New Mexico State U Explores Sustainable Wastewater Treatment
Researchers have begun testing a new system to treat wastewater that uses less electricity than conventional sewage plants and uses photosynthesis to produce renewable surplus energy. If successful, the POWER (photosynthetically oxygenated waste-to-energy recovery) system will provide a more sustainable method for treating wastewater, a new viable approach to producing electric power and liquid biofuels, and a revenue stream to offset infrastructure improvements.
Portland State U Joins Fresh Air Campus Challenge
The university has signed on to the Fresh Air Campus Challenge, an effort that brings together campuses and local, state and national health organizations in a partnership to help all institutions of higher education begin the process of adopting a tobacco-free policy. Students and administrators are assessing tobacco issues on campus and working with the City of Portland to move toward a smoke-free campus.
Salisbury U Purchases Local Renewable Energy Credits
The university has committed to purchase 8,000 renewable energy credits from Ingenco, a renewable energy company operating throughout the mid-Atlantic. The company has partnered with the Wicomico County to use methane gas produced from a local landfill that is also used by the university.
Sierra College Student Constructs Solar Array
Students have constructed a solar array composed of 99 panels that will provide nearly 18,000 watts of annual energy production. The array was built over the last three years by over 50 students enrolled in the college’s Energy Technology Program.
Spelman College to Receive 75 Recycling Bins
The college will receive 75 recycling bins as part of the Alcoa Foundation Recycling Bin Grant Program. The program is an effort to help schools boost their recycling results during the eight-week RecycleMania Tournament, and expand their recycling efforts throughout the year.
U Iowa Dental Science Building Addition Earns LEED Gold
The 33,754-square-foot addition features collection and storage areas for recyclable materials, energy cost savings of 41 percent above standard building codes, and wood-based materials harvested from Forest Stewardship Council certified forests.
U La Verne Residence Hall Achieves First LEED Gold
Vista La Verne, a campus residence hall, has earned the university’s first LEED Gold certification. Sustainable features include a reflective roof, low-flow plumbing, preferred parking for energy efficient vehicles and a covered bike shelter.
U Minnesota Morris Launches On-Site Composting
The university has launched an organic waste disposal program as part of its campus-wide sustainability efforts. The initiative was led by a group of students to help avoid a waste hauling fee and create a valuable resource for use in landscaping projects. In the past, all compostable materials were sent off-campus to be incinerated.
U Minnesota Twin Cities Receives Energy Efficiency Award
The university has received the Platinum Award by Xcel Energy for its long-term commitment to energy efficiency. The award recognized the Twin Cities campus for saving 35 million kilowatt hours of electricity over five years.
Yakima Valley CC Receives $600,000 in Grants for Energy Projects
The college has been awarded $503,000 from the state Department of Commerce’s Energy Efficiency Grants program to install new lighting and heating and air-conditioning systems at six buildings on campus. The college also received $97,476 from the Pacific Power Blue Sky renewable energy program to install a 30-kilowatt solar array and monitoring system.
Appalachian State U Begins Zero Waste Commitment
The university has launched a zero waste commitment with the goal of diverting 90 percent of all waste from landfill disposal by 2022. As part of this commitment, single stream recycling and mini-bin waste collection initiatives will be implemented. The initiative will also include institutional purchasing decisions that focus on reducing consumption and increasing recycling.
College Presidents Urge Colleagues to Push for Immigration Reform
The presidents of Cornell University, Arizona State University, and Miami Dade College have sent a letter to more than 1,200 of their colleagues, urging them to join an effort to reform immigration laws that limit colleges’ ability to educate and to innovate. Particularly in the STEM fields, American colleges “train many of the brightest minds of the world,” they write, “only to have those students sent abroad to compete against us because our immigration laws do not provide a viable path for them to stay.” In their letter, the three leaders call attention to the plight of foreign-born students who “arrived in our country as children but are prevented from attending college because of their undocumented status.” By denying such young people access to higher education, they write, “we deny our country the talent we very much need.”
Colorado State U Conducts Waste Audit
Students, faculty and staff have conducted an audit of trash gathered from the university’s dorms and dining halls as part of RecycleMania. Volunteers separated items to recycle, compost or discard. Results from the same audit conducted last year found that 26 percent of what was tossed could have been recycled, 36 percent could have been composted and only 38 percent was true trash.
Department of Energy Announces Winners of Student Competition
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the winners of the second annual Better Buildings Case Competition, which challenges university teams to develop and present real-world business and technical solutions to cut energy waste and improve the efficiency of commercial buildings across the country. The winners included the Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Chicago, and Yale University.
Duke U Adds 2 New LEED Certifications
The Duke Cancer Center and Chilled Water Plant #2 have been awarded LEED Gold certification. Along with bike racks and showers for bicycle commuters, the Cancer Center also features a rooftop garden, large windows to allow for natural lighting and occupancy sensors. The chiller plant is able to capture water condensate on the roof and store it for for the building's cooling towers.
Emory U Releases Report to Help Build Inclusive Community
A Campus Life committee has released the “Campus Life Compact for Building an Inclusive Community at Emory," a student-driven report that outlines a framework and a strategic plan that is designed to guide campus dialogue around issues of social justice.. The report consists of a comprehensive list of recommendations that focus on the need to improve inclusion and address issues of diversity within the campus community.
Feeding McGill Project Wins National Award
The university’s Feeding McGill project has been awarded a silver medal for leadership in education given by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) and Deloitte at the 2012 IPAC Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Awards Gala. Since the project’s creation, Feeding McGill has supplied over 80,000 pounds of produce to university’s Food and Dining Services.
Georgia Tech Housing to Streamline Recycling
The Department of Housing will implement a new single stream recycling system to replace the multi-stream process that is currently in use. Student recycling is expected to increase by 20 percent by the end of the semester.
Humboldt State U Receives $1.75M for Clean Energy Project
The university’s Schatz Energy Research Center in partnership with the Redwood Coast Energy Authority has received a $1.75 million grant from the California Energy Commission for a community-scale renewable energy implementation project. The clean energy initiative will include a biomass power system, community-wide energy upgrades and electric vehicle infrastructure.
Indiana U Purdue U Indianapolis Conducts Sustainability Survey
The university has conducted a survey asking businesses, health care organizations, churches, nonprofits, higher education institutions, and other groups and residents in Indianapolis how they view sustainability. The survey’s purpose is to examine the sustainability practices of those in the Indianapolis community and use the data to determine possible improvements to current and future sustainability practices.
Knox College Theatre Students Promote Sustainability
Theatre students have raised an emphasis on reducing waste and promoting sustainability for its latest stage production. All items were reused from past shows, purchased from second hand/vintage shops, or created with the intention of being used again. The students also created a Sustainability Crew which included initiatives like sewing tote bags from old t-shirts, posting student videos promoting sustainability on YouTube, and encouraging others to be more sustainable in their everyday lives.
Massachusetts CLA Student Government Passes Divestment Resolution
The Student Government Association has approved a resolution urging the President, Board of Trustees, and Foundation Board to divest from publicly traded fossil fuel companies. The divestment plan calls for the college to cease any new investments in fossil fuel companies and to end all holdings by February 2016.
Morgan CC Creates Community Garden
The college has created a community garden to provide food for the community, help fund scholarships through produce sales, and provide a student educational component. Classes will be held to assist participants in becoming more self-sufficient with their own gardening sustainability efforts.
Rochester IT Debuts Living Wall, Fuel Cell Power Unit
The institute has installed a green wall and a fuel-cell power unit at the new building for Goslisano Institute for Sustainability. The green wall spans 8 feet wide and 38 feet tall, containing 1,776 green plants that contribute to air quality as well as aesthetics. The fuel cell will produce 400 kilowatts of continuous electric power and will serve as the building’s primary energy source.
Tulane U's New Law Program to Focus on Sustainable Development
The Law School and the Payson Center for International Development have partnered to create a new law and development graduate degree. Students will receive multidisciplinary training in sustainability, development, international human rights, and comparative environmental law.
U California Santa Cruz Announces Carbon Fund Awards
The university’s Carbon Fund Committee has awarded over $30,000 to six projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions on campus and the surrounding community. Projects include installing LED lighting; working with at-risk youth to build bike generators; improving the BLEST machine, which is used to convert waste plastic into bio-diesel; conducting a bike route quality and safety index; and the development of a new smart phone application that will show on-campus residents how much energy their building is consuming.
U Cincinnati Students Advocate for Organic Food
Student advocates for organic food have received approval to go forward with the Real Food Calculator, the first step to the Real Food Challenge. The calculator determines how healthy the food currently being served is and how much it needs to improve. The university can use the calculator without signing a commitment to the challenge, a national campaign to provide students with more sustainable food in school systems.
U Maryland Greek Community Launches Composting Initiative
Eleven Greek fraternities and sororities on campus have launched composting initiatives since 2010. Compost collected from each participating house is taken to a compactor at one of the dining halls. The university has seen a significant increase in composting across the campus since the initiatives launched. In 2012, the university composted 566.18 tons, up from 138 tons in 2010.
U Maryland to Install Bottle Refilling Stations
Facilities Management has announced it will replace water fountains on campus with filling stations as part of the Sustainability Council’s Terps Love the Tap project. The new fountains will include a traditional water fountain head, a filtered filling station for reusable bottles and “green counters” that track how many plastic bottles have been saved over the course of the fountain’s use.
U Oklahoma Completes Switch to Renewable Energy
The university is now receiving all of its purchased energy from renewable sources. The switch to renewables is part of a 2008 agreement made with Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company. Under the agreement, the university purchases all of its energy from OG&E, which in return has constructed the OU Spirit Wind Farm, a 10,000-acre development with a generating capacity of 101 megawatts. The university receives about 85 percent of the renewable energy certificates from the wind farm and can trade or sell them at its discretion.
Wake Tech CC Unveils Rooftop Solar Array
More than 1,300 solar panels have been installed on the roof of the college's Public Safety Education Campus. Progress Energy will purchase the energy produced at a fixed price over the next 20 years as part of its SunSense program. The project is expected to generate more than $300,000 over the next two decades for student scholarships through the Wake Tech Foundation.
Yale U Hosts Community Food Justice Conference
Yale Divinity School hosted Nourish New Haven, a local food justice and sustainability conference to engage with the community connecting leaders across the university and New Haven. Panel discussions, workshops, films, food, neighbors, and visitors celebrated food justice and food literacy initiatives.
Appalachian State U Students Lobby to Legalize Skateboards
The university’s Sustainability Council has begun a campaign to make skateboards legal in the town of Boone and on campus. A transportation study conducted last year showed that among the general population, a significant percentage of students had a strong, positive response toward legalizing this type of eco-friendly transportation.
Barnard College Senior Gift to Fund Sustainability on Campus
The college’s Senior Fund committee has announced that the 2013 senior gift will fund sustainability initiatives on campus. The committee asked students and groups last semester to submit proposals for how to use the fund, and members of the senior class voted online in favor of the sustainability initiative.
Central State U to Save $1M Annually with New Energy Program
The university has announced a new project that is expected to reduce energy consumption by 41 percent and save the school more than $1 million annually in utilities. Funded by the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, the project will use $20 million in low-interest and interest-free bonds to upgrade exterior and interior lights, expand the campus boiler system, improve roofs and building envelopes, and complete other related projects.
Colgate U Fitness Center Awarded LEED Gold
The university’s Trudy Fitness Center features passive solar design, a reflective white roof, and landscaping that does not require an irrigation system. Twenty percent of construction materials were locally sourced and 89 percent of construction waste was diverted from landfills.
Harvard U Café Pilots Reusable Container Program
The Food Literacy Project and Dining Services have partnered to introduce a reusable container pilot program in Dudley Café aimed at reducing excess waste from disposable food containers and packaging. Students and regular customers at the Café may claim a token upon returning a reusable container, which can then be redeemed for discounts at the next meal. Depending on impact and engagement, the Food Literacy Project and Harvard University Dining Services hope to consider opportunities to expand the program for the new school year.
Harvard U Launches System to Reuse Interoffice Envelopes
In an effort to reduce costs and promote reuse, the university’s School of Public Health Eco-Opportunity team members have launched a new reuse system for interoffice envelopes. A pop-up notification on the website page for new interoffice envelopes now directs purchasers to the appropriate contacts for receiving surplus envelopes at no cost.
Indiana Passes Bill to Promote Transfer of CC Credits
The Indiana Senate has passed a bill that will make it easier for students to transfer to four-year universities or colleges and keep all the credits they’ve earned through an associate’s degree. The bill requires that the state’s four-year schools accept an associate’s degree from another state school as two years worth of classes – as long as student majors will be in related fields.
Lamar U Creates Office of Sustainability
As part of the university’s strategic plan to promote sustainability in all aspects of university life, a new office of sustainability has been established. Assistant professor of biology, Jim Armacost, has been named the first director of sustainability.
Longwood U Receives Grant to Study Biomass Fuel Processing
The university has received a $50,000 Dominion renewable energy grant to commission a pre-planning study for a biomass fuel processing center. The focus of the study is to find efficient ways to dry sawdust used to fuel the biomass boilers using alternative energy sources. The university has been using biomass to heat the campus for 30 years, and currently uses almost 26,000 tons of sawdust from local logging and sawmills annually.
