Connecting the Dots...By Michael Kornitas Imagine if you will, that everything in this week’s Bulletin is happening all on one campus. Read more  | |
Education & Research
Curriculum
Co-Curricular Education & Student Organizing
Campus Operations
Buildings
Dining Services
Energy
Grounds
Transportation
Waste
Water
Planning, Administration & Engagement
Affordability & Access
Assessments & Ratings
Coordination & Planning
Funding
Public Engagement
New Resources
Opportunities
Jobs & Internships
| 36. | Director, Institute for Sustainability Studies, Montclair State U |
| 37. | Director of Research, Sustainable Tourism, East Carolina U |
| 38. | Knight Chair, Environmental Journalism, Michigan State U |
| 39. | Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, Keene State College |
| 40. | Visiting Assistant Professor, Environmental Policy, Purdue U |
| 41. | Senior Project Coordinator, Green Building Services, Harvard U |
| 42. | Researcher, School of Environment & Natural Resources, U Wyoming |
Events
Campus Sustainability Discussion Forums Highlights
Education & Research
Curriculum
Complementing programming within the university’s School of Sustainability and the Environment, the Business and Entrepreneurship department has announced a new sustainable business track in the Master of Business Administration. Course work will include business and sustainability, sustainability assessment and reporting, and sustainable supply chain management. Students also have the opportunity to gain international field experience and work directly with sustainable business consultants.
See also: AASHE Resource: Sustainability-Focused Programs in Business, Management & Finance
Co-Curricular Education & Student Organizing
The Office of Residential Life has approved the Social Action Program House, which will foster a community of students passionate about social justice. The 45 house members will develop goals, engage in community service oriented projects and host informational dinners to engage the student body.
Campus Operations
Buildings
Sustainable features of Lane University Center include a white reflective roof, native plants, low-flow plumbing, and energy-efficient heating and lighting systems.
See also: AASHE Resources on Campus Green Buildings
The second LEED-certified building on campus features the use of recycled materials, geothermal wells, solar panels and landscaping designed to optimize energy use.
Designed to meet LEED Platinum requirements, the new center features sun shading to provide maximum daylighting with minimal solar gain, grass pavers for the fire lane, and drought tolerant native landscaping.
See also: AASHE Resource: Green Athletic Buildings (AASHE Member Resource)
The college has transformed a former brownfield into a green facility as part of its downtown campus. Designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, sustainable features include a photovoltaic trellis, rooftop and outdoor gardens, bicycle storage and changing rooms, easy access to public transportation, and recycled building materials.
Buildings at both institutions were recognized by Sustainable Architecture and Building Magazine for practices including environmentally friendly water treatment, radiant heating, and renovating over new construction.
Dining Services
With new cardboard to-go boxes in the dining halls, the campus is now 100 percent Styrofoam-free. The sustainability coordinator and sustainability committee have worked closely with food-service provider, Aramark, to find alternative products.
See also: AASHE Resource: Sustainable Dining Initiatives on Campus (AASHE Member Resource)
Energy
The system features more than 2,600 solar panels including a canopy of 714 panels over more than 70 parking spaces. Standard Solar installed the solar panels and the system will be operated by Washington Gas Energy Systems as part of a 20-year power purchasing agreement with the university.
See also: AASHE Resource: Campus Solar Photovoltaic Installations
The college, in partnership with ReVision Energy, has constructed a 37-kilowatt, 144-panel solar photovoltaic array atop the Quimby Library and Thomashow Labs. The grid-tied system will send electricity not immediately used by the library onto the public utility grid, generating a credit for the college to be applied at other times of the year when the solar system is less productive. After six years, the college will have the option to purchase the system from ReVision.
The university, in partnership with Express Scripts, has completed its first solar panel installation. The 25-kilowatt photovoltaic system installed atop of the Mark Twain Athletic & Fitness Center will also feature an information kiosk and online monitoring system.
See also: AASHE Resource: Campus Building Energy Dashboards (AASHE Member Resource)
The university has begun constructing a new campus utility system that will provide heating, cooling and electricity to campus through energy-efficient means. Alongside the new 72,000-square-foot power plant designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, the university will renovate the original campus plant that will use natural gas to generate electricity. It is anticipated that the renovations will reduce carbon emissions by 30,000 metric tons per year.
Grounds
The 4.5-acre college farm will be an educational resource as well as provide organic produce for Dining Services. Students will have the opportunity to serve as interns to help the hired farmer. The farm came to fruition after several students created and submitted a proposal outlining the benefits of a campus farm.
See also: AASHE Resource: Campus Supported Agriculture and Farms (AASHE Member Resource)
The 42-plot community-operated garden has completed its first successful harvest since its creation in the spring. The garden received a $5,000 grant from the university’s People’s Endowment as well as a $6,000 grant from the Student Sustainability Fund.
See also: AASHE Resource: Campus and Campus-Community Gardens
See also: AASHE Resource: Student Fees for Sustainability
By spring 2013, the university will eliminate the use of pesticides on campus. The university also recently introduced phosphate-free detergents and environmentally friendly cleaning products for use on campus.
See also: AASHE Resource: Campus Integrated Pest Management Policies (AASHE Member Resource)
Transportation
The recently launched program will provide 20 bikes free of charge for 24 hours or longer after renewal.
See also: AASHE Resource: Bicycle Sharing & Rental Programs (AASHE Member Resource)
In an effort to encourage the use of alternative transportation, the university has created a cross campus bike trail. Great Rivers Greenway funded the $1.3 million project.
Waste
The university has become a zero-landfill institution. Recyclable materials, representing about 50 percent of the university’s trash, are sorted and sent to local recyclers. Waste that cannot be recycled is compacted and converted into energy via emissions-free incineration. Food waste is sent to hog farms.
See also: AASHE Resource: Campus Recycling and Waste Minimization Policies (AASHE Member Resource)
A recently announced educational project involves a student services plaza, currently under construction, and enormous decorative planters. The plants will not require a lot of soil to thrive and rather than paying for unneeded soil, sustainability and facilities management teams will reuse capped plastic bottles collected from recycling bins on campus. The bottles will add the necessary volume and serve as a reminder of what happens when bottles end up in the landfill.
Water
Two green roofs consisting of 67 plants of seven varieties will be installed on Zurn Science Center as a senior gift from the university’s class of 2012. Last year the class participated in fundraising campaigns that raised $1,700 to help fund the project.
See also: AASHE Resource: Alumni Sustainability Funds (AASHE Member Resource)
Installed on the student commons building, the new 2,500-square-foot green roof will provide stormwater management and increase insulation. The roof, situated next to two variations of traditional roofs, will provide an opportunity to compare energy savings and test benefit claims. In the future, the college also hopes to install a cistern to collect rainwater to replace the current sprinkler system.
Planning, Administration & Engagement
Affordability & Access
Through a cabinet decree, Quebec’s premier, Pauline Marois, revoked a tuition increase at the province’s universities, lowering tuition to the previous level of $2,168. A summit meeting will also be held before January to discuss how to finance public higher education.
Assessments & Ratings
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced the winners of the 2012 Green Power Leadership Awards. American University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Quinnipiac University received Green Power Purchasing Awards. The University of Oklahoma won the Green Power Partner of the Year Award.
Coordination & Planning
The Executive Order No. 13, Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability, was approved by President Michael Young and has been reviewed by the Faculty Senate, Board of Deans, the Environmental Stewardship Committee and the policy sub-teams. The order, an umbrella statement confirming the university’s commitment to sustainability, will serve as a guiding principle for future sustainability policy development and pursuit of the university’s Climate Action Plan goals and objectives.
Funding
The university is one of 13 recipients of the 2012/2013 Beverage Container Recycling grant, awarded by the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. The $76,265 grant will be used to purchase new recycling bins and signs, and to fund an outreach and education campaign to increase recycling.
See also: AASHE Resource: Campus Recycling and Waste Minimization Policies (AASHE Member Resource)
Public Engagement
More than 40 students, faculty, alumni and community members constructed an Earthbench at the university’s community orchard as part the 2012 Village Building Convergence. The Peace on Earthbench project upcycled waste into community space and diverted about 70 pounds of trash from the landfill. The annual festival combines crowd-sourced community development, hands-on education and celebration of reclaiming public space.
AASHE talks to Richard Miller, the University of Connecticut’s first environmental and sustainability officer, about his work and experiences.
National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program has announced the release of a new report, “A Student’s Guide to How Corporate Oil, Gas and Coal Money Influences U.S. Energy Policy.” The guide is designed to help students understand the influence that the corporate fossil fuel industry has on U.S. energy policy and public decision-making.
A draft of AASHE’s STARS 2.0 has been finalized through collaboration with the STARS Steering Committee and Technical Advisors. This will be the first major update of STARS since the release of the original STARS 1.0 in 2010. On Oct. 8, 2012, AASHE will begin seeking feedback on proposed changes through a six-week public comment period.
Registration for Campus Conservation Nationals 2013 is now open with a deadline of November 1. The nationwide resource use reduction competition challenges college and university campuses to achieve the greatest electricity and water use reductions during a three-week period. During the 2012 competition, participating institutions saved 1.5 million gallons of water and a total of $157,925 in energy costs. Competition begins February 2013.
See also: Campus Conservation Nationals Information Webinar
The program offers the chance to credential sustainability work through single seminars or a six-seminar sustainability leadership certificate. All work is completed online. Participants will learn to assess their organization's green policies and practices, communicate sustainability initiatives and evaluate best practices. New online seminars begin 11 times each year. Next two session start dates: October 11 and November 1. Discounts are available to AASHE members. Upcoming seminars include "How Green is Your Organization: Sustainable Infrastructure" and "Integrating Sustainability into Training and Curriculum." Most Ithaca sustainability seminars are now GBCI (Green Building Certification Institute) approved.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency invites higher education students and faculty to apply for its competition to design solutions for a sustainable future. Winners of the first phase of the competition will receive a $15,000 grant to develop their idea. Designs will then compete at the National Sustainable Design Expo in April 2013 for the P3 Award and a $90,000 grant for real world application. Applications will be accepted through Dec. 11, 2012.
The U.S. Institute of Peace and the Institute of International Education have launched a mini-grant program for peace-building events. This program will support American colleges, universities and public libraries to enable them to hold events that advance and promote the understanding of peace-building and international conflict resolution. The deadline for applications is Nov. 1, 2012.
The college's second annual sustainability conference, "Innovations in Technical Education to Advance Sustainability: Student Leadership” seeks paper, poster, and panel presentations and invites submissions of abstracts on any topic related to the conference theme. The primary purpose of the conference, to be held June 6-8, 2013, is to bring together technical education practitioners and scholars to present cases, concepts, or ideas that advance, or have the potential to advance, sustainability through innovative educational practice. The deadline to submit is Dec. 7, 2012.
This five-day course is designed to give students the skills needed to become effective environmental advocates and organizers. The program will focus on environmental justice and anti-oppression. During the week, participants will learn how to create successful and diverse groups that will be able to run effective environmental campaigns on their campuses or in their communities.
Nov. 8-9, 2012; Golden, CO
Host: Colorado School of Mines
| Campus Sustainability Discussion Forums Highlights |
Click on the titles below to view the full discussion thread.
The New Mexico State University Office of Sustainability is looking for a short film that we can show at one of our Campus Sustainability Day events on Oct. 24, 2012. We want to find a film that is relevant to sustainability in higher education, broad and not focusing specifically on one subject (preferably motivating for people to want to take action). Since we have limited time, we also want a film whose rights can be easily attained. Do you have any suggestions?
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