Building a Sustainable Zoo

What is Conservation?

•Animals•Habitats•Resources

What is Sustainability?

“,,, able to be maintained”

•The capacity to endure•The ability to provide for the needs of the present without detracting from the ability to serve the needs of the future•Sound business practice, corporate social responsibility

What’s the Deal?

What are we doing and why?• Reducing energy, resource, and water

consumption• Increasing use of alternative energy

sources, increase diversion from the landfill

• Board approved policy statement - 2008• Board-level Carbon Neutral/Zero Waste

Task Force - 2010

Sustainability Policy

Recognizing its impact on all stakeholders,

the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium will develop a world class sustainability program leading to the meaningful

reduction of its carbon footprint.

- Adopted by the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Executive and Appointed Board, December 2008

What happens at home?

• 580 acres of land• Over 10,000 individual animals in our care• More than 1.9 million guests visited in

2012

Areas of Concentration

Waste Reduction

•Reuse old wetsuits as protective gear for animal handling

•Reuse celery and/or grocery bags as well as the rubber bands that hold broccoli bunches together 

•Deliver food to animal areas in reusable containers

•Use barrels and trashcans rather than trash bags to collect soiled bedding

•Put up dry erase boards for checklists and communication

•Save handles to broken tools so they can be reused with new heads.

Just the facts, ma’am

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649.5

93

467

0

761.3

130

550

0

833

217.9

487

80

1131

159

770

0

1131.5

143

516

0

813.3

151.94

566

21.5

816

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Recycling

Trash

Electronics

Manure

Waste Recycling 2012•816 tons manure, bedding material and food waste  •126.73 tons of baled corrugated (21 tons in 2010)

•5.21 tons of paper (Abitibi) •7.46 tons of mixed metal •11.22 tons of co-mingled recyclables (8.81 tons in 2011)

•Cell phones recycled (183 in 2011)

•Over 5,000 light bulbs – fluorescent, metal halide, U-tubes,,,•21.5 tons electronics –Public drop off event

Save a Watt, Save a Lot

Energy Conservation

• Is it driven by money or mission?

WildLights at the Zoo

WildLights at the Zoo

• Converted 3 million traditional holiday lights to LED bulbs

• 85% reduction in electricity• 2-year effort• Major support by American Electric Power

Warehouse Lighting

• The lighting system was upgraded to more energy efficient lights

• Active daylighting system was installed (fancy skylights)

• The daylighting system is integrated with the lighting system

Warehouse Lighting

• The lights are connected to occupancy sensors • The Zoo has seen a savings of $11,000 per

year on its electric bill• The estimated ROI on this project was 2.4

years

Flux Drive Installations

• Frictionless coupling of motor and pump using magnet technology

• Design life of 20 years

Flux Drive Installations• No throttling; all valves are wide open• Provides variable speed control to reduce

flow as required• Saves energy & money* • No harmonics• Reduced noise and vibration* • Straightforward in design, easy to operate

& understand• Designed to operate in harsh

environments *documented at the CZA

Who cares?

Polar Frontier

• Theming• Reuse• Rethinking• Plantings

Polar Frontier

• Geothermal System provides geothermal heating and cooling to 3 buildings, including the Battelle Ice Bear Outpost

• Heats and cools the water for all bear pools

• Geothermal system eliminated need for traditional air-cooled chillers, gas-fired boilers and heating units

• Zoo water tower serves as heat sink and heat source

Life Support System Controls

• LSS Control changes at Manatee Coast and Polar Frontier

• Touch screen controls on Zoo-wide network, remote log-in– Staffing efficiency

• Programming changes for optimal operations efficiency

Savings

Energy Savings Program

Active Energy Savings Program for years:

•Lighting•Ciralight active skylights•Fluxdrives•Building Controls

Recycling

270 new sets of combined recycling/trash

containers are now on-grounds

The project was funded in part by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Recycling and Litter Prevention

Cell Phone Recycling

Partnering with ECO-CELL, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium will lead efforts in our community to collect used cell phones and approved handheld electronics for recycling in an environmentally-minded manner

Stepping it up, Embracing our Future

Carbon Footprint Baseline Results

Breakdown of Greenhouse Gas Sources

When is waste a resource?

•Compost•Waste to

energy

Future Projects

Planning for a Bright Green Future