OCAD University
OP-4: Building Operations and Maintenance

Green Cleaning Program: OCAD University's Green Cleaning contract uses 100% third-party certified green cleaning and janitorial products (e.g. EcoLogo) to reduce exposure impacts for all building occupants and the environment, thereby promoting clean and healthy work, living, and learning space. Green Studio Operations: The Studio Management department at OCAD U is committed to advancing environmental leadership and promoting sustainability through their studio operations. The shops and studios have implemented many initiatives that reflect “green” thinking and practice. These include: • A studio-wide waste diversion program that involves recycling and reusing scrap studio materials for class projects • The purchase of recycled materials (such as polyethylene plastics) for class supplies • The implementation of a new vegetable/coconut oil-based solvent called Estisol to replace the use of toxic solvents in Printmaking Studios. For more information on estisols visit http://www.estichem.com • BIO-CIRCLE, a self-contained bio-remediation unit used to clean oils with microbes, installed in the Metal Shop. For more information on bio-remediation visit http://www.biocircle.com • A silver recovery program implemented in the Photography Centre where waste chemicals are pumped through a metallic replacement cartridge, which removes the silver and replaces it with iron, an environmentally safer agent. • Old rubber moulds from Foundry & Mouldmaking Studios are cut into pieces and reused for packing material • The campus-wide use of third-party/EcoLogo certified, environmentally-friendly cleaning products by janitorial staff ReUse Depot The ReUse Depot is an important opportunity for artists and designers to up-cycle, re-purpose or reuse materials that can inspire, explore creativity, or reduce students' financial burden while redirecting the material from landfill. It’s a series of locations across campus for donating used but usable art & design materials and/or finding used items. Salvage Yard In support of circular economy approaches, Salvage Yard is a large-scale, staffed event for managing materials before and after the largest exhibition event of the year, GradEx. Given the studio-based curriculum, materials such as wood, acrylic, paints, and cardboard are frequently used to develop projects for this final exhibition and/or for setting up an installation. OCAD U students and also studio technicians and other campus community members bring projects and unwanted materials to the Great Hall on the 2nd floor of 100 McCaul to be sorted and redistributed for reuse where possible. Staff help to break down and separate the materials by type. Usable materials are saved and redistributed throughout the ReUse depots on campus. OCAD U also partners with The Artist Material Fund - a Toronto based initiative to redistribute art materials to the creative community at large, to help maximize the amount of reuse we can achieve. Working with the external vendor, OCAD U collects data on how much and of what types of recycling and possibly landfill waste we are creating, so we can work to further improve our impact in coming years.