Fort Lewis College Biology Wing Earns LEED Gold
Fort Lewis College (CO) has earned its second LEED Gold certification for the new biology wing of Berndt Hall. Environmentally friendly features of the building, which was designed to maximize open space, include water-efficient landscaping, renewable energy sources and regional and recycled building materials.
Long Beach City College Opens Power-Producing Parking Garage
Long Beach City College (CA) is opening a solar-powered parking garage capable of producing 450,000 watts of electricity per hour of sunlight. The structure will feature 2,100 solar panels, which the college plans to use as training tools for students seeking electrical training certification. The college also plans to display the panels' functionality by wiring the array to a real-time power monitor for students, staff and the public to view.
McGill U Students Win Canadian Campus Sustainability Competition
A student team from McGill University (QC) has received $20,000 by taking first place in TD Friends of the Environment Foundation's Go Green Challenge. Along with the prize money, the winning students will receive a paid internship with the foundation this summer. This year's fourth annual competition focused on sustainability and environmental stewardship on campus. The winning team’s proposal, "Integrated Energy and Food Greenhouse," plans to redirect the waste heat from McGill’s Ferrier powerhouse, which is the greatest greenhouse gas producer on campus, to power a greenhouse that will produce local food and carbon neutral biodiesel. The foundation will also award $100,000 to the university for campus greening efforts.
Montclair State U Wins $2.65 Mil Grant for Solar Farm
Montclair State University’s environmental education and field research campus, the New Jersey School of Conservation, has been awarded a $2.65 million grant from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. This grant will be used to install a 300,000-watt solar farm that will generate enough power for the entire campus and additional electricity that will be available for sale to local utility companies. The half-acre solar field will be fully operational in the later half of 2011.
New U Texas Austin Student Center Seeks LEED Gold
The University of Texas at Austin has unveiled a new student center, designed to meet LEED Gold certification. Student input and design workshops informed the building design, which includes ample daylighting, an accessible rooftop courtyard with an adjacent green roof and a cistern that collects and recycles rainwater for landscape irrigation.
Rice U Expands Campus Bike Initiatives
With funding from the Rice Endowment for Sustainable Energy and Technology, the Office of Sustainability and a student initiative grant program, Rice University (TX) has expanded its campus bicycle program to include bike sharing, bike reps and a repair shop. Students worked with the Rice Police Department to refurbish abandoned bikes for the bike sharing initiative. The new bike reps will function like campus eco-reps with a focus on bikes. Their duties will include identifying and reporting abandoned bikes, sharing information about campus bike rules and policies with the campus community, and providing minor bicycle repairs and maintenance.
Rochester Inst to Develop Natural Gas Engines for Hybrid Vehicles
Faculty at Rochester Institute of Technology (NY) have received a $100,000 grant from the California Energy Commission to develop a natural gas-fueled engine for hybrid electric vehicles. The new engine, which is estimated to save five million tons of carbon dioxide from the air per year if 5 percent of California drivers converted to it, can also be used for electric generators and agricultural uses like power for irrigation pumps.
Seattle Pacific U Solar Power Offsets Electric Vehicle Energy Use
The 18 solar panels at Seattle Pacific University (WA) are producing enough energy to power the university’s fleet of electric vehicles. They began producing electricity in the spring quarter of 2010. At their best, with perfect sunshine, they generate four kilowatts per hour. Their daily average energy production is the equivalent to the daily energy consumed by the campus’ electric vehicles.
Seattle U Campus Recycling Rate Jumps 11%
Seattle University (WA) has announced that its overall campus recycling and composting rate is 60 percent, an 11 percent increase in the past year. The university received the Recycler of the Year award last year from Washington State Recycling Association. The university maintains compost collection in residence halls, which is hauled to Cedar Grove, a company that produces natural, local compost for farmers and gardeners across the Northwest.
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 6 Views on the Future of Pell Grants
"The Pell Grant program recognizes that to remain competitive, America must educate the rapidly growing population of low-income students struggling to ready themselves for the work force," says Jorge Klor de Alva, president of Nexus Research and Policy Center and former president of the University of Phoenix, in a recent commentary piece by The Chronicle of Higher Education that asked figures in higher education and public policy to share their thoughts of what the Pell Grant should look like in the future. "However, the program must become something better than what it is today if it is to meaningfully improve its record of successful support of financially strapped students." Other views include Sandy Baum, an independent higher education policy analyst and professor emerita of economics at Skidmore College and Michelle Asha Cooper, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy.
U Alaska Fairbanks Hosts Climate Science Center
The Department of the Interior has dedicated a new Alaska Climate Science Center, hosted by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. This is the first of eight regional climate science centers that the department plans to establish throughout the country. The centers will use existing capacities to provide scientific data, tools and techniques to manage the nation's land, water, fish, wildlife and cultural heritage in a changing climate. Each center will be a partnership between federal and state agencies, and an academic institution or consortium of universities.
U Alaska Fairbanks Installs Smart Cold Weather Vehicle Cords
The University of Alaska, Fairbanks is installing 100 new energy-efficient power cords that are used to plug into cars to keep engine fluids from freezing during the winter months. Typical cords draw energy constantly while plugged in, while the new cords draw electricity only when the engine coolant temperature drops near freezing temperatures. The power-saving cords have been installed on 31 campus vehicles and remaining cords are being installed on vehicles owned by students, faculty and staff members who volunteered.
U Alaska Fairbanks Offers New Bicycle Sharing Program
The University of Alaska, Fairbanks’ Office of Sustainability has recently approved a new bicycle rental program on campus. It will be funded by $10,000 from a sustainability fee that students pay each semester. Long-term and short-term rentals will be available beginning in April. They will begin the program with a stable of 20 new Kona bicycles and nearly 100 used and donated bicycles.
U Chicago Leads New Climate and Energy Policy Center
The Computation Institute at the University of Chicago (IL) is leading a new multi–institutional, interdisciplinary center to build tools to help governments, the private sector and individuals make better–informed decisions relating to both climate and energy policies and the long–term consequences of climate change. The effort will bring together collaborators at nine institutions under the auspices of a new Center for Robust Decision Making on Climate and Energy Policy, supported by a five–year, $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation as part of the Decision–Making Under Uncertainty program. The center will consist of experts in economics, physical sciences, energy technologies, law, computational mathematics, statistics and computer science. The group will undertake a series of research programs aimed at improving the computational models needed to evaluate energy and climate policies and guide decisions based on outcomes.
U Chicago Switches to Virtual Servers
The Facilities Services IT management team at the University of Chicago (IL) is working to switch its server platform from physical servers to virtual servers, also known as virtual machines (VMs). A typical VM at the university uses 13 watts of power on average, while a physical server uses 281 watts.
U Delaware Receives $4.4 Mil for Solar Array Project
The University of Delaware will receive $4.4 million from The Churchill Companies to construct a new solar array on the roof of seven campus buildings. The system is expected to reduce the university's carbon footprint by 1.8 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.
U Georgia Debuts Local Food Systems Certificate Program
The University of Georgia was recently awarded a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop an interdisciplinary Local Food Systems certificate program. Students will complete 18 hours of coursework with foundation, capstone and internship project-based experiences for a strong foundation for a career in local food issues. A significant component of the grant proposal for the certificate is to develop more academic service-learning opportunities focused on local food issues.
U Illinois Entomologist Wins $200K Environmental Science Award
An entomologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is the 2011 recipient of the $200,000 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education. Professor May R. Berenbaum is being honored for her pioneering work in chemical ecology that has led to an understanding of the relationships between insects and plants on a genetic level. Her research has also helped further understanding of the decline of bee populations known as Colony Collapse Disorder.
U Louisville Adds Food Composting to Campus Community Garden
The University of Louisville (KY) has added food composting to its campus community gardening initiative. With a $13,5000 grant from a private company, the university plans to place six to eight 90-gallon compost drums for food waste at the Garden Commons site and equip student residence halls with five-gallon buckets for students to throw food waste into. The compost produced will fertilize the garden.
U Maryland Approves 3 Green Fund Sustainability Projects
The University of Maryland's Sustainability Council has approved three new projects to receive almost $82,000 collected from its mandatory student green fee. Projects include the construction of a campus garden, the implementation of environmentally friendly water treatments for indoor pools and the expansion of recycled materials used in theater productions. The sustainability fee collects $6 from each student per academic year and will eventually cap off at $12 in 2013.
U Maryland Undertakes Campus-Wide Lighting Retrofit
The University of Maryland has worked with the lighting technology company Hubbell Lighting to retrofit 12,000 light fixtures on campus with 6,600 of the latest energy-efficient lighting fixtures. The new fixtures are estimated to save the university $153,054 in annual energy costs.
U Missouri-Kansas City Launches Student Bus Pass Program
Students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City have approved a student fee that will provide every student with an annual pass for city bus services. The university partnered with the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority to provide the all-access transit pass, beginning in fall 2011. Students will be assessed a $14 fee per semester to fund the universal pass.
U New Mexico to Create Sustainable Enviro Food Systems Program
The University of New Mexico Sustainability Studies Program has received a $1.5 million grant for an endowed chair in sustainable and environmental food systems and $150,000 in start-up funds from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The project is intended to provide a professional career path for students interested in pursuing sustainable agriculture and food security issues. Students will work with community groups using media arts, ecology and community engagement. Outreach and research will focus on local foodsheds as integrated systems of land, skill, regional plant varieties, infrastructure and markets.
U Northern British Columbia Completes Biomass Gasification Plant
Almost a year after its announcement of the project, the University of Northern British Columbia has opened a biomass gasification system that will replace 85 percent of the university’s use of natural gas as its primary heating source. The plant will burn sawdust, bark and branches and is expected to reduce the university’s carbon emissions by up to 4,000 tons a year. The federal and provincial government of British Columbia invested $20.7 million into the project, which is expected to save the university $500,000 per year.
U South Carolina Students Perform Trash Inventory
Twenty undergraduate students at the University of South Carolina are sorting through the contents of campus dumpsters to determine how many recyclables are being thrown away. The waste audit is part of an effort to make an informed investment toward the improvement of campus recycling. The audit, which looks at purchasing, custodial services, collections and recycling practices at all levels of the university's operations, will wrap up in December.
U South Sewanee Researches Campus Wind Power Potential
Sewanee: The University of the South (TN) is researching the potential for installing wind turbines on its campus. As a part of its research, the university erected two wind measuring devices known as anemometers. The two anemometers have been installed on 100-foot towers. The university is borrowing the equipment free of charge from the Anemometer Loan Program at the Tennessee Valley and Eastern Kentucky Wind Working Group. The year-long project will measure and record wind speed and direction every 10 minutes. After analyzing the data, the university will make a decision as to whether wind power is a viable alternative to reducing its carbon emissions.
Western Michigan U Opens Electric Car Charging Stations
Western Michigan University has unveiled four electric car charging stations on its main campus that it received at no cost from manufacturer Coulomb Technologies through an equipment grant from the company's ChargePoint America program. The program is part of a federal government demonstration project to encourage the adoption of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. The university, which has two electric and 50 hybrid-electric vehicles in its campus fleet, will offer the chargers for free initially, as much of the expected energy use will be offset by its existing campus wind turbine and solar array. The university will consider charging in the future if usage is more than expected.
Appalachian State U Plans Stadium Solar Project
Appalachian State University's (NC) Renewable Energy Initiative, a student-funded organization that generates about $150,000 from a $5 student fee every year, has proposed to place an "A-shaped" solar panel in the university's stadium for next football season. After a preliminary assessment to see roughly the amount of sun the solar panel would take in to be used as renewable energy, the organization determined that that panels would generate about 5,500 kilowatts of energy per year. The organization hopes to build the "A" for about $40,000.
Arizona State U Surveys Campus for Sustainable Transport Ideas
The Parking and Transit Services department at Arizona State University is conducting an extensive transportation survey among its students and staff to find sustainable solutions for reducing overall carbon emissions. The survey is mandated by Maricopa County, but it has led to significant student conceptualized ideas in previous years, including intercampus shuttles, the U-Pass program that provides reduced fares for light rail and bus tickets, and reserved carpool parking spots.
Cornell U Launches New Sustainability Focus Initiative, Website
Cornell University (NY) has upped its sustainability collaboration efforts with the launch of a new sustainability focus team initiative and website. The initiative includes 10 teams that together represent a comprehensive look at sustainability from buildings to people, and are based on best practices identified by STARS. Over the next few months, teams will set goals, recruit members and collect benchmark data for STARS reporting. The new website features pages for each focus group.
EPA Proposes First National Standard for Coal Plant Emissions
Following recent canceled plans for coal plants by institutions who cited potentially strict environmental regulations surrounding coal emissions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first national standard for emissions of mercury and other pollutants from coal-burning power plants on Wednesday. Lisa P. Jackson, the agency's administrator, estimated the total cost of compliance at about $10 billion and said that roughly half of the nation's more than 400 coal-burning plants have some form of control technology installed. Installing and maintaining smokestack scrubbers and other control technology would create 31,000 short-term construction jobs and 9,000 permanent public utility sector jobs. The EPA will take public comment on the proposed regulations for the next several months and anticipates publishing a final rule at the end of this year or early next year. The rule would take effect fully three or four years later. In related news, the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee recently voted a bill through to block EPA climate rules. The bill would permanently eliminate EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources like power plants and refineries, amending the Clean Air Act to forbid consideration of CO2 or other greenhouse gases. The bill is expected to come up on the House floor in the coming weeks.
Hartwick College Switches to Zero Sort Recycling
Hartwick College (NY) has implemented a Zero Sort Recycling program on campus, doubling the amount of recyclable materials collected during the month of February. All manner of recyclable material may now be placed, without sorting, on the recycling side of the new dumpsters on the college's campus.
Kent State U Expands Bike Share Program
After a successful launch in the fall, Kent State University (OH) is expanding its bike share program. Flashfleet, which registered 1,081 users for a total of 4,467 checkouts in the fall, now includes a new checkout location, an expanded bike selection, and additional hours of operation and student staff members to assist with maintenance repairs.
Middlebury College Students Initiate Car Share Program
The Environmental Council at Middlebury College (VT) is working to implement a student-led proposal to offer the car share program, Zimride. The group proposed this idea to the student government last month and it has been accepted. The program will cost the college between $17,000 and $19,000. Along with the additional transportation options the program will provide, it will also help the college reduce its overall carbon emissions.
Mismanagement of LA CC District Energy Plan Uncovered by LA Times
An investigation by the Los Angeles Times has found that an expensive and ambitious plan to make the Los Angeles Community College District a leader in green technology and renewable energy was largely mismanaged. The district's Executive Director for Facilities, Planning and Development Larry Eisenberg, who oversaw the project, was fired on March 9. With planned updates that included extensive solar panels, geothermal heating, hydrogen fuel-cells and wind-turbines, the Times investigation reveals that these unrealized plans cost taxpayers $10 million with little to show except for a demonstration wind turbine. Blunders include three solar power arrays that were scrapped when it became clear that the chosen locations sat atop seismic faults, and insufficient space on the district's nine campuses to house all the generating equipment that would be necessary to power the district through renewable energy sources. Of the 60 megawatts of solar projects that Eisenberg said would be necessary to meet all the campuses' power needs, the Times says that college presidents have agreed to build 16 megawatts.
Pepperdine U Debuts Social, Enviro, Ethical Business Certificate
Pepperdine University's (CA) Graziadio School of Business and Management has launched a certificate in Socially, Environmentally and Ethically Responsible (SEER) business practices. The program allows students to complement their MBA degree with courses and activities that will prepare them to apply SEER values to companies across a diverse range of industries.
Queen’s U Chemist Makes Green Discovery
Discovered by a chemist at Queen’s University (ON), a host of technologies with the potential to address global pollution problems have been exclusively licensed to GreenCentre Canada. The technologies pertain to solvents and surfactants, and they have gained the attention of oil industries because of their ability to reduce costs of removing oil from sand, gravel and other substrates. The breakthrough garnered several awards, including the Canadian Institute of Chemistry to call it one of the top 20 chemistry discoveries in Canada over the past 100 years.
Rice U Introduces Single-Stream Recycling
Rice University (TX) has announced the conversion of its campus recycling system to single stream, allowing the campus community to place all recyclable materials in one single bin. The move allows for more types of plastic to be recycled and the campus has already seen an increase in campus recycling efforts in data being collected for this year's RecycleMania Tournament.
RIT Offers Master of Architecture with Sustainable Focus
The Rochester Institute of Technology (NY) has announced a new Master of Architecture program that will begin in the fall, with curriculum that focuses on the areas of sustainability, urbanism and integrated practice such as energy efficiency. A collaboration between the school's Golisano Institute for Sustainability and the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, the program is founded upon the principle that architecture programs can no longer afford to teach anything other than sustainable architecture. In addition to courses in industrial ecology, sustainable science and sustainable buildings, traditional courses in design, theory and history will be taught through the lens of sustainability. Students will also have opportunities to collaborate with research labs and academic programs in pollution prevention, sustainable engineering, urban and community studies, and public policy.
San Diego State U Offers Green Job Training Certificates
San Diego State University's College of Extended Studies (CA) was recently profiled for its foresight in offering sustainable energy certificate programs that will meet the increasing need of the region’s green labor market. In addition to the Green Building Construction certificate that launched in 2008, the university now offers online certificates in Commercial and Residential Sustainable Practices and Green Energy Management.
SEED Initiative Receives $1.3 Mil Grant for Green Jobs Training
A new $1.3 million dollar grant awarded to the Sustainability, Education and Economic Development (SEED) initiative at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) by the Kresge Foundation will expand green job training opportunities and innovations at community colleges. A host of SEED activities will be launched under the two-year grant, from workshops to an awards program.
Students Nationwide Rally for Public Workers, Education
The United States Student Association and Jobs with Justice recently organized a nationwide student-led rally to defend public education and the rights of public workers during a national day of action. More than 10,000 students participated in the rallies at more than 35 locations and across 15 states.
Syracuse U Promotes Energy-Saving Device
Syracuse University’s (NY) Sustainability Division is promoting a new tool to help students and staff save on their energy consumption. The Kill A Watt is a small device that shows power usage and cost for specific household items, such as a toaster. The digital screen allows an individual to determine how much energy an appliance is using and how much that energy costs. The device is available at the university’s library for students, staff and faculty to rent.
Syracuse U, SUNY College Partner for Ride Share Program
Syracuse University (NY) and the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry are collaborating to provide students and faculty with a ride share program at no cost. With the online RideShare program, staff and students at both institutions can coordinate carpools. Syracuse is using this program in conjunction with other alternative transportation companies, such as Zipcar. The partnership between the two institutions will reduce single-occupant vehicles and positively contributed to each institution’s Climate Action Plan.
The Pell Grant Debate: A Summary of Recent Events
San Francisco State University (CA) is just one of the higher education institutions pleading with lawmakers to shield the Pell Grant, the primary college financial aid program for low-income students, from budget cuts. Support for Historically Black Universities and Colleges would drop by $85 million under the U.S. House of Representatives' 2011 fiscal year spending bill, which proposes student-aid reductions that would trim the maximum Pell Grant by 15 percent and make 1.7 million students ineligible for the grant. In related news, Inside Higher Ed reports that Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, a California Democrat, recently expressed frustration about the administration's 2012 budget plan proposal to stop letting students who want to study year-round qualify for two Pell Grants in a single year. She wanted to know how this policy made sense in light of Education Secretary Arne Duncan's recent statements that there are two million jobs waiting for American workers to fill. In response, Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter cited Department of Education research that found only a 1 percent increase in summer school enrollment during the 2010 summer in which the "two Pell" program was in place, compared with the previous year. The Pell has become more popular and expensive over the last few years, reports Inside Higher Ed, with an increase of 6.2 million student recipients in the 2008-2009 school year to an estimated 9.4 million in 2011-2012, a 52 percent increase.
Top 10 University Clean Technology Initiatives
Many top venture capital firms keep their eyes on universities to see what renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are being produced, says a recent blog by the president and founder of Sustainable World Capitol. The blog profiles what it considers to be the top 10 initiatives coming out of universities today. Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Clean Energy Prize, along with initiatives from Imperial College London (UK); University of Tokyo (Japan); University of California, Berkeley; Institute of Singapore; University of Minnesota; Tel Aviv University (Israel); Cornell University (NY); Australian National University; and University of Melbourne (Australia) are featured.
U California Davis to Shutter Domes; New Student Housing Planned
Citing the need for costly repairs, the University of California, Davis has announced plans to close the Domes; 14 huts that house about two dozen students in a communal living area with organic gardens, chickens and fruit trees. The modest student housing will give way to 35 acres of apartment student lodging, planned with bike-friendly pathways and energy-saving technology like solar panels, power-saving lighting and high-grade insulation. Residents of the Domes applaud the sustainable building efforts, but say that environmental sustainability is not the same as the social sustainability fostered in their communal living situation.
U California San Diego Wins Solar Grant
The University of California, San Diego chapter of the Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) has received a $10,900 grant from the national ESW organization to develop a mobile solar-powered station. The intent of this mobile solar unit is to charge batteries for electrical appliances such as laptops, cell phones, campus electric utility vehicles and other devices.
U Calif System Seeks Energy-Efficient Solutions to Budget Cuts
Facing Gov. Jerry Brown's recent call to cut $500 million from the University of California system for the 2011-2012 school year, University of California leaders are looking for system-wide efficiencies in the areas of energy usage, among other solutions. The University of California, Riverside, for example, is looking to reduce its power usage by turning down air conditioners.
U Georgia Athens Campus Recycling Hits 50% Mark
The University of Georgia, Athens has announced that it is now recycling about 50 percent of its campus waste. The university is testing a prototype musical recycling bin that plays 16 seconds of the university’s football fight song each time a bottle or can is deposited in the bin and hopes to get a grant to test more of the bins, powered by small solar panels, across campus. The university is also looking into the cost of including a recycling bin that is attached to every trash can on campus.
