Pac-12 Sustainability Conference

2023 Program Coming Soon

2022 Conference Program

Must be a registered conference attendee to attend Tours.
Click down arrow for details and to RSVP. All start times listed are in Mountain Time (MT).

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

12:00 - 3:00PM	Career Fair - Sustainability in Athletics | University of Utah Rice-Eccles Stadium, 4th Floor ▾ Calling all students, student athletes and employers! This unique career fair will showcase jobs and career paths focused on environmental sustainability and athletics. Pac-12 member campus athletic teams and their corporate partners provide a unique opportunity to prioritize environmental sustainability with their extensive reach, large fan bases and widely recognized student athletes/alumni. Employers - join us to share your open job opportunities focused on sustainability and environmental impact. Students - launch your career in the field of sustainability and athletics and help to create meaningful change in support of a sustainable future. Free registration required for employers. Students and job seekers, registration not required.
3:00 - 5:00PM	TOURS
4:00 - 5:00PM	Salt Palace Convention Center Sustainable Showcase Walking Tour ▾ The Salt Palace Convention Center is the only trade show venue in the world to house five different EIC Sustainable Event Standards. This walking session will tour different areas of the sustainability program, including their award winning materials management program that will offer insights into community impact, recycling efforts, and their onsite upcycling shop. During the tour you will also hear about the food rescue efforts of Centerplate, and their partnership with Wasatch Resource Recovery to turn food scraps into natural gas through anaerobic digestion. Attendees will also get to stand inside the building's 600,000 square foot rooftop solar array. You will experience how the Salt Palace's new YOU ARE HERE program brings a circular business model to Salt Lake hospitality. Tour Stops: Salt Palace Convention Center | Centerplate/Wasatch Resource Recover | Rooftop Solar Array Tour Leader: McKell Nelson | Sustainable Events Coordinator and Green Team Committee Chairperson, Salt Palace Convention Center
3:00 - 4:00PM	Ken Garff Red Zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium Tour ▾ Come and preview the next step in enhancing Rice-Eccles Stadium, essential to the mission of the football program, athletics department and the University of Utah to guarantee the continuous patronage by fans, supporters and prospective student-athletes for generations to come. Find out how the Ken Garff Red Zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium does the following on this tour: -Supports the 500-plus student-athletes spread across 20 sports through the additional revenues -Enhances the overall game-day experience through the addition of new premium seating, bench seating and hospitality areas to create a world-class college football atmosphere for fans. -Elevates the student-athlete experience through new locker rooms, sports medicine facilities and other football operation spaces to boost recruiting efforts for generations to come. -Builds off the foundation to continue serving as a gathering place on campus for many other events connecting thousands of students, alumni, faculty, staff and fans to the University of Utah Tour Leader: Alan Hansing | Executive Director of Event and Facility Management, University of Utah Athletics Tour Leader: Sam Augustine, Director of Infrastructure, Planning and Design Department, University of Utah
3:00 - 5:00PM	Utah Olympic Park Tour ▾ The Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation celebrates the spirit of the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games to inspire active, healthy lifestyles and increases community uses of Utah Olympic venues. Join us for a tour of Designated Official U.S. Olympic Training Sites, whose venues are places of inspiration and accomplishment where young athletes train alongside world champions. The Tour also includes the Alf Engen Ski Museum and Rice Eccles Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum. This world-class facility highlights the history of all skiing disciplines in the intermountain region through interactive touch screen displays, videos, virtual reality ski theater, games and topographical maps. Visitors can also experience the glory of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games through a gallery of visual highlights and artifacts from the 2002 games. Tour Leader: Connie Nelson | Executive Director, Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation
4:00 - 5:00PM	Huntsman Basketball Facility Sustainability Tour presented by ▾ The University of Utah's first Athletics building to be LEED Gold certified is the Jon M. and Karen Huntsman Basketball Facility, home to both men's and women's basketball - officially a leader in sustainable design and energy efficiency. This is the eighth building on campus to be certified Gold or higher, and represents a commitment to a sustainable future through design. Huntsman, which is connected to the Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Complex, serve 17 of the U's sports programs and accommodate the needs of each program while serving as a model for what is possible in sustainable design. Sustainability Highlights: Building Materials The 102,000-square-foot facility was manufactured using over 23 percent of recycled materials and resources strategically selected from the Utah region to support local businesses and to reduce the environmental impacts associated with transportation. Over 12.5 percent of the total building materials include products that were manufactured and extracted within 500 miles of the site. During construction, the project diverted nearly 85 percent of the on-site generated construction waste away from landfills. Eco-friendly Site Design The design implements a stormwater management plan that results in a 25 percent decrease in the volume of stormwater runoff from intense rain events. In addition, the hardscape and roof surfaces, including a rooftop terrace and garden, which offers a 360-degree view of the Wasatch and Oquirrh Mountains, the university campus, downtown Salt Lake City and the Great Salt Lake, were designed to mitigate urban heat island heat buildup around the facility with lighter materials to in order to minimize the impacts of the reflected sun on surrounding wildlife habitats. The training facility is near U shuttle stops and UTA bus and TRAX routes. It also features on-site bicycle storage conveniently located near the campus bicycle masterplan's desired routes. Energy Efficiency The practice facility exceeds the LEED baseline energy performance rating by 38 percent thanks to numerous strategies to make the building more efficient. For example, all interior and exterior light fixtures are LED's, the HVAC systems, building insulation and windows were selected to minimize energy waste. Exterior fixtures were positioned to minimize light pollution, improve nighttime visibility, and reduce impacts on surrounding environments. An Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) standard was also set so a system could monitor outdoor air delivery, increase ventilation, and enhance thermal comfort of occupants. Tour Leader: Alan Hansing | Executive Director of Event and Facility Management, University of Utah Athletics Tour Leader: Jason Michael Ford | Associate Principal, Senior Architect, Populous
5:30 - 7:30PM	Opening Night Reception - University of Utah, College of Law Rooftop 383 South University St E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
6:00 - 6:15PM	Welcome Keynote by Taylor Randall | President, University of Utah
6:15 - 6:45PM	Ute Tribe Blessing and Performance

Thursday, June 16, 2022

8:00 - 9:00 AM	Breakfast & Registration Opens
8:15 - 8:45 AM	Chair Yoga, Meditation and Breathing Practice with Kera Thompson Kera Thompson | Event & TV Host
9:00 - 9:10 AM	Conference Kickoff Emcee: Kera Thompson | Event & TV Host
9:10 - 9:15 AM	Welcome by University of Utah Kerry Case | Chief Sustainability Officer, University of Utah
9:15 - 9:30 AM	Welcome and Pac-12 Team Green Annual Report Cheryl Wong | Associate Commissioner, Sport Management and Championships, Pac-12 Conference
9:30 - 10:30 AM	Sustainability: Good for the Game, Good for the Planet, Good for the Bottom Line ▾ Learn best practices on how to market sustainability operations focused on partnerships that support sports-sustainability functions. Several keys to monetization enable success and are important to collegiate sports including Purpose, Legitimacy, Integration, Alignment, Amplification and Partnerships. Get the inside scoop on how effective and mutually-beneficial partnerships between campus sustainability staff, athletics staff and media rights holders are required to effectively implement sustainability actions and how these groups can work together to win brands monetary support. Moderator: Dave Newport | Director, Environmental Center, University of Colorado at Boulder Caroline Acosta | Vice President, Partnership Development, Pac-12 Conference Spencer Christiansen | Senior Vice President, LEARFIELD Bill Hueffner | Chief Marketing Officer, Pacific Seafood
10:30 - 11:15AM	Break
10:40 - 11:10 AM	How Can Universities Prepare for an Electric Future? ▾ Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption has increased significantly over the past ten years and by 2030 almost thirty percent of vehicles travelling on North American roads will be electric. As EVs become mainstream, providing EV charging will become an economic and environmental imperative. Deploying EV charging infrastructure at higher education institutions is a necessity to support staff, student and visitor needs. In this session, FLO and University of Montreal will share how to build a right-sized solution that fits university needs, diving into the challenges universities will face to make an EV experience reliable, accessible, and equitable while remaining economically viable. Learn about the wide variety of environmental and workplace benefits consistent with deploying EV charging infrastructure. Find out how to lead successful deployment in an University setting, discuss the results (quantitative and qualitative) of this deployment, and impact on student-life, employees, and the University as a whole. Jose Hollanda | Marketing Director, FLO EV Charging Thierry Gras-Chouteau | Climate Change Advisor, Sustainability, University of Montreal
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM	Creating a Culture of Sustainability in Sports ▾ In this interactive best practices presentation, representatives from each department and organization will discuss tools and tips to engage their internal university communities on sustainability practices. From implementing reuse to engage fans to engaging athletes, and event staff -attendees will learn how to foster productive collaboration in order to enhance sustainability operations of sporting venues. Kelsey Gaude | Program Manager, Facilities Management, Zero Waste, Arizona State University Graham Rossini | Senior Associate Athletic Director, Arizona State University Jose Eskenzi | Associate Athletic Director, University of Southern California (USC)		An Environmental Impact Analysis of a Home Football Game Abby Ghent | Former Sports and Sustainability Ambassador, University of Utah Angie Gilbert | Zero Waste Program Manager, University of Colorado Boulder
12:15 - 1:00 PM	Lunch
1:00 - 1:30 PM	Pac-12 Zero Waste Challenge Awards Ceremony Introduction by: Andy Wright | Director of Sustainability, PepsiCo Beverages North America Hosted by: Heather Vaughan | Vice President of Marketing, Pac-12 Conference
1:30 - 2:30 PM	Plenary: Pac-12 Conference Athletic Directors Share Team Green Wins ▾ Kerry Case | Chief Sustainability Officer, University of Utah Rick George | Athletic Director, University of Colorado Boulder Mark Harlan | Athletic Director, University of Utah
2:30 - 3:00PM	Break
3:00 - 4:00 PM	Health Care Models to Sustain Systemic Programs and Campus Mental Wellness ▾ Join us and engage in this interactive case study to learn how Maya McClendon (ASU Volleyball '17) and Mikaela Brewer (Stanford Basketball '20) built a comprehensive annual reporting system for assessing stigma, sport counselor roles, student-athlete social environments, athletics healthcare administrators, collaborative and integrative care, interdisciplinary team planning, and the availability, familiarity, and understanding of student-athlete-specific mental health resources and education. Developed from NCAA Best Practices and supporting research, these program evaluations serve as comprehensive reports that knit together education, accountability, and action in the student-athlete mental health sphere. Maya McCLendon | CEO + Founder, Timeout Software, Inc. Mikaela Brewer | Head of Research + Content, Timeout Software, Inc. Miguel Rueda | Senior Associate AD, CU Boulder, Chair of Pac-12 Student-Athlete Health & Well-Being Initiative		Finding a Path to Clean, Cost Effective Operations with Renewable Energy ▾ While reducing energy consumption is the key first step to reducing carbon emissions, renewable energy is the necessary next step to ensure a healthy climate for the sports fans of the future. Key challenges are faced when taking this next step, including deciding which renewable energy procurement option best meets your organizational financial and strategic needs. Carbon offsets can be a helpful tool to support carbon neutral or net zero pledges and help you reduce emissions now, while continuing to work to reduce your own emissions. This session will aim to help the audience tackle these challenges by beginning with a review of the benefits of going renewable and procuring carbon offsets, as well as opportunity to engage your fans around your sustainability story, and then continuing with highlights from three Pac 12 schools with success stories to share. This session will provide tips for how schools and teams can ensure their voluntary procurements are having maximum carbon reduction impacts. Pat Brewer | Senior Analyst, Center for Resource Solutions Chris Benson | Associate Director, Sustainability and Energy, University of Utah Moira Zbella | Scope 3 Emissions Program Manager, Stanford University Suzy Mason | Senior Associate Athletics Director, University of Arizona
4:00 - 4:15PM	Break
4:15 - 4:45 PM	Closing Keynote Sarah Wilhelmi | Senior Director, Collegiate Partnerships, US Olympic & Paralympic Committee
4:45 - 5:15 PM	Closing Keynote Mick Dalrymple | Chief Sustainability Officer, USC
5:15PM	Closing Remarks & Passing of the Torch Emcee: Kera Thompson | Event & TV Host Jamie Zaninovich | Chief Operating Officer, Pac-12 Conference
5:00 - 6:00 PM	Networking Reception