UCSB Groundskeeping Team Goes Electric
UC Santa Barbara is known for being a beautiful campus, lots of greenery and scenic views of the ocean. The campus is kept in pristine condition thanks to the facilities management ground crew. This team maintains the plants, shrubbery, trees, all landscaped areas, and pedestrian pathways on campus. Up until now, the grounds crew used gas-powered equipment to do their job. These gas-powered tools produce emissions that are harmful to both the workers and the environment. Fortunately, the grounds crew is now making the switch from gas-powered to electric grounds equipment.
In 2019, the Bren School Sustainability Committee proposed this project to purchase 48 electric leaf blowers to replace all of the gas leaf blowers currently used by the facilities management grounds crew. Funding for the project was awarded by The Green Initiative Fund, a program that supports projects that enhance our campus’ environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability. The gas-powered leaf blowers produce emissions directly into the environment, and this switch to electric equipment will effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutants and noise pollution on campus. California’s Environmental Protection Agency states that the emissions from just one hour of use of a commercial leaf blower are equivalent to driving a 2016 Toyota Camry for about 1,100 miles!
The air pollutants emitted from the gas equipment include carbon monoxide which contributes to ground-level ozone, dust emissions and microscopic ultrafine particles which are harmful to landscaping workers, as well as UCSB students and staff. The new equipment has a vacuum mechanism that is designed to reduce the dust and other particulates stirred up during outdoor cleanup, which reduces both noise pollution and air pollutant emissions.
The UCSB Facilities Management department has been gradually replacing gas tools with electric tools over the past 5 years, but this TGIF grant will effectively replace all of the gas tools. The entire crew has new equipment, a few 4-cycle blowers will be kept for big jobs like cutting the fire breaks on the edge of campus but the team will use the new electric equipment for all daily activities. This switch will mitigate workers’ respiratory health issues by reducing the inhalation of exhaust, toxins, and dust. Ergonomically, the tools are an improvement as well, they are more lightweight and will hopefully reduce the number of on the job injuries and general strain from carrying the heavier tools. The grounds workers previously voiced their concerns about using the gas-powered tools and were able to demo some electric tools, but prior to the TGIF grant, there was not enough funding to effectively replace all of them. At the time, the models of the electric tools did not have as much power and capacity as the gas-powered tools required for some of the jobs.
Yirui Zhang, a Bren School student on the Sustainability Committee commented on the switch, “Actually many cities and institutions have recognized the environmental and health impacts associated with gas-powered leaf blowers. For example, the Palo Alto City Council passed an ordinance in 2005 prohibiting the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in residential zones of the city. The gas-powered ground tools release exhaust emissions and dust emissions. Also, gas leaf blowers create a common noise that can cause headaches and higher heart attack rates. Replacing these gas-powered tools will reduce occupational health risk for groundskeepers and staff and create a healthier campus environment.”
UC Santa Barbara’s switch from gas-powered to electric groundskeeping equipment is just one of the many steps the campus is taking towards sustainability. Check out more sustainability-related projects funded by the Green Initiative Fund here.