Maintaining the picturesque landscape of one of America's most beautiful college campuses takes skilled staff, careful planning, and the right equipment. Thanks to a grant from the Chancellor's Office and Office of Sustainability, Landscape Services has replaced nearly half of its handheld grounds equipment with electric alternatives, improving working conditions for employees while reducing emissions, eliminating tailpipe exhaust, lowering operating costs, and creating a quieter campus.
Jon Eldon, Senior Lecturer in the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, partnered with Landscape Services to secure funding from the Campus Sustainability Innovation Fund, which enabled the replacement of gas-powered string trimmers, leaf blowers, and hedge trimmers with battery-powered models.
According to Trent Chitwood, grounds manager for IU Bloomington Landscape Services, the new equipment has streamlined daily operations. "From an operational standpoint, it has simplified our workflow immensely. We spend less time maintaining engines, mixing fuel, and troubleshooting mechanical issues, and more time focused on our profession and, ultimately, the care of our campus landscape."
The previous equipment relied on two-cycle fuel—a mixture of gasoline and oil—which produces more harmful emissions than gasoline alone. It also releases volatile organic compounds and fine particulate matter, pollutants that can affect air quality. By switching to electric equipment, Landscape Services has reduced on-campus air and noise pollution for employees operating the equipment as well as students, faculty and staff nearby.
Chitwood said his crew prefers the electric string trimmers over their gas-powered counterparts. "This grant isn't just an investment in new tools; it's a direct investment in our team’s health and longevity. Removing gas fumes, loud engine noise, and constant vibration from our daily routine completely changes the physical toll of our profession for the better.”
One common concern with electric landscaping equipment is battery life. To ensure crews can work throughout the day, Landscape Services has extra batteries that can be swapped as needed.
"Landscaping is evolving. There was once a perception that fossil fuels were necessary to maintain large landscapes, but that's changing. This grant puts our campus at the forefront of that transition. We are proving that you can maintain world-class campus aesthetics while prioritizing modern, ergonomic, and sustainable practices for our team," said Chitwood.
