Sustainability initiatives bolstered with appointment of new coordinator

JIFFY VERMYLEN has been appointed sustainability coordinator in the Office of Sustainability to support further development and implementation of campus-wide initiatives, according to FAHMIDA AHMED, associate director of sustainability and energy management.

Vermylen, who was working as a senior project engineer for DPR Construction, will focus on rolling out department and building-level conservation programs, improving communications and training, and establishing programmatic evaluation standards. Vermylen earned a bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from Princeton and a master’s degree in structural engineering and geomechanics from Stanford.

Vermylen’s appointment was announced at a recent Sustainability Working Group meeting that featured presentations by students whose projects received support from the Stanford Student Green Fund. The fund provides grants for innovative student-driven projects designed to create a more sustainable campus.

KEVIN MORI, BEN KALLMAN and MATT CROWLEY reported on plugVIEW, a customized, real-time energy metering system installed on the third floor of Donner Hall. The project is designed to “make energy personally meaningful to students in residences,” said Mori.

The project features an online dashboard that presents in real time the energy use in eight student rooms. On their website, project developers also offer useful advice for students concerned about diminishing their energy use, including “Run around your room naked. Then you’ll have fewer clothes to wash,” and, more seriously, “CFLs use about one-fourth the energy of an incandescent lightbulb.”

Also presenting were ANDREW SCHEIN and DANIEL VINH, who described a rainwater harvesting system at Synergy. The system captures and provides rainwater for use in Synergy’s compost and garden beds throughout the year. The students hope eventually to expand the catchment system to university building rooftops.