The Cost of Printing vs. iPads: A Paperless Student Union at the University of British Columbia Justin Ritchie, Sustainability Coordinator Elin Tayyar,

The Cost of Printing vs. iPads: A Paperless Student Union at the University of British Columbia

Justin Ritchie, Sustainability Coordinator

Elin Tayyar, VP Finance

Alma Mater Society, University of British Columbia

http://amssustainability.ca

Campus Profile of UBC + AMS Breakdown

• Located in Vancouver, BC• 47,000 students, 16,000 residents,

10,000 staff• The Alma Mater Society is the student

union at UBC • Has an annual budget of over

$25,000,000 and over 500 employees• Managed through 5 elected student

executives and oversight provided by a 40 person elected student council

• Biggest student union in Canada

UBC Campus

Student Union Building

• We have over 14 businesses that generate $9 million in revenue

• Lowest student fees in Canada

• Unites campus operations with academics

• Builds collaborative partnerships between staff, faculty and students

• Develops accredited campus sustainability projects

• 700 reports, 4000 participants

UBC SEEDS PROGRAM

1st Campus Garden

REAL IMPACTS: first local organic apple in residences, UBC Farm dishes, biodegradable ware, Furniture Reuse Program, organic weed control, worm bins, reusable container program & more!

To learn more about UBC SEEDS Program:

Liska Richer

Coordinator, UBC SEEDS Program, Campus Sustainability

Campus + Community Planning,

University of British Columbia

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 604 822 3270

Web: sustain.ubc.ca

Problem Statement

Project question to Chemical Engineering course:

AMS, as an organization, goes through a lot of paper. Would providing tablets for all full-time employees and eliminating printing be a more sustainable alternative?

?

AMS Paper usage

• Over 60 permanent AMS full-time staff• Over 240,000 sheets of paper a year• Total mass of paper = 1,089.6kg• 14 printers

Assumptions:• iPads would reduce paper usage by

2/3 (reduce by 160,000 sheets/yr)• 2 printers would still be kept.

• Battery Replacement = New iPad.

• Cost of battery replacement plan is $134.14/iPad.

• Total cost of new batteries = $8,048

• 1000 full charge/discharge cycles to retain 80% of original capacity.

• 10 hrs of life per charge

• Total of 10,000 hrs of life

• Batteries useful for 5 years to AMS staff.

• iPad life = a 10 year time frame

iPad Battery Life

iPad 1 iPad 2

IPad Cost $469.28 (tax incl) $581.28 (tax incl)

Battery Replacement $134.14 (tax incl) $134.14 (tax incl)

Total Cost for 10 years $32,205.2 $42,925.2

Cost of iPad

iPad Environmental Impact Assessment

Energy Impacts:• British Columbia uses 98% hydro-

electricity, which has a negligible variable environmental impact.

• Difference between the two alternatives are small:

12 printers (to be removed)

iPads

Energy usage over 10 years

3600 kw.hr 4200 kw.hr

Impact Category Unit Paper

(Over 10 years)iPad

Global Warming Potential

Tonnes CO2 eq.

Lower Bound

6.8

Upper Bound67.5

Lower Bound4.68

Upper Bound15.6

Acidification kg SO2 eq. 146.6 42.5

Particulate Matter kg PM eq. 21.8 4.8Ozone Depletion mg CFC-11 eq. 832.0 negligibleEutrophication kg N eq. 24.8 negligible

iPad Environmental Impact Assessment

1- via tear down analysis input to MeeUP2- Apple Environmental report 2010

Paper Reduction Savings

Assume: 1/3 paper will still be printed

Including tax, cost of paper = $48.82/box

With these assumptions:

Annual paper use savings = $1,562.24

10 year savings = $15,624.40

Printer and Toner Savings

10 small printers, 4 large printersWith the institution of iPads, only two of the larger printers would be kept.

Cost of toner & lease per small printer = $50/month/printer

10 year savings = $72,000

Energy savings not included (small value)10 year printing savings = $87,624.40

Challenges

Difficulties in implementing anything, IT department small, tablet compatibility issues, more experienced staff are more resistant to change

Steps taken:To reduce paper use before purchasing a first round of iPads, we held several meetings with our staff to discuss ways to reduce paper use

Engaged the full time staff throughout the process. Staff are much more conscious of printing.

Next Steps and Core Value Questions

Several staff are currently using iPads• Integrating it into our IT systems; staff are gradually

getting used to iPads

New Centre for Interactive Research for Sustainability building experimenting with iPads, and using cloud computing. • Environmental/climate control through their iPads.

We are currently building a new 255,000 sqft LEED Platinum student centre, the most sustainable Student Union Building in the world• Most upgrades and changes are pending the

completion of the building.

Other AMS Projects

New Student Union Building• Award-winning community consultation process• Most sustainable Student Union Building in the world• Fully functional roof-top garden• LEED Platinum/Living Building ChallengeMicro-Brewery• Will be in the new SUB. Will be getting most

ingredients from the 24 hectare Farm located on the UBC Campus

• First student owned and operated micro-brewery