Michigan State U Terminates Coal Use
In early April 2015, as part of its Energy Transition Plan, the university president announced that it will retire its on-campus coal plant by 2016. Although this move results in switching to natural gas, its ultimate goal is to generate 100 percent renewable energy.
College of the Sequoias to Complete 893KW Solar System
In an effort to minimize energy costs, the newly announced 893-kilowatt photovoltaic system is expected to deliver an estimated 25-year savings of approximately $6.4 million. Two installations comprise the 893kW system, one parking lot shade canopy at 285kW and the other is a ground-mounted, 632kW system covering 3.3 acres.
Kapi'olani CC Students Build Solar Cart
The community college's team of Engineers for a Sustainable World built the cart to demonstrate how science, technology, engineering and mathematics can be applied towards building a more sustainable campus. The apparatus has the ability to provide 0.5-kilowatt-hours of AC electricity.
Alfred U Receives $2.8M Grant for Renewable Energy Research Center
The $2.8 million grant for the center's construction is part of economic development funding for 19 projects across New York by Empire State Development. The new center will allow the university to conduct specialized research and testing on renewable energy systems and high-temperature battery applications.
Ohio U to Discontinue Coal-Fired Boilers
Located in southeastern Ohio coal-mining country, the university anticipates switching to natural gas fuel by the end of 2015 for steam generation to heat and cool campus buildings.
U Warwick Divests from Fossil Fuels
(U.K.): The university commits to moving all oil, coal and gas investments out of its 14 million pounds ($21.9 million) endowment, following a two-year student-led campaign.
U Illinois Urbana-Champaign Allocates $1.2M to 4 Interdisciplinary Projects
More than $1.2 million in seed funding was recently awarded to seed four interdisciplinary research projects through the university's Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment. The selected topics that received over $350,000 each were stormwater and mosquito control, crop response to climate change, renewable energy for transportation, and crude oil cleanup treatment.
San Francisco State U to Open Wellness Center
The 118,700-square-foot complex, scheduled for completion in 2017, will feature an indoor jogging track, fitness and weight areas, pools, a sauna, a climbing wall, racquetball courts, two multi-use courts, fitness studios and a large multi-use space. The university is pursuing LEED Platinum designation.
Cornell U Grants $1.2M to Sustainable Ideas
The university's Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future has given $1.2 million to 11 new projects that include water cleanup, home retrofits, solar power's impact on pollinating bees, oyster revival, research on ground-source heating and cooling, and wind energy. The grants will enable teams to obtain initial data or proof of principle to find external collaborators.
Cornell U Offers Free EV Charging
Since demand for vehicle charging stations on campus has grown due to popularity of hybrid and all-electric vehicles, university Transportation Services now offers free electric vehicle charging and preferential parking for low-emission and alternative fuel vehicles.
Oregon and Washington, D.C. Considering Free College
Oregon's legislature recently advanced a bill that would fund a tuition waiver for community college students. Washington, D.C. lawmakers are also considering a bill that would create a scholarship to cover tuition and fees for qualifying students who attend the District of Columbia Community College.
U Maryland Earns Honors for Bike to Work Day
The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments recently presented the 2015 Commuter Connections Bike to Work Day Employer Challenge award to the university. With 161 campus registrants at various pit stops, the university is among the top bike-friendly employers in the region.
Duke U Opens Water Reclamation Pond
The newly opened pond is 5.5 acres and is projected to save up to 100 million gallons of water a year. The water will be used to pump water across campus to cool buildings. The new process is projected to save the university approximately $400,000 per year in avoided city water expenditures.
Elon U Receives Honors for Alternative Fuel Vehicles
The university was recently recognized by the Triangle Clean Cities Coalition for supplanting petroleum use with biodiesel and electricity, avoiding use of more than 17,000 gallons of gasoline over the past year.
U District Columbia Completes Food-Producing Rooftop
The new 40,000-square-foot vegetated rooftop that produces food replicates the university's 143-acre research farm by using techniques from its sustainable agriculture certificate program. The rooftop also boasts a stormwater harvesting system to collect rainwater in two 500-gallon cisterns.
U California Davis to Save 61M Gallons of Water
In an effort to combat ongoing drought issues, using recycled water instead of well water to help cool the campus' chilled water supply will result in a savings of 9 percent of total potable water use for a year.
U California Riverside to Launch Sustainability Science Degree Program
Offered through the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies, the interdisciplinary bachelor of science degree will focus on challenges to sustainability such as climate change, air and water pollution, toxic contamination, energy demands, economic growth, agricultural production, and environmental degradation.
Inside Higher Ed 'Minimum Wage Hike'
The article discusses the recent trend among colleges and universities to increase minimum wages above what's required by states and the federal government due to concerns about equitable pay for all employee, changes in local ordinances, or pressure from workers' advocates.
Idaho State U Receives 50 Recycling Bins
As part of a national recycling grant from Keep America Beautiful and The Coca-Cola Foundation, the new bins will be placed around six buildings on campus. The university was chosen by Keep America Beautiful based on the extent of its need, recycling experience, and its ability to sustain the program in the future.
U Kentucky Partners to Provide Campus With Free Public Transit
In an effort to strengthen its relationship with the city, the university and the Lexington Transit Authority, better known as Lextran, have partnered to offer faculty, staff and students free transit on Lextran bus routes simply by showing a valid identification card.
Michigan State U Students Create Stormwater Walking Tour
Funded by the university's student sustainability fee, the new walking program is a self-directed tour that educates participants about the various methods of stormwater management the campus has integrated into its built environment in order to protect and preserve the state's Red Cedar River.
U Hawai'i Mānoa Plans for Net Zero Energy
The university continues to add occupied space and decrease energy usage through a focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and evaluating the natural qualities of a piece of land when assessing building design.
Eastern Washington U Divests from Fossil Fuels
In June 2015, The university's board of trustees unanimously supported a motion to divest its endowed funds from fossil fuel investments and further directed the university to pursue socially responsible investment strategies. The university in the process of developing a comprehensive sustainability master plan to align with its strategic plan.
U West England Tests Urine-to-Energy Project
(U.K.): Led by the university's Bristol BioEnergy Center, urine is used as a biofuel that generates electricity to light up urinals. The technology, tested at a music festival, is being developed to improve lives in refugee camps set up in areas suffering the impacts of environmental disaster, war zones, and areas without sanitation or electricity infrastructure.
U California System Supports Gender Identity Inclusivity
The university system is adding optional questions to undergraduate applications about sexual orientation and gender identity in an effort to allow its colleges and universities to track enrollment and graduating students from a range of orientations and identities. It also announced that, starting July 1, all new construction projects or major renovations will include gender-neutral restrooms.
Columbia U Divests from Private Prison Companies
Following a student activist campaign, the university's trustees decided to divest its endowment from two private companies that run prisons, detention centers, and militarized borders, and will refrain from investing in such companies again.
NY Times: 'A College in Maine That Tackles Climate Change, One Class at a Time'
The New York Times article cites the College of the Atlantic for using project-based learning to engage students outside of the classroom specifically around the issues of climate change and energy. The article says the college "takes an interdisciplinary approach to human ecology, the study of the interaction between people and their social and physical environments."
U Illinois Urbana-Champaign Institutes Net Zero Growth Space Policy
To halt growth of gross square footage in buildings on the university's campus, a commitment made in the 2010 Illinois Climate Action Plan, the new policy, which went into effect July 1, 2015, is meant to reduce the campus carbon footprint with more efficient space use in future projects and renovations.
New Mexico State U Student Gardens Display New Irrigation System
A newly constructed rainwater harvesting system, consisting of the collection and storage of precipitation for use on site, will serve as a teaching and learning tool for students by encouraging cost-benefit analysis, calculating storage tank capacity, and how much water is needed for each crop.
Three Universities Receive $600K From Energy Dept
Drexel University, Georgia Tech and University of California, Davis have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to receive $200,000 each to support building energy efficiency research and development funding, develop partnerships with industry, and improve manufacturing education. More than 50 percent of expenditures in each project will be used to support undergraduate students.
Boston U Publishes 2014 Sustainability Report
The recently published report indicates the university has reached it's greenhouse gas emissions reductions goals six years early, along with a 13 percent reduction in waste from 2006 to 2014. The report also discusses achievements and future work in the areas of curriculum, buildings, climate, dining services, grounds and purchasing.
North Carolina State U Gets Water Re-Use Line
A mutually beneficial water reclamation project jointly run by the city of Raleigh and the university’s Centennial Campus will provide a cheaper source of non-potable water for irrigating the campus' golf course, and eventually the central utility plant, on the 1,100-acre research campus.
Bowdoin College Earns EPA Recognition for Reducing Emissions
The college was recently named a 2015 winner of the Energy Star Combined Heat and Power Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA commended the college for high operating efficiencies on its combined heat and power system, which provides space heating and hot water for 56 buildings totaling 1.4 million square feet, and saving the college $138,000 a year.
Pennsylvania State U Helps Earn Cycle-Friendly Status
Walk Score, a company that gathers data about a location’s walkability, bikeability and access to public transit, recently ranked State College, the town surrounding the university, in the top 10 most bicycle-friendly cities. Walk Score rated 154 cities based on a locations bike lanes, hills, destinations and road connectivity, and bike commuting mode share.
Auburn U Recognized Green Ribbon School by Energy Department
The university was recently recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy as a 2015 Green Ribbon School in its inaugural postsecondary sustainability award category. The Green Ribbon School initiative aims bolster reduction of environmental impacts and costs, improve health and wellness of schools, students and staff, and provide an environmental education.
Florida International U Students Produce Video on Rising Sea Level
The documentary, a compilation of stories that were produced by 33 video production students at the university’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, features first-person narratives that take viewers through the Everglades, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale beach and the Keys where community leaders describe themselves as “the canary in the coal mine” of sea level rise.
Pennsylvania State U Students Plan Student Farm
Dozens of students are now involved in planning a student-centered farm initiative that includes plans for a new minor in sustainable food systems. Students are involved in strategy for the future farm including what farming techniques will be deployed, research about financial resources and workforce of other student farms, and fundraising.
Towson U Honored by Energy Department for Reductions
The university's Better Building Challenge goal to reduce usage 20 percent by 2020 and 13 percent reduction since 2010 was lauded by the U.S. Department of Energy at the recently held Better Buildings Challenge Summit.
Inside Higher Ed 'Sugar Out, Diet In'
A recently published article spotlights the University of California at San Francisco, where all programs are in the health professions, for becoming the first college to stop the sale of sugary beverages on campus but wouldn't prevent diet sodas from being sold. The move comes after work from university researchers identified negative health effects from a large intake of sugar-filled beverages.
Barnard College Announces Transgender Admission Policy
Following a full year of conversations and consultation with a wide range of resources, a recent board of trustees meeting approved a policy to "consider for admission those applicants who consistently live and identify as women, regardless of gender assigned to them at birth."
Stanford U Pilots Green Lab Program
The new university Cardinal Green Labs program aims to provide resources specifically tailored for laboratories to help them operate as sustainably as possible. The pilot program is a 30-minute online assessment that identifies how sustainable the lab currently is and points out tips for improvement.
