Lehigh U Holds Seafood Awareness Event
In an effort to raise awareness of the impact from sushi's high demand, the university's Sustainability Office organized the reduced waste event in which students made their own sushi rolls, and learned about where the food came from and its ranking in the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program.
Northampton CC Building Accomplishes LEED Gold
The features of the 200,000-square-foot, three-building campus include solar photovoltaic panels, central geothermal heating and cooling system, high efficiency heating and cooling, and lighting systems.
Pace U to Unveil Environmental Policy Graduate Program
The new two-year masters program beginning in fall of 2015 aims to provide an understanding of the complex relationships between natural science, law and management, and how to use the tools of these disciplines to develop appropriate responses to complex environmental issues.
Ripon College Student Wins National Sodexo Service Award
Kaitlyn Welzen, environmental studies and Spanish major and a sustainability intern for Sodexo, led an effort to construct and implement a campus hoop house to grow herbs and greens that are served in the dining room during Local Greens Tuesdays.
SUNY Oneonta Receives Grant for Stormwater Project
Administered by the New York State Environmental Facilities Corp., the university has received $910,000 Green Innovation Grant Program funding for the installation of a 1,700-foot-long vegetated swale to reduce the risk of flooding from a 21-acre, high-density area. The project is part of a larger university effort to address the issue of runoff by integrating stormwater management across the curriculum.
U California Merced Building Receives LEED Platinum
The building includes sun shades and glazing to reduce heat gain, roofing material to deflect heat rather than absorb, low-flow faucets, shower heads, irrigation and restroom facilities, drought-tolerant and native landscaping, and construction waste diversion of 82 percent.
U California Merced Earns Solar & Water Research Grants
The recently awarded funding will go toward building a strategic base of water knowledge to help California and the nation achieve a water-secure future, and funding renewal for the university's Advanced Solar Technologies Institute.
U California Santa Cruz Hosts Land Management Program
A collaboration between the university arboretum and the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, the relearning program taught the importance of traditional resource management and uses of native plants to Tribal members and the public.
U California Santa Cruz Library Transitions to Zero Waste
As part of a collaborative pilot program between university Grounds, the Sustainability Office, Custodial Services and the library, more than 40 four-stream waste stations will be set up throughout McHenry Library for trash, paper, contained recyclables and compostable waste, and desk-side bins have been modified to accept compostable material.
U Virginia Upgrades Lighting in Residence Halls
While Hereford Residential College students were away for winter break, the university re-lamped about 500 fluorescent fixtures that should realize a savings of approximately $4,000 annually.
Vanderbilt U Goes Coal Free
After a 126-year reliance on coal, the co-generation plant, which produces 23 percent of the university's electricity, 90 percent of its heat, and 40 percent of its cooling, now runs exclusively on natural gas.
Arizona State U Building Achieves LEED Gold
(U.S.): The building's features include daylighting, Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood, high efficiency LED lighting, occupancy sensors, native plants and a 297-panel photovoltaic installation.
Clarkson U Partners on Electricity Reliability and Resiliency
(U.S.): Funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Energy Department's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability and $300,000 from General Electric, the newly formed partnership will conduct research and implement solutions to improve the reliability and resiliency of electricity delivery in northern New York.
Colgate U Launches Forest Management Practices
(U.S.): In its quest for carbon neutrality by 2019, the university recently began using 1,634 acres of university-owned land for research and teaching, outdoor recreation and aesthetic value, conservation of ecosystem services and biodiversity, and timber production. Management of the forests is projected to sequester 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Cork U Hospital Earns Green Campus Designation
(Ireland): The university recently earned Green-Campus status by the Foundation for Environmental Education for its commitment to enhancing on-campus sustainability and environmental awareness.
Cornell U Passes Resolution to Lower Lab Carbon Emissions
(U.S.): The university's Graduate and Professional Student Assembly unanimously passed the resolution to create an ad hoc sustainability committee focused on lowering carbon emissions, particularly those in laboratories by educating graduate students, the main users of lab space, about how to reduce carbon emissions.
Government College of Technology Connects 20KW Photovoltaic Array
(India): The recently commissioned 20-kilowatt solar electric system was installed as part of the college's Center of Excellence in Alternate Energy Research. The center and its students will be adopting a nearby village and installing solar-based street lights and table lamps.
King's College Adopts Solar Energy
(U.S.): Donated by Panzitta Enterprises, Inc, the addition of 214 photovoltaic panels will reduce the college's carbon footprint and direct more money toward education by reducing the college's utility payments.
Manchester U Commits to Living Wage
(U.K.): The university student's union has confirmed that all of its workers will be paid at least the living wage of 7.85 pounds ($12.27) per hour.
Monash U Fellow Receives United Nations Award
(Australia): Sir Bob Watson, the university's Monash Sustainability Institute Sir Louis Matheson Fellow, has received a United Nations Champions of the Earth award for his services to science and innovation by promoting the science behind ozone depletion, global warming and the impacts of biodiversity loss. The award, which is the United Nations highest environmental accolade, is awarded to those whose service to the environment is saving lives, improving livelihoods and bettering environmental governance and conservation.
Paul Smith's College to Install Wood Pellet Boiler System
(U.S.): Contributing to the college's renewable energy and climate change goals, displacing 28,000 gallons per year of heating oil, the high-efficiency and low-emission wood pellet boiler heating system will supply heat to multiple buildings and use thermal storage to increase efficiency of the system.
Pennsylvania State U Captures Hydroelectric Energy
(U.S.): The low-impact plant, built using existing infrastructure, now supplies the university with eight percent of its energy by harnessing the available energy from the Mahoning Creek Dam and includes new educational opportunities for students through the university's hydro class.
Pomona College & Cornell U Partner on Diversity Research in STEM
(U.S.): The newly published research in Nature Climate Change describes some of the hidden and complicated social barriers to participation in sustainability-related science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by underrepresented groups and recommends a course to action.
Thompson Rivers U Releases Strategic Sustainability Plan
(U.S.): The new five-year university roadmap indicates plans to reduce the amount of garbage going to the landfill, create on-campus gardens, have agreements with beverage and food companies closer to the university and with greener certification, reduce vehicles on campus through improved transit and car sharing, reduce water usage through better metering and monitoring, collect and use more renewable energy like solar and wind, and protect environmentally sensitive areas and species on campus land.
U Arizona Students Redistribute Campus Fruit Tree Produce
(U.S.): A campus with nearly 8,000 trees including citrus, olive, fig and pomegranate, members of the university's LEAF organization, Linking Edible Arizona Forests, have recently begun collecting and distributing edible fruit growing on campus that otherwise would go to waste.
U California Students Receive Food Fellowships
(U.S.): The university system recently announced 54 students have been awarded with the Global Food Initiative fellowships. The $2,500 fellowships to undergraduate and graduate students, selected by the system's 10 campuses, will fund student-generated research, related projects or internships that focus on food issues.
U Georgia Students Initiate Off Campus Recycling
(U.S.): After being challenged to find and solve a sustainability challenge in the local community, a team of students from the university communication class spoke with apartment tenants about finding solutions to overcome barriers to recycling and were successful in persuading the complexes to make collection sites available.
Binghamton U Pledges to Improve Campus Nutrition
The university has recently teamed up with the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) to promote changes on campus that encourage healthy lifestyle practices for students. The university has agreed to 23 changes by joining the initiative including implementing a local food procurement program, offering at least five fruits and five vegetable choices in dining halls, and every platform serving meat must also offer a plant-based alternative.
Cosumnes River College Building Earns LEED Platinum
The buildings' features include solar panels, skylights, a water-efficient irrigation system, drought-resistant plant species, on-site rainwater harvesting, radiant floor heating and cooling, and lighting occupancy sensors.
Five Institutions Receive Ray C. Anderson Foundation Grant
Agnes Scott College, AASHE, EARTH University Foundation, Furman University and Georgia State University Foundation were five of 23 awardees to receive funding for projects that consist of employees and volunteers providing environmental education, conservation and remediation.
Five Schools Partner for Energy and Water Reduction [VIDEO]
Organized by students, the University of Texas at Austin, University of Toledo, Bowling Green University, University of Kansas and Pennsylvania State University will be competing together for the first time to measure the highest reduction of energy and water use on campus.
Northwestern U to Install Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
In an effort to encourage the campus community to make more sustainable transportation decisions and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the university is installing four charging stations to be used for free by commuters and visitors that drive electric vehicles (EVs).
U Alberta Commences New Sustainability Certificate
The newly offered Certificate in Sustainability is a new student credential for undergraduates that aims to transfer historical literacy, educate about the systemic nature of sustainability challenges, and enable application of sustainability literacy at a personal, academic and professional level. Students are required to take 15 hours of courses from specified areas.
U Alberta Offers Carbon Offsets to Resident Guests
The university's Hospitality Services has recently partnered with a third-party organization that allows overnight guests in its university-owned hotel to add an optional $2 fee used to support emissions-reducing projects and environmental improvements. The university expects to use the savings garnered from the optional program to fund low-flow bathroom fixtures, water bottle refill stations and an energy audit.
U Kentucky Awards $100K for Food and Transportation
The inaugural Sustainability Challenge Grants were dispensed by the President's Sustainability Advisory Committee to seven projects that will attempt to build sustainable food systems and bus stops on campus, plant trees, and revive a community garden.
U Utah Hires Wellness Officer
Robin Marcus, now the university's first chief wellness officer, is tasked with coming up with a broad vision for health and wellness on campus. Some of Marcus' first goals include linking, promoting and supporting various wellness initiatives already under way. Marcus has been an associate professor of Physical Therapy at the university for over 30 years.
Wesleyan U Adopts New Energy Conservation Policy
The newly established policy aims to minimize the university’s energy consumption, and direct and indirect carbon dioxide emissions while defining standards for reasonably comfortable indoor environments within each building.
Black Hills State U Requires Projects for Scholarships
A recent $1 million gift will enable the university's Make a Difference Initiative, which requires scholarship recipients, in exchange for scholarship funding, to lead sustainable community projects designed to make a difference in the lives of others.
Cornell U Hosts Inaugural Energy Reduction Competition
The university's College of Human Ecology kicked off its first Energy Smackdown Competition in which buildings compete against each other in an effort to reduce their electrical consumption for a 45-day time period.
