RISD Pilots Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies
The Rhode Island School of Design has created a pilot program in Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies (NCSS). This two-year program aims to ascertain levels of student interest in NCSS and create a pathway of study which would allow students to compliment and add focus to work explored in their major areas of study.
Rochester IT Debuts Green Education and Research Hub
The institute has opened its new Sustainability Institute Hall, a living lab that represents RIT’s commitment to the environment. The 84,000-square-foot facility was designed to exceed LEED Platinum standards and features solar panels, vertical wind turbines, and specialized research areas that include the Staples Sustainable Innovation Lab, Eco-IT test bed and a fuel cell test bed.
San Francisco State U Students Monitor Recycling Bins
The Cesar Chavez Student Center has launched a new program that aims to educate students on waste diversion. Ten student volunteers will monitor recycling bins to ensure items are discarded properly. The university’s goal is to reach 100 percent waste diversion by 2020.
Southern Oregon U to Offset 100 Percent of its Water Use
In partnership with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), the university announced that it will offset 100 percent of its water use through a five-year commitment to BEF’s Water Restoration Certificate program. Funded through a student-led green fund, the university will restore approximately 80 million gallons of water per year to the Klamath River Basin.
U Buffalo Davis Hall Achieves LEED Gold
Among the hall’s eco-friendly features are an outdoor plaza that includes water-efficient landscaping and methods to capture stormwater, a small green roof, bicycle racks, the use of recycled building materials, and energy-efficient heating, cooling and ventilation systems.
U Buffalo Debuts Bike Share Program
The university’s office of Sustainability has partnered with the office of Parking and Transportation Services, Buffalo BikeShare and a New York-based company to launch a beta test of a new bicycle-sharing program. BikeShare harnesses GPS technology, allowing users to track and rent a bicycle with the convenience of a mobile device or computer during the beta test phase. Bicycles can also be rented from the keypad interface on the bicycle.
UC San Diego Receives Alternative Transportation Award
The university has received a SANDAG iCommute Diamond Award in recognition of the university’s contributions to alleviating the region’s traffic congestion and greenhouse gases with alternative transportation options.
U Maine Machias New Green Fee Funds Sustainability Projects
The university’s new Green Fund Committee has selected its first set of campus sustainability projects to receive funding. Projects selected include installation of new recycling stations and water filling stations, distribution of reusable water bottles and new bins for electronic waste collection.
U Maine Machias Releases Carbon Emissions Report
The university has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions from heating and electricity by 44 percent between 2006 and 2012. Campus-wide oil consumption was reduced by 48 percent over the seven-year period. Electricity use dropped by 11 percent, resulting in fewer upstream emissions from utility production, and the campus saw a 26 percent reduction in water use.
U Minnesota Expands Resilient Communities Project
The university’s Resilient Communities Project (RCP) has selected North St. Paul as its partner community for the 2013-2014 academic year. Each year, RCP chooses a city partner, helps identify potential projects, and matches the city’s project needs with University of Minnesota courses. The partnership will bring the expertise of hundreds of graduate students and the university to sustainability-related projects identified by North St. Paul.
U Minnesota Launches Virtual Warehouse
The university has launched a new online exchange to facilitate reuse and waste reduction. Similar to Craigslist or Freecycle, the virtual warehouse allows users to exchange university property without visiting the ReUse warehouse or moving items to a building's dock for pickup.
U New Hampshire Receives Grant to Expand Sustainability Institute
The university’s Sustainability Institute has received a $50,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation to expand its Sustainability Learning Collaborative initiative. The project will link university faculty with regional high school teachers and community college faculty to help develop sustainability curricula for classrooms.
U New Hampshire Releases Updated GHG Report
The university has lowered its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 26 percent compared to a 2001 baseline. Emissions are expected to continue their downward trajectory in coming years as more efficiency projects on campus are completed, new policies and practices are considered, and the university’s transportation demand management and outreach and behavioral programs continue to expand.
U Oregon Sports Arena Earns LEED Gold
The 400,000-square-foot Matthew Knight Arena features bike-friendly enhancements, recycled and regional building materials, and water efficiency measures that include a 50 percent reduction in water used for landscaping and a 30 percent reduction in building water use.
Arizona State U Polytechnic Campus Dedicates Solar Array
The university and SunPower Corp. have dedicated a one-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant on campus. Technology used in the plant concentrates the sun's power seven times to achieve one of the lowest levelized costs of electricity for solar power plants available today. According to estimates provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the system will offset the production of 1,277 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Brown U Advisory Committee Votes to Recommend Coal Divestment
The Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies (ACCRIP) has endorsed university divestment from 15 coal companies. The committee will send the recommendation and proposed guidelines for investment screening to the university’s president. The Corporation is expected to discuss coal divestment in May and will present ACCRIP’s recommendations.
Central Michigan U Students Create Renewable Energy Device
Engineering and technology students are building an energy-harvesting device that will be used to power a temperature display in front of the Engineering and Technology Building. The device, which contains a material that generates energy when pressed, will produce electricity from the vibrations created by pedestrian’s footsteps as they walk in and out of the building.
Colby College Reduces GHG Emissions, Declares Carbon Neutrality
The college met its climate neutrality goal in the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, becoming the largest institution to reach that goal to date. Climate neutrality was achieved through several initiatives including a switch to 100-percent renewable electricity, use of sustainably harvested wood biomass as its primary fuel for heat and hot water, increasing energy efficiency, lowering temperatures in buildings and waste management initiatives.
Ecotech Institute Announces New Facility Management Program
This associate degree program will prepare students for careers in the field of facility management, focusing on the operation, maintenance, analysis, auditing and cost of energy management systems. The program was developed in coordination with the International Facilities Management Association and is designed to train students for facility management jobs that emphasize sustainability.
Georgetown U Joins EPA’s Green Power Leadership Club
The university has been added to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Leadership Club. The university purchased Green-e Energy certified renewable energy certificates equal to 109 percent of electricity use on the main, medical and east campuses.
Harvard U Police Department Converts to Hybrid and Electric Fleet
The university’s police departed has converted its entire fleet of marked patrol cars to hybrid and electric vehicles, in part to address growing concerns about climate change and public health. The move is expected to cut costs for the department by increasing the fleet’s fuel economy by a factor of 10. The fleet conversion was funded by a Harvard Green Revolving Fund interest-fee loan administered by the Office of Sustainability and Campus Services.
Portland State U, UC Berkeley Students Spend Spring Break Farming
As part of an alternative spring break program, 24 students from Portland State University and the University of California, Berkeley partnered with Petaluma Bounty, a nonprofit educational farm, to learn about food justice. The students planted vegetables, spread compost and helped with other labor-intensive projects on the farm.
San Diego State U to Receive Solar Project
North American Development Bank has provided a $19.2 million loan to NRG Solar to construct a five-megawatt solar project at the university’s Imperial Valley campus. The electricity generated will be sold to the IID, a California irrigation district and publicly-owned utility, under a 25-year power purchase agreement. The university will have access to the facility for research and educational purposes.
Santa Clara U to Ban School Branded Bottle Water
The university has finalized a petition to ban the sale of Santa Clara labeled plastic water bottles on campus. The petition received over 800 signatures and student organizers are currently working with Bon Appétit to replace plastic with glass bottles.
Sodexo, Real Food Challenge Sign Food Transparency Agreement
Sodexo and the Real Food Challenge have announced an agreement to advance supply chain transparency on Sodexo-contracted campuses. The agreement institutes a rigorous and comprehensive set of standards, defined by the Real Food Calculator, for judging the social responsibility and sustainability of Sodexo’s vendors and food producers.
SUNY ESF Launches Bicycle Safety Committee
The university has formed a Bicycle Safety Committee to provide a focus on education and improved communication on best practices as well as increasing bike infrastructure on campus. Since its launch, the committee has coordinated the curb removal from campus pathways, obtained a bicycle accident report from the City of Syracuse Police Department and began collaborating with neighborhood groups and city officials about making cycling safer.
U Calgary EEEL Building Achieves LEED Platinum
The Energy. Environment. Experiential. Learning (EEEL) building uses 78 percent less energy than a conventional laboratory building. It features vertical green sunshades that move throughout the day to reduce glare and solar heat gain, concrete “Earth Tubes” that run air underground to the main lecture theatre to regulate temperature, and captured rain water mixed with recycled process water for graywater use.
U Minnesota Implements Living Lab Program
The university has launched a Living Laboratory program that allows students and faculty to apply to use campus land for research and educational purposes. Approved applications are expected to dovetail with current or planned campus renovations and identify possible sources of funding.
U Missouri Secures Funding for Green Roof
The Student Fee Capital Improvement Committee has pledged $27,000 to fund the construction of a green roof atop the university’s Rollins Dining Hall. A 2,520-square-foot modular system will be installed by October 2013.
U Nebraska Lincoln Students Receive Funding for Organic Farm
A group of students has received funding from a local nonprofit organization to create an organic farm on campus. The half-acre farm will be divided into three sections that will include an asparagus patch, a greenhouse and a space for student research. The group plans to organize the farm into work shares to allow student-volunteers to receive produce in exchange for labor.
U Texas Austin Uses Reclaimed Water for Cooling Systems
A new system of pipes has been installed to link the university’s chilling stations with Austin Water’s reclaimed water system. The initiative, aimed to save water and increase system efficiency, will allow campus buildings to use filtered wastewater instead of potable water for cooling systems.
Vanderbilt U Commons Center Earns LEED Gold
The Commons Center is the thirteenth certified project on campus and features locally sourced and manufactured building materials and low-flow plumbing fixtures. Additionally, an innovative green housekeeping was implemented and low-vapor emitting materials were used during construction.
Wake Forest U Looks to Improve Students' Well-Being
In an effort to increase students’ overall well-being, the university recently revamped a campus quad by installing moveable tables, benches, board games, outdoor classrooms and a piano. The changes are being made to encourage students to take spontaneous breaks from routines, have one-on-one conversations and make time for self-reflection. The project is part of a long-term goal that will include polling to measure student well-being, hiring a director of student well-being and incorporating additional projects in spontaneity.
Aspen Prize Honors Two Community Colleges
The Aspen Institute has awarded this year’s Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence to Santa Barbara City College and Walla Walla Community College. The Aspen Prize was designed to recognize community colleges with strong records of preparing students for jobs or transfer to four-year colleges, as well as attracting and graduating low-income and minority students.
Canadian Students Launch New Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign
On March 27, students from across the country participated in Fossil Fools Day, the first national day of action for the Fossil Free Canada campaign, an initiative led by the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. More than a dozen campuses held marches and rallies in an effort to urge their university administrators to divest their endowments from fossil fuel and pipeline companies.
Cuesta College to Establish Sustainability Resource Center
The college has announced plans to open a Sustainability Resource Center this year. The center will provide resources and training for teachers at all grade levels and delivery of sustainability learning modules to students both at the college and local schools. MidAmerican Solar, SunPower power plant solar solutions and NRG Energy financed the project.
McGill U Reviews Petition to Stop Investments Linked to Oilsands
Divest McGill, a group of students and alumni, have presented the university’s board of governors with a petition of more than 700 signatures asking the governing body to remove companies that develop, transport, refine or sell oil from Canada’s oilsands from the university’s financial holdings.
N Carolina State U Launches Sustainability Student Ambassadors
With support from the university’s Sustainability Office, North Carolina State Stewards will promote sustainable practices among their peers and the community through workshops, presentations and campus events. 2013-14 will be the first full academic year of the program, which was piloted this year.
Ohio U Project Creates Visual Representation of Recycled Plastic
The university’s Campus Recycling has created a visual representation of how quickly recyclable materials can accumulate over the course of one month. The 16-foot high campus sculpture, entitled “It All Adds Up,” is comprised of four weeks’ worth of recycled #1 and #2 plastics collected on campus. The project was created to coincide with the university's RecycleMania efforts.
Okanagan College Installs EV Charging Stations
The college has begun installing 10 electric vehicle charging stations at four of its campuses. The stations will be available to the public at the same rate as visitor parking fees. The chargers are part of a British Columbia Ministry of Environment’s initiative to have stations installed province-wide.
Rhodes College Students' “Street Paper” to Support the Homeless
Two students seeking to raise awareness about the plight of the homeless in the Memphis, TN area created The Bridge , a new street paper. Street vendors, who themselves are homeless, will be able to purchase copies of the publication for a quarter each and sell them for a dollar a piece. The vendors will be able to keep 100 percent of the profits.
Robert Morris U Launches a Textbook Reserve to Help Students
The university debuted a textbook reserve program in the fall of 2012 after a student-led survey revealed that 14 percent of students surveyed knew at least one student who dropped out of school because they could not afford to purchase textbooks. The university spent approximately $10,500 to purchase 170 textbooks for the most in-demand courses on campus and place them on reserve in the library for student use. More than 850 students have made use of the reserve program, saving an estimated $300 each semester.
