Greenly - Green Blog

The RIT campus is composed of bricks. But during the winter it is also composed of salt. Every night I see the trucks come by salting both the roads and walk ways. The amount of salt is staggering, turning my bike white and causing it to rust. While my bike might not like the salt, neither do the plants and other biotic life that have to deal with salt when the snow melts.

So what can be done about all this salt? Truth be told, there are more environmentally friendly solutions such as calcium magnesium acetate which is far less toxic compared to the ordinary and cheap rock salt. Furthermore, there are many places on campus that shouldn’t need to ever be plowed or salted. One solution in particular, could decrease a great deal of the salt use at RIT.

The most trafficked walkway on campus is the quarter mile which stretches from the dorms to the academic side. One solution that many business in snowy climates implement are heated walk ways which prevent snow and ice from accumulating in the first place. This works by installing a hydronic radiant heating system under the pavement, which simply consists of a network of copper or polyethylene (PEX) tubing filled with an antifreeze liquid. The liquid can then be warmed manually or automatically, melting away all ice and snow that may sit atop the pavement.  For more information on hydronic radiant heating, check out the video below.

Hydronic radiant heated sidewalks are common in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.

RIT could implement this system within the quarter mile, eliminating the need for plowing and salting, and thus using less energy and saving money. Another great benefit is safety, as when it snows during the day, the quarter mile can’t be cleared and becomes extremely slippery. I personally have seen many students fall and become injured because the quarter mile was snowed over.

But what about the energy needed to heat the piping under the pavement? A large solar thermal system could provide the heat on snowy days and on non snowy days it could be used to provide hot water to the Clark Gym, SLC, and other buildings around campus.

What do you think? Does a hydronic system sound feasible to you? Can you think of even better solutions to replace the need for salt in the battle against snow and ice? Let us know in the comments below.