American University (DC) has begun giving incentives to bike commuters. The monthly incentive comes as a $20 Commuter Check for Bicycling voucher valid for bicycling gear and services at participating bicycle shops nationwide. The vouchers can be spent each month or accumulated for up to a year and placed toward a larger purchase. Starting this month, bike commuters can request a January 2011 voucher through PayFlex at www.healthhub.com. In accordance with the federal legislation that makes this tax free program available, this benefit is available only to commuters who are not enrolled in any other transit or parking benefit.

Georgetown University (DC) has installed three bike share docking stations near the university’s main campus. Bike share members can rent the bicycles for an annual or monthly fee. Day passes are also available. The District’s Department of Transportation and Arlington County in Virginia launched Capital Bikeshare earlier this fall to help decrease car emissions and increase healthy activity. The university has partnered on the effort as part of its overall sustainability goals.

Grand Rapids Community College (MI) has announced plans to create a renewable energy certificate and associate degree program. The college’s goal is to tie the program with the recently launched wind safety technician and green building deconstruction programs. A new solar photovoltaic installation program will begin in February.

North Carolina State University's Utilities and Engineering Department has been awarded $1.2 million for energy projects and fellowships through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The university will add 10 fellowships that will focus on synergy projects among its Energy Management Office, FREEDM Systems Center, University Sustainability Office, NC Solar Center and Advanced Energy to help launch energy programs on campus and in North Carolina. The remaining funds will go toward energy conservation measures on campus like the installation of energy-efficient lights.

Paul Smith’s College (NY) has partnered with Johnson Controls, Inc. to launch a campus-wide energy conservation program. Through building and lighting retrofits, weatherization measures and the installation of an integrated building management system, the college expects to save $4.6 million in energy costs over the next 15 years and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings on campus by 22 percent. The program is expected to be complete in December 2011.

St. Thomas University School of Law (FL) has announced a new Master of Laws in environmental sustainability. Featuring a core curriculum that includes natural resource law and policy, environmental law, Earth jurisprudence, ecology and ecosystems management for lawyers, the one-year program is open to those who have earned their Juris Doctor degree or equivalent. Students will have the opportunity for real-world experiences alongside case studies through externships and one-credit short courses led by visiting professionals that will start in March 2011.

State University New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students recently held a recycled plastic art exhibition to increase waste awareness after a campus waste audit last spring revealed an unsettling amount of plastic waste. Works included a plastic hippopotamus and a biosphere made from a discarded television.

Students at Syracuse University (NY) hosted a denim drive throughout the month of October as part of Cotton Incorporated’s campaign, “Cotton from Blue to Green.” The denim is converted to cotton fiber insulation for houses in communities that are in need. The university collected more than 1,000 jeans, enough to insulate two houses. Since the campaign's inception in 2006, about 540 homes have received insulation.

Trinity University’s (TX) Miller Residence Hall has received LEED Gold certification. The 1953 building was renovated at a cost of $4.1 million as part of the university’s ongoing maintenance. Sustainable features include low-flow plumbing fixtures, energy-efficient lighting, increased building insulation and double-glazed windows.

The Berkeley Student Food Collective has opened a storefront on the University of California, Berkeley campus to provide local, healthy and sustainable foods to the campus community. Operating as a nonprofit collective, university student members will donate two hours of free labor a week with the aim to keep food prices low. Fruits and vegetables grown within 150 miles are available, along with local dairy products, organic juices and bulk bins with staples like rice and flour. The student group, which now has about 50 active members, incorporated as a California nonprofit and won a $91,000 grant from the university's The Green Initiative Fund, which commits a small part of student fees to sustainability projects. The group signed a lease on a former nail salon in August and since then have been working to convert the 600-square-foot space to a food market.

The University of California, Merced has partnered with AmeriCorps and the California Public Interest Research Group to create a new service-learning student group, the UC Merced Energy Service Corps. As part of the club’s official launch, students helped make the Merced County Rescue Mission more energy-efficient by weatherizing all windows and replacing all light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights. With 16 groups at college campuses throughout the state, the statewide goal is to educate 30,000 people about energy efficiency and conduct 4,000 energy surveys.

Trees that were removed in preparation for a new campus library at the University of Chicago (IL) have recently reappeared as furniture on campus. Where possible, trees that were removed during the construction of the Manseuto Library were replanted nearby. The university worked with Horigan Urban Forest Products, Inc. and local woodworkers to repurpose the remaining trees that were slated for disposal into benches, conference tables and closet doors.

Two University of Chicago (IL) students have launched a composting program through the campus' Uncommon Fund, which provides funding for student ideas, projects and events. In partnership with the university’s Cobb Café, the students spearheaded the placement of compost bins next to trashcans and recycling containers inside the café. Collected food waste is brought to the Resource Center, a local nonprofit, to be converted into compost.

AASHE's Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) has awarded its first STARS Gold rating. The University of Colorado at Boulder is the third school to submit for a rating, earning STARS Gold with high ratings in operations, education and research, and planning, administration and engagement. More than 230 colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada have registered for STARS, with 229 of those recognized as STARS Charter Participants (institutions that signed on prior to Aug. 20, 2010). STARS Charter Participants, including the University of Colorado at Boulder, range from individual campuses to university districts, community colleges to research universities, tribal to parochial, and public to private institutions. Previously rated schools include Pacific Lutheran University (WA) and Royal Roads University (BC).

The University of Idaho's Sustainability Center has administered its second annual Tailgate Recycling Program, a student-run effort to reduce waste associated with tailgate activities. Student volunteers supplied fans with recycling bags and dispersed receptacles throughout the parking lot to collect aluminum, plastic, glass and paper recyclables. After three home games, 74 volunteers have collected almost 1,500 pounds of recyclables. The university works with Moscow Recycling to ensure that all materials are properly sorted and transported to a recycling center.

The University of North Texas' System Board of Regents has approved the installation of three community-scale wind turbines on its Eagle Point campus. The turbines will replace unsustainable campus energy sources with wind energy in an effort to reduce the university's carbon emissions. The university recently completed a wind turbine feasibility study that included fish and wildlife assessments, avian studies, noise analyses, air transportation impacts, engineering reports and statistical estimates. The turbines are slated for a fall 2011 installation.

Sewanee - the University of the South’s (TN) Spencer Hall has received LEED Silver certification. Notable sustainable features of the 49,000-square-foot building include a chilled beam cooling system, low-flow fume hoods, passive solar design, native landscaping and a heat-exchange wheel for continual refreshment of indoor air with fresh outdoor air. The university also diverted 92 percent of on-site generated construction waste from the landfill.

Members of the Vanderbilt University (TN) student organization, the Alternative Energy Club, recently initiated a hands-on training and biodiesel fuel demonstration. Led by club members, small groups of volunteers made mini-batches of biodiesel starting with waste vegetable oil. The club merged with the Vanderbilt Biodiesel Initiative this fall, which has been making biodiesel on campus for several years.

Western Technical College’s (WI) Lunda Center has received LEED Silver certification. Sustainable features include rain gardens, native landscaping, tinted windows and energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems. Durable materials and products that are non-toxic, high in recycled content and easily recycled were used during construction.

Western Washington University installed a green roof on its Miller Hall Student Collaboration Space. The roof consists of a mat system of sedum, a flowering plant that requires little maintenance. The roof will help lower campus heating and cooling costs, reduce stormwater runoff and provide protection resulting in a longer lifespan of the roof.

The Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives at Williams College (MA) has launched a new campus sustainability website. The site features sustainability news stories and upcoming events, and encourages each campus building to keep track of its energy use with an energy dashboard feature. Interns in the college's summer instructional technology program helped design the website.

Wofford College (SC) has received LEED Platinum certification and a preservation award from a local historical association for its restoration and renovation of the Goodall Environmental Studies Center. Recognized for its attention to historical detail, the project used local and recycled construction materials and 78 percent of the construction waste was recycled. The campus center also features rainwater harvesting for irrigation and a reflective “cool” roof.

More than 100 signatory campuses of the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) have submitted public greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories since the last update in the AASHE Bulletin on June 21, 2010. The GHG inventory is the first major reporting requirement of the Commitment and is due within a year of signing. In alphabetical order, AASHE is listing the first 70 of 131 institutions that submitted new inventories. The remaining 61 campuses will appear in the November 22 issue. New inventories were submitted by: Alfred University (NY); Allegheny College (PA); Antioch University New England (NH); Bentley University (MA); Berea College (KY); Bethany College (WV); Black Hills State University (SD); Bowdoin College (ME); Bridgemont Community and Technical College (WV); Brookhaven College (TX); Bunker Hill Community College (MA); California State University, Chico; California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Cape Cod Community College (MA); Chandler-Gilbert Community College (AZ); Clark University (MA); College of Lake County (IL); College of the Holy Cross (MA); Colorado College; Colorado State University; Columbus State Community College (OH); Connecticut College; Cornell University (NY); Delaware State University; Drury University (MO); Eastfield College (TX); Eckerd College (FL); Emerson College (MA); Fairfield University (CT); Florida Gulf Coast University; Florida International University; Franklin & Marshall College (PA); Franklin Pierce University (NH); George Mason University (VA); Georgia Institute of Technology; Goshen College (IN); Grand Rapids Community College (MI); Guilford College (NC); Harford Community College (MD); Harrisburg Area Community College (PA); Haywood Community College (NC); Hibbing Community College (MN); Hollins University (VA); Houghton College (NY); Joliet Junior College (IL); Kalamazoo College (MI); Kennesaw State University (GA); Life University (GA); Macalester College (MN); McLennan Community College (TX); Mercyhurst College (PA); Middlesex Community College (MA); Monroe Community College (NY); Monterey Institute of International Studies (CA); Montgomery County Community College (PA); Naropa University (CO); North Iowa Area Community College (IA); North Shore Community College (MA); Northeast Lakeview College (TX); Northwest Vista College (TX); Norwalk Community College (CT); Onondaga Community College (NY); Pacific Lutheran University (WA); Palo Alto College (TX); Pomona College (CA); Purchase College, State University of New York; Randolph College (VA); Richland College (TX); Rider University (NJ); and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (IN). In related news, Yale University (CT) has published a Yale Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy 2010 executive summary.

Austin College (TX) recently recycled seven pallets of electronic waste during its community e-waste recycling event as part of the college’s Great Day of Service and the Thinking Green initiative. A truck was provided by certified green recycler e-Waste Collections to accept and properly process the unwanted electrical equipment and materials for recycling. A wide variety of items were dropped off including broken air-conditioning units, computer monitors, printers, power supplies, keyboards and binding machines. Items collected will be reviewed for possible reuse or refurbishing.

Belmont University (TN) has dedicated a new environmentally friendly academic building. The 80,000-square-foot McWhorter Hall features a green roof and a water tank that captures excess ground and stormwater. The collected rainfall will be used to irrigate the campus.

California Lutheran University has started a community garden to help connect students to the local environment. Funded by the Facilities department, students, faculty and staff members transformed a dry, weedy patch of land with raised beds. A portion of the produce harvested will go to the university’s dining hall; the other portion sold on campus and local farmers markets, and donated to local food banks.

California universities are teaming up with the Great Valley Center to offer free assistance to local governments to develop an inventory of their greenhouse gas emissions. The Green Communities Program, funded by Pacific Gas & Electric and the California Public Utilities Commission and implemented with the help of ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability, will pay interns from the University of California, Merced; the University of the Pacific (CA); and California State University, Stanislaus to work with staff members in participating cities to offer recommendations on how each city can reduce energy use in its operations. Interns will help the Great Valley Center assess metered energy use and interview city staff members about solid waste management, sewage treatment, landfill emissions and commuting practices.

Eastern Kentucky University has opened its Center for Renewable and Alternative Fuel Technologies. The facility has two large labs set for algae research and biomass analysis to create fuel for running vehicles. The center will host 10 research faculties to study biofuels and teach students agriculture, chemistry, biology and economics.

Florida State University has hired its first full-time director of campus sustainability. Elizabeth Swiman will head the university's Sustainable Campus Initiative including its recycling program, Eco Rep program, energy conservation competition and annual charity collection drive. Swiman previously worked as a community engagement coordinator for the university's Center for Leadership and Civic Education and served on the Sustainable Campus Committee.

Illinois State University has created a community composting initiative, a public-private partnership aimed to divert food waste from landfills. Local businesses such as hotels and restaurants, as well as schools and other entities handling food will be provided an outlet to compost food waste at the university farm. The $137,000 start-up costs were covered by state grants. Midwest Fiber will serve as the program’s hauler, contracting with businesses to pick up the food waste.

In separate deals, Marquette University (WI) and Michigan State University have partnered with Zipcar, Inc. to provide faculty, staff and students with a car sharing service. Two vehicles will be made available to the Marquette University campus community and six vehicles to the Michigan State University community. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will cost members at both universities $8 per hour or $66 per day. Goals at both universities include reduced greenhouse gas emissions, ease of traffic congestion and lowered barriers to alternative transportation.

Merced College (CA) is one of nine community colleges and high schools that will share a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish the California Regional Consortium for Engineering Advances in Technical Education (CREATE) Renewable Energy Regional Center. The four-year grant will create and expand courses and work force training programs to help address the high demand for renewable energy technicians in California.

The results of the midterm elections could mean a slowing of higher education sustainability projects, says a recent post in The Chronicle of Higher Education's Buildings & Grounds blog. President Obama's economic-stimulus bill included about $75 billion toward the higher education sector in areas like campus renovations, student loans, federal work-study programs, technology, climate research and green job training. Job training, says the post, may be the kind of project most at risk in the new political climate. With the possible halt in devising a comprehensive federal policy on energy and fossil fuels, industries and institutions may avoid planning decisions based on occasional efforts like the stimulus package.

The National Wildlife Federation and Jobs for the Future have partnered for The Greenforce Initiative, a two-year program to strengthen workforce development and sustainability practices at community colleges. With support from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the initiative is creating "Learning and Action Networks" in six regions across the country. The aim is to strengthen the capacity of colleges to develop, expand or refine green pathway programs that lead to postsecondary certificates or degrees and employment in family-sustaining green careers. The initiative is designed for nontraditional students who cannot currently access such programs.

Campus campaigns to curb bottled water consumption have been hindered by contracts with beverage suppliers, says a recent article in The New York Times that highlights student efforts to ban bottled water at higher education institutions. The University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point and Seattle University are featured for their plans for a campus-wide ban on bottled water beginning fall 2011. Washington University in St. Louis started the movement last year.

As part of an environmental impact study in Rice University's (TX) "Rice into the Future" class, students are assessing the surrey-style bike as a zero-emission alternative to the electric golf carts used on campus. The four-wheeled, dual-pedaled vehicle will be on campus until Thanksgiving.

San Diego State University (CA) has installed three solar trees in its Children's Center parking lot. Solar trees are pole-mounted solar panels that produce energy and shelter vehicles from the rain or sun. The new installation is a component of the university's Associated Students Green Love Sustainability Advisory Board project to make the campus community more eco-conscious.

Santa Clara University (CA) is one of six institutions recently honored for their commitment to civic engagement and service-learning by the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. With new core curriculum that requires students to work with marginalized communities, the university earned the 2010 Higher Education Civic Engagement Award. The university's Arrupe Partnerships Program encourages faculty members to build relationships with local organizations and match students with placements that meet course goals and benefit the community. The other 2010 Higher Education Civic Engagement Award winners include Miami Dade College (FL); Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis; The College of New Jersey; Wagner College (NY) and Western Carolina University (NC).

Stony Brook University (NY) has created a web-based, interactive “Green Map” to showcase and raise awareness of campus sustainability initiatives. The map will enable users to learn more about each initiative by clicking on the sustainability markers. Created by the university's Sustainability Task Force, the map will continue to be updated as new sustainability projects are initiated.

Tufts University (MA) has announced the creation of a bike sharing program on campus. Tufts Bikes will purchase a fleet of bicycles and give members of the community the ability to check out the bicycles free of charge. The program will also create a bicycle repair space on campus to maintain the bike share’s fleet, sponsor group rides and teach bicycle maintenance and repair classes, as well as safe city-riding classes.

The University of California, Irvine has announced that its newest student housing project has earned LEED Gold certification. The $137 million project features two student residential communities totaling 1,760 beds and a seven-level parking garage. The building’s green features include specified cool roofs to lower heat island effects and recycled construction materials. Seventy-five percent of construction waste was diverted from the landfill.

The University of California, Riverside has announced that it will raise the Transportation and Parking Services Gold permit fees by 10.7 percent in an effort to maintain incentive levels for taking alternative transportation. The university provides campus shuttles, a vanpool service and the U-PASS program, which allows students to ride for free.

The University of Connecticut has announced plans to launch a bike sharing pilot program. Students, faculty and staff with current university identification will be able to check out one of 20 bicycles. The Undergraduate Student Government purchased the bikes and, if the pilot program is successful, more bicycles will be purchased.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa has launched an energy challenge between the seven floors of its Saunders Hall. With Hawaiian Electric Company and the Electric Power Research Institute, the university's Sustainable Saunders Initiative constructed a website to provide real-time and historical energy use data for each floor in the building. The website debuted during the first round of the competition at the start of the school year for faculty, staff and students to monitor their energy use in relation to other floors. During the second round, energy savings rose 65 percent as departments in the building were offered financial incentives in proportion to their actual energy savings. Round three of the competition concludes on Nov. 23, 2010.

The University of Idaho Sustainability Center has awarded $12,578 to six student-led sustainability projects. The center's annual grant competition asks students to submit mini-grant proposals for projects that increase the sustainability of campus operations and culture. This year's funding will go toward the creation of native gardens, bioplastic degradation in compost research, water-saving measures and a conservation photography book that showcases the endangered Palouse prairie. All projects are scheduled for a May 2011 completion.

Utility workers at the University of Notre Dame (IN) have started using tricycles in replacement of trucks as an alternative way of getting around campus. The Trike Team is a voluntary group that makes service calls on tricycles to reduce the university’s carbon footprint. The tricycles can go up to 20 miles per hour and are equipped with disk brakes, a speedometer and a large toolbox.

"Every day I dream of a bike-filled campus," said University of Oregon student Alexander Hongo during recent local television coverage of the university's new bike loan project. Hongo is one of the staff members at the university's Outdoor Program that rebuild abandoned bikes donated by local authorities. For $12 with a $65 deposit, students can borrow the bikes for the academic school year. The bikes are also available to students and community members for learning routine bike maintenance.

The University of Saskatchewan College of Law’s newest facility has earned LEED Gold certification. The new expansion has reduced water use by 47 percent and overall energy use by 57 percent. The building features two green roofs, passive solar design, ventilation systems that provide outdoor air and 32 percent recycled building materials. Ninety-one percent of the construction waste was recycled.

In an effort to create student awareness of the opportunities in water conservation and business, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater has formed the Water Council in collaboration with the Milwaukee Water Council. The organization plans to host a series of lectures, conferences and films to increase the awareness of water conservation and hopes to serve as a mentor to other university institutions in promoting water conservation.

The American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) has elected five new co-chairs and 17 new members to its Steering Committee. The network of 675 colleges and universities in all 50 states and D.C. - representing nearly six million students - is led by a Steering Committee comprised of 29 university and college presidents and chancellors. The five new co-chairs include the president of Winona State University (MN), the chancellor of the Houston Community College District (TX), the president of Spelman College (GA), the president of Unity College (ME) and the chancellor of the University of California, Riverside.