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Sustainability at ORNL > Questions, Comments, Ideas > Questions

8/11/2009

Sprinkling in the rain
Is anyone responsible for checking the weather forecast and monitoring the sprinkler system at ORNL? I happen to notice the sprinklers in front of the cafeteria right as I came through the round-about this morning. Was I surprised to see the sprinklers on as it was definitely raining. Surely in this day and age of conserving our resources and saving money on frivolous things and being at a lab that prizes itself on great research, something could be done to design a sprinkler system that doesn't come on when it is raining.

F&O's George Baber responds:
All of the ORNL sprinkler systems have a rain delay mode which requires each one be unlocked and manually switched into that mode and then manually re-set to operations mode after the rainfall event. There are about 12 separate controllers plant wide from HFIR to the Visitor Center, and we try to switch them into rain delay when we know rain is in the forecast. Sometimes we forget or miss a controller, or the weather is simply too unpredictable.
Posted at 11:41 AM by Salk, Marti | Category: ORNL grounds and landscaping | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

6/10/2009

Statistics on paper recycling with the new program
Are there statistics on the amounts of office paper collected for recycling at ORNL before and after the initiation of the new program in which all paper is supposed to be placed in a bin for shredding?

I've perceived a drop-off in recycling in my work area, presumably because it's often annoying and time-consuming to either feed material through the slot or find the person who has a key to the bins. I wonder if this perception is supported by data.

I think it's nice that we now have ready access to shredding for potentially confidential items, but I have a hunch that people would recycle more (and the program would cost less) if we still also had access to standard bins for placement of old newspapers, journals, reprints, open-access government reports, phone books, and other items for which there is clearly no need for confidentiality.
Posted at 10:35 AM by Smith, Ellen D. | Category: Recycling | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

1/23/2009

Roundabout at the West Campus entrance?
It was widely rumored that the West Campus renovations were going to include installation of a roundabout at the intersection of Bethel Valley Road (BVR) and First Street. This would be a sensible energy-saving measure, as it would reduce the idling of vehicles  -- particularly the long idling periods for vehicles waiting to turn left from First Street to BVR, where waits often are very long, even when there are no vehicles in sight on BVR.

Now the installation of new poles and mounting standards for traffic signals leads me to conclude that the traffic signal is going to be permanent, and there will be no roundabout. What happened to the roundabout?

Gerry Palau, ORNL's Construction Manager, responds:

 Edit
There are no firm plans to redesign the intersection at this time.  ORNL's 10-year plan does address improving all of 1st Street between BVR and White Oak Avenue — but there are no specific designs on how to do so.  As with the traffic light [see Information Exchange post, http://sustainability-ornl.org/issues/ideas/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=8], the ORNL Traffic Safety Committee will have input into the final design — using traffic safety as the first consideration. Beyond that,  if traffic safety doesn't drive the reconfiguration of the intersection to a roundabout, it would be challenging to justify the change based only on vehicle exhaust-type issues — as the environmental footprint of constructing a roundabout at that intersection  (with high ground to the north, a low/wetland area to the southwest, and the Environmental Sciences sign on the north side as well), as well as the financial cost of building in that situation, would be considerable.

Posted at 10:23 AM by Smith, Ellen D. | Category: ORNL transportation and parking | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (2)

1/21/2009

Carpool
Why can't I get support from anyone at ORNL to advertise, support, and increase carpooling efforts? The ORNL website creators and others I've asked are not responsive. How can I find new carpoolers?
Posted at 8:39 AM by Strange, Ann R. | Category: ORNL transportation and parking | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (1)

12/11/2008

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