Georgia Tech Partners with Ford for Green Eco School Bus
Georgia Institute of Technology has partnered with the Ford Motor Company Fund to convert a school bus to a hydraulic hybrid vehicle that runs on recycled biofuel. The project was financed by a $50,000 Ford College Community Challenge. Students, with the help of a mechanical engineering professor, designed and developed the hydraulic hybrid system for the 16-passenger school bus. The university held an event in which elementary students painted the bus and organized a drive to collect used cooking oil for processing into biodiesel.
Green Mountain College Creates Sustainable Food Studies Program
Green Mountain College (VT) has announced a new master’s degree in sustainable food systems. The program builds on the interest in food and agriculture issues in the U.S. and on the success of the college’s undergraduate major in sustainable agriculture. The primary objective of the new program is to educate leaders in food and agricultural systems with a graduate-level interdisciplinary program focused on sustainable production and knowledge of the economic, ecological and social forces driving food systems.
Huffington Post Highlights SUNY's Sustainability Commitment
The State University of New York (SUNY) public higher education system has seized upon a valuable opportunity to make sustainability a central theme of its strategic planning, reports The Huffington Post. With 64 campuses, SUNY is one of New York State’s largest energy consumers. The university system understands its energy consumption is not sustainable and has taken measurable steps in its strategic plan to reduce energy consumption and make sustainability a priority. Most recently, the New York State governor and SUNY have unveiled the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program “to make SUNY a leading catalyst for job growth throughout the state, strengthen the academic programs and demonstrate that New York is open for business.”
Indiana U-Purdue U Indianapolis to Fund Sustainability Projects
Nine sustainability projects on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus ranging from water bottle fill stations to sculptural bike parking have received grant support from Greening IUPUI. The 2011 grant proposals marked the third round of Greening IUPUI grant awards. The grants fund student, faculty and staff-led initiatives that plan to “green” the university by advancing its sustainability principles.
Metropolitan CC Debuts Green Bike Program
Metropolitan Community College (NE) recently debuted the Green Bike Program at its Fort Omaha campus. The Green Bike Program encourages biking as a healthy, safe and environmentally friendly way to get around. Students and staff on the campus will have free access to seven bikes. Twenty-four new bike racks were installed on campus, and eight sharrows were painted on campus roads. The green bikes will be available free of charge on a first-come, first-serve basis to get around the Fort Omaha campus only. The Green Bike program is made possible through a partnership among the college, Live Well Omaha, the Community Bike Shop and Green Street Cycles. The bikes were painted by students in the college's Auto Collision Technology Program.
MIT Signs International Sustainability Charter
Massachusetts Institute of Technology has signed the Sustainable Campus Charter, an agreement signed by leaders of 25 other national and international universities. The charter will deepen the institute’s commitment to improve sustainability, foster energy efficiency and reduce waste in all campus activities. The charter also encourages members to continue sustainability efforts locally and share information and experiences globally. The charter was initiated by Global University Leaders Forum, who partnered with the International Sustainable Campus Network to develop, implement and manage the new charter. Other charter signatories include Carnegie Mellon University (PA), Yale University (CT), Oxford University (UK), Cambridge University (UK), Harvard University (MA) and others in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
North Carolina State Res. Halls Receive Energy Star Certification
Three North Carolina State University residence halls - Carroll, Sullivan and Tucker - have received ENERGY STAR certification. They join fewer than 80 residence halls nationwide in receiving the certification. ENERGY STAR-certified buildings use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. "The fact that each certified building is a residence hall demonstrates University Housing's ongoing commitment to address our nation's energy challenge while providing safe and affordable housing for our student body," said Dr. Tim Luckadoo, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, in a news release.
Ohio State U Has Zero Waste Plans for Football Stadium
The Ohio State University has announced plans to make its entire football stadium a Zero Waste Zone. The goal of the Zero Waste project is to achieve a 90 percent diversion rate of waste material such as food, paper products and plastics away from landfills. To help achieve this goal by the end of the 2012 season, the university will not place trash cans on the premises. The initiative is supported by the Department of Athletics and by a $50,000 grant from the President’s and Provost’s Council on Sustainability.
Old Dominion U, Hampton U Students Build Solar Decathlon Home
Students from Vermont-based Old Dominion University and Hampton University have designed and assisted in the construction of a solar home. The house will compete in the Solar Decathlon, an international green technology contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Sustainable features of the home include solar panels on a slanted roof and retractable windows to let natural heat and breezes in. The total cost of the model is expected to run between $280,000 and $330,000. Once the contest is over, the solar home is expected to become a permanent studio on campus.
U California Davis Plans for Campus Food Cooperative
The University of California, Davis’ Flatland Food Collective, a student group, has launched a campaign to bring locally grown, organic food to campus. The collective will run a pedal-powered smoothie cart in fall 2011. Local farmers will donate fruit for the smoothies. After generating enough revenue, the student group hopes to start a café directly on campus. The Flatland Food Collective is sponsored by Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive, a national nonprofit organization that provides resources for groups on college campuses to start food co-ops.
U California Los Angeles Students Use App to Monitor Trees
The University of California, Los Angeles' student-led Sustainable Living Program’s Action Research Team has begun using an Android application to catalogue trees on campus. The phone application inputs data on the species and condition of trees. The information is uploaded to a website that records their geographic position. The five students are working with the Geography department to help the university better manage the resources it needs to take care of its trees. Once all of the trees have been catalogued, the Facilities Management department will use the application to manage the care of trees and ensure energy is not being wasted on watering trees that do not need it.
U California San Diego Receives $1.4 Mil for Energy Research
The University of California, San Diego has received a $1.4 million grant from the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research. The funding will accelerate the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies for Californians. The university plans to boost solar forecasting research, support the development of solar powered electric vehicle charging stations and solar integrated energy storage systems on campus, and improve information technology architecture with grid operators.
U California Santa Barbara Library Boosts Recycling Efforts
The University of California, Santa Barbara’s Davidson Library has provided 100 additional recycling bins to increase its trash diversion efforts and help students limit garbage waste. The campus plans to implement several recommendations from a waste audit of the facility by Green Project Consultants including posting recycling material guidelines near garbage receptacles and limiting organic and biodegradable materials that are sent directly to landfills. The university is also looking into developing a compost system for food-related materials, which make up 20 percent of the total waste.
U California Santa Cruz Carbon Fund Selects Green Projects
The student-run Carbon Fund at the University of California, Santa Cruz has selected nine staff and student projects for funding. Each project is community-based, requiring cooperation between students, staff and community members. Projects will include a “Take Back The Tap” pilot program, a water conservation system, the installation of a solar panel and wind turbine at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, energy-efficient lighting in parking lots, a certification program to make campus staff offices more ecologically friendly, and educational programs to help reduce water use throughout the region. The Carbon Fund receives money from a student-approved ballot initiative that raises money through a $3 per quarter student fee.
U Hawaii at Manoa Biofuels Project Wins $1 Mil Competition
The University of Hawaii at Manoa's project to advance the use of biofuels on the Hawaiian islands has won a $1 million sustainability research competition. The two-year project will conduct research and plant test sites of Jatropha curcas, a fast-growing, drought resistant tropical oil-bearing plant rich in fatty oils that can be converted to biodiesel. It will also explore the conservation of waste biomass into carbonized material that can be used for soil enrichment. The project will include educational outreach through a capstone engineering course, as well support for undergraduate students in senior thesis projects. The development of a business plan for the commercialization of some of the technologies has the potential to sustain the project after its initial two-year duration.
U Hawaii Maui College Debuts Sustainable Science Mgmt Degree
The University of Hawaii Board of Regents has granted provisional status for a new undergraduate degree in sustainable science management to debut at the University of Hawaii Maui College in fall 2011. With a focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation, the degree program provides green industry workforce training and integrates topics in energy, ecology, business and management, water and wastewater, agriculture, wastewater management, economics, policy and social science.
U Northern British Columbia Installs Showers for Cyclists
The University of Northern British Columbia has installed two showers for bike commuters. The shower facilities are part of a plan to encourage more people to bike or walk to campus. The cycling community at the university had expressed that the new facilities would be a great help and remove a lot of barriers to biking to campus.
U Oregon Finalizes Guidelines for Sustainable Building
The University of Oregon has formalized its Oregon Model for Sustainability, which includes new campus building guidelines. The new guidelines focus on three primary sustainability concerns: energy, water and people. All new development should have zero net increase in overall energy use and offset stormwater runoff. Along with creating a more sustainable building and site, new development projects will have to contribute a minimum of $35,000 toward educating students and staff. The increased costs of the proposed measures will be shared between the individual building project’s funding and the university’s central funding sources obtained through student fees and tuition.
U Tennessee Expands Composting Ground
The University of Tennessee has expanded its Make Orange Green campaign with the addition of a new composting program. The university had been composting only leaves and coffee grounds and as a result of recent construction, the composting site was relocated to a secluded spot. The new site will collect pre-consumer food waste including coffee grounds, vegetable scraps and fruit rinds. Meat and dairy products will be accepted once the program has collected enough wood chips and leaves.
U Washington Students Break Ground on New Farm
Students at the University of Washington recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for an expanded campus Farm. The UW Farm, a registered student organization that grows produce, has expanded to include a new location. The group received a $78,306 from the Campus Sustainability Fund for the new site, which will allow the farm to produce more food to sell to campus Housing and Food Services.
U Wisconsin Oshkosh Unveils Dry Fermentation Anaerobic Digester
The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh has debuted its dry fermentation anaerobic digester. The renewable energy facility includes heat and power generators that will produce up to 5 percent of the campus’ electricity and heat. The dry bio-digester will resemble an indoor composting site with air filters and will require up to 8,000 tons of organic bio-waste per year. The project is a collaborative effort with funding received from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Foundation, Wisconsin Focus on Energy and the federal government.
Western Michigan U Surveys Students for Sustainability Priorities
Western Michigan University has received over 500 responses to its first Student Sustainability Survey. Students identified reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills; expanding healthy and sustainable food options; and encouraging public transit, carpooling and non-motorized transportation as among the most important sustainability actions for the university to initiate. The details will be presented during a public forum. The survey results, along with comments from the forum and input from the university-wide Sustainability Committee, will set the priorities for the Office of Sustainability in the 2011-2012 academic year.
West Virginia U Celebrates Bike to Work Week
West Virginia University recently celebrated Bike to Work Week, part of National Bike Month, by encouraging employees and students to ride their bikes and showcasing the services available to cyclists. The university’s Mountaineer Station offers indoor lockers, bike racks and showers for cyclists who can then ride the Personal Rapid Transit system to their destination. A Confident City Cycling program was created for those who are uncomfortable with cycling on the streets and the university will pay for the cost for employees to attend the program.
AP Covers Student Emphasis on Sustainable Food
Higher education students' leanings toward sustainable, locally produced foods is highlighted in a recent article by the Associated Press that was picked up by media outlets nationwide including The Washington Post, MSNBC Today, Boston Globe and the San Francisco Examiner. “I think our generation or just people in general are becoming more conscious about the quality of what they eat, where it comes from and if it’s sustainable,” says a Wesleyan University (CT) sophomore in the article. Bon Appetit Management Co., Wesleyan’s food service provider, lets students use university-issued dining points toward its student-run cheese co-op, as it also does for students on other campuses for farmers’ markets, says the article. The piece also features student demand for seasonable produce at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley's Student Food Collective, "the flagship example in a national effort to train collegians to start their own food co-ops emphasizing healthy, local food in student-run storefronts, campus cafes and other spots."
Austin College Earns Community Environmental Project Grant
Austin College (TX) has received a grant from the Constellation Energy Foundation’s EcoStar competition. The grant will be used to finance the college’s Center for Environmental Studies Sneed Prairie Field Trip Program. This program allows college students to teach elementary and middle school students about ecology and environmental issues on the college's 100-acre prairie.
California State U Fullerton to Install 5,000 Solar Panels
California State University, Fullerton has announced the installation of 5,000 solar panels. The system will have a combined rating greater than one megawatt of power and will be installed at four sites around campus. The university expects to reduce its electricity costs by $8 million.
City College of San Francisco Building Earns LEED Gold
The City College of San Francisco’s (CA) newest building has earned LEED-NC Gold certification. The 110,000-square-foot academic facility showcases many green features including a passive cooling system. A louvered central atrium and skylight system, driven by wind power, takes advantage of natural ventilation by allowing airflow from the perimeter classrooms to be exhausted through glazed skylights at the roof level. The building’s Central Utility Plant is supported by a 400-well ground loop geothermal exchange system.
Colorado Mountain College Creates Sustainability Studies Degree
Colorado Mountain College has announced the creation of a bachelor's degree in sustainability studies. The program will focus on the economy, environment and social equity. Faculty studied programs offered at 30 colleges before designing coursework that will incorporate business, science and literature studies.
Dalhousie U Announces Green Building Policy
Dalhousie University (NS) has announced a new green building policy that recommends all new buildings be built to LEED Gold standards or higher. The policy also calls for Facilities Management and Office Sustainability staff to incorporate annual green building training for the campus community including green building tours, videos, fact sheets and other communications products.
Ithaca College Sodexo Employees to Earn Living Wage
Food service provider Sodexo has announced that it will increase wages for all dining hall employees at Ithaca College (NY) who earn less than the living wage. Employees will now earn at least $11.11, the living wage in Tompkins County, N.Y. While the students and Ithaca residents who make up the Labor Initiative in Promoting Solidarity are pleased that their demonstrations over the past year helped create the change, they are disappointed that the initiative's entire all-campus living wage proposal was not adopted, which also included changes to employee health care packages and grievance policies.
Luther College Constructs Hoop House
Luther College (IA) has constructed a hoop house on the grounds of its college gardens to extend the growing season and serve as a teaching tool about seasonal extension of garden operations. Funded by a donation from the college's director of facilities services, the hoop house was completed almost entirely using recycled or reclaimed materials.
MIT Grad Students Win MIT Clean Energy Prize
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has announced that Cool Chip Technologies, made up of three graduate students from MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Sloan School of Management, has been named the top winner of the $200,000 MIT Clean Energy Prize. The group developed an improved cooling system for the processor chips used in data centers that it says could lead to savings of $6 billion a year for industry and the military. MIT student teams also swept the rest of the competition, winning in the clean non-renewables, transportation and renewables (MIT/Harvard University student team) categories. Now in its fourth year, the competition is open to teams from any U.S.-based institution. Each of the finalists received $15,000.
New San Diego State U Bookstore Promotes 'Sweat-Free' Products
The new San Diego State University (CA) bookstore will sell clothes made by Alta Gracia, a company that guarantees its clothes are not made in sweatshop conditions. The university student movement, “Bring ‘Sweat-Free’ Clothes to SDSU Bookstore,” encouraged the bookstore to offer sweatshop-free products. Alta Gracia pays its workers in the Dominican Republic more than three times the nation's minimum wage.
North Carolina State U Presents Sustainability Awards
The Campus Environmental Sustainability Team at North Carolina State University recently presented its Earthwise awards for faculty, staff and students in recognition of championing environmentally sound practices on campus. This year's honorees made strides in the areas of sustainable construction, alternative energy and waste reduction.
NWF Blog: Youth Speak Out Against Climate Change Inaction
Advocating that today's generation of leaders act as trustees for future generations, youth climate activists recently held a series of iMatter marches and demonstrations around the globe. The iMatter organization - targeted at elementary- to college-aged youth - has also announced plans to sue the U.S. government, calling for a drastic reduction in emissions immediately. "We do have a legal right to insist that the planet is protected for our future and for generations to come," says the iMatter website. "We need our government to protect the atmosphere by reducing carbon dioxide emissions and put an end to our unhealthy reliance on fossil fuels."
Oregon State U Offers Campus Compost Options
Oregon State University has started offering several options for university departments to compost organic waste. Worm bins are now available for those who would like to manage their own composting and keep the finished compost. Buckets will be provided to those who would like to collect organic waste and then dump it at one of three compost drop points around campus. A trial collection route has also been created for larger departments. Limited to 15 participants, the initiative will investigate whether the new service could become permanent.
SEI Green Report Card on Hiatus; Collaborative Effort Underway
AASHE, the Princeton Review, Sierra Magazine and the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI) have launched a collaborative effort to improve the process of collecting sustainability data from higher education institutions, it was announced in a joint statement released recently. In an effort to reduce the college and university staff time required for data collection and survey completion, the organizations will work together to develop common sustainability survey language. It was also announced that SEI will take a sabbatical this fall from publishing the College Sustainability Report Card in order to have adequate time to plan and revise the survey process.
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Posted May 17, 2011
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Other News
Southern Oregon U Students Approve Ban on Bottled Water Sales
Southern Oregon University’s student government has passed legislation banning the sale of bottled water on campus. Under the provisions of the bill, bottled water would be removed from vending machines and Sodexo operations on campus. Reusable water bottles will be given to incoming freshmen at orientation and several spigots and water purifiers will be installed across campus. The goal of the bill is to have the campus completely water bottle-free by June 2012. The administration has shown support for the ban.
Temple U Offers Graduation Gown Recycling
Temple University (PA) has announced that graduates this year will be able to recycle their gowns after the graduation day. The university has offered graduation gowns made from 100 percent recycled plastic since January 2010, but this year sustainability ambassadors will also be on hand to collect the gowns to be made into new fabrics and other products. Since adopting the Greenweaver gown, made from roughly 23 recycled plastic bottles, the university has saved more than 276,000 plastic bottles from entering the waste stream.
Trevecca Nazarene U Raises Chickens to Supply Eggs to Campus
Trevecca Nazarene University (TN) has begun raising free-range chickens. The eggs produced will be sold to campus dining services. The university hopes to have a flock of 120 chickens by August 2011, capable of producing up to 500 eggs a week. The university will also partner with Vanderbilt University (TN), which operates a mobile pantry that delivers fresh, healthy, organic produce at reasonable prices to nearby neighborhoods. Remaining eggs will be offered for sale to local restaurants.
U Alaska Fairbanks Approves Student Sustainability Projects
The University of Alaska, Fairbanks has approved nine student-led sustainability projects totaling $128,140. Grant proposals were reviewed by the Office of Sustainability and Student RISE (Review of Infrastructure, Sustainability and Energy) Board and preference given to projects that invest in energy efficiency programs and renewable energy projects. Projects selected for funding include a glass pulverizer; local shopping/restaurant guide; student CSA share plan; interactive dashboard; and a carbon emissions inventory.
U British Columbia Becomes a Fair Trade Campus
As a result of the collaboration between its Engineers Without Borders chapter and Fair Trade Canada, the University of British Columbia has been named a fair trade campus. The university has committed to purchasing fair trade coffee, tea, chocolate and tropical fruit from producers who guarantee higher social, environmental and pay standards for farmers and workers. The university also worked with students to develop sustainable purchasing principles, a code of conduct for suppliers and has added fair trade products to the menus of more than 20 campus food outlets.
U California Berkeley Debuts Native Plant Nursery
Financed by students through the Green Initiative Fund, the University of California, Berkeley has launched a new native plant nursery. With the goal of restoring California ecology to more historical ecological functions, the starts in the nursery will be used to repopulate three designated natural areas alongside Strawberry Creek on campus. With the nursery, an adjoining demonstration garden-in-progress and student-taught classes on Strawberry Creek restoration, the university plans to educate students about restoration and recruit converts for labor-intensive projects.
U California Santa Barbara Releases Development Plan
The University of California, Santa Barbara and representatives of Sustainable University Now (SUN) have announced the adoption of the campus' Long Range Development Plan. Highlights of the plan include more effective mitigation of potential environmental impacts; striving to reduce car trips to campus by reducing the number of future parking spaces by 650 from the original campus plan and increasing the number of bicycle paths and bicycle parking spaces; replacing its car and truck fleet with ultra fuel-efficient vehicles; monitoring and reporting on greenhouse gas emissions; and implementing energy reduction strategies.
U Central Florida Students Propose Campus Solar Farm
Engineering students at the University of Central Florida have presented an idea for an on-campus solar farm that would help make the campus climate neutral by 2050. Presented at the Progress Energy Senior Design Symposium, the three-acre farm would eventually produce 15 percent of the campus' power requirements. Upcoming seniors will have the chance to work on the solar farm project this fall semester, but whether the project is realized depends on potential funding sources.
U Florida Announces New Sustainability Studies Program
The University of Florida has announced a new sustainability studies major that will start in fall 2011. The interdisciplinary program will investigate the means to maintain environmental health, create economic welfare and pursue social justice. Students will gain an understanding of how these goals are interdependent and explore how they best can be pursued over the long term on local, national and global scales. Students will also be required to take part in internships or service learning projects.
U Illinois Urbana-Champaign Scraps Wind Turbine Plans
Due to an estimated cost that rose to $5.2 million and opposition to its proposed location, the University of Illinois has decided to put an end to a plan to build a wind turbine on its Urbana-Champaign campus. The school had planned to erect the 400-foot-tall electricity-generating turbine just south of the Urbana, Ill. city limits.
U Kansas Awarded USDA Grant for Green Cleaning Research
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded a research team at the University of Kansas a $5.6 million grant to find ways to green many household products. The research will look to replace petroleum-based chemicals used in products like plastics and laundry detergents with biomass products like nonfood crops and agriculture leftovers.
U New Mexico Sustainability Studies Program Receives $1.6 Mil
The Sustainability Studies program at the University of New Mexico has received two grants totaling more than $1.6 million from the W.K. Kellogg foundation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also gave the program $290,000 to pay faculty salaries, hire a graduate assistant for a year and a half and provide travel grants and stipends for minority students to take part in the summer field program. The Kellogg grants were invested in the stock market to pay dividends and help keep the program running.
U Oregon Creates Reusable Office Supply Exchange
The University of Oregon’s Campus Recycling office has created a Reusable Office Supply Exchange, available to all departments, faculty, administrators and student groups. The self-service program brings together surplus supplies from around campus including pens, notebooks, staplers and calculators. The university hopes to reduce the purchase of new office supplies and prevent old supplies from being sent to landfills.
