4 Tennessee Institutions Join Campus Energy Efficiency Program
The University of Tennessee Knoxville, Cleveland State Community College, East Tennessee State University and Maryville College have been selected to work with the Tennessee Valley Authority and local power companies to promote and implement a new energy efficiency program for campuses. The campuses will receive funding for projects and staff, consulting support from Willdan Energy Solutions, energy audit training, and a web-based energy-tracking tool to help measure and document energy savings resulting from projects.
American U Food Workers to Receive Sustainable Food Training
Food service workers have ratified a contract that will provide paid training on sustainable food prep and cooking practices, and a watchdog committee for employer accountability. Unite Here Local 23 had run an eight-month “Real Food, Real Jobs” campaign targeting Bon Appétit Management Co. to bring a sustainable food system to campuses.
Baylor U to Expand Water Refilling Station Pilot Program
The university has announced plans to install more water bottle filling stations across campus following the launch of a successful pilot program last summer. Two water bottle filling stations were installed that have since been used a combined 22,000 times in place of disposable water bottles.
Davidson College Appoints First Director of Sustainability
With funding from The Duke Endowment, the college has appointed Jeff Mittelstadt as the college’s first Director of Sustainability. Mittelstadt has worked on sustainability issues at the Environmental Protection Agency, Bank of America, the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing, his own non-profit and as a consultant. The director will lead the effort to integrate sustainability into both operational and academic functions of the college.
Davidson College Receives Grant for Sub-Metering Project
The college has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund to install water and electricity sub-meters in the campus’s main twelve residence halls. The grant allows the college to engage students in reducing their energy and water consumption and will provide baseline energy data for future energy efficiency projects.
Duke U Releases Higher Ed Recycling Survey Results
The university recently released results from a summer 2012 higher education recycling survey. The survey evaluated solid waste and recycling reporting methods and efficiency of recycling collection programs on campus. A feasibility study of single-stream recycling for the university was also initiated.
East Tennessee State U Sustainability Fee Funds New Projects
Nine projects have been approved to receive $150,000 in funding from the Campus Sustainability Fee. Project winners include self-powered treadmills and photovoltaic panels for the Center for Physical Activity, a bike repair station, hydration station, and a sustainable bus shelter.
Franklin & Marshall College Approves Sustainability Master Plan
The Board of Trustees has approved a Sustainability Master Plan created by a task force consisting of students, faculty and staff. In addition to sustainability efforts directly affecting the campus, there are also plans to reach out to the community that will include workshops for elementary and middle school students to learn about biodiversity and composting, as well as offering seasonal cooking workshops to encourage healthy eating and use of locally-grown foods.
Harvard U Dining Services Focuses on Sustainable Seafood
Dining Services has launched a sustainable seafood program and is working to develop guidelines that can be shared with other institutions. After months of planning, students are now seeing new species such as “swai,” as well as familiar offerings from more sustainable sources, such as Prince Edward Island mussels and shrimp caught in Maine waters.
Kentucky Higher Ed Institutions Compete in Conservation Contest
Berea College, the universities of Louisville and Kentucky, and Western Kentucky University will participate in Bluegrass Unplugged, a competition aimed at reducing electricity and water use. The three-week competition is part of the 2013 Campus Conservation Nationals campaign.
Minnesota State U Debuts Student Recycling Program
The Office of Campus Sustainability has launched a student-run recycling program. Each student will be assigned to a different building and will be responsible for collecting the recycling in that building each week. The students will receive a weekly stipend of $15 and have the opportunity to earn prizes, including an end-of-semester trip.
Ohio State U Signs 20 Year Agreement to Purchase Wind Power
The university will purchase 50 megawatts of energy annually from Blue Creek Wind Farm, a commercial wind farm with 152 turbines. The school expects to save about $1 million in energy costs for each of the next two years. University researchers will also have access to the farm for market data research.
U Alaska Fairbanks Fire Department Installs Solar Panels
The university’s fire department has completed the installation of solar panels that are expected to produce 25 percent of the station’s electricity needs. The RISE student sustainability board contributed $7,000 for the project collected through student fees.
U Arizona Creates Bicycling and Pedestrian Committee
Following the recommendations of a Parking and Transportation Services study, the university has created the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee to improve the bicycle and pedestrian conditions for students, faculty, staff and visitors.
U Arkansas Little Rock Funds Garden Irrigation, Concrete Projects
The Sustainability Committee has awarded micro-grants for two university projects that incorporate sustainability into academics: A rooftop rainwater catchment and irrigation system would provide water and on-site storage for the campus garden. Research for the creation of smog-eating concrete involves the use of nano-particles that enable concrete to absorb and break down smog and air pollutants.
U Iowa Turns Invasive Species-Infested Trees into Biofuel
The university will use 24 acres of dead and dying invasive species-infested pine trees as biomass fuel for its power plant. Once the pines and spruces are cleared and the invasive plants subdued, the land will be returned to the vegetative communities prevalent before European settlement.
U Kentucky Launches Sustainability Studies Major
The College of Arts and Sciences will debut a new major in environmental and sustainability studies beginning in fall 2013. The degree is designed to provide students with a foundation in the natural and physical sciences, providing a holistic understanding of the economic, environmental and social components of sustainability.
U South Carolina Buildings Awarded Green Globes
Following significant renovations, the Harper and Elliott residence halls have earned two Green Globes. The Green Globes system is a building environmental design and management tool. The buildings’ sustainable features include the use of recycled materials, environmentally friendly amenities, and reduced energy and water consumption.
Arizona State U to Establish Sustainability Center in Netherlands
(Netherlands): The university’s Global Institute of Sustainability and the Municipality of Haarlemmermeer, the Netherlands, have created a partnership to establish an ASU Global Sustainability Solutions Center in Haarlemmermeer. The center will bring together resources of universities, businesses, NGOs, communities and government organizations to tackle sustainability problems and find solution sets. The Haarlemmermeer center is the first of three such Centers in the world. The Centers are part of the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, an investment in the Global Institute of Sustainability from the Rob and Melani Walton Fund of the Walton Family Foundation.
Auburn U Installs Rainwater Catchment System
(U.S.): In an effort to minimize stormwater runoff, the university’s Landscape Services Department has installed a cistern around a campus building. The water collected from the roof run-off will be sent to a holding tank and then used for watering a nearby garden.
Cornell U Students Build Sustainable House in Nicaragua
(U.S.): Sustainable Design students have begun building an affordable and environmentally sustainable model house as part of the Sustainable Neighborhoods Nicaragua project. The house and its landscaping are the product of more than three semesters of research on designing sustainable and affordable housing for low-income Nicaraguan families.
DePaul U Introduces Car Sharing Program
(U.S.): The university has partnered with Zipcar to launch a campus car sharing program for students, faculty, staff and members of the community. The program will initially offer five vehicles on campus.
Drexel U to Offer Sustainability Minor
(U.S.): The new minor, Sustainability in the Built Environment, will provide students with the tools needed to analyze future projects from a sustainable perspective. The program will collaborate with Drexel Smart House and offer community engagement design electives.
Duke U Development Office Earns Green Workplace Certification
(U.S.): University Development has achieved the Duke Green Workplace Certification, bringing the total to 37 certified workplaces and over 800 staff working in certified workplaces. University Development has taken numerous steps to green their events and meetings. They have also implemented energy saving practices in the workplace and encourage alternative transportation options for staff.
Fayetteville State U Go Green Initiative Rewards Vehicle Owners
(U.S.): The university has created a program to reward owners of low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles. Commuter students and employees who own a vehicle that falls into those categories will be allowed to park in specially marked spaces near the front entrance of certain buildings on campus.
Harvard U Library Renovation Includes Living Walls
(U.S.): The Harvard Graduate School of Education’s (HGSE) Gutman Library recently underwent a first-floor renovation that included the installation of four “living walls,” ceiling-to-floor panels that are covered entirely with foliage.
Harvard U Offers Benefits for Bicyclists
(U.S.): The CommuterChoice Program will offer bicyclists tax-free reimbursements for bike-related expenses, including purchase and repair, and will provide Emergency Ride Home services to faculty and staff commuters who do not travel by car.
Keele U to Install Solar Panels
(U.K.): The university has signed a contract with nPower Energy Services to construct solar arrays on three of their buildings. The system will comprise 636 panels and is expected to reduce the university’s carbon emissions by 70 metric tons per year.
Lindenwood U Students Create Sustainability Alliance Group
(U.S.): Students have founded Sustainability Alliance, a group dedicated to decreasing the school's ecological footprint and advocating for responsible consumption. The group has launched Foam Free Fridays to encourage students to use washable plates and eliminate the use of expanded polystyrene foam containers.
Miami U, Antioch College Create Ohio Agrarian Trade Partnership
(U.S.): Miami University’s Institute for the Environment and Sustainability has partnered with Antioch College to develop cooperative education relationships in a project called the Ohio Agrarian Trade Partnership. The program will provide students from both institutions the opportunity to work with employers in the Ohio food and agricultural industry.
Nottingham Trent U Future Factory Program Receives Funding
(U.K.): The university’s Future Factory program, which helps small businesses to improve their green credentials, has been awarded an extra £2.2 million in funding to continue until June 2015. The sustainable design project was launched in 2009 to help businesses find creative solutions to enable them to adopt new products, services and business practices that ‘design out’ unnecessary or unsustainable materials and processing, and ‘design in’ features such as environmentally neutral technologies and materials, recyclability and sensitive disposal.
Portland State U Increases Sustainable Food Efforts
(U.S.): The university’s food service provider, Aramark, hired a sustainability intern to track local and organic food purchases with the goal of buying more local food. In addition, in an effort to reduce food packaging and waste, Aramark unveiled a “green box reusable to-go” program and a composting program on campus.
Rice U's Baker College Achieves LEED Silver
(U.S.): The renovation of Baker College has earned the university its tenth LEED certification. Sustainable features include windows that are double-paned with low-e glass, water-efficient plumbing fixtures, and occupancy sensor lights. Almost 90 percent of all construction and demolition waste was recycled.
Syracuse U Faculty Group to Support Fossil Fuel Divestment
(U.S.): In a letter in the university’s Daily Orange, Associate Professor of Political Science Sarah Pralle details why she is leading a faculty group in support of student organizing that is pushing the university to divest its endowments from fossil fuel companies. The letter encourages faculty to support the SU Fossil Fuel
U California Los Angeles Launches Healthy Campus Initiative
(U.S.): The Healthy Campus Initiative will support the enhancement and expansion of current health and wellness efforts; offer new and interesting approaches to exercise, mental health and eating well; encourage the creation of new projects, programs and policies; foster synergies and coordination among the myriad groups and programs that support health and wellness at UCLA; and provide students, staff and faculty with fun and exciting ways to make it easy to be healthy and fit.
U Chicago Campus Dialogue Fund Receives Funding
(U.S.): The Campus Dialogue Fund has been allocated $15,000 annually to bring speaks on social justice issues to campus. The fund was created by students to help raise awareness of issues of race, power, gender and privilege.
U Maine Debuts Composting System
(U.S.): The university’s Dining Services, in collaboration with its Cooperative Extension, has constructed a new composting facility that will convert nearly one ton of food waste from campus dining facilities into compost to be used for grounds and other campus needs.
U Montana Hires Native Americans, Increases Faculty Diversity
(U.S.): As part of its effort to increase faculty diversity, the university recently hired four Native American professors to tenure-track positions. More than a dozen American Indians representing several tribes now hold academic positions. While not all are on track for tenure, those tracking the university’s push for diversity are pleased with the progress.
Unity College Offers Local Organic Milk in Dining Hall
(U.S.): The university’s Dining Services has partnered with Maine’s Own Organic Milk and will begin offering MOOMilk on a daily basis in February. Over the past several semesters, the college has been using MOOMilk as an example of sustainable enterprise, and students have pursued a variety of projects with the company, including visiting family farms and pursuing marketing projects.
Universities Cut Ties with Adidas Over Labor Concerns
(U.S.): Several institutions including Cornell University, Oberlin College, Georgetown University, Rutgers University, and the University of Washington have ended their relationships with Adidas over accusations that the company owed money to workers at an overseas manufacturing plant that closed in 2011.
U South Florida Recertified as Tree Campus USA
(U.S.): The university has been recertified as a Tree Campus USA institution by the Arbor Day foundation for the second year in a row. One of the highlights that led to the recertification was the planting of 1,173 trees on campus in 2012.
U System of Maryland Enters Power Purchase Agreement
(U.S.): In partnership with the State of Maryland, the System has announced plans to enter into a power purchase agreement with Green Planet Power Solutions to purchase a minimum of 10 megawatts of electricity produced from animal waste.
U Wisconsin Oshkosh Biodigester Team Studies New Bioplastic
(U.S.): Researchers and students have begun working with local, regional, national and international companies to test bioplastics in a new Biodigester and also at the connected UW Oshkosh Environmental Research and Innovation Center (ERIC) laboratory. The plastics research testing will focus on the impact of new biodegradable plastics on the environment; the biogas and energy yield of the materials as they decompose; and the readiness of a mass-consumer public to embrace the next-generation materials.
U Wyoming Bim Kendall House Earns LEED Gold
(U.S.): The House, home of the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, features solar panels, renewable building and finishing materials, recycling collection, and a green cleaning program. Students participated in the building’s design. The Haub School offers in-person and online tours to teach visitors how the building reduces resource consumption.
Bradley U Alumni Center Awarded LEED Silver
The Hayden-Clark Alumni Center has achieved LEED Silver through a variety of sustainable initiatives including minimizing energy use and reducing water consumption by more than 30 percent. Regional and recycled materials were also used in construction.
Delta College Student Food Pantry Earns Equity in Education Award
The Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers’ Equity in Education Committee has granted the 2012 Equity in Education Award to the college for its food pantry. The food pantry was recognized for its efforts to eliminate hunger as a barrier to student success.
Florida State U Installs Bike Repair Stations, Safety Lights
The university has installed free-to-use bike repair stations to provide users a variety of tools to fix their broken gears, collapsed chains, and low tires. “Bike boxes,” bright green squares containing a white bicycle logo, have also been installed at campus crosswalks to caution drivers of cyclists sharing the road.
Green Mountain College Students Build Solar Garage
Twenty-one students in the college’s Renewable Energy and Ecological Design course have completed a solar-powered garage that demonstrates an integrative design to optimize the performance of electric vehicles in cold weather climates. The building is a mini power plant that consumes the power it produces while providing a platform for sustainable food production. Inside, the building has a large multifunctional solar wall that provides heat, light and shelving for food production.
