Gonzaga U Partners with Socially Responsible Apparel Company
The university has announced that its bookstore will sell a brand of clothing that has committed to higher standards of social responsibility. Alta Gracia manufactures collegiate apparel in overseas factories that provide all employees with benefits and a living wage sufficient to cover monthly costs for a family of four.
Harvard U Student Victory Helps Renewable Energy Contractors
Harvard Law students have prevailed in a two-year battle to lift restrictions on the installation of solar power in Massachusetts. For more than two years, the university’s Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic has represented a group of general contractors who specialize in renewable energy projects but were being blocked from installing solar power by a state licensing board.
Linfield College Receives LEED Gold for Green Restoration
The historic classroom building features 85 solar panels, recycled construction materials and an educational LCD screen that monitors energy consumption, water use, heating use, solar energy production and weather data. Additional features include a "cool roof" that deflects heat and a digital control system that heats or cools the building based on classroom schedules and current temperatures.
Lone Star College Installs Solar, Wind Energy Systems
The college has installed two solar panels, two solar tracking arrays and three wind generators to provide energy to the electrical system. The systems will also be used as teaching tools in advanced technology courses. Funding for the installations was provided by a $400,000 grant from the State Energy Conservation Office.
Mid-South CC Dedicates Renewable Energy Center
Designed to meet LEED certifications, the building features a geothermal system that will generate as much energy as is consumed on-site. In partnership with Arkansas State University, Montana State University-Northern and the University of Memphis, the center will support entrepreneurs, workforce training and applied research in the use of renewable agricultural outputs.
Montgomery County CC Opens Parking Lot for Energy-Efficient Cars
The college has opened a new parking lot designated for students, faculty and staff who carpool or drive energy-efficient vehicles. The lot also includes charging stations for electric vehicles, LED lighting, subsurface infiltration system, rain gardens and vegetated swales with check dams to slow the rate of run-off conveyance.
New School Design Students Help Build University Center
Four students and alumni have teamed with a construction company to help build the new University Center. Each intern has a focus project including work on the interior LED lighting design, implementation of an eco-friendly wastewater system, and work in the field office. The building will feature an ice storage cooling system that complements the air conditioning system and internal electricity generator to relieve pressure on the public grid.
Northland College Works to Increase Local Foods on Campus
Working with several area farms and food/producer co-ops, the college aims to increase consumption of local foods on campus to 20 percent during the 2012-2013 school year. The move will represent an investment of about $100,000 to grow the presence of local foods on campus while supporting a local foods economy, farmers and their families.
RIT Announces Bottled Water Reduction Policy
Departments and campus groups will no longer be allowed to use university funds to purchase single-serving bottles of water. In addition, hydration stations will be installed in all future construction and major renovation projects. The institute's National Technical Institute for the Deaf has recently installed two stations.
St. Olaf College Launches 'SustainAbilities' Program
The college's new "SustainAbilities: Practical Steps to a Sustainable Society" program, encompassing all four years of the undergraduate experience, includes sustainability representatives for each residence hall to help students develop skills to design and build a more sustainable society, on campus and off. The newly launched SustainAbilities website offers students live newsfeeds, a blog with local stories, a calendar of events, a resource guide and green room certification guidelines.
SUNY New Paltz Reduces Campus Parking Spots
In an effort to encourage students, faculty and staff to walk more and use public transit, the university has announced plans to reduce the number of parking spaces on campus. As part of the effort, the university will add about a dozen additional bikes racks throughout campus this year.
Temple U Installs Solar Powered Tables
The university has installed three solar-powered charging stations on campus. In addition to the renewable power source they offer, the Solar Dok patio tables are constructed of plastic materials made from 1,200 recycled plastic milk jugs.
UC Santa Cruz Receives USDA Grant for Organic Farming Curriculum
A grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be used to teach organic farming techniques to students enrolled in the university’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems apprenticeship program. The grant will also allow the Ecological Farming Association, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, and the California Certified Organic Farmers to collaborate on the apprenticeship project.
U Iowa Dining Services Installs Food Pulper, Saves Water
The university’s Hillcrest Marketplace has installed a $58,000 food pulper that is expected to save $8,000 in water costs. The device grinds leftover food into mush. Water is pressed out of the mush, filtered and used to wash dishes. The leftover compost is taken to a local landfill to be made into fertilizer.
U Maryland Student Team Wins Appliance Design Competition
A University of Maryland student team has won the U.S. Department of Energy’s first Max Tech and Beyond Appliance Design Competition. The students simplified the design of a standard wall-mounted air conditioner by separating the systems that remove humidity and provide cooling. After the students tested a fully functional prototype, they found that the design reduced energy use by 30 percent compared with typical wall-mounted air conditioners already on the market.
U New Hampshire to Offer Corporate Sustainability Certificate
The university is holding a three-day institute this fall that will explore corporate social responsibility and sustainability. Students who attend the institute and complete a capstone project in their workplace will receive the certificate. The certificate is being offered by the university’s School of Business and Economics and Sustainability Academy in partnership with New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility.
Unity Adopts Sustainability Science as Framework for Curriculum
President Stephen Mulkey recently announced that the college's faculty and Board of Trustees have endorsed sustainability science as the overarching framework for all academic programming with an emphasis on upper division courses. With this endorsement, the college has dedicated significant financial and human resources to strengthen academic offerings through this lens, and to further develop campus infrastructure to support sustainability science on the ground.
U Oregon Installs Bike Repair Stations
The university’s Outdoor Program is installing bike "Fixit" stations across campus that include tools for performing basic bicycle maintenance and repair. Funded primarily through the Student Sustainability Fund, six stations will be completed by the end of fall term
U Oregon Joins Smoke and Tobacco Free Campus Movement
The university is the latest campus to declare a smoke- and tobacco-free campus, joining a movement that is on the rise in the U.S. with 126 schools that have moved forward with smoke-free policies that apply to all areas of campus this year. Between January 2011 and January 2012, the number of U.S. colleges and universities with total smoking bans rose from 466 to 648, reports the Christian Science Monitor.
U Rhode Island Opens Sustainable Pharmacy Building
The 144,000-square-foot science facility was designed to LEED standards. The indoor air distribution system works in concert with chilled beams, a system of radiant heating and cooling panels that reduces the need for large motors and fans. The concrete floors and wallboards contain waste fly ash and the ceiling tiles contain up to 80 percent recycled paper products. The building will serve as a green teaching laboratory for students who will be able to study medicinal plants in the garden and track and measure the quality of rainwater flowing through the site drainage system.
Washington U St. Louis Launches Composting Pilot
The Office of Sustainability and Facilities Planning & Management have partnered to increase composting opportunities through pilot programs with schools and departments across the Danforth campus. Through the new initiative, the university's waste is collected for composting and the finished product is sold to local landscaping companies who use it as a soil additive that the university then buys back for use in campus landscaping.
Burlington County College Offers Tuition Free Energy Program
The college has received a $306,265 grant from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the state Energy Sector Partnership to offer unemployed residents a tuition-free green energy technology training program. The program includes hands-on training, instructional materials, certification testing and job-placement assistance.
Colorado State U Adds More Bike Fix Stands
Following the success of its first bike fix stand, installed at the beginning of the year, the university has announced plans to add six more across campus. The stand is free for all to use and includes tools for helping bicyclists repair flats and complete basic tune-ups.
Grand Valley State U Releases Sustainability Impact Report
The economic impact of the university’s sustainability efforts in the region is more than $900 million according to the university’s first collective sustainability impact report. The report, compiled by the university’s Sustainable Community Development Initiative, uses 2010-2011 data. It includes 11 sections that outline practices used by students, faculty and staff members to decrease the university’s footprint and increase the impact of sustainable activity on campus and in the community.
Harvard Law School Earns LEED Platinum for Office Renovation
Ninety-five percent of construction waste was diverted from landfill during the renovation of the Hauser Hall Basement Office Suite, which now features lighting, temperature and ventilation occupancy sensors, and materials manufactured within 500 miles of the project site.
Hawaii Pacific U Introduces Carpooling Website
The university has launched GreenRide, an online map-based carpool program that connects people who want to share rides. The free service will also let users see how much they save by sharing a ride to campus.
Hollins U Installs Geothermal Well System
The university has completed the construction of a geothermal well field that will serve Tinker Hall, the largest student residence on campus. The system is expected to improve temperature control and indoor air quality, and reduce energy costs.
Indiana U-Purdue U Indianapolis Initiates Single Stream Recycling
The Office of Sustainability has launched a new single-stream recycling initiative to boost recycling among the 812 students in campus apartments. The university received a grant from Keep America Beautiful and The Coca-Cola Foundation for 305 recycling bins.
Johnson County CC Debuts Green Classroom
Designed to meet LEED Platinum certifications, the classroom facility features an interactive computer screen and explanatory boards that introduce students to environmentally sensitive mechanical systems and sustainable features including rainwater harvesting, photovoltaic systems, net metering of electricity and a wind turbine. The building was designed and constructed by Studio 804, a nonprofit design-build project of graduate architecture students at the University of Kansas.
New Duquesne U Residence Hall to Seek LEED Gold
Designed to meet LEED Gold certification requirements, the 384-bed facility features recycled construction materials, water bottle filling stations and elevators that generate electricity as they slow down.
Tennessee Technological U Installs Solar Panels
The university has connected several large solar panels to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s power grid. The university received a one-time $1,000 payment as an incentive for becoming a TVA Generation Partner and will receive 12 cents for each kilowatt of power the panels produce.
Texas State U San Marcos Announces New Water, Environment Center
The university's planned $10 million expansion of its water and environmental quality research and teaching program will include a new Meadows Center for Water and the Environment. The initiative will be funded by a $1 million gift from the Meadows Foundation, additional endowment gifts during the next few years totaling $5 million, and state funds earmarked for emerging research universities.
U Cincinnati Installs Green Roof
Installed atop the College of Nursing’s Procter Hall, the green roof contains drought resistant plants that will help achieve energy savings, sound insulation and stormwater run-off reduction.
U Iowa Introduces Car Sharing Program
The university has partnered with Zipcar to launch a campus car sharing program for students, faculty, staff and members of the Iowa City community. The university and Iowa City have identified 10 designated parking places around campus and downtown where registered members can find vehicles to rent.
U Kentucky Opens Green Energy Lab
The university’s Center for Applied Energy Research has debuted a new laboratory that will support research and manufacturing of biofuels, solar technology and high-tech batteries. The 43,000-square-foot facility is expected to achieve LEED Gold certification and features geothermal heating.
U North Carolina Chapel Hill Debuts Bike Sharing Program
Students living in three south campus residence halls will have access to 30 bicycles for one-day rentals as part of the recently launched Tar Heel Bikes. The two-year pilot program received $40,000 in grants and hopes to expand to include the entire campus.
U Wisconsin Campuses to Offer Graduate Sustainable Mgmt Degree
Five campuses are pooling their resources to launch a collaborative online Master of Science degree in sustainable management. The program is a follow-up to the Bachelor of Science degree in sustainable management, which was developed three years ago.
Wake Technical CC Adds Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
Two charging stations have been installed on the campus as part of a U.S. Department of Energy funded research project focused on the large-scale adoption of plug-in vehicles, led by Progress Energy Carolinas. Data collected from the public-access stations will inform charging needs outside the home as well as the impact on the grid and associated costs and issues. At the project's completion in April 2013, ownership and maintenance responsibilities for the stations will transfer to the college.
American U Accredited for Green Arboretum Practices
(U.S.): The university’s Arboretum and Gardens has been awarded a Level II Accreditation through the ArbNet program, an international initiative to support the work of arboreta in saving and planting trees. A Level II accreditation means that the university has at least 100 kinds of trees or plants that were planted and grown in accordance with an arboretum plan; a collections policy; one or more employees whose job responsibilities specifically include management or operation of the arboretum; and an enhanced educational program.
American U Retail Stores Eliminate Plastic Bags
(U.S.): The university has replaced plastic bags with a selection of reusable canvas totes and paper bags at several campus retail locations. The Subway store on campus will also introduce adhesive labels as a means of securing sandwich wrappers, eliminating the need for bags.
Brazil to Reserve Public University Seats for Low-Income Students
(Brazil): Brazil’s Senate has passed a law that would require 50 percent of all places at free public universities to be set aside for students who studied in state-run secondary schools. Of that 50 percent, half of the available openings would be given to students whose family income is less than $460 per person.
California State U Sacramento to Buy Power from Solar Panels
(U.S.): The university is set to begin buying electricity generated by solar panels on the roofs of the campus library and recreation center at a constant rate of 11 cents per kilowatt-hour for the next 20 years. The privately owned and maintained solar system generates about 1.6 percent of the campus' total usage.
Clarkson U Offers New Master’s in Environmental Politics
(U.S.): The university’s Institute for a Sustainable Environment will introduce an environmental politics and governance program this fall. The curriculum will cover the process of policy-making to promote science-based environmental legislation, regulations and policy, including energy policies and decisions within both the public and private sectors.
European Universities Commit to Promoting Gender Diversity
(Europe): In response to reports that Europe is losing a considerable amount of its female research capacity in academia, the 21 member universities of the League of European Research Universities have recently committed to promoting gender diversity among academic staff. The universities will follow a report from the league, "Women, Research and Universities: Excellence Without Gender Bias," which sets out actions to overcome discrimination against women that prevents them from playing a full part in Europe’s research effort.
Excelsior College Debuts Renewable Energies Program
(U.S.): The new renewable energies technology concentration is part of the college’s four-year technology management program, beginning this fall. The college has also partnered with General Electric Co. to offer a program that allows the company’s wind technicians to earn on-the-job college credits toward a bachelor’s degree.
