Elon U to Offer Minor in Poverty and Social Justice
Tying into the university's recent partnership with the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty, the new fall 2013 program offers a foundation for understanding the multi-factorial causes and realities of poverty, the opportunity to study the root causes and structural patterns that contribute to poverty, and focuses on processes and strategies of poverty alleviation from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
Harvard Real Estate Buildings Achieve Energy Star Certification
Harvard Real Estate recently achieved Energy Star certification for three buildings in its portfolio. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star certification program uses an energy performance scale that scores the energy performance of a building on a scale of 1 to 100 as compared to buildings of a similar type and use around the United States. Buildings that earn a 75 or higher are eligible to apply for the Energy Star certification.
Loyola Chicago Nursing School Earns LEED Gold
The building features radiant heating and cooling systems, natural ventilation and high-efficiency glazing. Ninety-percent of the building needs no artificial light during the day.
Loyola Chicago Students Pass Green Initiative Fund
Led by the Unified Student Government Association, the new Green Initiative Fund will give students the opportunity to start green projects that require funding that is otherwise unavailable. After a multi-month campaign, 64 percent of students voted "yes" to the fund in March.
MIT, Harvard, Cambridge Sign 'Compact for a Sustainable Future'
The “Community Compact for a Sustainable Future” lays out a framework for the signatories — and other organizations that choose to join — to work in a more coordinated fashion to tackle local sustainability challenges. The compact aims to generate new solutions in the areas of waste reduction, energy efficiency, climate mitigation and adaptation, water management, renewable energy and green tech incubation.
New Survey Reveals U Oregon Community Favors Alt Transportation
The survey earlier this year of students, faculty and staff showed that only 18 percent of the campus drives alone to work, with bicycling the top commute choice (21 percent). The survey also found that about 62 percent of students and 72 percent of faculty and staff have bikes and almost half of students live within one mile of campus, significantly reducing the need to drive or own a car.
Sodexo Foundation Grants $150K to Food Recovery Network
The start-up funding will help the network of college students working to reduce hunger and food waste by recovering surplus food from their dining halls and delivering it to Americans in need of a meal. Since its inception at the University of Maryland, College Park in September 2011, the Food Recovery Network has expanded to 21 campuses in nine states plus Washington, D.C., recovering more than 140,000 pounds of food.
Texas State U San Marcos Announces Green Fee-Funded Projects
Thirteen projects have been approved for funding from the Environmental Service Committee including 3-D signage for the Bobcat Blend Composting program, which recently received a Texas Environmental Excellence Award. With the program, students have diverted 57 tons of organic waste from the landfill and reduced university costs and fuel usage through fewer waste hauls.
Texas State U San Marcos Housing Complex Earns LEED Gold
The first LEED Gold certification for the Texas State University System was awarded for features including light occupancy sensors and a 40,000-gallon tank that collects condensation from the air-conditioning system and rain run-off to irrigate the three acres of native landscaping surrounding the complex. More than 30 percent of the building materials contain recycled content and more than 35 percent are from regional sources.
U California Santa Cruz Students Receive NSF Research Fellowships
Three doctoral students in the Environmental Studies Department have received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for 2013. Ann Drevno will analyze strengths and weaknesses of regulations at the urban-agricultural interface; Justine Smith will examine behavioral and ecological responses of mountain lions and their prey to habitat fragmentation in the Santa Cruz Mountains; and Rachel Wheat is focusing on the impacts of Pacific salmon availability on terrestrial wildlife.
U Mass Amherst Students Help Pilot Online Carbon Conscious Tool
While beta-testing Earth Deeds, a new online service to enable groups to measure and manage their environmental impacts, four students in this semester's "Sustainable Living" class estimated their class' carbon footprint, raised $876 as part of a teamfunding campaign to acknowledge this impact, and spearheaded class participants to commit to actions and lifestyle changes that would prevent about 55.9 metric tons of carbon emissions.
U Vermont Clean Energy Fund Awards $180K to Campus Projects
Pulling from the $225,000 generated each year from the university's Clean Energy Fund, $150,500 will go toward upgrading the existing solar array panels at the university's central heat plant and installing additional 30-kilowatt panels. Another $24,800 will enable a hybrid street lamp system on campus that uses LED lights powered by a combination of helix bamboo wind turbines and solar panels.
Western Carolina U Adds 75 Recycling Bins to Campus
One of 35 colleges and universities to receive a donation of recycling bins as part of the Alcoa Foundation Recycling Bin Grant Program, the university will now be able to expand its recycling program to athletic facilities, where students reported a need.
300K Students Compete in 2013 Campus Conservation Nationals
Lucid Design Group, in partnership with the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council, the National Wildlife Federation and the Alliance to Save Energy, has announced that more than 300,000 students at 120 colleges and universities in North America collectively saved over two million kilowatt-hours of electricity and $160,000 during the 2013 Campus Conservation Nationals. Students also saved over 1.6 million gallons of water.
College of Saint Benedict Townhomes Earn LEED Platinum
The university is celebrating its first LEED certification with Centennial Commons, a 125-person student housing development. The complex includes high-efficiency windows and furnaces, natural daylight harvesting, on-demand water heaters, low-flow plumbing and exterior LED light fixtures. The university's Residential Life, Facilities and Office of Sustainability have partnered to develop an education program for residents that includes water, gas and electricity usage reports for each apartment.
Cornell U Sustainability Center Appoints First Dev Director
Katy Noonan has joined the university's David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future as its first development director. Noonan is overseeing fundraising and major gifts programs in collaboration with Cornell’s Division of Alumni Affairs and Development, building the center’s relationships with donors who support the university's sustainability activities and contributions.
Missouri S&T Wins Climate Leadership Video Competition
Second Nature and Planet Forward have announced Missouri University of Science and Technology as the winner of the video voting component of the 2013 Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards. The video, which details how the university's solar village, community energy storage bank and geothermal energy system will save an expected $2.8 million per year in energy and operational costs, collected 16,374 votes and will be featured across Planet Forward media platforms over the next few months.
RISD Students Stage Nation's First Fossil Fuel Divestment Sit-in
Eleven students at the Rhode Island School of Design recently staged a sit-in at the President's office to demand that he and the Board of Trustees Chair personally endorse divestment from the coal, gas and oil industries. This is the latest action in a growing fossil fuel divestment advocacy movement that includes students at more than 300 colleges and universities.
Southern Illinois U Carbondale Announces New Green Fee Projects
The university's Sustainability Council recently announced approximately $150,000 in awards for six projects to enhance campus sustainability. The projects, funded by a $10-per-semester student Green Fee, include solar trash compactors, rechargeable batteries and paperless medical records systems.
SUNY-ESF Students Start Campus Bike Share Program
After conducting a campus parking analysis that found that alternative forms of transportation were needed, two senior environmental study students have developed a program that will enable students to borrow bikes for a small deposit. The program will start at the beginning of the fall semester.
U Buffalo Hosts Community Environmental Justice Forum
The university recently hosted "An Environmental Justice Forum for Buffalo Homes and Neighborhoods" to bring local activists, academics, community organizers and federal experts together to address aging and deteriorating housing stock, environmentally unhealthy conditions in many neighborhoods, and high poverty and unemployment rates. Students participating in the Law School practicum are providing legal support to the National Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, which has chosen Buffalo as one of 17 pilot cities for its work in promoting safer housing.
U Buffalo Opens Publicly Accessible Solar Array
The University at Buffalo celebrated Earth Day with the opening of its Solar Strand, believed to be the nation’s most publicly accessible photovoltaic array. The university and the Western New York Environmental Alliance introduced the public to the facility with a 90-minute event showcasing how environmental initiatives can redefine the economy and improve quality of life.
U Florida Students Create Kiosk to Promote Campus Sustainability
Architecture and building construction students have built a mobile kiosk for the university's Office of Sustainability to help promote its educational mission across campus. Designed to be pulled behind a bicycle, the kiosk is constructed with reused materials and features two 250-watt solar panels that power cell-phone charging stations and LED lights. Counters also fold down to provide areas for brochures, games and informal conversations.
York U Named Among Canada’s Greenest Employers
The distinction recognizes the university's creation of a President’s Sustainability Council, Green Office and Sustainability Ambassador programs, and student residence energy consumption reduction competition.
23 Colleges Join EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge
(U.S.): Twenty-three college and universities in New England have joined a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency effort to reduce food waste. The partnership aims to reduce the 1.64 million tons of food wasted each year in the six New England states. EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge encourages organizations to reduce, donate, and recycle as much of their excess food as possible, which saves money, feeds the needy, and supports the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability.
3 Canadian Universities Partner for Global Education Initiative
(Canada): McGill University, the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto have partnered with the MasterCard Foundation to educate African students. Over the next 10 years, the foundation will provide the universities with $25 million each to pay for students’ tuition and living expenses, and create internship opportunities in Africa.
Auburn U Announces First Spirit of Sustainability Award Winners
(U.S.): This campus-wide awards program recognizes students, faculty, staff, and alumni that demonstrate accomplishments promoting sustainability on campus or in the community at large. The awards program was created in part to generate awareness of sustainability initiatives and to acknowledge those who are making significant contributions toward economic, social, and environmental well-being.
Carnegie Mellon U Installs Evive Water Station on Campus
(U.S.): The university has entered a contract with Evive Station to find an efficient and cost-effective way of reducing disposable water bottles on campus. Evive Station has installed a machine on campus that allows users to sanitize and refill their reusable bottles.
Chatham U Creates Executive Master in Sustainability Leadership
(U.S.): The university’s School of Sustainability and the Environment has launched a new 16-month Executive Master in Sustainability Leadership program for professionals looking to strengthen their ability to advance sustainability in a range of professional settings. This 30-credit program can be completed in under two years, is designed for those who want to advance their careers or transition to careers in sustainability, and combines online coursework with period visits to the university’s zero net energy Eden Hall Campus.
Clark U Signs Real Food Campus Commitment
(U.S.): The college pledges to purchase at least 20 percent “real food” by 2020, which will include food that is community based, ecologically sound, humanely produced, or fairly traded.
Dalhousie U College of Sustainability Receives $1.5M Gift
(Canada): In celebration of Earth Day, the Royal Bank of Canada announced that it will donate $1.5 million over 10 years to the university’s College of Sustainability to support the sustainability leadership certificate program. The program develops leaders in sustainability through workshops held on weekends during the school year.
Delta College Receives $40,000 Award for Rainwater Harvest System
(U.S.): Funded by Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network, the rainwater harvesting system is expected to save 169,000 gallons of water each year. The system will benefit the newly renovated Health Professions facility by conserving water, saving money, protecting the watershed, and feeding a hydroponic green wall.
Dublin City U Launches Community Garden
(Ireland): As part of the Green Campus initiative, the university launched the DCU Community Garden. The garden is an open, all-inclusive area that can be utilized by staff, students and the community for teaching, research, education, training, community engagement and recreation.
Duke U Approves Gender Confirmation Surgery Student Insurance
(U.S.): Administrators have signed a new contract with the university's health insurance provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, that will include up to $50,000 to cover gender confirmation surgery. All pivotal aspects of transgender health care such as counseling, hormone therapy and surgery will also be included in the coverage.
EPA Announces Campus RainWorks Challenge Winners
(U.S.): The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced the four winners of the Campus RainWorks Challenge, a new design challenge created to inspire the next generation of landscape architects, planners and engineers to develop innovative green infrastructure systems that reduce stormwater pollution and support sustainable communities. Winners include the University of Florida Gainesville, University of Arizona, Illinois Institute of Technology, and the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
EPA Announces Green Power Challenge Athletic Conference Winners
(U.S.): The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership tracks the collegiate athletic conferences with the highest combined green power usage in the nation. In April, collective conferences and single institutions were recognized as 2012-13 EPA Green Power Challenge conference champions. At more than 310 million kilowatt-hours, the Big 10 conference topped the list with the largest total purchase among all conferences.
Georgetown U to Open Office of Sustainability
(U.S.): The university has announced plans to debut its Office of Sustainability this summer in an effort to centralize student and administration sustainability initiatives. The creation of the office was first recommended in 2012 by the Visions for a Sustainable Georgetown Initiative, a project led by small focus groups of undergraduate students and administrators that brainstormed ways the university could become more sustainable in both the immediate and long-term future.
Indiana U Purdue U Indianapolis Constructs Solar Array
(U.S.): A new $245,000 solar power installation atop the Business School of Public and Environmental Affairs generates 43 kilowatts of electricity a day. The project will provide research opportunities and is one of 18 Qualified Energy Savings Projects underway in several campus buildings.
Indiana U Purdue U Indianapolis Installs Hydration Stations
(U.S.): In an effort to reduce the number of plastic water bottles on campus, the university has installed 35 hydration stations in the past three years to refill reusable bottles. The hydration stations have been particularly well-received in the School of Dentistry.
Portland State U, Chinook Book Launch Sustainable Living App
(U.S.): The university and Celilo Group Media’s Chinook Book have launched a mobile app that is available for free to students, faculty and staff. The app includes money-saving coupons for sustainable products and services that students love as well as student resources for green campus living.
