Meeting Minutes 10/19/2011

[Kt Sharkey]

Wednesday, October 19, 2:30pm
Atendees: At least 10 members

Next meeting:
Wed, 10/26 “Damn Dam Party.” Meeting place unknown.

Intended focus: Campus Eco-Roof Tour

• SRTC Eco-roof project. Seth (lastname?) talked about what was up
there and what who was working on.
o Chemistry, Biology, and Mechanical Engineering
collaboration
o Looking at:
 The impacts of roofs on urban heat islands, their
ability to store energy between the atmosphere and a building, these
in comparison to the more traditional insulation and concrete.
 How the plants metabolize, their morphology—how they
self-select in the different environments presented by the pans
(shaded, exposed, watered, not watered...).
 How the green roofs effect the solar panels and vice-
versa—The panels act as a radiator, releasing energy at night, and the
green roof keeps them cooler during the day. H2O flow in/out of the
pans, how
much they can hold.
o The pans are 12x15 ft. with 34 different sensors in each of
the 4 (8 are temperature sensors at various levels, 4 are moisture
sensors).
o The solar panels, at peak, produce 2800 watts—enough to run
about 3 hairdryers running constantly. The energy runs into the grid
with no benefit to PSU
o It was funded by an NFS grant. A major hurdle in creation
was developing a project that didn’t exceed the roof load capacity.
The plants were selected for their hardiness to sun exposure.
o The eco-roofs as a habitat:
 Birds like crows come root around to find bugs
 Migratory ground nesters
 Lots of bee-esque pollinators
• Oak Savannah going in alongside the Walk of the Heroines
o Old geo-thermal pumping ground
o Fragrant ground covers instead of grass—this needs less
irrigation and will be greener year-round.
• SRTC East side Native Garden Strip
o Used to be a tunnel for the geo-thermal pumping
o Environmental club installed and maintain it (mostly self-
maintaining)
o Made of 26 Western-native species.
o Starting with a block that spells “PSU,” the garden
stretches north including first, meadow species and then, shrub/tree
species.
o Along the north side of SRTC, the garden continues.
However, poor filler dirt has made it hard for the plants to take
hold.
• The Remediation Orchard location on 12th street behind the
Community Garden
o Around week 7/8, there are plans to create a garden party
to lay down woodchips and a mushroom inoculation to help prepare the
soil.
• Food For Thought/ Permaculture Garden located between Smith and
Neuberger
o Challenges for the garden are high traffic and close
proximity to smoke
o It contains mostly perennial fruits and vegetables, and a
spiral of herbs
o If they’re ripe—feel free to eat!
• Shattuck Hall Eco-Learning Project
o Previously a basketball court and a security project
o Architecture students received a grant to create a space to
promote excitement/inspiration in passerbys about ecology
o It will capture H2O from the flanking parking lot and
filter it through a wetlands, 4 vertical vegetation gardens, and an
eco-roof.
o The 4 vertical gardens are each by a different maker, and
can be used to compare them.
o At the north end of the garden is a scaled-down model for
the Oregon Zoo eco-roof. This is a design to test such things as how
the H2O moves and the tolerance of different plants to the curve of
the roof. It’s
designed to be interactive to passerbys. If METRO
chooses the design, it will be the largest eco-roof in Oregon!

Updates

• Logo
o We did not get a chance to review sketches, perhaps that
can be a topic of discussion at the dam party
• Events
o Via the E-Club:
o Call to art! Our group, in partnership with the WRC and
SLC, are hosting an art exhibition in November. The theme is Social
Sustainability and all students can submit art. Kirk is facilitating
the show so contact
him ASAP if you want to contribute some work
(kir...@gmail.com). We'll have an art reception Wednesday November
16th, from 5:30 to 8:30. There'll be eats, and hopefully some rocking
tunes!
o For a meeting/event, have a REED canyon tour with Zac
Perry
o 14th—Living Machine Tour
o 20th—Fermentation Fest (@ Ecotrust, $5, 6-8)
o 22nd—No Ivy Day (meet at the Greenspace @ 8:30am and join
with the E-club to walk to the site ant Marquam Park)
— Salmon spawning surveying 11-2:30
o 23rd—Walktober/Portland Adventure Hike (meet @ Greenspace
before 10am for a 10 mile hike through WA Park, up to Pittock mansion,
past the Audubon Society, and down into Balch Creek. Bring a lunch)
o 26th—Conoit Dam Removal Project (2nd largest!)
o 28th—Eco District (POSI) ($80 for a student to get into
the Summit, plus 4-5 volunteer hours)
o 29th—Marquan Park Trail Repair (Join the Environmental club
at Greenspace 8:30am and walk to the site at the Marquam Park Shelter)
o November 6th—Salmon Viewing Eagle Creek
o November 30th—Abstracts due for UERC Symposium
o January—Humanure
o February—UERC Symposium @ PSU