UC Davis Earns 5th LEED Platinum Certification
The university's new Student Community Center features low-flow water fixtures, hydration stations, high-efficiency lighting, a lawn-less landscape of drought-tolerant plants and permeable paving, and computers powered partly by solar energy. During construction, students from the campus Waste Reduction and Recycling program developed a job-site composting program, and builders also donated scrap materials to the university’s student-run Aggie ReUse Store.
U Utah Residence Hall Receives LEED Gold
The residence hall's high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, heat recovery system, occupancy sensors, and natural day lighting and ventilation have exceeded minimum efficiency standards by more than 30 percent with $55,000 in annual energy savings.
Kalamazoo Valley CC Announces Wellness, Sustainable Food Focus
In partnership with Bronson Healthcare Group and the Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the college has announced plans for a new culinary and wellness campus focused on community wellness and sustainable food production.
Luther College Completes $750K Campus Energy Efficiency Makeover
By the end of the month, the college's Baker Village commons building will have its own 20-kilowatt solar array, marking the end of a $750,000 U.S. Department of Energy award in support of the college's plan to cut its carbon footprint in half by 2015. With the funding, the college has also established an energy and waste steward position, and renovated two major residence halls with water-efficient flush toilets, improved HVAC systems and energy-efficient windows.
Maharishi U Mgmt Student Debuts Restorative Agriculture Project
Sustainable Living student Jacob Krieger has launched Greener Pastures, a senior project aimed at demonstrating the effectiveness of restorative agriculture, which allows soil to retain its natural fertility so that tillage and chemicals aren't necessary, on up to 2,000 acres of local pasture and hay fields by December 2014.
McGill U Launches Green Building Analysis Tool
The Material Analysis Tool, available to the public, is designed to help university staff and contractors select more environmentally friendly materials for new construction and renovation projects. The online ranking system considers manufacturer certification, durability, health impacts, rapidly renewable content, recycled content, recyclability and region of manufacture and extraction.
New Mexico State U Named 'Bronze Bicycle Friendly'
The designation from the League of American Bicyclists recognizes the university’s commitment to improving conditions for bicycling through investment in bicycling promotion, education programs, infrastructure and pro-bicycling policies.
North Carolina State U Recycling Site Diverts 93% Waste
Ninety-three percent of the campus yard waste, scrap metal, wooden pallets, used tires, discarded electronics and more at the university's Dearstyne Roll-off Convenience Site are reused or recycled. The site is part of the university’s goal is to increase the overall diversion rate of campus waste from landfills to 65 percent from the current 50 percent. **
Regional Student Winners Named in Clean Energy Biz Competition
The U.S. Department of Energy has named six student teams to advance to the final level of the National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition. The teams from Northwestern University, North Carolina A&T University, Purdue University, Brigham Young University, University of Arkansas and the University of California, Berkeley will compete for technical, design, public relations and legal assistance to help commercialize their technology.
Responsible Purchasing On the Rise Among Higher Ed Students
With $147 billion in spending power, according to a recent USA Today article, students have the financial power to make an impact when it comes to the responsible purchasing practices of campuses. Students, says the article, are becoming increasingly aware and active about choosing products that support workers with living wages and reduce environmental impacts.
Strayer U Announces 'Graduation Fund,' Tuition Freeze
For every three classes a new student successfully completes, the university will place a tuition award in their Graduation Fund to cover the cost of one future class. The university has also announced a tuition freeze for currently enrolled students, and no tuition increases for 2014.
U California Santa Barbara Students Address Diversity, Safety
The Associated Students Office of the President recently held a town hall meeting to address diversity, representation and marginalization in the campus community. The "Raise Your Voice!" event provided an open forum for students to address university administration about university-wide policies regarding issues of sexual violence, and retention and recruitment aimed at promoting diversity.
Winona State U Student Initiates Campus Diversity Center
Spearheaded by graduating senior Jake Hite, the KEAP (Knowledge, Empowerment, Advocacy and Pluralism) Diversity Center for students, faculty and staff will help address issues surrounding diverse populations in the campus community.
College Divestment Campaigns Shaping Passionate Environmentalists
A recent National Public Radio story focuses on how student-driven fossil fuel divestment campaigns on about 300 campuses across the country are helping to prepare the environmental leaders of the next generation. "It's been really exciting for me to feel like this is the first time where I've seen how I can directly make a difference on my campus and force my administration to make a decision that could have reverberations around the country," says Brown University senior Emily Kirkland in the article.
Elon U to Offer Minor in Poverty and Social Justice
Tying into the university's recent partnership with the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty, the new fall 2013 program offers a foundation for understanding the multi-factorial causes and realities of poverty, the opportunity to study the root causes and structural patterns that contribute to poverty, and focuses on processes and strategies of poverty alleviation from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
Harvard Real Estate Buildings Achieve Energy Star Certification
Harvard Real Estate recently achieved Energy Star certification for three buildings in its portfolio. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star certification program uses an energy performance scale that scores the energy performance of a building on a scale of 1 to 100 as compared to buildings of a similar type and use around the United States. Buildings that earn a 75 or higher are eligible to apply for the Energy Star certification.
Loyola Chicago Nursing School Earns LEED Gold
The building features radiant heating and cooling systems, natural ventilation and high-efficiency glazing. Ninety-percent of the building needs no artificial light during the day.
Loyola Chicago Students Pass Green Initiative Fund
Led by the Unified Student Government Association, the new Green Initiative Fund will give students the opportunity to start green projects that require funding that is otherwise unavailable. After a multi-month campaign, 64 percent of students voted "yes" to the fund in March.
MIT, Harvard, Cambridge Sign 'Compact for a Sustainable Future'
The “Community Compact for a Sustainable Future” lays out a framework for the signatories — and other organizations that choose to join — to work in a more coordinated fashion to tackle local sustainability challenges. The compact aims to generate new solutions in the areas of waste reduction, energy efficiency, climate mitigation and adaptation, water management, renewable energy and green tech incubation.
New Survey Reveals U Oregon Community Favors Alt Transportation
The survey earlier this year of students, faculty and staff showed that only 18 percent of the campus drives alone to work, with bicycling the top commute choice (21 percent). The survey also found that about 62 percent of students and 72 percent of faculty and staff have bikes and almost half of students live within one mile of campus, significantly reducing the need to drive or own a car.
Sodexo Foundation Grants $150K to Food Recovery Network
The start-up funding will help the network of college students working to reduce hunger and food waste by recovering surplus food from their dining halls and delivering it to Americans in need of a meal. Since its inception at the University of Maryland, College Park in September 2011, the Food Recovery Network has expanded to 21 campuses in nine states plus Washington, D.C., recovering more than 140,000 pounds of food.
Texas State U San Marcos Announces Green Fee-Funded Projects
Thirteen projects have been approved for funding from the Environmental Service Committee including 3-D signage for the Bobcat Blend Composting program, which recently received a Texas Environmental Excellence Award. With the program, students have diverted 57 tons of organic waste from the landfill and reduced university costs and fuel usage through fewer waste hauls.
Texas State U San Marcos Housing Complex Earns LEED Gold
The first LEED Gold certification for the Texas State University System was awarded for features including light occupancy sensors and a 40,000-gallon tank that collects condensation from the air-conditioning system and rain run-off to irrigate the three acres of native landscaping surrounding the complex. More than 30 percent of the building materials contain recycled content and more than 35 percent are from regional sources.
U California Santa Cruz Students Receive NSF Research Fellowships
Three doctoral students in the Environmental Studies Department have received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for 2013. Ann Drevno will analyze strengths and weaknesses of regulations at the urban-agricultural interface; Justine Smith will examine behavioral and ecological responses of mountain lions and their prey to habitat fragmentation in the Santa Cruz Mountains; and Rachel Wheat is focusing on the impacts of Pacific salmon availability on terrestrial wildlife.
U Mass Amherst Students Help Pilot Online Carbon Conscious Tool
While beta-testing Earth Deeds, a new online service to enable groups to measure and manage their environmental impacts, four students in this semester's "Sustainable Living" class estimated their class' carbon footprint, raised $876 as part of a teamfunding campaign to acknowledge this impact, and spearheaded class participants to commit to actions and lifestyle changes that would prevent about 55.9 metric tons of carbon emissions.
U Vermont Clean Energy Fund Awards $180K to Campus Projects
Pulling from the $225,000 generated each year from the university's Clean Energy Fund, $150,500 will go toward upgrading the existing solar array panels at the university's central heat plant and installing additional 30-kilowatt panels. Another $24,800 will enable a hybrid street lamp system on campus that uses LED lights powered by a combination of helix bamboo wind turbines and solar panels.
Western Carolina U Adds 75 Recycling Bins to Campus
One of 35 colleges and universities to receive a donation of recycling bins as part of the Alcoa Foundation Recycling Bin Grant Program, the university will now be able to expand its recycling program to athletic facilities, where students reported a need.
300K Students Compete in 2013 Campus Conservation Nationals
Lucid Design Group, in partnership with the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council, the National Wildlife Federation and the Alliance to Save Energy, has announced that more than 300,000 students at 120 colleges and universities in North America collectively saved over two million kilowatt-hours of electricity and $160,000 during the 2013 Campus Conservation Nationals. Students also saved over 1.6 million gallons of water.
College of Saint Benedict Townhomes Earn LEED Platinum
The university is celebrating its first LEED certification with Centennial Commons, a 125-person student housing development. The complex includes high-efficiency windows and furnaces, natural daylight harvesting, on-demand water heaters, low-flow plumbing and exterior LED light fixtures. The university's Residential Life, Facilities and Office of Sustainability have partnered to develop an education program for residents that includes water, gas and electricity usage reports for each apartment.
Cornell U Sustainability Center Appoints First Dev Director
Katy Noonan has joined the university's David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future as its first development director. Noonan is overseeing fundraising and major gifts programs in collaboration with Cornell’s Division of Alumni Affairs and Development, building the center’s relationships with donors who support the university's sustainability activities and contributions.
Missouri S&T Wins Climate Leadership Video Competition
Second Nature and Planet Forward have announced Missouri University of Science and Technology as the winner of the video voting component of the 2013 Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards. The video, which details how the university's solar village, community energy storage bank and geothermal energy system will save an expected $2.8 million per year in energy and operational costs, collected 16,374 votes and will be featured across Planet Forward media platforms over the next few months.
RISD Students Stage Nation's First Fossil Fuel Divestment Sit-in
Eleven students at the Rhode Island School of Design recently staged a sit-in at the President's office to demand that he and the Board of Trustees Chair personally endorse divestment from the coal, gas and oil industries. This is the latest action in a growing fossil fuel divestment advocacy movement that includes students at more than 300 colleges and universities.
Southern Illinois U Carbondale Announces New Green Fee Projects
The university's Sustainability Council recently announced approximately $150,000 in awards for six projects to enhance campus sustainability. The projects, funded by a $10-per-semester student Green Fee, include solar trash compactors, rechargeable batteries and paperless medical records systems.
