecycle Costing Methodology - Lifecycle costing refers to examining not only the initial cost of purchasing equipment, but also all costs associated with that equipment over its expected lifetime. This comparison translates to lower costs over the lifetime of highly efficient equipment than to the lower costs equipment traditionally purchased. Extra costs that traditionally make up for the higher initial cost of more efficient equipment are the lower operating costs due to lower energy consumption and the longer life of the equipment. Longer life translates to less employee maintenance time in fixing/replacing monitors, light bulbs, or exit signs.. It should become official College of Charleston policy to consider lifetime costs and environmental impacts while purchasing goods.
• The College should pursue transportation alternatives to reduce single occupancy travel to the campus, benefiting not only the College but the city of Charleston. One such option is the creation of park and ride lots at the three access points to the city coming from West Ashley, Mount Pleasant, and James Island. Shuttles would allow commuters to leave cars out of downtown, reducing emissions, easing congestion, and alleviating parking problems
  · Increase student, faculty and staff awareness of campus recycling options, and improve the availability of recycling receptacles to reduce the amount of bottles and cans being thrown into the trash.
• Install light emitting diode (LED) exit signs in all buildings, and replace cathode ray tube computer monitors with energy efficient flat panel monitors. Both options save money over the life of the equipment, reduce maintenance time, and require less energy to operate.