SUSTAINABILITY
The Ontario College of Art & Design is committed to advancing responsible environmental practices and promoting sustainability through its academic and administrative programs and practices. OCAD wishes to engage its stakeholders, both internally and externally, in discussing and taking actions to reduce waste, increase recycling and limit carbon emissions. The university will continue to support and launch initiatives that reflect the concern the OCAD community shares regarding environmental responsibility and sustainability, and will be an active of champion for innovation that advances “green” thinking and practices.
Sustainability Task Force
OCAD’s Sustainability Task Force is composed of students, faculty and staff and is responsible for developing strategies to improve institutional sustainability, promote environmentally responsible practices and highlight existing “green” activities. The Sustainability Task Force is developing strategic partnerships between OCAD and external organizations with the goal of improving our university’s positive impact on the environment and raising awareness of sustainable practices.
Sustainability Office
The role of the Sustainability Office is to coordinate all sustainability initiatives on campus. The office will work closely with the Sustainability Task Force, the Sustainability Working Group of the New Ecology of Learning (NEL), and the Sustainability Salon.
Sustainability Office Coordinator Sheila Waite-Chuah (who is also a faculty member in the Faculty of Design’s Industrial Design program) has been involved in sustainability curriculum at OCAD for many years, and brings to this position her background in art and design (AOCA, 1977) and more recently environmental studies (she holds a master’s degree in this field from York University). Waite-Chuah represented OCAD at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) conference in 2008, meeting with participants from hundreds of schools across North America in discussions around “greening” the campus and curricula.
For more information:
Sheila Waite-Chuah, BA, AOCA, MES
Sustainability Office Coordinator
416-977-6000 Ext. 2262
Initiatives:
OCAD has implemented many initiatives aimed at reducing the university’s ecological footprint. These include:
- A commitment by the Board of Governors “that OCAD make environmental sustainability a specific consideration, when making decisions including those related to capital expenditures and operating budgets, in order to realize the institutional objectives of reducing environmental impact and advancing responsible environmental practices”;
- A significant investment and commitment to conduct an energy audit with a specific focus on sustainability, and to implement the audit’s recommendations;
- Upgrades to heating/cooling systems in the Main Building (100 McCaul Street) to improve energy efficiency;
- Annual institutional membership (extending to all OCAD students, faculty and staff) to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), which provides access to a rich array of online resources and numerous opportunities for networking, information sharing, collaboration, and professional development;
Purchasing clean, renewable electricity from Bullfrog Power™ for the Student Centre (51 McCaul Street), effectively reducing the Student Centre’s one-year emissions footprint by approximately 24.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide (the primary gas that causes climate change), 71.6 kilograms of sulphur dioxide (major contributor to smog) and 30.9 kilograms of nitrogen oxides (major contributor to smog);- The launch of a carbon footprint calculator in partnership with Zerofootprint Toronto, allowing OCAD to measure its carbon footprint, track it over time, and learn how to reduce it;
- Hosting the Green Exchange, a regular event in which OCAD community members are invited to safely exchange, recycle or dispose of old electronic equipment (including computers, PDAs, mobile phones, computer peripherals, etc.) and batteries.
- Participation in Earth Hour, in which the OCAD campus is powered-down for an hour as a show of support for action on climate change;
- The implementation of a new vegetable/coconut oil-based
solvent called Etisol, to replace the use of toxic solvents in all OCAD studios; 
The testing of BIO-CIRCLE, a self-contained unit used to clean oils with microbes, in OCAD’s Metal and Drawing & Painting studios;- A rigorous campus-wide recycling program that includes recycling used hand towels, broken furniture and scrap studio materials, such as metal and plastics;
- Default double-sided print settings for all campus copiers and printers, and pilot-testing of environmentally friendly solid-ink toner cartridges;
- Support of the Green Palette student group, which promotes environmental awareness and action, and supports more efforts to effect environmental change and improve the ecological footprint at OCAD;
- Pilot-testing of water-efficient plumbing fixtures, including waterless urinals which reduce up to 150,000 litres of water per unit, annually;
- Discouragement of bottled water at campus events, and a mandate to install drinking fountains as part of campus renovation projects;
- Use of high-efficiency lighting and motion sensor–activated lighting throughout the campus;
- Implementation of a digital pay statement system for OCAD employees, instead of paper;
- Automated nightly shutdown and efficient power-management for all academic computers.
- The implementation of virtualization, server consolidation, energy-efficient hard drives and shared power supplies in OCAD’s data centre;
Recycling drop boxes for dry-cell batteries, printer cartridges and cell phones located outside 317c The Store for Computers & Books and the Service Bureaus on levels 2 and 6 at 100 McCaul Street;- A “Share-A-Mug” program — initiated by students to reduce the use of disposable cups in favour of re-usable mugs — at the Grange Bistro Café, located beside the Great Hall on Level 2, 100 McCaul Street;
- The campus-wide use of natural, environmentally friendly cleaning products by janitorial staff;
- A bicycle-friendly campus program.
OCAD community members are invited to submit ideas, comments and feedback about sustainability initiatives to the Sustainability Task Force by e-mailing sustainability@ocad.ca.
Last Modified:16/10/2009 1:39:31 PM