This workshop will address the economics of carbon use and speculate on ways that Penn State can encourage greenhouse gas reductions through various market mechanisms. Penn State has an overall operating budget of 4+ billion dollars and spends approximately $62 million annually for “fuel and utilities.”  Is it possible that the price of fuel does not reflect its fully allocated social costs, and can Penn State use price to modify carbon intensive practices on campus? The Office of Physical Plant currently invests $10 million each year in energy conservation programs and has had success in developing guidelines to shape procurement activities. How can we build on this legacy to allocate resources to finance the development of alternative energy sources?

PARTICIPANTS

MELANIE BERNIER
Associate Director, Budget and Finance, Student Affairs

Melanie is from central PA and she graduated from Penn State in 1982.  She Started working at the University with Student Affairs in 1984, left in 1993 and then returned in 2001 to work with Educational Equity.  She has worked in Union and Student Activities at the HUB since 2008.

ERIK FOLEY-DeFIORE
Strategy & Planning Manager, Sustainability Institute

TERRY P. HARRISON
Earl P. Strong Executive Education Professor of Business and
Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems

Terry P. Harrison is the Earl P Strong Executive Education Professor of Business and Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems in the Smeal College of Business.  He teaches courses in all areas of the College’s programs: undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA, M.S. and Ph.D., in addition to Executive Programs.  His primary teaching interests are in the area of large-scale production and distribution systems, and supply chain design.  He has authored papers on various aspects of analytics and its use in manufacturing, distribution and supply chain management.  He currently is researching questions relating to additive manufacturing, sustainable procurement and SKU rationalization in product portfolios.

STEVE MARUSZEWSKI
Assistant Vice President, Office of Physical Plant

Steve is currently the Assistant Vice President for Physical Plant.  In his current role, he jointly oversees a workforce of over 1300 professional, technical service and administrative employees.  His responsibilities have also included leading the University’s Environmental Stewardship Strategy, Co-chairing the University’s Sustainability Strategic Planning Process and leading the efforts associated with defining and managing the campus deferred maintenance and capital renewal needs.

MADISON MILLER
Student, Schreyer Honors College

Madison is a sophomore pursuing a double major in Business Management and Community, Environment and Development with the intention of directing nonprofit organizations or government agencies after graduation. She is a member of the Presidential Leadership Academy and a research assistant in the department of Agriculture, Economics, Sociology and Education. Madison is extremely interested in sustainability and learning about the topic from others in the various fields and professions. 

SHAUN PARDI
President, Envinity, Inc.

Shaun is a chemist and practitioner of environmentally-sound building.  Since 2005 he has led Envinity Inc, an employee-owned company rooted in the comprehensive systems approach to green design, construction, and energy management for residential and commercial clients.  Envinity’s integrated team of engineers, building scientists, and craftsmen create economic value and restore our environment.

RICHARD READY
Professor of Agricultural and Environmental Economics

Dr. Ready is Professor of Agricultural and Environmental Economics at Penn State University. He received his PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Wisconsin. Prior to joining Penn State, he was on the faculty at the University of Kentucky and at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. His research focuses on the impacts that environmental quality and ecosystem health have on individuals and their decisions, and on the impacts those individual decisions have on environmental quality and ecosystem health.

BRANDI J. ROBINSON
Lecturer, Dutton e-Education Insititute
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

Brandi currently serves as faculty in the Energy and Sustainability Policy major in EMS.  Prior to joining the faculty, Brandi worked at Environmental Credit Corp., an offset project developer and for OPP, maintaining emissions inventories for the PSU campuses.  Brandi’s graduate research at Penn State focused on mitigation alternatives for University Park.