U Alberta Pilots Mattress Recycling
The university collaborated with Re-Matt, a new, mattress recycling company, in an effort to reduce the amount of mattresses that end up in landfills and illegally dumped. Re-Matt is able to recycle up to 95 percent of a mattress into reusable products.
Virginia Tech Rolls Out Reusable To-Go Containers
Upon arrival this semester, students received a reusable to-go container made from sugar cane that can be used in three dining centers. The distribution of reusable containers is an effort to reduce the usage of disposables and the amount of waste generated on campus.
Morehead State U Wins Grant for Recycling Bins
The university's Sustainability Committee received a Kentucky Pride Recycling grant for $10,701 and a $2,300 donation from G&J Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Inc., to purchase 1,250 six-gallon recycling totes for residence hall rooms. The idea for installing bins came from a student during the 2015 RecycleMania competition.
U Alberta Contracts With Green Cleaning Partners
Aligning with the university’s Cleaning for a Healthy U program, the university’s Buildings and Grounds Services recently announced a new primary custodial services business contract, Avmor, Wesclean Equipment & Cleaning Supplies and BeeClean Building Maintenance, to provide environmentally friendly cleaning products and cleaning equipment.
Indiana U Debuts Farmers Market
Aligned with the university's participation in the Real Food Challenge, the campus community can now purchase locally grown produce at a weekly farmers market.
Bristol CC Unveils 3.2MW Solar Parking Canopy
Part of the zero net energy campus plan, the newly completed 3.2-megawatt photovoltaic array covering 800 parking spaces will supply about half of the electricity needs of the entire campus. The project is expected to provide more than $1.75 million in savings to the campus over the next 20 years.
New Study Reveals Energy Efficiency is Key to Meeting Goals
According to a new study commissioned by Schneider Electric and the Alliance to Save Energy, U.S. higher education institutions recognize that energy efficiency is the most cost-effective way to meet their energy needs while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions and cutting costs.
North Carolina State U Stadium Implements Composting
University Athletics and the Waste Reduction and Recycling Office are partnering to add stadium composting bins, which will be used to collect food waste and other organic material from each game during the 2015 football season. Collected material will be combined with other campus food waste and turned into a nutrient-rich soil amendment.
AASHE Releases 2014 Annual Report
The purpose of the recently released report is to provide members, prospective members and others with an overview of the accomplishments of AASHE in 2014. The report provides a snapshot of the following areas: Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), Listening Project, Conference & Expo, Sustainability Awards, professional development, and councils and committees.
California State U System Funds Sustainability Curriculum Development
The university's systemwide Campus as a Living Lab (CALL) program provides up to $12,000 to each campus to support the redesign of an existing course that ties in sustainability and campus facilities. This year, 21 teams from 19 universities received grants supporting water conservation, energy and waste reduction, and enhanced partnerships with local utilities.
Sierra Magazine Releases Cool Schools Ranking
Sierra Magazine has published its ninth annual Cool Schools ranking of America's most sustainable four-year undergraduate colleges and universities, based on data submitted through AASHE's STARS reporting system. The rankings are intended to spur productive competition between schools, raise campus eco-standards and publicly reward the institutions. Photo courtesy of Peter Morenus/U Connecticut
16 Universities to Participate in Reusable Cup Contest
Kill the Cup recently announced the participating schools that will engage in a four-week, nationwide campaign that encourages students, staff and faculty across the country to reduce waste from disposable coffee cups. The campaign, which runs from Oct. 5-30, will reward the university that serves the highest percentage of drinks in reusable cups at participating coffee shops.
U Washington Receives NACDA Sustainability Award
Honored for the renovation and sustainable operations of its football stadium, the university was recently received the inaugural Sustainability Award from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and USG Corporation. The stadium showcases the natural environment and carries a 75 percent waste diversion rate.
U California Merced Student Proposal Amplifies Student Engagement
Winning the first-ever Chancellor's Advisory Committee's Sustainability Proposal Writing Contest, undergraduate student Andrew John De Los Santos' proposal includes providing information to residence halls during move-in and providing "triple zero" workshops. Triple Zero is the university's pledge to consume zero net energy, produce zero waste and zero net greenhouse gas emissions, all by 2020.
North Carolina State U to Salvage 55-Year Old Building
Opened in 1961 and is slated for deconstruction in 2016, the construction waste management plan for the university's round building indicates 95 percent diversion rate through donation or transfer of usable items and working with a facility that specialized in construction and demolition waste in order to reuse and recycle nonhazardous material.
Michigan State U Students Establish Beehive in Campus Neighborhood
The university's Bee Club is combining pollinator research and student learning by engaging Bailey Hall residents with a honeybee hive atop their green roof. The honeybee hive is providing students with a unique opportunity to manage a fully-functional colony and helping to diminish the fear associated with these critical pollinators.
Indiana U Bloomington Sustainability Office Hosts Students from Istanbul
Following a 2014 program that brought together Turkish and American students from five universities, seven Turkish students spent time with sustainability offices at the Indiana University and University of Chicago to learn about campus gardens and composting, fossil fuel consumption and alternative utility initiatives, and first year experiences that incorporate sustainability.
U California Merced Class Helps Certify LEED Buildings
In partnership with the university's Engineering Service Learning course, students will document and certify the campus’ applications for the LEED operations and maintenance program rating system and provide students with the opportunity to take the LEED credentialing examination.
U North Carolina System Avoids Over $900M in Utility Costs
The fourth annual University of North Carolina Energy Leadership Challenge revealed that the state's universities and colleges have cumulatively avoided over $749 million in energy costs and over $158 million in water costs as of the 2013-14 academic year.
U Dayton to Hold Conference on Fossil Fuel Divestment
The conference will engage Pope Francis’ call to action by convening representatives from Catholic institutions to discuss theological and ethical underpinnings of divest and invest initiatives, financial mechanics of fossil fuel divestment and opportunities for renewable energy investment, lesson learned from the divestment movement, and ecumenical coalitions for responses to climate change.
U Toledo to Offer Disability Studies Major
The university's new undergraduate major in disability studies will be based on a 21-credit set of required courses that include an introduction to the field, courses on disability culture and a course on the history of disability in the U.S. The program at Toledo will join minors at Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of California at Berkeley.
Ireland Engages in National Review of Gender Equity in Higher Ed
(Ireland): Amid concerns over the lack of women in leadership roles in tertiary institutions, the country's Higher Education Authority appointed a review panel to investigate gender discrimination. Higher Education Authority figures revealed 19 percent of university professors are women as of December 2014.
Colorado State U & 13 Others Contribute to Water Research Network
The university will join 13 other academic institutions from the U.S. that will establish the Urban Water Innovation Network (UWIN). With $12 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, these institutions, led by Colorado State University, will create technological, institutional and management solutions to help increase the resilience of water systems and enhance crisis preparedness.
Second Nature Names Climate Leadership Finalists
The sixth annual Climate Leadership Awards resulted in 19 finalists out of nearly 50 applications, seven of which are from two-year institutions and 12 are from four-year schools. The awards are a national competition among higher education institutions that are signatories of the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment.
Shippensburg U to Complete New Cooling System
As part of a $30.2 million project to replace the university's outdated heating and cooling systems and reduce its impact on the environment, four new chillers are replacing 24 separate building units to provide more efficient cooling. The new system is anticipated to reduce the overall footprint by eight percent.
Elmhurst College Expands Campus Garden
Tended by students, faculty, staff and volunteers, the college's Heritage Garden quadrupled in size this year and produces organic food for campus and local food banks. The garden has also become a research laboratory and service learning experience for local community members from a boys and girls home.
U Dayton Builds New Student Green Housing
Over the next two years, $17 million will build and upgrade student housing that will be certified under the National Association of Home Builders Green Building program, including building features such as additional insulation, energy-efficient furnaces and appliances, tankless water heaters and airtight windows.
U Virginia and USGBC Partner to Support Public Health
Supported by a $1.2 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the new research initiative aims to result in new tools that create and demonstrate the value of public health through the design, construction and operation of sustainable buildings and that bring a public health lens to assessments of commercial real estate portfolios.
U Kentucky Improves Connectivity for Bicyclists and Pedestrians
Because commuting cyclists faced limited and difficult options for traveling to and from campus, the university funded the construction of a new shared-use path and the city provided way-finding and pavement markings that link an existing bicycle route to a new campus facility.
Northwestern U to Implement Energy Efficient Lighting
After investing over $1.5 million since 2009 on updating lighting controls and adding occupancy sensors across campus, the next step of the university's energy savings initiative is to retrofit outdoor, athletic and theatrical lighting to LED.
U Albany to Host Sustainability Leadership Summit
During the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students Leadership Summit in early August, graduate student leaders from across the nation will convene to discuss the principles of leadership used to advance university sustainability capacity and how the principles can be applied to student governance.
Colorado State U Surplus Diverts 18 Tons of Move-Out Material
The university's Surplus Department and Housing and Dining Services diverted over 18 tons of reusable items this year through the Leave it Behind program, which netted just over $7,000 to fund eight students in the Eco Leaders Peer Education Program who raise sustainability awareness in the dorms.
U Kentucky Announces Bicycle Voucher Program
Inspired by the success of the University of Louisville's Earn-a-Bike Program, the University of Kentucky's Parking and Transportation Services' new pilot program is giving up to 100 students a $400 voucher for a local bike shop in exchange for not bringing a motor vehicle to campus for two years. The program aims to encourage commuters to consider alternatives to the single passenger vehicle.
U British Columbia Develops 20-Year Sustainability Strategy
Building on 20 years of sustainability achievement and following extensive community engagement, the strategy provides an overall framework to further integrate academic and operational sustainability efforts through the lens of regenerative sustainability. Using the campus as a societal test-bed, it seeks to explore and demonstrate net-positive approaches to human and environmental well-being.
Dickinson College Energy Efficiency Projects Earn Over $75K in Rebates
Thanks to the state of Pennsylvania incentives to lower power usage through Act 129, the college’s climate action plan projects have brought in $75,000 in rebates. Most recently it received a check for $47,000 for installing motion sensors in all laboratories of one of its science buildings.
U Maryland Partners with Community on Renewable Energy Awareness
The university's Center for Young Children and the Energy Research Center recently hosted 14 students, ages 4 and 5 years old, offering them the opportunity to see how the university uses clean and renewable energy. The children visit photovoltaic panels, an electric car and a research lab.
SUNY Fredonia Installs Solar Panels
The recently installed solar panels at the university's College Lodge will trim electricity consumption and aid in student learning. The array is expected to save $1,750 annually on utility costs and produce approximately 70 percent of the total electricity needs of the lodge.
Maharishi U Management Holds Inaugural Deep Sustainability Discussion
Hosted in June 2015, the Colloquy on Deep Sustainability was a closed discussion in order to distill the meaning of the term deep sustainability, how it differs from similar concepts and systems, and what a future with deep sustainability at its core should look like. Topics included philosophy, spirituality, mathematics, ecology, economics, governments and societies.
Maharishi U Management Holds Green Business Symposium
At its third annual Deep Green Business Symposium, the university focused on Global Green Opportunities and Technologies with 16 speakers discussing subjects including community development, optimization of a product’s life cycle, and philosophies of sustainability.
U Southern California Introduces Green Teams
Promoting environmental sustainability within athletics, the Green Teams Program, part of the Office of Sustainability, recently honored three teams, women's sand volleyball, women's rowing and men's club lacrosse, for their consideration of transportation, waste, energy and water impact, and food consumption. The program has four tiers of certification and seeks to highlight best practices.
Stanford U Dining Becomes REAL Certified
The United States Healthful Food Council recently announced that Stanford has become the nation's first campus dining program to obtain the Responsible Epicurean and Agricultural Leadership (REAL) certification. Honored for its commitment to holistic nutrition and environmental stewardship, the university was evaluated on whole-foods use, portions, behavioral components and procurement.
Elon U Receives 25th LEED Certification
Located in central North Carolina situated on 620 acres, six buildings in the Global Neighborhood on campus recently received U.S. Green Building Council LEED Silver certification. Five are residential and house a total of 600 students.
