Colorado Mountain College Holds Art Exhibit
In an effort to raise awareness for sustainability, the inaugural college-wide art exhibit showcased work that was either created with sustainable materials or with content reflecting the theme of sustainability.
Cornell U Shaves 15 Years from Carbon Neutral Goal
A new report detailing how the university can reach carbon neutrality by 2035, including fees on carbon, was recently released by the Climate Action Acceleration Working Group with 16 recommendations and specific milestones targeting campus utility bills and university-funded travel among others.
Georgetown U Announces New Committee on Diversity
The establishment of the Provost's Committee for Diversity, birthed from a proposed, student project, will be comprised of different subcommittees and expects participants to engage in an ongoing investigation of racial and social justice, intersectionality, and awareness of marginalized groups on campus.
Georgia Tech Receives $5M From Ray C. Anderson Foundation
Building on an initial three-year seed funding of $750,000 that established the Center for Business Strategies for Sustainability, the university's College of Business will now be known as the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business after the foundation committed $5 million.
Loyola U Chicago Student Extends Growing Season on Campus Grounds
A now senior student enrolled in the university's Solutions to Environmental Problems class uses the campus' outdoor urban agricultural spaces to research ways to extend the growing season into winter in hopes of providing easy and affordable methods people can use to grow fresh produce at home.
MacEwan U Students to Promote Carbon Footprint Awareness
Student members plan to launch the Carbon Cloud Initiative by walking around with eight balloons that visually represents the amount of carbon emissions an average Canadian generates per minute. Students will deliver a one-minute presentation to the students in their classes about the balloons.
Millersville U Expands Bikeability
Spurred by the support of the president, a biking enthusiast, the university now has additional bike racks and two new bike repair stations, and has plans to install bike lockers in new resident halls.
Northwestern U to Release Strategic Sustainability Plan
Currently under development, five working groups from the university's Sustainability Council are evaluating areas of focus, assessing and prioritizing various initiatives within those areas, and establishing clear goals and metrics to evaluate progress. Their recommendations will inform the council who will, in partnership with university leadership, publish the Sustainability Strategic Plan in summer of 2015.
Rice U Eco Rep Program Expands Sustainable Living Awareness
The university Eco Rep Green Dorm Initiative now includes education about environmentally sustainable living through a contest designed to increase interactivity. This year's focus on energy and water, well-being, and waste asks participates to engage with the theme through daily tasks.
Rice U Signs Agreement to Purchase Solar Electricity for One Year
In an effort to better manage energy consumption and spending, a recent one-year agreement with a power company was enacted that allows the university to purchase approximately seven percent of the university's purchased electricity from clean energy at the same rate as fossil fuel-powered electricity.
San Francisco State U Completes Lighting Upgrade
A project spearheaded by students in a management class led to the removal of unnecessary lamps on the second floor of the university's business building over winter break. Electricity consumption of hallway lighting on this floor has decreased 40 percent as a result.
Southern Oregon U Partners to Reduce Student Mileage
Part of a statewide "Drive Less. Save More." campaign, the university is working with the Oregon Department of Transportation and a district authority to reduce the number of miles driven by university students by providing information to students about the benefits of traveling by foot, bike, skateboard, bus and shared car. The program's goals are to to reduce traffic, increase parking availability on campus, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
SUNY Cortland Hosts Weekly Wellness Events
The university recently began the Wellness Wednesday Series, for campus and the community, encouraging health and wellness through speakers and panels, informational fairs, self-help workshops and demonstrations.
Three Universities Pilot Sustainable Purchasing Program
Emory University, Portland Community College and University of California at Santa Barbara recently signed up to pilot the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council's Guidance for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing v1.0. The Guidance for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing offers purchasers detailed advice for promoting market innovation and optimizing the environmental, social and economic performance of their supply chains.
U California Riverside Implements Sustainability Fellowships
As part of the University of California’s Carbon Neutrality Initiative, a total of five $1,500 fellowships will be awarded to both undergraduates and graduate students for projects that contribute to a reduction in campus greenhouse gas emissions, and/or educate the campus community about the importance of carbon neutrality.
Washington U Initiates Green Monday Pledge
Aiming to decrease the university’s carbon footprint by reducing meat consumption, Green Monday encourages students, faculty and community members to take a pledge to eat vegetarian on Mondays.
California Schools Host Multicampus Food Summit
With a central theme of food justice the inaugural California Higher Education Food Summit convened roughly 150 students, faculty and staff from University of California, California State University and community college campuses to address environmental social and economic pressures that create barriers to food access, security and justice.
Cornell U Conserves Energy With New Chiller
The new air conditioning system air-cooled chiller is fully automated for seasonal and daily on/off and will use less electricity to provide cooling, saving the university $6,000 and diverting 23 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Duke U to Raise Minimum Pay Rate for Regular Employees
An annual review of all pay ranges relative to local and national markets inspired the university to announce an increase in minimum wage pay rate to $12 per hour from the current rate of $10.91, which was last adjusted in 2012.
Emory U Cleans Campus Wastewater for Reuse
A new wastewater reclamation system, called WaterHub, allows the university to clean effluent and reuse nearly 300,000 gallons of campus wastewater daily, cutting potable water consumption as much as 35 percent and projected to save the university millions in water utility costs over a 20-year period. In addition, the project will serve as a living laboratory by allowing students to analyze wastewater samples at various stages of treatment.
Five Universities Win Award for Social Entrepreneurship
Brown University, Duke University, University of British Columbia, University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Maryland recently won the 2015 Ashoka U-Cordes Innovation Award based on their ability to demonstrate how students, faculty and community members transform the ways in which colleges and universities prepare students as changemakers while positively impacting the community.
Harvard U Building Receives LEED Gold
The university's Harvard Art Museums features energy-efficient LED lightbulbs, natural lighting, a rainwater recovery system, waterless urinals, and 96 percent of all construction-related waste and debris was diverted from landfills.
Penn State U Students Initiate Community Projects
Projects selected through the university's Sustainable Communities Collaborative include an exploration of net-zero energy strategies from an engineering and a human resources perspective, stormwater mitigation tools for residential neighborhoods, composting evaluation and marketing studies, communication strategies to increase participation in recycling, and marketing strategies for a farmer’s market. Sustainable Communities partnerships are formed through agreements developed between local governments and the university's Sustainability Institute to link community-based sustainability projects with existing courses across the university.
Texas A&M to Install Thermal Storage Tank
A soon-to-be-completed 3-million gallon tank for chilled water to air condition and dehumidify buildings is projected to save the university around $600,000 per year by creating the chilled water at night when electricity rates are lowest. Due to the new chiller's capacity, it will allow the university to shut down other chillers that charge during the day.
Texas A&M U Students Design Green Roof for Renovation
Engineers Serving the Community, a student organization that seeks to improve local communities through engineering, has designed a roof they hope will be incorporated into the renovation of the university's engineering building.
U California Davis Building Claims LEED Platinum
Sustainable features include easy separation for disposing of recyclable products, natural light and views in common areas, high-recycled content in building materials, an energy-efficient mechanical design, and water-efficient sustainable landscaping.
U Kentucky Launches Sustainability Radio Show
Green Talks, hosted by the the director of the Student Sustainability Council, interviews faculty, staff and students who have received funding for projects through the university's student green fee, which generates about $160,000 annually.
U Nebraska Passes Legislation for Eco-Representatives
The university's Residence Hall Association approved legislation that will place eco-representatives to live in each of the residence halls to encourage sustainability through both formal and informal communications with their peers.
U Northern British Columbia Earns Fair Trade Campus Designation
In order to earn the designation, university students, faculty and staff worked together to meet Fairtrade Canada’s procurement standards regarding the price, labor conditions, and environmental sustainability of products consumed and sold on campus. As a result, all campus food partners incorporate Fair Trade products into their offerings.
U Saskatchewan Student Helps Deal With Costly Research Byproduct
A Sustainability Living Lab project, a biological engineering student is investigating a system to process manure from the campus' Dairy Research and Teaching Farm into a product that can be kept on campus or one that is cheaper to have discarded. Currently the university spends $65,000 annually for the manure to be hauled away.
Utah State U Connects Photovoltaic System
Reducing utility costs and increasing visibility for renewable energy, the newly installed 264-panel system will offset energy consumption used by the university's equine research center.
Utah State U Faculty and Student Projects Receive $15K
The university's Facilities recently awarded $15,610 to four projects that include moveable bike racks to increase biking as a mode of transportation, two electric vehicle charging stations in a student parking lot, a bike tire pump, and videos that raise awareness about alternative transportation options.
U Wisconsin Madison Holds Diversity Discussions
Spurred by a campus demonstration of the national frustration over racial inequity in the criminal justice system, campus officials welcomed students back by convening a newly planned round of public discussions of race on campus.
Carnegie Foundation Designates 'Community Engagement' Schools
(U.S.): The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has selected 240 U.S. colleges and universities to receive its 2015 Community Engagement Classification. Community engagement describes collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity. Of this number, 83 institutions are receiving the classification for the first time, while 157 are now re-classified. These 240 institutions join the 121 institutions that earned the classification during the 2010 selection process.
Chicago State U Implements Campus Recycling
(U.S.): As part of the university's Go Green initiative, buildings now have paper, plastic and aluminum recycling bins available throughout campus. This is the first campus-wide recycling plan implemented at the university in over a decade.
Cornell U Building Earns LEED Platinum
(U.S.): The new addition boasts a vegetative roof, an energy efficient HVAC system and automated building control systems, recycled and regionally-procured materials, and carbon dioxide detectors to circulate fresh air only when the space is occupied.
Indiana U Student Organization Passes Sustainability Resolution
(U.S.): The university's Graduate and Professional Student Organization recently passed a resolution calling for the university to establish a dollar amount allocated to renewable energy and to make the amount public, and to report associated emissions reductions each year.
Knox College Completes Waste Free Move
(U.S.): Over the most recent winter break, 70 staff and faculty moved, including the contents of five storage rooms, to a newly renovated building without renting a dumpster or increasing its regular trash pickup schedule.
North Central College Bolsters Electric Vehicle Use
(U.S.): By joining the U.S. Department of Energy's Workplace Charging Challenge, the university pledges to develop a plan to maintain and promote electric charging stations on campus. The university owns two all-electric, zero-emission fleet vehicles and two electric charging stations.
