U Texas Austin Students Create BioFuel
Through a 2013 grant, students have researched, studied and created a biofuel that is intended for use in university vehicles once out of the testing stages. This particular biofuel is created from a waste product that was slated to be thrown away and will decrease the university's fuel intake.
U Utah Recognized for Energy Efficiency Leadership
The Department of Energy recently recognized the university in its Better Building Challenge for its work toward reducing energy use by 20 percent by 2020. This goal is achieved through building upgrades and renovations to save money, reduce energy consumption and cut waste. One major upgrade included the heating and cooling system at its Dumke Health Professions Education Building that, upon completion, reduced the environmental impact.
Western Michigan U Building Earns LEED Silver
The university's Lee Honors College building received this environmentally friendly status due to renovations that include low-plumbing fixtures to reduce water use and native plant species added to the landscape that reduced irrigation water usage by 69 percent.
West Philadelphia Institutions to See Sustainable Shop
A new sustainable coffee and retail shop from United By Blue will open soon in University City, a western part of Philadelphia that is home to the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. For each product sold, the company removes one pound of trash from oceans and waterways through local cleanups.
Bowling Green State U Building Earns LEED Gold
The university's dining service building received LEED certification due to 75 percent of the construction waste being recycled, all building materials used were purchased within a 500-mile radius, Ohio barn wood was utilized throughout and the construction used less structural steel.
Clarkson U Student Starts Project to Offset Carbon Emissions
(U.S.): A graduate student recently developed an forestry project in Uganda in an effort to balance the effects of carbon emissions generated by university air travel. Micro-finance groups were also set up to create paid jobs for women who work on this project.
Cornell U Opens Solar Farm
(U.S.): The university recently opened the Cornell Snyder Road Solar Farm with 6,778 photovoltaic panels that will produce 2.5 million kilowatts hours each year and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 650 metric tons toward the goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.
International Islamic U turns to Solar Energy
(Islambad): Through the installation of photovoltaic panels, the university will provide 10 megawatts of electricity to power the main campus, and will sell excess energy to increase revenue for the campus.
Laurentian U Hires Energy & Sustainability Manager
(Canada): The university recently hired a Manager of Energy and Sustainability. This brand new position will develop and execute sustainability goals with initiatives in energy consumption, waste diversion, outreach and education.
Maharishi U Management Brings Local Food to Campus
(U.S.): Through new food purchasing standards, local farmers can now sell produce to the university that was grown without pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). By purchasing local produce to serve to students, the university saves money and reduces carbon emissions.
McGill U Boost Sustainability Initiative
(Canada): The university recently launched the ECOLE initiative, after three years in the pilot stage. This initiative allows students to examine sustainable living in urban communities, learn about clean energy and green produce and conduct community events.
Sierra College Reduce Water Usage
(U.S.): Campus landscapes remain green and healthy while saving water through on-going initiatives such as reducing turf areas, planting drought-resistant plants and installing a water efficient irrigation system that have reduced water usage by 20 percent. Additional water saving efforts include pool covers to reduce water evaporation and upcoming upgrades to indoor facilities of low-flow fixtures.
STARS 2014 Annual Review Released
(U.S.): AASHE's most recent publication uncovered some new and notable trends such as an increase in the reports submitted from associate and baccalaureate colleges, and an increase in average scores within subsequent STARS reports.
Syracuse U Purchases Green Power
(U.S.): The university has partnered with Renewable Choice Energy to provide green power, which will offset 35 percent of the campus’ total electricity consumption, an increase over previous years.
U Arkansas to Maximize Water Conservation Efforts
(U.S.): To reduce water usage and cost, the university will soon install a run-off pond that will supply air conditioning system. Additionally, the irrigation protocol will be redesigned and a $5,000 scholarship that rewards students for sustainability efforts will be created.
U Chichester to Pay Living Wage
(U.K.): The university recently agreed to pay the living wage to all staff based on its Chichester and Bognor campuses. This agreement includes firms that the university contracts for catering, cleaning and security.
U Copenhagen Met Climate Goals from 2008
(Denmark): The university reached their goal to reduce carbon emissions originally set in 2008 through energy efficiency investments. The university announced that carbon-dioxide emissions are down 28.8% and energy consumption per student/employee is down 20.4% on 2006 levels. The university plans to set new sustainability goals to be released later this year.
U Dayton Receives Sustainability Gift to Boost Program
(U.S.): The university recently received a gift of $12.5 million that will increase sustainability education at the Hanley Sustainability Institute. This gift will be used to develop an interdisciplinary graduate certificate in sustainability, create an urban agriculture project and achieve a STARS Gold rating.
U Glasgow Scientists Find Clean Energy Opportunity
(U.K.): University scientists recently reported a new production of removing hydrogen from water that could lead to an era of cheap, clean and renewable energy, according to the institution. This new production allows the hydrogen bond to be burned without a negative impact on the environment.
U Iowa to Use Grass for Biofuel
(U.S.): By 2020, the university wants to have 40 percent of its energy derived from renewable sources with efforts such as a reduction in the amount of coal burned through a new pilot program of burning a specific type of tall grass.
U Maiduguri Celebrates Diversity
(Nigeria): A diversity festival was recently held at the university with the theme Unity in Diversity. This was a large cultural event on campus that encouraged people to dress in various cultural attires and learn from one another.
U Western Ontario Increase Recycling Efforts
(Canada): Coffee cups, fountain drink cups and the accompanying lids are now recyclable to divert 100 tons of waste annually toward their goal of diverting 90 percent of waste from landfills.
Auburn U Goes Styrofoam Free
Starting this semester, the university replaced styrofoam with paper products to increase recycling and eliminate waste from landfills in an effort to achieve a zero waste campus.
Boston U Faculty Encourages Fossil Fuel Divestment
245 university faculty have teamed together to sign a petition that encourages divestment from fossil fuel companies to combat climate change. The petition is now under review with the university's Board of Trustees.
Cornell U Aims to Revise Climate Neutrality Target Date
In an effort to achieve carbon neutrality, the university's Climate Neutrality Acceleration Working Group recently proposed moving the target date from 2050 to 2035 by enhancing education and engagement of student learning, faculty research and staff participation in an updated plan.
Forbes: STARS Must Know Resource
AASHE's STARS program was recently named as one business metric that is vitally important to use in the sustainably focused economy.
Higher Education Leaders Address Climate Change
A new initiative called Solution Generation was recently launched by ecoAmerica and MomentUS to provide communications tools, research and resources for higher education leaders to design and implement strategies to inspire, educate and engage their faculty, staff, students, peers and communities on climate change solutions.
Johns Hopkins U Increases Green Efforts
Over the past five years the university has implemented clean energy initiatives such as furniture recycling, compressed natural gas vehicles and installing water bottle-filling stations resulting in the elimination of 456,000 tons of CO2e.
Macalester College Pledges Zero Waste
In an effort to divert waste from landfills and incinerators, the university recently implemented campus wide composting, a new program to repurpose food waste and reusable take-out containers.
MacEwan U Recycles Furniture
The university introduced a new program called Re-Love Market this September that takes unwanted and gently used items for people to swap or buy items instead of throwing them away.
Two Institutions Submit STARS Ratings
University of California Santa Barbara and Saint Mary's College of California submitted and received ratings in AASHE's Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) during August.
