Sustainable Sites Initiative

Aerial image of The Evegreen State College

Evergreen State College – Master Plan

Size & Type of Project:
1,033-acre university campus/ Greyfield and greenfield

Location:
Olympia, Washington

Budget:
N/A

Project Phase:

Completed 2008 Campus Master Plan. In design and development phase.

Project Overview

The Evergreen State College (Evergreen) is committed to raising ecological consciousness through the continued development of a highly sustainable campus. The 2008 Campus Master Plan was created to guide sustainable development over the next 15 years (until the year 2020). It considers a wide range of opportunities for making significant contributions towards balancing both carbon use and waste production and includes transportation modes and patterns, energy production and use, campus biome protection (biomes are commonly referred to as ecosystems, or communities of plants, animals and soil organisms), food production, construction practices, waste stream management, and student life and housing. Staff and students are committed to using the campus as a laboratory for sustainability related to land use planning, operations, curriculum, and quality of life.

Site Context

The Evergreen State College is located in Olympia, Washington within the Puget Lowland Forests ecoregion. This ecoregion occupies a north-south depression between the Olympic Peninsula and western slopes of the Cascade Mountains, extending from across the Canadian border to the lower Columbia River along the Oregon border.

The 1,033-acre Evergreen State College campus is part of the Cooper Point Peninsula, which reaches into the southern end of the Puget Sound and is located west of the City of Olympia. The climate is Marine West Coast, characterized by relatively warm and sunny summers with dark and overcast days the majority of the time throughout the fall, winter, and spring (229 days per year of 100% cloud cover). The area experiences an annual mean temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit and receives 50 inches of rainfall annually with November and December being the rainiest months.

The campus remains predominately forested (about 80%) with species representative of the Western Hemlock zones of Washington and Oregon. The entire campus was logged at one time along with much of the surrounding area. Today, there are regions of second growth Douglas Fir found in the eastern and southeastern Reserves as well as in the northern ravine areas of the campus. Its ecosystem represents some of the last remaining contiguous wildlife habitat at this scale in the Puget Sound region.

Site plan

Sustainable Practices

Sustainable Practices - implemented to date

Community Participation: The five month campus-planning process was a concerted effort to engage the campus community in a dialog concerning the future of Evergreen State College. Based on the philosophy of ‘building community,' the planning process was intensive, inclusive and collaborative. The multi-step effort included gathering existing data and reviewing past master plans, and a series of on-campus meetings that included open information sessions, dinner discussions, one-on-one meetings, facility and campus tours, community presentations and focused charettes. The Master Plan was initially issued in a preliminary draft format to provide opportunity for comment from campus constituents. A series of on-campus meetings was held to allow direct input from the community, faculty, students and staff as well as comments submitted via the campus website.

Program Plan and Performance Goals: All of the investigations undertaken during the planning process used sustainability to integrate opportunities for hands-on student learning, participation, engagement and community involvement. Based on this focus, Evergreen's sustainability task force developed eight priorities for the campus Master Plan including:

1. Curricular Pathways in Sustainability: Make available the opportunity for all Evergreen students across all campuses to develop and strengthen their skills in theoretical and practical sustainability studies; provide a concentrated opportunity to employ systems thinking within a strong liberal arts context; offer a clear sequence for study, featuring sustainability-based programs that are linked, complementary, and offered on a regular and predictable schedule; and build in a practical liberal arts education where theories of sustainability are connected to practice.
2. Student Participation and Education in Sustainability: Create further opportunities for practice through internships, group contracts, graduate fellowships and theses projects to provide a more a comprehensive model of sustainability. This model cultivates practical learning, fosters community relationships, and elevates the campus spirit. Most importantly, these practical experiences better qualify students for meaningful employment by giving them first-hand experience working through today's complex and integrated challenges that are evident in Evergreen operations and in its surrounding community.
3. Resource Strategies: Resource use, from purchased goods to fuel and energy, is essential to and at the heart of sustainability. Sustainable resource use requires that the harvest and extraction of raw materials is at a rate that assures the ability of our planet to regenerate them. Only then can we provide adequately for future generations. The expression "intergenerational justice" embodies this concept.
4. Communication: Ensure that Evergreen's sustainability commitments and practices are widely visible to both the campus community and the wider community via a multi-faceted communications strategy. Effective internal communications among faculty, staff, and students help build stronger academic programs and better sustainability-related projects.
5. Evergreen Land Stewardship: Take full advantage of using lands under Evergreen's stewardship for practical educational purposes related to sustainability, and strengthen the sustainability of the larger community that it serves. This land is a part of a larger ecosystem that must be recognized and protected, and a privilege to oversee and use as a living laboratory for learning and monitoring in conjunction with sustainability.  Visible efforts, both academically and administratively, effectively and measurably honor these values.
   Strategies related to sustainable site development are addressed primarily in the Evergreen Land Stewardship goal (related to other categories as well), which addresses biodiversity and ecosystem health; development of a land ethic educational program; strength of a Center for Ecological Learning and Living; carbon neutrality by 2020; and reduced single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) travel.
6. College Communities Collaboration: Make more integral the needs and work of the Tacoma Campus, Reservation-based programs, Evening/Weekend Studies, and Grays Harbor program.
7. Campus Neighborhoods, Greater Community & Region Relationships: Evergreen views itself as part of the greater communities it resides in-ecologically, culturally, socially, and economically.  Its mission includes using academic programs and educational facilities to support and strengthen these local communities in each of these areas.
8. Campus Spirit - Internal Wellness/Health: Health is an indicator of our community's sustainability. If we are not healthy, we are not sustainable. It is an integrating factor that takes into account all parameters. "Feedback loops" will help us recognize when we are not healthy as a community.

Sustainable Practices - in design and planning phase

Promote sustainable awareness and education: Incorporation of progressive sustainable systems and technologies into the campus framework not only helps reduce Evergreen's carbon footprint, but also affords unique educational opportunities. Capitalizing on this learning potential, the Master Plan integrates sustainable elements with existing campus infrastructure and curricular programs to create "Education Centers," outdoor laboratories and classrooms situated throughout campus. These Education Centers focus on facilitating interactive learning and participation in the monitoring, measuring, and study of the natural environment and campus systems. Available to faculty, students, local schools and community groups, the following ‘Education Centers' are in design and planning phases:

1. Storm Water Monitoring Center: Storm water management systems will be exposed in existing infrastructure locations to facilitate interactive monitoring and measuring of water flows and quality over time.
2. Sustainable Design Resource Center: This education center creates a prominent campus location for a forum for research and discussion on sustainable practices by providing a focused information archive and study facility.
3. Organic Farm Education Center: Building on the success of the existing on-campus organic farm, the addition of a food production and sciences lab, an animal barn, greenhouse, increased arable land, and equipment storage areas will enhance the capabilities of this education center. 
4. Geoduck House Education Center: The existing "Geoduck House," located on the edge of Eld Inlet (where the campus meets the waters of the Puget Sound) is proposed to be rehabilitated to support a waterfront retreat center, support student-run recreational activities, and showcase sustainable features targeting carbon and waste neutrality as an educational component.
5. Terrascope Interdisciplinary Education Center: Developed as part of a Canopy Tree Walk open to the community, students and other campus visitors, this education center will enable students to study and monitor the evolving tree canopy of the second-growth forest by providing an accessible, elevated observation platform and educational displays.
6. Alternative Energy Education Center: Building on an existing central plant and utility tunnel infrastructure, this education center will provide a venue to involve students in improving campus heating and cooling methods through implementation of new technologies and systems to provide centralized services.
7. Solid Waste Stream and Renewable Fuels Education Center: This education center will create opportunities for students to explore, test and monitor evolving fuels and energy technologies while providing hands-on experience with the management of the campus waste stream.

Preserve Native Habitats and Plant Biomass: The campus Reserve areas represent key habitat and plant communities that are vitally important ecological assets for the area. In the Master Plan, they are preserved through a naming protocol as "The Reserve," which describes the assets being preserved and intention to limit development on these precious habitats. The Reserve contains a mixed forest. Wetland areas are located in all quadrants of the Reserve with extensive areas in the southeastern parts of the campus, along streams on the property, north of the meadow area next to Driftwood Road and along Evergreen Parkway. The eastern half of the Reserve is considered by many to be the least disturbed and most pristine on campus, which consists of contiguous patches of conifers. Tidal marine plants dominate the areas in the northern half of the Reserve.

Most of the campus is already forested except for the core (central) campus which is a combination of buildings, lawn, and teaching gardens. In the future, Evergreen is looking to increase the number of teaching gardens and edible landscaping areas around campus. Currently, the 14 teaching gardens around campus have various themes (i.e. pollinator garden, medicinal herb garden, native plant demonstration gardens, post-glacial forest, prairie roof garden, rain roof garden, Longhouse ethnobotanical garden, deer garden, basket garden, primitive plant garden, etc.) and are used to further educate the community on native and biogeographic landscaping.

Support connectivity/ Promote safety, accessibility and wayfinding: Facilitating easy, accessible and safe campus mobility was a priority of the planning effort. A revised intra-campus network of roads, paths and trails are proposed to support and link areas of the campus and connect to off-campus networks such as the Olympia community. With Evergreen's input, priorities for new pedestrian and bicycle trail connections and upgrades to existing trails have been developed. Preferred public access routes to and through the campus have been identified. Clearly marked trails with interpretive graphics and providing trailheads near transit stops have been considered to increase accessibility to the outdoor "classrooms." In the Reserve areas, planning principles for transportation in the park and wildlife sanctuary have been applied to preserve those natural areas.

Reduce carbon footprint: Evergreen established the goal of achieving a balance in the production of both carbon and waste by the year 2020. This net zero carbon and waste focus informed the master planning process and allowed rethinking of campus operations and facilities planning at Evergreen. Under the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), Evergreen is required to publicly submit its Climate Action Plan by September 2009. This plan will provide Evergreen with a long-term roadmap for achieving carbon neutrality.

• On campus carbon sequestration: The Evergreen Ecological Observation Network (EEON), a long-term research effort involving students and faculty is measuring the overall carbon budget of a 1,000-acre lowland rainforest at Evergreen. Preserving and expanding the forested areas of the campus will off-set a small portion of Evergreen's current carbon footprint and represents a unique resource for carbon sequestration.
• Reduce transportation emissions: Transportation generates approximately 31 percent of the campus's total carbon emissions. This includes commuting, transit services to campus, use of the college fleet, deliveries, and long-distance air travel for college purposes. It is clear that the opportunity for the greatest reductions in carbon emissions will be achieved from a focus on addressing commuting patterns.
  To this end, the Master Plan includes development of a transportation plan to encourage increased use of alternative transportation modes (walking, biking, transit, and car pool) and reduce trips to campus, vehicle use, and carbon emissions. A 10 percent reduction for faculty and staff and a 20 percent reduction for students are targets for single-occupancy vehicles. The transportation plan involves a new park-and-ride network, and modification to existing bus schedules and routes to reduce overall travel time.

Construction Cost

Construction costs will be determined on a project-by-project basis. The projected cost for sustainable strategies is difficult to separate because sustainable facilities and land use planning are so integral to the overall academic and capital budget.

• The master planning process, which cost $250,000, includes several projects intended to supplement the academic programs in sustainability as well as support the ongoing monitoring of campus and regional resources. A key piece of these related educational and resource sustainability goals are the Educational Centers to be constructed over the next several biennia, with estimated costs of $150,000 to $250,000 per Center. The Centers support the fundamental sustainability goals of both academic programs and campus operations.
• At the building level, Evergreen uses LEED Silver as a minimum. One of the current major renovations, tracking LEED Gold, is an addition to the Campus Activities Building, which has anticipated construction costs of $15 million. The design includes harvested rain water, green roofs, and other features to reduce the new building's impact to the local ecology.
• Another more quantifiable cost is the effort to reduce Evergreen's carbon footprint. After investing in an upfront inventory of emissions, the carbon reduction projects recently identified will cost Evergreen approximately $930,000; save $73,000 per year; reduce our CO2 by almost 500 tons per year; and capture a utility rebate of $370,000.

Monitoring Information

The ambitious net zero carbon and waste goals by 2020 require ongoing monitoring and tracking to quantify metric tons of CO2 emitted by the campus as well as metric tons sequestered by natural resources. Evergreen is also monitoring commuting behavior, air travel, food delivery, and solid waste. This inventory was first completed as a graduate thesis project and the process is currently overseen by the Office of Sustainability. This inventory sets a benchmark for emissions in 2007 to evaluate the impact of emission reduction efforts over time.

Additionally, one of the goals of the Educational Centers is to support academic research in each area of named environmental assets to track and monitor on-site resources and biodiversity. Each Center will have its own research initiative with professors and students who conduct ongoing monitoring. This analysis will build on data and reports collected for the Master Plan that include climate analysis, soil studies, drainage, ecology, forest areas, size of shorelines, height of bluffs, etc. These numbers set a benchmark so that Evergreen can track improvements and changes to the ecology as the campus develops over time.

Maintenance

Most of the forested campus landscape does not require maintenance by Evergreen facilities staff with the exception of the campus core landscapes which consist of lawn areas, gardens along pathways, recreational field areas and identified teaching gardens. Evergreen is currently maintained as a pesticide- and herbicide-free campus. Evergreen has about 14 Teaching Gardens in and around the campus core. These gardens are either native to the area or require minimal maintenance.
A few examples of sustainable campus maintenance that are incorporated into the Master Plan include:

• Incorporation of native plantings requiring minimal irrigation, and ongoing removal of invasive, exotic species from landscaped areas
• Development of a rainwater catchment systems to water vegetation throughout the campus
• Use of natural fertilizers and cleaning products
• Storm and waste water management system
• Food and waste composting

The intention for ongoing maintenance and management of these environmental visions includes a review of the Master Plan every few years to follow up on goals identified in the vision. The cost of this process is anticipated to be about $25,000.

An important part of the ongoing management plan for the Reserve includes a naming protocol conceived of by the team to attach value and meaning to the types of research associated with the ecological zones. The naming is intended to allow these research areas to be protected, convey an ecological, educational or research significance and to formalize the identity of the areas.

Bicycle trail through campus

Issues/Constraints of the Site

Constraints include the typical challenges of redeveloping a campus on a limited budget and the existing infrastructure that limits some resource efficiencies. The greatest opportunity is the institutional-wide commitment and response to transform the campus at every level of life to increase ecological consciousness among students and academics. Such enthusiasm was addressed in the Master Plan, which goes well beyond traditional development documents to inform the way students and staff pursue academics as opportunities to change the environment that they collectively inhabit.

Lessons Learned

As part of the net zero carbon goals for 2020, an analysis of the campus's carbon footprint revealed significant challenges and the need for dramatic change in operations to achieve carbon neutrality. The team expected the ecological reserve areas to dramatically offset the emissions of campus operations by their carbon sequestration potential but a detailed analysis confirmed that the hundreds of acres of forests sequester only one percent of the overall campus emissions. So the initial assumption that the forest would offset carbon emissions proved false and the team learned that forested landscape is not the most effective ecology for carbon sequestration.

More project details

www.evergreen.edu/sustainability

Project Consultants

Client:
The Evergreen State College

Designer/Campus Planner:
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP