Seattle U Bans Bottled Water
As a result of a three-year, student-led initiative, Seattle University (WA) has banned the sale of bottled water on campus including vending machines, athletics concession stands, the college bookstore, on-campus restaurants and catering. Fostering students’ concern for justice and the competence to promote it; keeping water as a human right and not a commodity to be bought and sold for profit; and moving further toward its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal are the reasons listed by the university to ban the sale of bottled water.
Stanford U Unveils Green Building
Stanford University (CA) has unveiled an eco-friendly building in accordance with its own sustainability guidelines. The university will not seek LEED certification for the $118 million, 166,000-square-foot Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building, which will house the university’s environmental science and energy researchers. Sustainable features include windows and shades that shift according to the weather and the angle of the sunlight in order to maximize the efficiency of natural ventilation and lighting. In addition, four large atria provide the center of the complex with ventilation and natural light.
SUNY Empire State College Launches Faculty Bike Share
SUNY Empire State College (NY) has launched a bike share program that allows faculty to take bikes out to commute between the main campus and distance learning facility. The bikes will be split between the two locations and also available for lunch or recreational rides.
Trinity Lutheran College Builds Rooftop Community Garden
Trinity Lutheran College (WA) has renovated the rooftop of a campus parking garage to feature a vegetable garden, small trees and native species plants that will be used in salmon habitat restoration. Students are working in the garden for class credit, helping to provide fresh produce for local food banks and plants for salmon. The college also plans to install solar panels to generate most of the electricity for the parking garage.
U California Los Angeles Receives $6 Mil for Nanotechnology Inst.
The University of California, Los Angeles has received a $6 million grant from the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology to construct the Western Institute of Nanotechnology on Green Engineering and Metrology. Engineering students and researchers will study advanced energy conservation technologies for microelectronics and nanotechnology in the building, which will incorporate sustainable design elements and feature 35,000-square-feet of laboratory space.
U California San Diego Partners for Energy Optimization Project
The University of California, San Diego and smart grid company Viridity Energy have received a $1,660,000 grant to improve solar deployment using the university's microgrid. The project, funded by the California Public Utilities Commission, will employ an autonomous, real-time dispatch of distributed energy resources to integrate large volumes of photovoltaic-produced energy into the university’s microgrid. The project will aim to overcome technology and regulatory barriers to enable wide-scale deployment of distributed solar generation.
U Montana to Build $16 Mil Biomass Boiler
The University of Montana has received a $180,000 grant from the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the U.S. Forest Service toward a $16 million wood-fired biomass boiler. Most of the work will be financed using bonds for energy and conservation projects. The industrial-sized biomass gasification operation will reduce the campus’ natural gas consumption by 70 percent. The university intends to use forest waste and will contract with logging companies to collect branches, bark and leaves left behind after timber harvesting. The boiler is expected to pay for itself within 15 to 17 years.
U New Mexico Partners with Local Farmers to Educate Youth
The University of New Mexico has teamed up with local farmers to feed and educate the community. University students are collaborating with an area charter high school to create a program aimed at teaching students the importance of local organic food. The high school students help prep beds and harvest and market the produce at a local farmers market. Some of the produce is served in the high school's lunch program.
U North Carolina Wilmington Plans to Increase Use of Local Food
In an effort to draw more attention to natural and local produce in its dining options and help students make connections with local farmers, the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Dining Services recently teamed up with local farmers for a campus farmers market. The event resulted in a goal between Dining Services and the Department of Agriculture in Marketing and Food Services to increase the use of locally grown products on campus by 10 percent.
U Pennsylvania Starts Sustainable Transportation Initiative
The University of Pennsylvania has debuted green buses as part of its Sustainable Transportation Initiative. The university purchased eight new low-emission vehicles: four buses capable of running on both ultra-low sulfur diesel, and four propane-powered shuttle vans. The new vehicles transport faculty, students and staff around campus. The initiative also includes expanded car-sharing options through a contract with Zipcar, parking benefits for low emission vehicles and a redesigned transportation website.
U South Sewanee to Seek LEED Gold for Renovated Forestry Building
Sewanee: The University of the South (TN) has revealed its newly renovated forestry and geology building designed to meet LEED Gold standards. The building’s green features include solar panels, the re-use of the building’s existing woods and stone, energy-efficient windows, recycled materials and the university’s first stormwater management practices. The building now has new labs, classrooms, resource rooms, research space and faculty offices.
U Wisconsin River Falls Receives Funding to Study Wind Turbines
The University of Wisconsin, River Falls has received funding from the Wisconsin Division of State Facilities to investigate the feasibility of wind turbines that could potentially produce nearly 50 percent of the energy used by the campus. The study will take a look at wind resource availability, site civil engineering requirements, electrical interconnection requirements and approval requirements for a potential turbine site.
Vermont Law School Opens Center for Agriculture and Food Systems
Vermont Law School has announced plans to open a Center for Agriculture and Food Systems to support advocates, agencies, food hubs, incubators and farmers engaged in the creation of community-based agriculture systems. The new center will focus on legal and policy issues related to community-based agriculture, the regulation of food, the Farm Bill and agricultural subsidies, energy-efficient food production and energy independence for farmers. The center will be modeled after the school’s Institute for Energy and the Environment.
Washington U St. Louis Center Earns 'Living Building' Status
Washington University in St. Louis' (MO) Living Learning Center has received the Living Building certification from the International Living Building Institute. A Living Building status is achieved when a project generates all of its own energy through renewable resources; captures and treats its own water through ecologically sound techniques; and incorporates only nontoxic, appropriately sourced materials. The asphalt parking lot where the university's Living Learning Center was built was replaced with pervious concrete walkways, native landscaping and a rain garden. Other environmentally friendly features include salvaged doors and hardware, a bat house with "bat cams" built into the eaves; photovoltaic panels and a 3,000-gallon underground tank that filters and irradiates rainwater collected from the roof with ultraviolet light so that it is clean enough to be potable.
Western Kentucky U, Habitat for Humanity Form Green Partnership
Western Kentucky University has partnered with Habitat for Humanity to create a new 16-acre, 50-unit green housing community using environmentally friendly development techniques. Funded by a $655,000 grant to the university from the Kentucky Division of Water, the community will feature pervious pavement, cisterns, rain barrels, irrigation piping to collect and recycle rainwater, drought-tolerant landscaping and organic alternatives to the use of chemicals. Western Kentucky University students will be involved in the design, data recording and analysis of the costs and benefits of the sustainable building project.
Arkansas Schools Receive Renewable Energy Research Grants
The Arkansas Science and Technology Authority has received a $20 million grant to study renewable energy. The five-year grant from the National Science Foundation will be bolstered by $4 million in matching funds from the state of Arkansas. Researchers at Arkansas institutions will study wind, solar and bio-based energy sources. Participating in the research is Arkansas State University, University of Central Arkansas, Philander Smith College, and University of Arkansas, who will receive $8.7 million over the next five years to establish two new energy research centers that will focus on different aspects of solar cell technology.
Brigham Young U Idaho Opens New Recycling Center
Brigham Young University–Idaho has opened a new recycling center in an effort to recycle at least 30 percent of its garbage, which would equate to 261 tons a year. The center will sort the materials into seven different areas from aluminum and white paper to cardboard and plastic. Recycling efforts began when students and faculty weighed and sorted one week’s worth of garbage and found that 54 percent of garbage thrown away was recyclable. Recycling revenue and money saved from reduced garbage disposal will cover the extra costs of sorting and delivering recyclables, making the new process cost neutral for the university.
California Lutheran U Debuts Building Designed to be LEED Silver
California Lutheran University has opened its first environmentally friendly building, designed to meet LEED Silver certification. The $8.5 million, 33,000-square-foot social and behavioral sciences center features passive solar design, motorized windows, sensors to turn the air conditioning or heating off in offices and classrooms, light sensors and water-efficient plumbing fixtures. Bioswales were incorporated into the landscaping for stormwater treatment and native, drought-tolerant plants were planted with high-efficiency irrigation. Eighteen percent of the materials used during construction featured recycled content and 22 percent came from within 500 miles of campus.
Chatham U Names Dean for School of Sustainability and Environment
Chatham University (PA) has named David Hassenzahl, Ph.D. as the founding dean of its School of Sustainability and the Environment. Hassenzahl will help shape the mission and curriculum for the new school, and the development of Chatham's 388-acre Eden Hall Farm Campus, where the school will eventually be headquartered. Hassenzahl is a senior fellow for the National Council for Science and the Environment, through which his climate change education efforts are supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He comes to Chatham from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he served as chair and associate professor in the environmental studies department.
Clinton CC Reveals Wind Turbine Trainer
Clinton Community College (NY) has revealed a wind simulator training unit. The Turbine Nacelle Troubleshooting Learning System is designed to train wind turbine technicians working with utility scale wind, replicating the functions of full-size utility scale wind turbines. Students can manipulate a wide variety of turbine features including gear assembly, yaw brakes, parking brakes, rotor lock, wind simulator, fault insertion and cable twist box. The college has also installed training system units for students studying electrical, environmental, clean room and industrial technology programs.
College of Wooster to Install Solar Roof
The College of Wooster (OH) is set to install a 20,000-square-foot solar roof on top of a new student recreation and athletic facility. The 271,000-kilowatt solar rooftop installation will be leased to the college, which has signed a power-purchase agreement for a period of 12.5 years. At the end of that term, the college will get the title to the solar installation. The center’s solar installation is expected to provide enough electricity year-round to power one of the student residence halls.
Columbia College Chicago Creates Sustainability Task Force
Columbia College Chicago (IL) has created a Sustainability Task Force. The group, made up of 30 faculty, staff and student members, is working with a consulting team to create a sustainability management plan. Students can also play an active role by joining the Environmental Protection Initiative at Columbia, a student-run environmental club.
DePaul U Installs Water Bottle Refill Stations
DePaul University (IL) has installed water bottle refill stations to help reduce its plastic water bottle waste. Sponsored by the Student Government Association, the university has placed refill stations that are controlled by an electric sensor at high traffic areas throughout campus. Each station tallies the number of times the unit has refilled a water bottle, providing an idea of how many plastic bottles were prevented from ending up in a landfill.
Drury U Expands Recycling, Composting Programs
Drury University (MO) has expanded its recycling and composting efforts. The university has purchased single-stream receptacles to place throughout campus and launched a composting program to eliminate food waste. All disposable food service items will be compostable including plates, forks and cups. The university hopes to establish an in-vessel composting operation on campus in the near future.
Franklin and Marshall College Installs Energy Dashboard
Franklin and Marshall College (PA) has installed energy meters in seven residence halls to observe energy consumption rates and encourage campus-wide awareness of energy consumption and sustainability practices. Live data from the meters will be available through Lucid Design Group's Building Dashboard website, providing instant comparison among buildings and between live and historical data.
Guilford College Expands Sustainability Efforts with Bike Shop
Recycles, a new bicycle shop, has opened on the Guilford College (NC) campus. The shop hopes to promote sustainability on campus with work study opportunities for students to work in the shop and educate the community about bike safety and maintenance. An idea that originated from the college's environmental sustainability coordinator, the bike shop opening is part of the “Green and Beyond” theme year that is expanding efforts toward carbon neutrality for the college.
Iowa Community Colleges to Offer Biodiesel Fuel Training
In partnership with the Iowa Biodiesel Board, Iowa's 15 community colleges are offering a free biodiesel fuel training class. The course will highlight biodiesel’s clean-burning, renewable attributes and the practical aspects to apply this alternative fuel in private and commercial vehicles. The three-hour workshop designed for automotive technicians and mechanics shares background information and practical applications of biodiesel for consumer, commercial and agricultural applications.
Kansas State U Implements Weekly Sustainable Lunches
Kansas State University’s Campus Ministry has launched a “Real Food Lunch” once a week. The ministry works with the Student Farm Club to provide students with healthy and sustainable food with an emphasis on social justice and the environment. All of the food used for the Real Food lunches is locally grown and the waste is composted. Another goal of the lunches is to create an overlap with other student groups including Students for Environmental Action, Amnesty International and fair trade advocates.
Monroe CC Receives Grant for Solar Field
Monroe Community College (MI) has received a $3 million grant for a solar field. As part of a 20-year agreement between the college and DTE Energy to provide renewable energy from the sun, a 500-kilowatt photovoltaic system will be placed on the east side of the campus. The college is the first institution to take part in DTE Energy's pilot program, SolarCurrents, which provides rebates for solar energy installations.
National Science Foundation Awards Water Sustainability Grants
The National Science Foundation has awarded higher education grants through its Water Sustainability and Climate solicitation with the goal of understanding and predicting the interactions of Earth’s water system with climate change, land use, the built environment and ecosystem functions. Institutions who received grants include: Florida International University; Utah State University; University of Texas at El Paso; Michigan State University; University of Minnesota, Duluth; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Idaho; Northern Arizona University; Michigan Technological University; University of North Texas; University of Michigan Ann Arbor; University of Maryland; University of Wisconsin-Madison; University of Arizona; and University of New Hampshire.
Ohio Wesleyan U Opens Green Recreation Center
Ohio Wesleyan University has opened an environmentally friendly recreation center designed to meet LEED certification. Sustainable features include a geothermal energy system that heats and cools the building, and a heat recovery system that heats water for the pool. The building also features a reflective clay-tile roof, as well as recycled, regional and low-VOC building materials.
Portland Community College Debuts Rocket Composter
As a result of student-driven research, Portland Community College (OR) has unveiled its new rocket composter. The self-contained, continuous-cycle composting unit allows the daily feeding of service ware and the harvest of compost. To speed up the process, it regulates water, temperature and humidity to facilitate four stages of the breakdown of compost. Last year, students were given the opportunity to determine where money from the college’s increased enrollment income could be used to improve the college’s infrastructure. As a result, the pilot project, if successful, will lead to the purchase of additional rocket composters.
Purdue U Turns Off Lights in Vending Machines
Purdue University (IN) has launched the Lights Out Campaign to save money by turning off vending machine lights in nearly 300 vending machines on campus. The university will save more than $7,000 in energy costs each year and the campaign will prevent 87,000 pounds of carbon from being emitted into the air.
Southern Illinois U Carbondale Students Install Green Roof
Southern Illinois University Carbondale students have installed a green roof with wildflowers and grasses on the College of Agricultural Sciences building. The project is both educational and economical, reducing energy costs by providing extra insulation and featuring an unplanted section for research purposes. The research will seek to establish tolerance thresholds for stress and to identify plant species suitable for green roof propagation. The project is funded by a $20,000 grant fed by the university’s current $10 per semester green student fee, as well as $10,000 contributions from the College of Agricultural Sciences dean and the Physical Plant budget.
U California Davis Launches Sustainable Winery and Brewery
The University of California, Davis has opened a winery, brewery and food-processing facility expected to meet LEED Platinum certification. The $20 million, 34,000-square-foot research complex was designed to serve as a test bed for production processes and techniques that conserve water, energy and other resources. Environmentally friendly features include on-site solar power generation and a large capacity system for capturing rainwater and conserving processing water. The stored rainwater will be used for landscaping and toilets. The winery has been designed to capture carbon dioxide, a natural byproduct of fermentation, from a port in each of the new fermentors. Additional green features include maximum use of natural light, rooftop photovoltaic cells to provide all of the facility's power at peak load, new food-processing equipment that minimizes energy and water requirements, the use of recycled glass in the flooring, interior paneling recycled from a 1928 wooden aqueduct, and certified sustainably harvested lumber.
U Denver Celebrates Bike and Walk to School Day
The University of Denver (CO) celebrated Bike and Walk to School Day with a free lunch for the first 150 students, faculty and staff who rode to campus and showed the key to their U-Lock. Additional riders received a lunch coupon good at local establishments. The university’s transportation center used the event to celebrate cyclists who help decrease the campus’s carbon footprint. Cyclists were offered many free services from participating community members and businesses.
U Minnesota Duluth Students Revive Neighboring Orchard
Students in the Students for Sustainable Agriculture group at the University of Minnesota, Duluth are helping the university revive a neighboring orchard and farm to provide produce for the campus. Students and faculty worked during the summer to clean up the orchard and ready the soil for vegetables. Raised bed gardens will be planted on a one-acre plot in the spring. A second acre of gardens will be planted in 2012 with plans for a well and fencing. Late last month, the students brought community members together to press the apples, forgotten since the 1970s, into cider. The university hopes to create a social enterprise garden where the produce sold will fund student internships. Some interns will grow food and others will work to market the food to local grocery stores.
Western Michigan U Dining Services Introduces Fair Trade Coffee
Western Michigan University's Dining Services has introduced Western Grounds, a certified fair trade and USDA-certified organic coffee from an employee-owned company in Michigan. The coffee brand is served in every dining hall and campus cafe as the result of feedback from a spring 2010 student-conducted survey about implementing fair trade coffee on campus.
West Virginia U Institute of Tech Students Study 'Micro-Grid'
West Virginia University Institute of Technology students are using a miniature power grid to study sustainable and renewable energy. The grid is located on the roof of the engineering building, alongside a small wind turbine and two solar panels. Generators pump power through extension cords into the renewable energy lab. Students are working to design controllers to manage power from those energy sources. Once the technology is perfected, the university believes schools, hospitals and businesses could install “micro-grids” to generate their own power through wind, solar or fuel cell technology.
Agnes Scott College Diverts 64% of Campus Waste from Landfills
Agnes Scott College (GA) has diverted 64 percent of its overall campus waste from landfills due to several recent sustainability initiatives. The college’s goal is to divert 80 percent of its waste from the landfill waste by June 2011, and achieve close to zero percent waste by the following year. Sustainable initiatives include a single-stream recycling program, compost program and the college has partnered with Terracycle to recycle chip and candy wrappers. Terracycle transforms the waste into a variety of products including tote bags and toys. The college also began offering reusable, plastic take-out containers to further minimize waste and in campus dining areas.
Cal State Polytechnic U Pomona Center Achieves Carbon Neutrality
With the installation of concentrated photovoltaic solar energy systems, California State Polytechnic University at Pomona's John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies has become carbon neutral. The center will use two photovoltaic solar systems to generate 100 percent of its own clean and renewable energy, displacing 85 metric tons of greenhouses gases. The university will save $30,000 a year in reduced energy purchases.
Cal State U Long Beach Hosts Campus Green Competition
California State University at Long Beach will host the campus competition, "Do it in the Dark," to compare electricity and water consumption rates for each residence hall. The buildings will be divided into three competing groups. The group that reduces its consumption the most per week will win a pizza party. The university hopes that the competition, sponsored by the Alliance to Save Energy's Green Campus Program, will be a successful outreach and educational tool.
Central Carolina CC Launches Sustainability Technologies Degree
Central Carolina Community College (NC) is preparing students for positions like sustainability consultant, green building supervisor and renewable energy technician with the launch of its applied science associate degree in sustainability technologies. The college will offer two areas of study: energy and green building. The alternative energy track emphasizes education in energy analysis, renewable energy modeling and system design. The green building track will train students in sustainable design materials, methods for constructing energy-efficient homes, weatherization and water management.
College of William and Mary Expands Sustainable Dining
The College of William and Mary (VA) has expanded its sustainable dining initiatives. Three sustainability interns have been hired to focus on recycling, composting and forming a connection with local food producers. In partnership with ARAMARK, the college's sustainability team is offering a 10-cent incentive for every reusable to-go box used. The sustainability team is also working on improving local food procurement including a partnership with the Williamsburg Winery, who will plant produce at their facility that will be used in the dining halls. The program has space for 400 more volunteers with 100 students signed up so far.
Duke U Turns Hog Waste into Energy
Duke University (NC) and Duke Energy have launched a pilot system to manage hog waste that can control greenhouse gas emissions, reduce pollutants and generate renewable energy. The $1.8 million prototype system is intended to serve as a model for other hog farms seeking to manage waste and develop on-farm renewable power. Methane gas collected from an anaerobic digester will be used to generate clean energy. Grant funding came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Lagoon Conversion Program.
Eastern New Mexico U Roswell Opens Community Solar Demonstration
Eastern New Mexico University at Roswell has opened a new community solar energy demonstration site. The 35-kilowatt solar installation demonstrates six photovoltaic technologies that can be installed on homes or businesses, including a rooftop, lollipop, single axis and dual axis arrays. The project covers 22,000-square-feet and includes a walking path with information markers describing the types of technology demonstrated.
Grand Valley State U Awards Green Campus Practices
Grand Valley State University (MI) has launched a Sustainable Office Award program to recognize sustainability efforts across campus. Faculty and staff can visit the university's Sustainable Community Development Initiative website to answer a survey that investigates sustainability aspects of office practices including environment, economics and social impact. Based on their responses, faculty and staff are awarded a bronze to platinum rating. The university hopes to raise awareness of sustainability efforts and create an atmosphere where the campus will be excited about achieving the next level of sustainability.
Lakehead U Campus Building Earns LEED Platinum
Lakehead University’s (ON) Orillia-based campus has earned LEED Platinum certification for its new academic building. The $43 million facility was funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Knowledge Infrastructure Program and the City of Orillia. Sustainable features include a green roof, geothermal heating system and a rainwater retention pond that collects water for use in the building’s non-potable water functions like toilet flushing.
Medical U South Carolina Encourages Enviro Component of Medicine
The Medical University of South Carolina has named Dr. Louis Guillette as the new Center of Economic Excellence Endowed Chair in Marine Genomics. With a joint appointment in the university's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Marine Biomedicine and Environmental Sciences Center, the focus of Guillette's research will be to develop an environmental reproductive biology group. His goal is to emphasize how important the environmental component is to the practice of medicine, stating that the next 15 to 20 years will reveal huge numbers of diseases caused by environmental factors.
Michigan State U Partners with Fuji for Affordable Bikes
Michigan State University has partnered with Fuji Bicycles to introduce a program that allows students, faculty and staff to purchase new Fuji bikes on campus at reduced prices. Fuji sells colleges new bikes at reduced prices and in turn, bike shops extend lower prices to customers to make cycling more appealing. The university has sold more than 60 Fuji bikes since the program launched.
