Syracuse U Students Initiate Food Waste Audits
Two Sustainability Division interns recently gave their fellow students a firsthand look at the food being wasted in the campus dining center each day. Two dinnertime tray waste audits yielded a total of 278 pounds of tray waste, which was displayed for student viewing on a tarp-covered table in three separate piles: untouched food, food scraps and non-edible waste. The visual impact was designed to encourage students to waste less food.
U California Berkeley Announces 2012 TGIF Awards
Twenty-two projects will receive a total of $308,630 from The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) this year, the most funding awarded in one grant year. TGIF provides funding for projects that reduce the university's negative impact on the environment and make the campus more sustainable. This year’s amount puts TGIF over the million dollar mark in total grant funding awarded over five years.
U California Berkeley Debuts New Building Energy Dashboard
The university's new myPower site is connected to 57 campus buildings, allowing the campus community to view how much electricity a building is using in real time on their own computers. In addition to targeting individual behavior and behavioral change by showing how energy saving habits can make a difference, the new dashboard allows the university to spot and fix any energy-related issues. The university plans to get another 45 buildings online this year.
U California San Diego Student Housing Achieves LEED Platinum
Providing housing for 516 students, the apartment building's shape and arrangement works to capture prevailing winds near the Pacific Ocean to lessen the need for mechanical air conditioning. An on-site wastewater-recycling project provides landscape irrigation water.
UC Berkeley Issues Statement About Gill Tract
"After weeks of patient dialogue, engagement and rejected offers of compromise, we deeply regret that the occupiers’ actions and continued insistence on free and unfettered access to what is an open-air laboratory left us no choice but to take this step," says a statement issued by the University of California, Berkeley administration after police broke up an Occupy the Farm encampment on agricultural research land owned by the university. The purpose of police interference at Gill Tract, says the university, was to "ensure our faculty and students can conduct the research projects to which they have devoted much of their academic and professional lives." The university says that prior to any police action, efforts to talk with occupiers about how the unused portion of the land could be repurposed were "rejected or ignored."
U Massachusetts Amherst Music Building Earns LEED Gold
The university has received its first LEED certification with the new 15,000-square-foot George N. Parks Minutemen Marching Band Building, which features efficient mechanical systems, plumbing fixtures and lighting. More than 75 percent of construction waste was recycled.
U Pennsylvania Launches Employee Home Greening Program
The university's new "Greening Penn at Home" initiative is designed to educate faculty and staff about best practices for energy efficiency at home. Penn Home Ownership Services has enlisted a regional provider of home energy efficiency analysis and improvement to present on-campus educational sessions, free home energy assessments and energy efficiency home improvements at preferred rates.
Utah State U to Launch Idle-Free Initiative
The initiative is designed to encourage drivers to turn of their engines while not moving in an effort to cut down on carbon emissions. The university's Sustainability Council will train students, faculty and staff to inform drivers of the initiative and provide information on the benefits of having an idle-free campus.
Washington U St. Louis Increases Composting Efforts
The university’s Office of Sustainability and Dining Services have partnered to increase composting efforts to include items like paper napkins, cardboard pizza boxes, tea bags, sugar packets, compostable plastic items and chopsticks. The Office of Sustainability is also working to create a pilot composting program for paper towels in bathrooms.
3 Institutions Receive Tree Campus USA Designation
Arbor Day Foundation has designated Tree Campus USA status to Utah State University, Wake Forest University (North Carolina) and the University of Redlands (California). The universities achieved five core standards for sustainable campus forestry: the establishment of a tree advisory committee; development of a Tree Endowment Fund to replenish any forest impacted by construction or natural disaster; an Arbor Day observance; sponsorship of student service-learning projects; and a tree-care plan.
Antioch U New England Students Organize for Tribal Justice
Students in the university's "Diversity, Justice, and Inclusion" class recently helped the Ramapough-Lanape Nation in New Jersey organize and publicize a local May 5 rally titled "A Prayer for the Earth." The rally spotlighted issues of environmental justice that affect the tribe including hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” of underground rock formations to extract oil and gas.
Binghamton U Opens New Solar Panel Research Labs
With the help of $8.5 million from the U.S. Department of Defense, the university has launched the Center for Autonomous Solar Power and the Integrated Electronics Engineering Center. The laboratories will be home to research designed to make more efficient, durable, flexible and smaller solar panels.
'Can an MBA Change the World?' Video Contest Winners Announced
A group of five students at Dartmouth College's (New Hampshire) Tuck School of Business have won the Global Business School Network's 2012 MBA Challenge Video Contest, which asked the question “Can an MBA Change the World?” The winning video describes the application of the students' business school skills to address the need for low-cost housing in Haiti. A team from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill earned second place in the competition with a video about their work in Eastern Africa on sustainability-focused projects.
Clarkson U Students Initiate Energy-Efficient Campus Solutions
Student research, funded by the university's sustainability fund, has concluded that the university could save up to $600,000 annually on energy bills by installing motion sensor-controlled lighting in its residence halls. The student group installed motion sensor lighting on one of the school’s older residence halls and recorded the difference in the amount of energy used. Their research was recently singled out by the New York State Pollution Prevention Initiative in a contest among teams from partner universities throughout New York.
Ecotech Institute Announces Partnership with Veterans Green Jobs
The institute, which focuses entirely on renewable energy and sustainability, has partnered with Veterans Green Jobs to enhance opportunities for military veterans in the green job sector. Sixty-seven students at the institute are military veterans or currently serving in the military.
Emory U Hires New Sustainability Program Coordinators
To help fulfill the university's sustainability vision, Emily Cumbie-Drake will work with university committees and various campus groups and Kelly O’Day Weisinger will collaborate with university and Emory Healthcare leadership. The positions were funded via reductions in other administrative costs and direct funding from Emory Healthcare.
EPA Awards $1 M to Institutions for Off-Grid Research
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded more than $1 million in grants to 15 university and college teams for innovative off-grid solutions. Projects include a new process that uses spinach to capture and convert the sun’s energy to electricity, and a partnership with a local landfill to design a process that uses waste heat and drainage to grow algae for biodiesel production. The projects were selected from more than 300 university and college sustainability projects.
Germanna CC Debuts Green Science & Engineering Commons
The community college’s new $25 million Science & Engineering and Information Commons building will be used to teach students, faculty and visitors about environmental technology, energy efficiency and sustainability. Using the mechanical systems and renewable energy features of the building, students will gain hands-on experience monitoring and calibrating a working green building. Sustainable features include a vegetated roof, passive solar heating, automatic shades, skylights for ambient lighting, native plant landscaping and a rainfall harvesting system to provide water for the restrooms.
Harvard U Achieves 75 LEED Certifications
The milestone represents over 2.4 million square feet of LEED New Construction, Commercial Interiors, Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance and Homes systems. The renovated Harvard Yard Child Care Center and Oxford Street Daycare Cooperative are the latest LEED certifications for the university.
Hawaii Pacific U Grounds Get Permaculture Makeover
The university, with the help of 80 volunteers, participated in a "permablitz," a sustainable agriculture movement based on permaculture gardens. The campus effort included three different parcels: the community garden, a taro patch and a banana patch.
Johns Hopkins U Debuts Solar Energy Partnership
The university has partnered with Eastlight Renewable Ventures and RGS Energy for a solar energy generation project. An 818-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system has been installed on seven building on three of its campuses. The university and Eastlight entered a long-term Solar Power Purchase Agreement that allows the university to reduce its electricity costs without making any capital investment or assuming any responsibility for managing the system.
Loyola U Chicago Announces Bottled Water Ban
The university has announced that bottled water will no longer be sold on campus starting in 2013. The decision follows a year-long educational campaign, "UnCap Loyola," which focused on local water privatization and fair access to water on a global level.
Macalester College President Signs UN Sustainability Declaration
The “Commitment to Sustainable Practices of Higher Education Institutions on the Occasion of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development” requires the college to share its education and operations sustainability goals with international frameworks like the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.
Mills College Students Launch Bike Co-Op
A group of students have created the Spokes Folks Bike Co-Op, providing a community support system, bike-repair seminars and maintenance tools. The co-op aims to provide access to bicycles to those who do not own bikes.
Nat'l College Geothermal Energy Competition Finalists Announced
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the eight university teams that will compete in the 2012 National Geothermal Student Competition, which challenges teams to conduct cutting-edge research in geology, geoscience, chemical and bio-molecular energy, and engineering that could lead to breakthroughs in geothermal energy development. Student teams from Boise State University (Idaho), Colorado School of Mines, Cornell University Energy Institute and Cornell University Sustainable Design (New York), Idaho State University, Southern Methodist University, University of Idaho and University of Texas at Austin will analyze the economic feasibility of developing clean, renewable geothermal energy in Snake River Plain, Idaho.
Pennsylvania State U Building Awarded LEED Gold
The Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building includes a range of sustainability strategies including rainwater collection and a heat-recovery system. In collaboration with students, a "Sustainability Awareness" signage program has also been implemented in the building.
Police Clear 'Occupy the Farm' Protest at UC Berkeley
Police broke up an Occupy the Farm encampment on agricultural research land owned by the University of California, Berkeley, reports a recent SF Gate article. Loosely affiliated with Occupy Wall Street, the activists tilled two acres, planted vegetables, set up a drip system and pitched tents on the site in protest against planned commercial development and housing nearby. The group is asking the university to preserve the tract for agricultural study and urban farming.
San Diego State U Installs Solar Array Atop Student Center
With funding from a student-introduced referendum passed by the student body in spring 2008, the university has installed a 115-watt solar photovoltaic array atop its Aztec Recreation Center. The system will lower Associated Students costs and help keep student membership fees low. Visitors to the facility can view the solar production in real-time.
Simon Fraser U Earns Fair Trade Status
The university has received Fair Trade Campus status from Fairtrade Canada. The certification is a result of its support for ethical purchasing including coffee, tea and chocolate.
Thomas More College Turns Green Spaces into Art
The college's new Sculpting Spaces project encourages the campus community to transform the campus’ green spaces into outdoor studios, laboratory classrooms and student galleries. Students and faculty are working to create artistic spaces while learning about landscape design and sustainability practices.
U Calgary Launches Corporate Sustainability Center
The university has partnered with energy distributor Enbridge to open a new center in the Haskayne School of Business that will focus on aligning business and policy with environmental, social and economic considerations. Enbridge has committed $2.25 million over 10 years to the center for graduate student and faculty research, post-doctoral fellows and "research in action" seminars that will bring together researchers, practitioners and industry experts.
U Connecticut Unveils New Fuel Cell Power Plant
Funded by a federal stimulus grant from Connecticut’s Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority, the 400-kilowatt fuel cell will provide energy to university research labs and offices, including those working on advancing fuel cell and microgrid technology at the Center for Clean Energy Engineering.
U Louisville Students Install Recycled Solar Panels
Members of the university’s Renewable Energy and Efficiency Club are installing a small-scale solar energy project using recycled materials. Students purchased the solar cells from eBay and re-engineered the cell architecture to use a low-cost method. The panels will be used to power two fans that will ventilate a greenhouse.
Wake Forest U Barn Earns LEED Silver
The on-campus student social venue is first building on campus to feature solar electric PV cells. Surrounded by wildlife and accessible via walking path, the building also features energy-efficient fans to cool the space in the hottest months.
28 College Leaders Commit 5% of Earnings to Fight Global Poverty
Twenty-eight current and former college leaders have publicly come forward as charter members of the Presidents' Pledge Against Global Poverty. Reports a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article, they are donating 5 percent of their total compensation this year to charities that fight global poverty. The pledge is designed to help reach the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which include halving the number of people in the world who live in extreme poverty by 2015.
California State U Students Announce Hunger Strike
Thirteen students at six campuses in the California State University system have vowed to fast until university leaders agree to a five-year tuition freeze, administrative pay cuts and more free speech rights on campus. The system has lost nearly $1 billion in state funding since 2008, reports the Los Angeles Times article, and tuition has increased six years in a row, including a 9 percent hike this fall.
Campus Conservation Nationals 2012 Announces Top Savers
Nearly a quarter-million students at 100 colleges and universities across the U.S. collectively saved 1,739,046 kilowatt-hours of energy and 1,554,814 gallons of water during this year's three-week competition. The top five schools with the greatest average percent reduction in electricity (ranging from 16 to 36 percent across all participating buildings) are Southern Connecticut State University, University of Kentucky, Western Technical College (Wisconsin), Hofstra University (New York) and Bowling Green State University (Ohio). The nationwide electricity and water reduction competition is organized by the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Center for Green Schools, Lucid Design Group, Alliance to Save Energy and the National Wildlife Federation.
Chatham U Hosts Teaching Art Exhibit on Local Ecological Disaster
Celebrating the diversity of life in freshwater streams while raising questions about how water and resources are currently managed, “Reflections: Homage to Dunkard Creek” is a collaborative installation art project created by 90 regional artists. The project commemorates the lives of the many species that died in a local creek in September 2009 from a fatal combination of mine wastes and low water, exacerbated by industry water withdrawals, which introduced an alien toxic algae.
Cornell U Partners to Create Solutions for Global Concerns
Cornell University and the global humanitarian organization CARE have launched CARE-Cornell, a partnership that will merge the university’s research with CARE's experience fighting poverty to create solutions for global concerns including world hunger and climate change. CARE-Cornell will provide financial support for international projects through the Impact through Innovation Fund, supplemented by competitive external grants. Five projects are currently under way in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Vietnam, Sierra Leone and Zambia.
Cornell U Students Create Low-Cost Light for Developing Countries
An idea that uses soda bottles to provide light to people in developing countries without electricity has won the $3,000 first-place prize at the university's Big Idea competition, open to all undergraduates. CapLight, created by Chris Dobyns '13 and Folajimi Fowose '13, replaces the cap of a standard soda bottle with an LED light assembly designed to provide low-cost, energy-efficient lighting. The prize money will be used to build more prototypes, which the students plan to distribute this summer.
Jamestown College Implements Campus-wide Recycling Program
After a successful pilot program, the college is taking its recycling program campus-wide with $3,000 worth of additional recycling bins for residence halls. Long term, the college aims to have small receptacles in each dorm room as well as larger receptacles in every building on campus.
New York Times Profiles Rise of 'Food Studies' Curriculum
Encompassing agriculture, business, health, economy, environment and international relations, the new academic field of food studies is "taking shape in an expanding number of colleges and universities," reports a recent New York Times article. Tailoring programs to their geographic areas and demographics, institutions are preparing students for new careers in food safety reform; local-food businesses and anti-obesity; equity and climate efforts; and broader contexts of traditional disciplines like culinary arts and farming.
Oberlin College Announces Plans for New 2.3 MW Solar Array
Construction of a 2.27-megawatt solar array consisting of 7,722 polycrystalline photovoltaic panels will begin soon and start producing energy in September. The array will also provide research opportunities for students and faculty in multiple disciplines. The college has entered into an agreement with Spear Point Energy to purchase the electricity that is produced.
Ohio State U Dining Commons Achieves LEED Silver
The university's Kennedy Commons features the original exterior from 1955, an effort to preserve the historic exterior of the building and minimize construction debris. Additional sustainable features include low VOC building materials and the reuse of existing furniture. Seventy-five percent of the construction waste was recycled.
Portland CC Develops Hybrid and Electric Car Curriculum
The college’s hybrid and electric car battery research will be developed into a curriculum to share with students, local technicians, fellow community colleges and businesses. The program, which is developing a 30-credit hybrid-training certificate, has partnered with two local repair shops to look at how they can provide better and more affordable repair work for hybrid and electric cars.
