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Greener Grounds: One University's Efforts

  October 4, 2017


By Dan Hounsell


Yale University’s fleet of mowers, hedge trimmers and chainsaws are buzzing into the environmentally conscious 21st Century as the Office of Facilities works to replace diesel-powered equipment with battery-powered alternatives by the end of the calendar year, according to an article in the Yale News.

In 2005, Yale committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent by 2020. The initiative to replace diesel landscaping equipment with emissions-free electric equipment is driven in part by Landscaping Supervisor Joseph Signore and began about a year ago. Since the project began, the Office of Facilities has identified satisfactory electric alternatives to most of their diesel-powered machinery.

“The guys came in, and they were just like, ‘This thing just kept cutting,’” says Paul Catalano, the university’s director of grounds maintenance, referring to new electric hedge trimmers and string trimmers that can cut along three football fields’ worth of fencing on one charge.

Read more here.

This Quick Read was submitted by Dan Hounsell, editor-in-chief of Facility Maintenance Decisions, dan.hounsell@tradepressmedia.com. To read more about sustainability and grounds care, visit https://www.facilitiesnet.com/14032FMD. To learn about green specifiction of grounds equipment, visit https://www.facilitiesnet.com/15549FMD.

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