Keene State College Establishes Env'l Studies Department
Keene State College (NH) has created a Department of Environmental Studies. The courses in the new department will focus on how people interact with the environment, incorporating the natural world as well as social and political systems.
Luther College Names Sustainability Coordinator
Luther College (IA) has named Dan Bellrichard to the position of sustainability coordinator. Bellrichard will be tasked with assisting the College in achieving its sustainability goals and reducing the environmental impact of the institution by engaging students, faculty, and staff in sustainability initiatives related to campus operations, student life, and teaching and research. The new coordinator will also supervise student work-study sustainability employees, serve as a liaison between campus and community sustainability groups, and design and implement strategies to achieve reductions in solid waste disposal, campus energy usage, and recycling.
Portland State U Students Pass Green Fee
Portland State University (OR) will institute a $5 per term green fee starting this fall. The referendum was passed by 72 percent of voting students this spring, and is expected to generate more than $500,000 in funding for green projects. The allocated funds will subsidize a $10-$15 transit pass for students, create a student-run special sustainability projects fund to support small student-led sustainable projects, and establish a green revolving loan fund to finance energy and water conservation projects.
Princeton Review Releases Green Ratings, Honor Roll
The Princeton Review has released its second annual "Green Rating" of colleges, a measure of how environmentally friendly the institutions that filled out its survey. The company tallied its Green Ratings for 697 institutions based on data it collected from the colleges in 2008-09 concerning their environmentally related policies, practices, and academic offerings. The ratings are reported in some college profiles on the Princeton Review website and in its college guides. The Princeton Review also named 15 colleges to its "2010 Green Rating Honor Roll," a list that salutes the institutions that received the highest possible score – 99 – in this year's rating tallies. Institutions listed on the Honor Roll include: Arizona State University, Bates College (ME), Binghamton University (NY), College of the Atlantic (ME), Colorado College, Dickinson College (PA), Evergreen State College (WA), Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard College (MA), Middlebury College (VT), Northeastern University (MA), University of California, Berkeley, University of New Hampshire, University of Washington, and Yale University (CT).
St. Petersburg College Partners to Offer LEED Training
St. Petersburg College’s (FL) Corporate Training Office has announced a partnership with the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council to provide a sustainable building operations training course based on the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance rating system. The collaboration will make the training available beyond the local area.
Students' Guide to Sustainable Living at Stanford
Students at Stanford University (CA), in partnership with the Office of Sustainability, have created the "Students' Guide to Sustainable Living at Stanford." The guide, which will be presented at the new student orientation events, contains information on greening dorm rooms and apartments, how to conserve water and electricity while doing laundry, how to make study habits more sustainable, eating sustainably on campus, using alternative transportation options, and where and what to recycle.
U Iowa 15th in Nation for On-site Green Power
The University of Iowa has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of the Top 20 On-site Green Power Users, with a rank of 15th in the nation. As the only college campus on this list, the UI has an on-site power plant that uses oat hulls to generate nearly 9 million kilowatt-hours of biomass power annually, equivalent to 3 percent of its electricity use.
UNESCO, Microsoft Announce Partnership for Green Training
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Microsoft Corp. have announced a joint task force to help higher education institutions worldwide meet the growing challenge of supporting economic stimulus efforts and work-force development strategies. The UNESCO-Microsoft Task Force on Higher Education and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will create a strategic plan of action to identify how ICT can be used by governments as a catalyst for change. The Task Force will also seek to ensure that students are equipped to drive and support economic growth and to address major development challenges such as those related to the environment.
U Saskatchewan Appoints Chair in Env & Sustainability
The University of Saskatchewan has appointed Douglas A. Clark as Centennial Chair in the School of Environment and Sustainability. The Chair, a five-year appointment effective August 1, 2009, will provide leadership and vision in establishing an interdisciplinary research program and promote excellence in graduate student training. Clark earned a Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Victoria (BC), a Master’s in Zoology from the University of Alberta, and a PhD in Geography and Environmental Studies from Wilfrid Laurier University (ON). Since 2007, Clark has served as a scholar-in-residence at Yukon College, building the college’s research capacity and providing strategic advice on a new undergraduate environmental studies program.
U System of Ohio Partners for Green Jobs
The Ohio Board of Regents has announced the launch of Ohio Green Pathways, a collaboration of the University System of Ohio and the Ohio Environmental Council that is designed to link education and training with green industry jobs in the state. The program aims to demonstrate career pathways for students in green education programs, increase enrollment in these programs, and help ensure that the state's workforce demands are met. Goals of the program include creating a database of green programs in the University System of Ohio, identifying current best practices in green education and training programs in Ohio and across the nation, and meeting anticipated workforce demand through new and expanded development of workforce training in the University System of Ohio's adult career-technical education sites and community colleges.
U Washington Theater Receives LEED Gold
The University of Washington Drama Department has received LEED Gold certification for its Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse Theater. The Theater, which seats over 200 people, features natural ventilation; hydronic floor heating; an under-floor air displacement system; water conservation technologies; low VOC paints, sealants, carpets, and theater scenery; recycling of construction waste; and use of regional materials.
Washington State U Installs Smart Sprinklers
Washington State University has installed a new water management irrigation system that turns off when it is raining. The University expects the evapotranspiration controller system to reduce water consumption by 30 percent.
Austin Peay State U Purchases 4 Electric Vehicles
Austin Peay State University (TN) has purchased four new Global Electric Motocars (GEMs). The vehicles – two six-passenger GEMs, one four-passenger and one two-passenger – are used by APSU staff to travel on campus for maintenance projects, deliveries, and errands. The four GEM vehicles, which cost a total of $69,000, were funded with money from student sustainability fees.
Clemson U Dedicates Green Building
Clemson University (SC) has dedicated the Harris A. Smith Building, a structure that houses the Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics. The 28,000-square-foot building features natural daylighting, locally sourced materials, concrete floors with a 20 percent fly ash content, and a metal sunscreen that mitigates the sun's exposure on the building's southwest corner glass wall. Clemson is seeking LEED Gold certification for the structure.
College of William and Mary Names First Sustainability Fellow
The College of William and Mary (VA) has named Philip Zapfel as a sustainability fellow for the 2009-2010 school year. Zapfel, a 2009 graduate of William and Mary, will be the College's first full-time employee dedicated to sustainability. In his new post, Zapfel will be responsible for coordinating the Committee on Sustainability's (COS) sustainability initiatives and helping to promote the College’s sustainability goals. Other responsibilities will include researching fundraising opportunities, encouraging and coordinating campus sustainability activities by faculty, staff, and students, preparing press releases regarding sustainability actions on campus, and maintaining the COS website.
Connecticut Holds Sustainability Education Workshop
The Connecticut Partnership for Sustainability Education has completed a "Best Practices in Sustainability Education Workshop." The workshop provided opportunities for Connecticut schools to share their successes and challenges in integrating the principles of environmental sustainability into the curriculum and into campus practices. Faculty from Three Rivers Community College and several K-12 schools were in attendance.
Federal Agencies Announce Biofuels Research Grants
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack have announced up to $6.3 million in funding for genomics-enabled research leading to the improved use of plant feedstocks for biofuel production. Awards have been given to the University of Georgia, Michigan Technological University, the University of Florida, and the University of Nebraska.
Kansas State U Installs Green Roof
Two professors in Kansas State University's College of Architecture, Planning, and Design have installed an experimental green roof over a third-floor breezeway on campus. The professors hope to assess how a living roof can reduce the urban heat load and control runoff from the region's intense thunderstorms. The rooftop garden mixes 14 grasses and other plants native to Kansas inside a border of sedum, a shallow-rooted succulent.
North Carolina State U Offers Concentration in Renewable Energy
North Carolina State University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has announced plans to offer a new undergraduate concentration in Renewable Electric Energy Systems within the Bachelor of Science Electrical Engineering degree program starting this fall. The new concentration will offer coursework in electromechanical energy conversion, renewable electric power systems, power electronics, and power transmission and distribution systems.
North Carolina State U Receives $1.3M to Improve Hybrid Car Batteries
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $1.3 million to faculty in North Carolina State University's Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center to improve the batteries that help power plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The grant will support research into the development and use of electrospinning technology to integrate lithium alloy and carbon into novel composite nanofiber anodes, which hold more energy, cost less and tolerate abuse better than materials found in existing batteries.
Portland State U Composts at Summer Orientation
Portland State University (OR) has announced that it is providing event composting services at its 15 orientation sessions for incoming first year and transfer students. Composting bins, along with student recycling and composting specialists, are located at each Lunch and Resource Fair. PSU collected over 300 pounds of compost and only 100 pounds of trash during the first 2 weeks of orientation.
Smith College Distributes Green Back-to-School Shopping List
Smith College (MA) has distributed an environmental sustainability-focused back-to-school shopping list that was developed by a Smith student. The list encourage students to bring cloth bags, a bicycle, reusable mugs, Tupperware, Energy Star appliances, power strips, and compact fluorescent bulbs. The list also discourages students from bringing a refrigerator, a computer printer, and incandescent bulbs.
St. Petersburg College Building Awarded LEED Gold Certification
St. Petersburg College (FL) has received LEED Gold certification for its Natural Science, Mathematics, and College of Education building. The structure, which opened in January 2009, includes reflective roofing and paving materials, fourteen preferred parking spaces for fuel-efficient vehicles and carpools, and bicycle storage and shower/changing facilities. The College has also committed to using only green cleaning products in the new building.
U Arkansas Sustainability Research Ctr Receives PepsiCo Grant
The University of Arkansas Applied Sustainability Center has received a $300,000 grant from PepsiCo. The Center works with a wide range of partners, including other UA colleges, for the rapid development of sustainable business practices and to promote their application across the retail and consumer goods industries.
Universities Receives DOE Funding for Wind Energy Research
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the selection of 28 new wind energy research projects for up to $13.8 million in funding. The higher education institutions that will receive a portion of the funding include: the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Illinois Institute of Technology; New Mexico State University; the University of Michigan; the University of Colorado; Tennessee Technological University; the University of Texas at Austin; and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
U Pennsylvania Installs Water Conserving Shower Heads
The University of Pennsylvania has begun a project to install 2,500 new environmentally friendly shower heads in campus residences. The new devices will save approximately 17.25 million gallons of water per year.
U Southern California Campus Building Earns Green Award
The University of Southern California's Ronald Tutor Campus Center has received a Green Building of America Award and a spot in the "green success stories" edition of the upcoming Southwest Real Estate & Construction Review . The Campus Center, which is registered for LEED Silver certification and is not yet open, incorporates radiant heating in the outdoor plaza, bamboo wood, trash compactors that separate out biodegradables, and lighting with motion sensors and long-life bulbs. The building also contains low-flow plumbing and an underground retention basin to capture rainfall.
U Tennessee Opens Biodiesel Production Facility
The University of Tennessee has opened a biodiesel production facility on its agricultural campus. The production facility will convert waste fryer oil from Knoxville area restaurants into useable fuel and will serve as a research center for other agricultural fuels like soybean oil and oilseed crops. The facility can produce up to 380,000 gallons of biodiesel annually, which will supply UT and local businesses.
Washington U in St. Louis Apartments Certified LEED Silver
Washington University in St. Louis' (MO) Village East student apartment building has received LEED Silver certification. The Village East, which opened in August 2008, contains 152 beds in four-bedroom apartments for upper-class students. The structure features natural daylighting; materials with recycled content; low-emitting paints, carpets, and composite wood; and stormwater management, including an on-site rain garden.
3 Florida Colleges, City Partner for Sustainability
Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach Community College, and Lynn University have partnered with the City of Boca Raton, Florida to address environmental sustainability issues. The group plans to appoint a five person Green Living Task Force that will advise the City Council.
College of Charleston Releases Campus Sustainability Video
The College of Charleston (SC) has created a video about sustainability on the Charleston campus. The video aims to teach students about sustainability and how they can reduce their energy consumption on campus and to encourage students to take action to make the College more sustainable.
Colleges Partner with Wal-Mart for Sustainability Consortium
Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas are leading a Sustainability Consortium that will provide scientific research to support Wal-Mart's sustainability index, a project that aims to place labels on all of the retailer's products that informs consumers about their environmental impact and treatment of workers. Additional campus partners include Duke University (NC); Harvard University (MA); Stanford University (CA); the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Michigan; the University of Quebec at Montreal; and the University of Texas.
Colorado College Saves $100K in Energy Costs
Colorado College has announced that it saved nearly $100,000 during its 14 week "aCClimate14" conservation campaign during the spring semester. The "aCClimate14" effort was a campus-wide resource conservation campaign designed to achieve a 14 percent reduction in electricity, heat, and water use through behavioral change. Each of the 14 weeks in the semester focused on different daily habits such as computing, bathing, transportation, and studying. The campaign included various communal tools to encourage behavioral shifts, including drying racks, outdoor recycling receptacles, shower timers, and plug-in electric meters.
Emory U (GA) Recycles Electronics
Emory University (GA) has completed its "Electronics Roundup" campaign. Through the campaign, faculty and staff were encouraged to donate institutionally purchased, nonessential electric appliances in order to reduce Emory's overall electricity consumption. Nearly 100 appliances were donated. The campaign is part of Emory's goal to reduce energy use by 25 percent per square foot by 2015 from 2005 levels.
Inside Higher Ed Covers Campus' 'Year of Sustainability'
Inside Higher Ed has published an article on campuses that create a "year of sustainability" to begin discussions of how the institution can address such goals as climate neutrality, sustainability in the curriculum, and teaching students to live sustainably. The article mentions Davidson College (NC), New Mexico State University, Villanova University (PA), and University of Denver (CO).
Lethbridge College to Start Demonstration Garden, Recycling Prgm
A Lethbridge College (AB) student group has received a $7,000 grant to build a xeriscaping demonstration garden and a $5,000 grant to start a recycling program in college residences. Eco-Collective members will help design the garden, which is called the Cousins Outdoor Living Theatre, and will gather the drought-tolerant native prairie plants, including grasses, shrubs, and trees. The recycling grant will be used to purchase containers for collecting cardboard, glass, cans, plastic, and paper for two residence halls on campus.
Obama Proposes Plan for Green Job Education
President Barak Obama has unveiled a $12 billion plan to help community colleges prepare students for a new generation of jobs. The "American Graduation Initiative" would offer grants to two-year community colleges that plan to try new programs in areas such as the clean energy industry.
Penn State Approves Energy Conservation Policy
Pennsylvania State University has announced plans to release a new energy conservation policy this fall. The policy, which has been approved by the University, includes guidelines such as making ''every effort'' to maintain the temperature inside facilities at 70 degrees in winter, and turning off or putting in ''standby mode'' any office equipment not in use ''unless it is detrimental to the operation of the equipment to do so.'
Presidents Urge Senators to Fund Training for Green Jobs
More than 100 college and university presidents have signed and submitted a letter to Senator Barbara Boxer, Chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, and Senator James Inhofe, Ranking Member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, "to recognize the vital role of education, at all levels, in preparing the American people to participate fully in a clean energy economy." The letter asked the public officials "to dedicate in the Senate climate bill at least one percent of the proceeds of emissions allowances for a range of educational activities.
Rhode Island College, Kwantlen Polytechnic U Host Farmers Markets
Rhode Island College and Kwantlen Polytechnic University (BC) have begun hosting weekly community farmers' markets on their campuses. The RIC market offers locally grown and organic fruits, vegetables, and flowers; eggs; and specialty items such as herbal soaps, body lotions, and natural-care products. The initiative is the result of last year's successful pilot project. The KPU market opened with fresh vegetables, bread, honey, preserves, and cut flowers from 32 vendors.
Southern Methodist U Athletics Discontinues Paper Media Guides
Southern Methodist University (TX) Athletics has announced that it will produce only online media guides beginning with the 2009-10 academic year. The paperless production of media guides will help save more than three tons of paper each year. The Athletic Department estimates that it will save close to $100,000 through the new initiative.
Trident Tech, Virginia Tech Partner for Sustainability Initiatives
Trident Technical College (SC) and Virginia Tech have announced a joint initiative called TTC Green, a program that seeks to expand TTC's energy efficiency and sustainability efforts at all three of its campuses. Virginia Tech will help the College to develop curricula that will enhance TTC's program offerings to include green building construction, engineering technology, and management curricula and certifications that lead to green careers. Virginia Tech experts will also consult with TTC officials as the college develops a comprehensive energy efficiency retrofit program.
U Colorado Denver Students Install Rain Garden
A group of graduate students at the University of Colorado, Denver have converted a parking lot into a storm water test site. The new water-purification site, also known as a rain garden, uses recycled materials to help filter the pollutants out of the rainwater. The rain garden will also feature solar panels that power the instruments needed to the study the storm runoff.
U Maine, U Southern Maine Receives $20M for Sustainability Initiative
The University of Maine and the University of Southern Maine have received a $20 million National Science Foundation EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) grant for a new project called the Sustainability Solutions Initiative. The research portion of the five-year initiative will bring together core research teams from UM and USM, as well as government and industry stakeholders, to work to improve the science and practice of sustainable development. Researchers will also collaborate with non-profit organizations focused on community development in rural Maine. The project will begin by focusing on problems related to urbanization, forest management, and climate change.
U New Mexico-Taos Goes 100% Solar
The University of New Mexico-Taos has announced that its 3 ½ acre, 500 kW solar array, which is expected to be complete by the end of July 2009, will provide the University with more than 100 percent of its electricity needs. UNM Taos officials believe that the community college is the first in the nation to be completely powered by solar energy.
Unity College Hires Sustainability Faculty and Staff
Despite the downturn in the economy, Unity College (ME) has hired three new faculty members to match the demand for its environmental curriculum, two new sustainable landscape horticulture assistants, and two new sustainable food production assistants. The creation of new positions is in response to a historically large pool of applicants, strong retention of students, new and ongoing public/private partnerships, and an increase in giving to the College during the 2008-2009 fiscal year. Also, not a single job was cut.
Wake Forest U Hires First Director of Sustainability
Wake Forest University (NC) has hired Dedee DeLongpré Johnston as director of sustainability, a newly created position. DeLongpré Johnston’s primary responsibility will be working with student, faculty, and staff groups to develop strategic initiatives for integrating sustainability into university programs, from teaching and research to public service and campus operations. As a member of the campus administration, she will also work with local and regional community representatives to develop synergies between Wake Forest’s sustainability programs and larger communities.
Western Kentucky U Greens Parking Lots
Western Kentucky University has begun a project to convert at least 5 of its parking lots to permeable asphalt. Once the regular concrete is removed, a layer of coarse gravel will be poured, and the permeable concrete will be laid on top. WKU's Parking and Administrative Services has also asked for funds to purchase two hybrid buses and to install solar carports that would produce enough electricity to service the parking and transportation building.
