Frederick Community College Facilities Master Plan 2023 Chapter 6 Recommendations, Campus Development 6-E-1 May, 2023 SUSTAINABILITY Underwriting a Sustainable Future for FCC Sustainability for Frederick Community College begins with a commitment to make current sustainability practices more robust, explore new ways of limiting the College’s carbon footprint, broaden the reach of sustainability in the College’s policies, and implement new and expanded sustainable practices. An array of opportunities await, to save resources, become less dependent on fossil fuels, and to lower operating costs. Location and Accessing the Campus Located within the City of Frederick, the campus, while in a suburban setting, is accessible by way of private vehicles and three Frederick County TransIT bus routes. Considering the reality that most staff, faculty and students commute to the campus by car, even there, opportunities exist to encourage the use of fuel-efficient, hybrid, or electric vehicles by providing additional and conveniently located charging stations and designating favorable locations for those types of vehicles. While the TransIT bus intervals are relatively widely spaced apart, higher use could be encouraged by providing a more comfortable 4-season bus shelter, the location of which this plan suggests in, adjacent to, or at least near the proposed new Enrollment Services Building. In addition, perhaps under the purview of Student Affairs, the College could facilitate ride-share connections by any number of strategies. The Monroe Center is served by one TransIT line, but the link with the main campus is hampered by long wait times at the point of origin and at the Transit Center to transfer to the second bus. And, vice-versa. It is recommended that the College explore providing a shuttle between the main campus and Monroe. This could be in association with TransIT, independently operated by FCC, or in association with other institutions. One example is the Collegetown operation in Baltimore serving several colleges and universities in the city and county. The Campus and its Landscape The Opossumtown Pike campus, well maintained and with favorable location, size, and topography, offers several opportunities. Originally covered by forest, the campus is located in an area likely settled long ago by native peoples (known to have occupied the lands near the Monocacy River), later cleared for farming and additional settlement prior to the County purchasing the property to establish a permanent home for the College. As a testimony to the evidently balanced soils substrate, grasses, shrubs, ground cover and trees appear to do well. Much of the campus is planted with grass, which requires significant, energyconsuming maintenance. As many other institutions have done, areas of meadow are proposed in the campus development
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