U California San Diego Installs Electric Vehicle Charging Station
Two electric vehicle charging stations are now open to the public, installed by local renewable energy company Sullivan Solar Power. The station infrastructure was fully paid for through the EV Project, a U.S. Department of Energy funded program administered by ECOtality.
U Missouri Installs Wind Turbine
The 20-killowatt turbine has the ability to provide power to one small building and the excess energy will feed into the university’s power grid. Primarily to be used as an educational tool, students will have the opportunity to tour the project and have access to an online monitoring system.
U Wisconsin Madison to Study Human Component of Green Building
A team of researchers will receive $1.7 million over the next four years through the National Science Foundation's Sustainable Energy Pathways program to examine holistic ways to link the technological aspects of producing more energy-efficient buildings with the human parts of the equation. In addition to examining a range of techniques that potentially could provide savings in energy consumption, the project also contains an educational component that will include interactions with local high schools and a cross-disciplinary capstone course at the university.
Amherst College to Develop Campus Farm
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.
Baylor U Dining Services Eliminates Styrofoam
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.
Brown U Debuts Housing to Promote Social Justice
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.
Catholic U of America Dedicates Solar Panel System
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.
Chatham U Offers MBA Sustainability Program
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.
EPA Announces Winners of Green Power Leadership Awards
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.
Gannon U Installs 2 Green Roofs
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.
Gateway CC Debuts Downtown Green Campus
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.
Humboldt State U Receives Grant to Expand Recycling Operations
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.
John Brown U Achieves Zero 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.
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Debuts Green Roof
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.
Portland State U Participates in Public Space Reclamation Event
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.
Quebec’s New Premier Revokes Tuition Increase
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.
U Alaska Fairbanks Community Garden Completes First Harvest
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.
U Colorado Boulder Renovations to Reduce Carbon Footprint
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.
U Missouri St. Louis Debuts Solar Installation
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.
Unity College Installs Solar Array
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.
U Washington Approves Environmental Stewardship Executive Order
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.
U Winnipeg to Go Pesticide Free
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.
U Wisconsin Green Bay Reuses Plastic Bottles In Place of Soil
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.
Aligarh Muslim U to Harvest Wind Energy
(India): The university, with the support of local government, has announced plans to launch a wind energy project. Several windmills will be installed on campus to provide power and allow scientists to study climate change in the area and its impact on wind energy.
Bucknell U Switches to Single Stream Recycling
(U.S.): The new system is expected to increase recycling rates from 20 percent to 60 percent. The university also plans to add two solar-powered compactors outside the student center.
Calhoun CC Debuts Green Energy Technology Center
(U.S.): The new Alabama Center for Excellence in Green Technology will be home to the college’s renewable energy associate degree program. Funded by a $3.47 million U.S. Department of Labor grant, the goal of the facility is to meet regional needs for certified practitioners in the areas of energy assessment and energy-efficient installation. The LEED-certified building features rainwater recycling that provides all gray water usage, a 20-kilowatt solar array, off the grid parking lights and a geothermal array.
Cal Poly Pomona Establishes Composting Program
(U.S.): The campus’ Dining Services has begun composting, diverting about 10 yards of waste a week from the landfill. Food scraps are collected and taken to a facility that produces nutrient-rich soil that is sold to local farmers and residents.
City U London Receives EcoCampus Award and Certification
(U.K.): In recognition for the university’s commitment to reducing its impact on the environment and in integrating sustainability into its daily services and activities, the university’s Environmental Management System has been awarded an EcoCampus Platinum Award and ISO 14001 certification.
Green Mountain College Receives Grant for Renewable Energy Lab
(U.S.): The college has received a grant of $15,000 from the Duke Energy Foundation for the college’s renewable energy and ecological design (REED) program to develop a digital fabrication laboratory called FabLab. The lab will provide students, local high school students and adults with the infrastructure to acquire skills using digital fabrication technologies.
Indiana Institute of Technology Debuts Wind Turbine
(U.S.): The institute has installed a 120-feet-tall wind turbine to help engineering students learn about alternative energy sources. The turbine, a gift from the Steel Dynamics Foundation, will provide energy to the electrical grid.
Marietta College Receives Grant to Add Sustainable Living Option
(U.S.): The $25,000 Higher Education Grant from the Dominion Foundation will be used to convert an existing dormitory into a more sustainable living environment. Initial plans call for solar panels and energy produced by a wind turbine. Students participating in the energy systems minor will be likely candidates to live in the dorm.
Michigan State U Launches Sustainability Project Funding
(U.S.): The Office of Sustainability has launched Be Spartan Green Student Project Fund, a program that will provide financial support for students to explore solutions to sustainability challenges at the university. Up to $5,000 will be awarded to each selected project.
Monash U Student Housing Achieves Green Rating
(Australia): A student residential development has achieved a Green Star rating for sustainable construction. The residences offer students low-cost housing funded through the National Rental and Affordability Scheme. Sustainable features include a gray water treatment facility, a 155-kilowatt photovoltaic system and garden beds and orchards that enable the students to harvest their own food.
RIT Creates Center for Sustainable Packaging
(U.S.): Gifts totaling $2.2 million will help to create the Center for Sustainable Packaging, an education and research center dedicated to the development and use of sustainable packaging. The center will be a testing ground for ideas and solutions for students, researchers, faculty and corporate partners that are interested in sustainable packaging.
St. Agnes College to Launch Recycling
(India): The college has announced plans to create a paper recycling unit on campus to create solid waste management awareness. The college also plans to sell notebooks made from the recycled paper and the money will be used for conducting awareness programs on solid waste management in rural areas of the state.
U British Columbia Opens Renewable Energy Facility
(Canada): The university has unveiled a $34 million clean energy center that produces heat and electricity for the campus entirely from renewable bioenergy. The Bioenergy Research and Demonstration Facility will supply up to 12 percent of the university’s heat requirements as well as reduce its natural gas consumption by 12 percent. The facility runs on tree trimmings and wood chips from local landfills.
U Massachusetts Amherst Initiates Single Stream Recycling
(U.S.): In an effort to increase the recycling rate on campus, the university has launched a no-sort system. The system will also result in long-term economic efficiency by allowing the Office of Waste Management to make one pass with its trucks around the campus per week instead of two.
U Michigan Acquires 3 New Hybrid Buses
(U.S.): The university has purchased three new hybrid buses to join its fleet, fulfilling a September 2011 commitment that the university would introduce seven hybrid buses in a year in an effort to be more sustainable. The buses use a roof-mounted battery system to supplement their diesel engines, allowing for reduced emissions.
U Michigan Installs Water Refill Stations
(U.S.): Through a collaboration among the Office of Campus Sustainability, Central Student Government, Construction Services and other campus units, more than 100 drinking fountains have been equipped with a bottle refill device. Students helped guide the university’s decision on where to install the refill stations through a survey. This fall, the university also implemented the Planet Blue Water Bottle Initiative. The three-year program will supply all first-year undergraduates with a reusable water bottle when they arrive on campus.
U Michigan Launches Bike Rental Program
(U.S.): A fleet of 30 bicycles will be available to students, faculty and staff as part of a recently launched Blue Bikes checkout program. In addition to the rental program, several supporting bicycle amenities will be installed this fall including additional bike racks in high-demand areas, two public air pump stations, and a fix-it station where cyclists can access tools for quick fixes.
U Milan, Politecnico of Milan to Create Sustainable Campus
(Italy): The university and institute have partnered to convert their sites into a single sustainable campus. The “Smart Campus” project will focus on four themes including residents, energy, environment and accessibility. The project intends to develop services aimed at transforming the behavior of campus users. As part of the project, dumpsters that measure the weight and volume of the material that is discarded have been installed to manage waste collection.
U Minnesota Receives $13 M to Focus on Sustainable Research
(U.S.): The Department of Chemistry has received $13.1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund two centers that could potentially reduce carbon emissions and make solar energy more efficient. Both centers will focus on theoretical chemistry to sequester carbon dioxide and develop programs to find better ways to capture solar energy.
