ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY (GREEN CAMPUS) INTRODUCTION Colleges and universities are national leaders in sustainability, especially when it comes

to green building standards and policies. The strongest evidence for this is the growing number of green buildings on campuses. A sudden explosion of campus sustainability rating and ranking systems, each with a unique set of criteria for what constitutes green building, has documented this growth. The relationship between green building concept and environmental sustainability produced environmental friendly campus design which covered some principles as follows: Natural resources protection and enhancement Resources efficiency Sustainable consumption Sustainable Construction Adherence to relevant laws and regulations OBJECTIVES OF STUDY The objectives of study can be stated according to specific relationship between campus facilities and sustainability management as follows: To identify any components of environmental sustainability within campus area To relate the overall design of the campus due to environmental cautious To identify any issues within the population To understand any potential of environmental impacts LOCATION OF STUDY The stated principles above might be different compared to our study on the existing components of environmental sustainability within Politeknik Merlimau, Melaka. Politeknik Merlimau is an educational campus that located at Jasin district area, 2 km from Merlimau Downtown and 24 km from Melaka Town. The campus was fully utilized on 17 November 2002 and able to cater about 5000 students. The facilities of the campus consist of administrative buildings, classroom buildings, canteen, library,

assembly hall, laboratories, hostels, mosque, sport facilities etc. All these kind of facilities was constructed using an ordinary method without considering major part of green building perspectives. But some of preliminaries building design might have some consideration in order to produce a convenient environment for campus life. Figure 1 show the front view of Politeknik Merlimau Campus.

Figure 1: The front view of Politeknik Merlimau Campus. LAND CLEARING Land clearing is a process of removing trees, stumps, and other vegetation to achieve a conservation objective. This practice applies to wooded areas where the removal of trees, stumps, brush, and other vegetation is needed in carrying out a conservation plan. The construction process of Politeknik Merlimau due to land clearing was been done within the construction borderline. Although the land clearing affected flora and fauna, a regular maintenance program of rehabilitation shall be established to maintain vegetative cover while controlling undesired and exotic vegetation. Figure 2 show the existing landscape in order to harmonizing the campus and adding esthetic value to enhance environmental quality. Ground disturbing activities associated with this practice

been covered by grass to maintain earth ground surface stability especially for the significant sloping area.

Figure 2: Harmonizing campus with landscaping activities STORM WATER DRAINAGE The function of storm water drainage systems is to collect minor design storm runoff and convey major design storm (flood) runoff to a discharge point. A storm water drainage system can be as simple as a ditch that outlets to a stream or as complex as a system comprising numerous intakes, manholes, and pipes along with ditches, storm water retention or detention basins, and pump stations. Storm water drainage systems consist of two components: the minor system and the major system. Minor Systems Minor systems (or convenience systems) are designed to carry runoff from a minor design storm event. Minor systems consists of curbs, gutters, inlets, pipe and other conduits, open channels, pumps, detention basins, water quality control systems, etc. Figure 3 show the existing U-Shape drain for minor storm water drainage system.

Figure 3: Existing U-Shape drain for minor storm water drainage system Major Systems Major systems are designed to convey storm water flow that exceeds the capacity of the minor system. This usually occurs during a major storm event. Major systems consist of designated overland flow routes such as streets, ditches, and swales which direct runoff to natural or manmade channels. Routing paths should be evaluated and appropriate flowage easements obtained for major storm runoff. The objective for roadway storm water drainage systems is to provide safe passage for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. For these systems to function properly, they must be designed to: Quickly drain minor design storm runoff from the pavement surface, and convey this runoff through the minor system to a discharge point, without the system backing up at collection points (intakes) creating the potential for flooding Convey major design storm (flood) flows through the major system to a discharge point Discharge storm water without adverse on- or off-site impacts and without increasing downstream erosion or sedimentation

Figure 4: Main drainage through the pond

Figure 5: Solid waste trap Resident of the campus also been facilitated with recreational park which consist of two ponds for storm water rehabilitation system. The rehabilitation of storm water consists of solid waste trap system. Figure 5 show solid waste trap that retain the solid waste but not well maintain. By the way, the trap still able to function and inlet storm water to the pond seems to be free from solid waste (refer to Figure 6).

The existing pond is typically a body water which smaller than a lake and formed by excavating process. The pond been constructed properly due to its function but the water quality is questionable. However, the sloping area of the pond well treated by vegetation of grass which avoid soil erosion and minimize the upstream pollution. Figure 7 show the artificial pond for storm water. Finally storm water been discharged through a box culvert and back to the river with minimal sediment pollutants but the quality of water still questionable. Figure 8 & 9 shows the process of storm water final discharge.

Figure 6: Inlet drain of storm water to the pond

Figure 7: Artificial pond for storm water

Figure 8: Box shape drain for final storm water outlet

Figure 9: Storm water outlet to existing river

SOIL EROSION Soil is the top layer of the earths surface that is capable of sustaining life. Therefore, soil is very important to farmers, who depend on soil to provide abundant, healthy crops each year. Soil erosion is the deterioration of soil by the physical movement of soil particles from a given site. Wind, water, ice, animals, and the use of tools by man are usually the main causes of soil erosion. It is a natural process which usually does not cause any major problems. It becomes a problem when human activity causes it to occur much faster than under normal conditions. It is vegetation that keeps soil from eroding. This is because soil is usually covered with shrubs and trees, by dead and decaying matter or by a thick mat of grass. Figure 10 show the soil erosion of sloping area of the campus. The soil erosion been held because there were no root system of plants. The root system of plants is able to hold the soil together. Plants slow down water as it flows over the land and it allows much of the rain to soak into the ground. Plants also break the impact of a raindrop before it hits the soil. This reduces water erosion. When this covering is stripped away through deforestation, over-grazing and fire, soil erosion is greatly accelerated. Over-cultivation and compaction cause the soil to lose its structure and cohesion and it becomes more easily eroded. Soils with high clay content are more cohesive and allow soil particles to stick together. Soil with more clay is less vulnerable to erosion than soil with high sand or silt content. By referring Figure 11, eroded soil entered the drainage ditches which may cause reducing of water quality and drainage system efficiency. Soil that settles in water systems is called sediment. Accumulation of sediment often requires that it be cleared out manually, which costs money. Sediment is considered to be major pollutant. It can inhibit fish spawning at the pond and block the sunlight necessary to plant life. The suitable application to avoid soil erosion can be determined by referring to Figure 12.

Figure 10: Soil erosion of sloping area

Figure 11: Eroded soil entered drainage ditches

Figure 12: Vegetation of sloping area to avoid soil erosion SOLID WASTE SYSTEM Solid waste is the unwanted or useless solid materials generated from combined residential, industrial and commercial activities in a given area. It may be categorized according to its origin (domestic, industrial, commercial, construction or institutional); according to its contents (organic material, glass, metal, plastic paper etc); or according to hazard potential (toxic, non-toxin, flammable, radioactive, infectious etc). Management of solid waste reduces or eliminates adverse impacts on the environment and human health and supports economic development and improved quality of life. A number of processes are involved in effectively managing waste for a municipality. These include monitoring, collection, transport, processing, recycling and disposal. Methods of waste reduction, waste reuse and recycling are the preferred options when managing waste. The recycling method of solid waste is really a practical way to reduce the amount of solid waste. Figure 13 shows provided recycling bin in the campus to educate and facilitate the campus resident practically. The management of other solid waste (refer to Figure 14) is centralized for regular waste collection by local authorities. This practice is capable to organize the cleanliness of surrounding area. There are many environmental benefits that can be derived from the use of these methods. They reduce or prevent green house gas emissions, reduce the release of

pollutants, conserve resources, save energy and reduce the demand for waste treatment technology and landfill space. Therefore it is advisable that these methods be adopted and incorporated as part of the waste management plan.

Figure 13: Provided recycling bin

Figure 14: Solid waste terminal

WASTEWATER Wastewater is water that has been used and must be treated before it is released into another body of water, so that it does not cause further pollution of water sources. Wastewater comes from a variety of sources. Everything that you flush down your toilet or rinse down the drain is wastewater. Rainwater and runoff, along with various pollutants, go down street gutters and eventually end up at a wastewater treatment facility. Wastewater can also come from agricultural and industrial sources. In this case waste water treatment plan of the campus is an underground sewage pumping system which been complied capacity of total influent. However, there is no odor problem, in fact that the sewage treatment plant well maintain and located quite far from the resident (refer to Figure 15)

Figure 15: Existing sewage treatment plant