Green Mountain College
OP-2: Outdoor Air Quality

Green Mountain College No-Idling Policy--

Applicability:
This policy applies to the operation of any vehicle on Green Mountain College property.

Rationale:
Exhaust from idling vehicles can accumulate and pose a health risk to employees, drivers, and the community at large. Exposure to exhaust can cause lung damage and respiratory problems. Exhaust also exacerbates asthma and existing allergies, and long-term exposure is thought to increase the risk of lung cancer. Idling vehicles also waste fuel and financial resources and contribute to global warming. Idling is bad for the environment and bad for the bottom line.

Purpose:
To minimize idling time in all aspects of facility vehicle operation.

Guidance:
•When drivers arrive at loading or unloading areas to drop off or pick up passengers, they should turn off their vehicles as soon as possible to eliminate idling time and reduce harmful emissions. Vehicles should not be restarted until passengers are ready to depart and there is a clear path by which to exit the pickup area. Exceptions include conditions that would compromise passenger safety, such as:
- extreme weather
- idling in traffic
•At bus and facility vehicle depots, limit idling time during early-morning warm-up to what is recommended by the vehicle manufacturer (generally 3 to 5 minutes) in all but the coldest weather.
•All service delivery vehicles should turn off their engines while making deliveries to the facility.
•All drivers of any vendor or GMC vehicle should receive a copy of this bulletin and be encouraged to discuss it at the beginning of every year.

Approved by Cabinet Spring 2011

On March 31st and April 29th, 2011, emissions testing was performed on our wood-fired boiler by Gammie Air Monitoring (GAM) to assess levels of carbon monoxide and total particulates. The wood-fired boiler is our only potentially significant stationary source of air pollutants on campus. The methodology and results were reviewed by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation: Air Pollution Control Division. Based on the findings, the Division concluded that the particulate and carbon monoxide emissions from the boiler were well below the Permit's emission limits under the conditions existing at the time (see the paragraph below for greater detail on the results). Since we have not significantly changed operations of the boiler since then, we think this testing is a good representation of the rate of emissions coming from the plant. Therefore, we conclude that we do not have "significant air emissions" from stationary sources, and thus do not have to submit a full inventory to pursue this credit.

Detailed results of the test:
Both particulate matter and carbon monoxide were both well below the permit limits at the time of testing. Total particulates (without condensables) were .06 lbs/hr and the permit limits were .98. Emissions in lbs/MMBTU were .009 and permit limits were .057. Total particulates (with condensables) were .007 gr/dscf at 12% CO2, well under the limit of .2. For carbon monoxide, results were 8 ppm at 12% CO2, significantly under the permit limit of 150.

The main strategy has been to avoid adding any new sources of significant air emissions.

Please note that the results of our emissions testing for the biomass plant cannot easily be converted to total tons over the course of that year because test results show lbs per hour, parts per million, and grains per dry standard cubic foot and data are unavailable on how many hours the biomass plant ran for that year or how many dry standard cubic feet we used. Thus, we have to report 0 for each of the above fields due to the fact that the credit cannot be submitted unless those fields are populated. Regardless, we believe the emissions test shows that the biomass plant is not a significant source of emissions and thus, we are exempt from having to submit a full inventory to pursue this credit.

Both particulate matter and carbon monoxide were both well below the permit limits at the time of testing. Total particulates (without condensables) were .06 lbs/hr and the permit limits were .98. Emissions in lbs/MMBTU were .009 and permit limits were .057. Total particulates (with condensables) were .007 gr/dscf at 12% CO2, well under the limit of .2. For carbon monoxide, results were 8 ppm at 12% CO2, significantly under the permit limit of 150. The carbon monoxide results cannot be scaled up to a year because of how they were tested.