Thomas College to Install Solar Array
(U.S.): The college has announced a new partnership with ReVision Energy for a solar energy project. The 170-kilowatt, 700-panel solar photovoltaic array will be mounted on the athletic center and is expected to produce about 11 percent of the college’s energy needs. The project is being financed through a Power Purchase Agreement.
U California Berkeley Installs DIY Bike Repair Station
(U.S.): The do-it-yourself repair station is the first of three planned by the university’s Office of Parking and Transportation as part of a wider effort to accommodate increasing demand for bicycle services on campus. The station is equipped with screwdrivers, a tire pump and a reference code to access detailed repair instructions on Internet-enabled phones.
UC Santa Barbara Receives $50 M Grant for Energy Research
(U.S.): The university has received a $50 million private donation to support energy efficiency research and engineering programs. About half the money will be used to construct a building to house the Institute for Energy Efficiency, an interdisciplinary research center.
U Georgia Costa Rica Campus to Offer Sustainability Certificate
(U.S.): The university’s Costa Rica study abroad campus has announced a new Sustainability in Action semester leading to a sustainability certificate. The program includes an international field experience with coursework intended to directly feed into the University’s Local Food Systems, Environmental Ethics, Organic Agriculture and Sustainability certificate programs.
U Massachusetts Medical School Creates Sustainability Pledge
(U.S.): The university’s Sustainability Committee has asked students, faculty and staff to sign a pledge in an effort to encourage the campus community to think about the environmental impact of everyday decisions. Every month, one person who takes the pledge will be selected to receive a gift.
U Massachusetts Student Farm Partners with Local Supermarket
(U.S.): The university’s Student Farm Enterprise class has partnered with Big Y Foods, a local supermarket, to sell locally grown produce. The partnership will allow students to learn how to manage their own farms and work with a mainstream retail market.
U North Dakota Dedicates Green Alumni Center
(U.S.): Designed to meet LEED Platinum requirements, the new center features solar photovoltaic panels, a geothermal system, native landscaping, and a designated room for the collection and storage of recyclables.
U Nottingham Debuts Sustainable Energy Research Facility
(U.K.): The new Energy Technologies Building features laboratory space for low-carbon research, a demonstration roof for solar panels and a prototyping facility in which researchers will be able to create full-scale building exteriors to test their energy efficiency. A newly installed hydrogen vehicle refueling station will be used for a small fleet of hydrogen-powered cars that will run in connection with research based projects at the building.
Virginia Tech Ambassadors Build Biking Community
(U.S.): The university’s Alternative Transportation Program has implemented the Bicycle Ambassador Program in an effort to encourage safe, responsible bicycle usage among students and faculty. Student ambassadors volunteer their time each week in order to teach cyclists of all skill levels about appropriate bicycling behavior. The ambassadors plan to hold bicycle repair workshops and registration drives, and gather feedback regarding what students want out of biking services on campus.
Walden U Participates in Global Day of Service
(U.S.): More than 2,500 volunteers from the university’s international community of students, alumni, faculty and staff led more than 150 service projects in 700 cities during the seventh annual Global Day of Service. Projects included the sustainability of a multigenerational neighborhood, health screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar; working in food banks; cleaning and cooking in Ronald McDonald Houses; holding drives to donate food, clothing, infant and maternity items and coats for veterans; and cleaning up roads, beaches and parks.
Arizona State U to Become a Tobacco Free Campus
The university senate has passed a measure to ban on-campus smoking. Effective Aug. 1, 2013, tobacco use will be prohibited on university property, facilities, grounds, parking structures, university-owned vehicles and structures owned or leased by the university.
Berea College Installs Solar Powered Compactors
The installation of three solar powered trash compactors will allow the college to remove 40 dumpsters. Instead of collecting waste every three to five days from traditional dumpsters, compacted waste can be hauled away every three to four weeks. Waste is weighed and recorded in the unit, allowing the college to explore further ways to reduce and eliminate waste.
California Passes Free Digital Textbook Library Legislation
Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation that will give undergraduates free access to online textbooks for 50 of the most common courses at California public colleges. The newly established California Open Education Resources Council, which has nine members drawn from the University of California, California State University, and community college systems, will create and oversee the book approval process, then solicit bids to produce the textbooks in time for the 2013-2014 school year. The council can also choose to use existing open source textbooks.
Clemson U Launches Medical Device Reprocessing Program
The university has established a certificate program to train engineers to recycle and reprocess medical devices to save on supply costs and divert medical waste from landfills. The program received contributions from third-party reprocessing companies, including Stryker Sustainability Solutions.
Coast CC District Campus Earns LEED Gold
The building features indoor gardens, a reclaimed water irrigation system, native landscaping and 20 percent of the construction material was manufactured locally.
Denison U Laboratory Renovation Receives LEED Gold
The $14.5 million expansion and renovation of the university’s Ebaugh Laboratories repurposed 800 tons of material from the demolition for the project and worked to bring in 20 percent of the new material from local companies ranging no more than 500 miles from campus. The facility also features drought tolerant native landscaping.
Earlham College Introduces Single Stream Recycling
In an effort to make campus recycling more convenient, the college has adopted a new co-mingling recycling program. The college has also hired six students to manage the pick-up of outdoor recycling bins and help educate the campus about recycling through improved signage and bin locations.
Indiana U On-Time Completion Award to Offer Tuition Relief
Beginning next year, the university has announced plans to freeze tuition for students after their sophomore year if they are on track to graduate in four years. Under the program, qualified students will receive an on-time completion award equal to any increase in tuition and fees that they would otherwise incur during their final two years.
Loyola U New Orleans Renovation Awarded LEED Gold
The newly renovated Thomas Hall features low-flow plumbing fixtures, native and adaptive plantings, and 20 percent of materials within the building contain recycled content. Many opportunities for alternative transportation exist as part of the renovation including public transportation access and access for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles.
Manhattan College to Open Center for Urban Resilience
The college has announced plans to open a new Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Sustainability this fall. The goal of the center is to help faculty that already have great strengths in sustainability research to collaborate in ways that will help find solutions to the environmental challenges of cities and their surrounding areas. The center will also support outreach to private and nonprofit organizations, while fostering the further integration of environmental education into the college’s undergraduate program.
Northwestern U Creates Diversity and Sustainability Positions
The university’s administrators and Associated Student Government have designated new positions to address diversity and sustainability issues on campus. The student senate also created the Sustainability Committee and the Diversity Committee that will meet with university officials throughout the year to discuss common objectives and goals. The Sustainability Committee will also serve as a source of funds and support for the environmental organizations on campus.
Portland State U Professors Design Greener Portable Classroom
Two professors have designed a portable classroom to be as affordable and more environmentally friendly than the portables used in schools. The new concept doubles the number of windows and includes features that improve ventilation, help better regulate temperature, and reduce heat lost. The university-designed classroom would cost around $75,000 while traditional portables cost $60,000.
Princeton U Unveils New Trash Labels to Encourage Recycling
In an effort to change recycling behavior, Building Services have replaced “Trash” labels on disposal bins with “Landfill” labels. The university hopes the change in labels will encourage students to think more carefully about their consumption choices. Building Services, the Office of Sustainability and Green Leaders will be gauging the results of this program and its potential effects on disposal over the next few months.
Purdue U Dedicates Green Roof Laboratory
After raising more than $125,000 for the project, School of Civil Engineering students have unveiled a new green roof laboratory to celebrate the school’s 125th anniversary. Featuring soil and plant media, sensors to measure energy, and a weather station, the roof will provide a lab space to work on sustainability and green initiatives. The School of Civil Engineering, industrial partners, alumni and sustainability funds covered the additional $900,000 cost.
St. Peter’s U Launches Clean Energy Project
The university has created an energy resource area that contains equipment and software that will track the amount of solar energy being used on campus as part of a new energy conservation project. The project also includes installing solar panels, building a cogeneration plant and energy-efficient lighting in various campus locations. The university expects the new project to reduce the campus’ carbon emissions by 6.4 million pounds per year.
Syracuse U Monitors Green Roof
A civil engineering professor and a team of students have installed monitoring equipment on a rooftop garden that will gather data and show how effective the 1.5-acre roof system is at stemming stormwater runoff. Once the equipment is established, real-time data will be available on a website designed to allow teachers to use the information in their classrooms.
U Calgary Receives Endowment to Support Métis Students
The Métis Education Foundation has established a $750,000 endowment that will provide $60,000 in new scholarship opportunities annually to Métis students studying at the university. The endowment will create new entrance awards, continuing student undergraduate scholarships and graduate awards.
U California Los Angeles Debuts Solar Power Project
With the assistance of Facilities Management, students have installed 132 solar panels on the roof of the student-owned Ackerman Union. The panels will supply 2.5 percent of the building’s electricity. The university’s Green Initiative Fund provided a $176,000 grant to cover costs.
U Chicago Develops Green Roof Map
Interns with the university’s Environment, Agriculture and Food Group, along with the City of Chicago, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities and Loyola University’s Office of Sustainability, have developed the Chicago Campus Green Roofs Tool. The interactive mapping application features campus green roof locations, photos, performance data and information on public accessibility.
U Colorado Boulder Building Achieves LEED Platinum
The 336,800-square-foot biotechnology facility features an array of large-scale solar panels, energy-efficient freezer compressors and lab exhaust fume hoods, evaporative cooling and low-flow plumbing.
U Washington Turns Unwanted Items into Social Change
The university has made an effort to collect and donate reusable items that might otherwise go to the landfill. Last spring, the university’s Student Cleanup, Recycle and Moveout program donated 30 boxes of books to Better World Books, an organization that raises funds for literacy by selling used books online. Earlier this year, UW Recycling donated 1,540 pounds of food to the University District Food Bank; over 8,000 pounds of clothing to Northwest Center; 2,000 pounds of electronics to InterConnection; and 980 pounds of toiletries and emergency kit backpacks to Real Change.
U Wisconsin Madison Athletics Participates in Waste Recycling
The Athletic Department has partnered with the Office of Sustainability to create the Be the WE (Waste Eliminator) Program. The program uses student volunteers to serve as recycling ambassadors on football game days to help educate fans about recycling and assist the UW Facilities Department in its recycling efforts. Through the first three home games, the university has recycled 18,920 pounds of plastic and cardboard.
Washington U St. Louis Student Government Passes Plastic Bag Ban
The university’s Student Union Senate has passed a resolution calling for numerous campus businesses to replace plastic bags with paper ones. The resolution, drafted by a campus initiative called Another Step Towards Sustainability, encourages each distributor to eliminate their plastic bag distribution by the 2013 fall semester and replace them with eco-friendly paper bags.
Western Kentucky Receives Grant to Market Local Food
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded the university’s Office of Sustainability and the Community Farmers Market (CMU) more than $82,000 in grant funds to help promote the "Local Food for Everyone" program. The two organizations will collaborate on a project that serves as a tool for educating regional farmers and consumers about the variety of locally grown foods.
Arizona State U Faculty BBQ Goes Green
The annual staff appreciation barbeque has achieved gold certification by the university’s Green Events program. Staff Council organizers implemented sustainable measures including the distribution of electronic agendas, encouraging the use of alternative transportation, avoiding Styrofoam with eco-friendly service ware, and enlisting the Green Team to inform attendees about sustainability and proper recycling practices.
Chamberlain College of Nursing Campus Achieves LEED Gold
The Cleveland campus is the first LEED Gold certification for the college. The building demonstrates the college’s effort to reduce the impact of its buildings on the environment and encourage sustainable business practices in local communities.
Drexel U Science Building Earns LEED Gold
The first facility on campus to achieve LEED certification features a living biowall, serving as a biological air filter for the building. The plants also naturally regulate the building’s temperature by cooling the air during warmer weather and acting as a humidifier during colder months.
Eastern Connecticut State U Installs Fuel Cell System
Under a 10-year Energy Services Agreement, UTC Power has installed a combined heat and power fuel cell system at the university’s Science Building. With effective use of the thermal output, overall system efficiencies of up to 90 percent are possible.
Indiana U Competition Saves 7 M Gallons of Water
In its first three weeks, the university’s Million Gallon Challenge has saved 7.3 million gallons of water. The campus launched the challenge to not only reduce water usage on campus but also raise awareness of the City of Bloomington's emergency water restriction order.
Inver Hills CC, Metropolitan State U Students Partner on Garden
Students and faculty from both colleges have harvested more than 1,300 pounds of vegetables from the first interdisciplinary vegetable garden on the Inver Hills campus. The produce will be donated to local food banks. The institutions will also plant 50 apple trees next to the garden. Two professors initiated the garden project as a way to provide students with hands-on experience.
Ivy Tech CC Renovation Receives LEED Silver
The newly renovated student life center is designed to use 50 percent less water and over 30 percent less energy than a typical building due to the use of waterless urinals, occupancy sensors and high-efficiency mechanical systems. The renovation also reused over 98 percent of the existing roof, slab and exterior walls.
Knox College to Conduct Sustainability Audit
The college’s new sustainability coordinator has announced plans for a yearlong comprehensive sustainability assessment of the campus. Following the completion of the assessment, open forums will be held to facilitate the creation of a sustainability plan.
Michigan State U Introduces Campus Food Truck
Culinary Services has introduced Eat at State On-the-Go, a food truck that will offer menu items made with local ingredients grown at the university’s organic farm, dairy store and bakery. The food truck will accept on- and off-campus dining plans.
Montgomery County CC Launches Public Safety Segway Patrol
The college has introduced a Public Safety Segway Patrol Program as part of its sustainability initiative. When charging, the segway releases14 times less greenhouse gas emissions than driving the public safety vehicle and zero emissions when in use, saving an estimated ton of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere per year.
Northern Maine CC Dedicates Biomass Boiler
The newly installed wood boiler will provide heat to the two largest buildings on campus while replacing nearly 70 percent of the college’s fuel oil consumption with local, renewable energy. The project is expected to save more than $43,000 in utility costs annually and replace an estimated 47,000 gallons of fuel oil with local pellets.
Nova Scotia CC Unveils Green Home Living Lab
The house was constructed on campus to serve as an educational lab for students to learn about energy technologies used in a residential application. More than 30 monitoring and control points have been installed throughout the home to track energy consumption and help students and researchers determine the home’s efficiency.
