Campus Sustainability News Stories
September 20, 2010
1. UC Merced's Role in Growing Green Jobs
Video of the TV coverage:
2. NY Times: UC Proxy Voting Skirts Review Guidelines, Documents Show
The University of California, which prides itself as a leader on social and environmental issues, voted against hundreds of shareholder resolutions designed to promote human rights, environmental sustainability and efforts to fight discrimination, a review of U.C.s voting record shows.
3. Interview with UCSB Chancellor and Executive Vice Chancellor provides comprehensive overview of sustainability efforts and links to campus LRDP
"...the LRDP is a land use plan. The Campus Sustainability Plan was developed as a companion document and is consistent or bests the goals set by the Regents for the University of California in its policies on green buildings. We take very seriously our commitment to sustainability, and we are proud that we have been a leader in this area. For example, at the 2010 California Higher Education Sustainability Conference this past June, our campus was honored with three Best Practice awards, for Student Sustainability Program, Water Efficiency and Site Water Quality, and Sustainable Food Service...We continue to reduce potable water use on our campus. Over 90% of our campus is currently irrigated with reclaimed water, and we continue to research other ways to utilize this abundant resource. We are in discussion with the Goleta Water District regarding other possible uses including the use of reclaimed water flush water closets. We are making great strides in replacing existing plumbing fixtures with those that use little or no water. For example, our Bren School building, which has received two LEED Platinum certifications, uses waterless urinals; it is estimated that each waterless urinal saves approximately 45,000 gallons of water per year. We also are studying the possible collection and uses of condensation water from campus cooling systems."
4. UCLA introduces the Green Guide to Living
With the start of the fall quarter of 2010, UCLA introduces the Green Guide to Living, a booklet of tips and information on the environmental impacts of personal behavior and consumption. All students moving into on-campus housing will find the Green Guide in their rooms, shaping students first impressions of life at UCLA with sustainability. The Green Guide will have a large outreach, additionally available for any interested students, used by residential Team Green coordinators, offered at resource fairs and more.
Created by students from the Education for Sustainable Living Program in collaboration with UCLA Housing & Hospitality Services and the Office of Residential Life.
The Green Guide can be viewed and downloaded at:
5. SCUP Pacific presents "Uncovering Patterns in the Sustainability Maze: An In-Depth Discussion"
In these changing times campuses involved with designing and constructing capital projects - developing green campus plans - are seeking to understand the best practices to support Environmental Stewardship. Planners and policy analysts looking for new approaches to address sustainability are questioning whether the LEED system, a self-certification system, or yet another process is the most appropriate method. Many campuses that have signed-on to the Presidents Climate Commitment or, have been asked to commit to a zero-carbon footprint, are now wondering how they will achieve it. Others impressed with the public relations and branding appeal of LEED question whether this metric system leads to optimal design criteria.
Unsure that LEED is the most appropriate way to continue to proceed, the folks at the University of New Mexico have begun to question sustainability metrics, to ask what the most appropriate system might be for campuses in the west and southwest, and wonder whether there is a better way to move forward.
Join your colleagues for this SCUP Pacific all-day symposium in Albuquerque with input from the local New Mexico region. We will discuss various metric systems for environmental sustainability in an effort to enlighten planners and policy analysts on stewardship choices. Various sustainability metric systems and design choices will be juxtaposed to compare and contrast advantages and disadvantages in order that planners might evaluate these options to determine which may be most appropriate for their university or system of higher education.
For more information:
September 9, 2010
1. UC Berkeley issues 2010 Campus Sustainability Report
The Office of Sustainability has released the 2010 Campus Sustainability Report. The Report provides a snapshot of how successfully the campus has implemented projects to achieve our goals, initiated new best practices, and expanded the culture of sustainability. New features of the Report include metrics for sustainable food and total research expenditures, At A Glance lists of ongoing work in each section, and a new Across Campus section looking at administrative and crosscutting sustainability work. Continuing to provide transparency and accountability, the 2010 Campus Sustainability Report is the fourth in a series of documents that report and assess campus sustainability at UC Berkeley.
2. Macquarie U Wins Green Globe Award
Macquarie University (Australia) recently won a Green Globe Award from the New South Wales government, which celebrates sustainable uses of natural resources and leadership in tackling climate change. The university's blueprint for sustainability received a Public Sector Sustainability Award in the category of people, plant and participation. In addition to operating as a fair trade campus, the university's sustainability initiatives include a recycling program that uses 100 percent recycled paper and diverts 70 percent of its waste from landfills; green cleaning, IT and e-waste policies; and a sustainability website, committee and campus tours.
See also: 2010 Green Globe Award Winners
3. CPUC launches Zero Net Energy Action Plan for California
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) joined California business leaders to launch a 2010-2012 Zero Net Energy Action Plan designed to help California commercial building owners take advantage of the latest technologies and financial incentives to help reduce building energy use to `net-zero' through greater efficiency and on-site clean energy production.
4. UCSC Alumna at SF Environment Department produces green purchasing guide
I received this message from one of the founders of the UCSC Student Earth Summit, who now works on the toxics program in the SF Environment Department:
If you need to shop, the new SF Approved List can help you be a lazy environmentalist.
Seewhat NY Times & Fast Company say about this site I helped make.
It can take time to make sure a product is "green." To save you time & money, The SF Approved List filters out "green" products like a vegetarian that turns roadkill into jewelry.
The List has 1,000 products to green your home, small business or large organization, like hand sanitizers & wipes that kill 99.99% of germs but have no triclosan. You'll want to avoid antibacterial products which often has triclosan which:
- Creates cancer-causing chloroform when mixed with chlorine in tap water.
- Is no better than soap and water (according to FDA panel).
The List can help prevent pollution in you & me.
Like Anderson Cooper, many of us have toxic chemicals in our blood like phthalates which are associated with changes in genital developmentcaused cancer in animal studies. Not cool. So that's why it's safer to avoid products with fragrance or made of soft plastic.
If you need a reason to buy nothing, watch this PBS documentary to be inspired to go to these recyclers that do not dump toxic electronics on people in Africa, China, India.
September 3, 2010
1. Bay Area PBS station article features Stanford's ambitious energy and climate plan
In 1888, when famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted drafted his master plan for Stanford University in Palo Alto, he drew the academic buildings along an east-west axis to efficiently make use of heat and light from the sun. Now, more than 100 years later, a new generation of eco-centric builders and designers are embarking on a $250 million project to raise, retrofit and re-power buildings across the 8,000-acre campus, in the hopes of slashing Stanfords greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels in just 10 years. The plan tackles energy demand in existing and new buildings, while also laying the groundwork for a new energy supply loop that powers, heats and cools the 125 biggest buildings on the main campus. Its one of the most far-reaching efforts in the nation for a major research university to make a total transformation of a complete campus energy system, said Joe Stagner, a civil engineer who directs Stanfords Department of Sustainability and Energy Management.
2. AASHE Releases 'A Call to Action' for Higher Ed Sustainability
AASHE has released Sustainability Curriculum in Higher Education: A Call to Action, a culmination of the ideas presented during AASHEs Summit on Sustainability in the Curriculum, held February 25-27, 2010 in San Diego, Calif. The meeting brought together faculty from public and private four-year colleges and universities, two-year community colleges, and representatives from higher education organizations to address how higher education institutions can further infuse sustainability topics into college and university curricula. The 13-page report is available free from the AASHE web
3. Wake Forest U Launches Sustainability Center
Wake Forest University (NC) has launched the Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability. The new interdisciplinary center will promote action and collaboration across the fields of renewable energy, biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, environmental policy, human behavior, social influence, enterprise and environmental markets. The center will also provide a focal point for engaging the public on issues of sustainability.
4. Labor journal on union members leading campus greening
Kaza, who serves on the executive council of UVM United Academics/AFT/AAUP, suggests that unions are natural collaborators in the green movement: Labor issues are often strongly linked to environmental issues, and todays environmentalists work both fronts simultaneously. Partnerships are the way to work. Unions, as the most articulate voice for labor on campus, can model collaborative representation and planning....From the point of view of faculty and staff unions, says Field, the key is a healthier environment. That means building materials that are not toxic; offices with proper ventilation; lighting systems that use less energy; ergonomic, recyclable furniture. It all ties into the comfort and health of people working and studying in these buildings. From green jobs and buildings to healthier work environments to sustainability in practice and in the curriculum, AFT members are contributing to a movement that has exploded in the past few years. Their experiences show that the work of a few activists on a campus, compounded, can lead to a tipping point where the momentum for change is unstoppable.
5. Arizona State U Expands Recycling Program
Arizona State Universitys Waste Management has expanded its recycling program to help reach its goal of zero solid waste. The university is now equipped to handle pizza boxes, glass, soft plastic bags, liquid-free paper cups, vinyl banners, corrugated plastic signs, metal odds and ends and non aerosol cans. Waste Management is working to keep 90 percent of the items collected out of the landfill.
See also: List of Campus Recycling Procedures (AASHE Members Only)
August 26, 2010
1. USA Today: Colleges Using Sustainability to Attract Students
Using sustainability to attract student enrollment is a growing trend among higher education institutions, says a recent article in USA Today. Twenty-seven percent of colleges and universities incorporated a sustainability message during admissions and student orientation processes in 2009. Today, the number has increased to 69 percent.
2. Portland State U Featured in NY Times as Planned EcoDistrict
The Portland State University (OR) campus will be the site of a pilot EcoDistrict, according to a recent article in The New York Times. To steer away from the reliance on large, centralized systems to generate electricity, dispose of waste, transport people and process stormwater, Portland residents will experiment with the management of such systems on a smaller, distributed scale in five pilot neighborhoods. The Oregon Sustainability Center, slated for construction at the edge of the universitys campus, will generate all of its electricity, consume only the rainfall that falls upon it, and process all of its wastewater.
3.U. Illinois Climate Action Plan: Using Strategic Intent to Envision, Plan for 2050
The strategic intent framework encourages contributors to put dreams on paper and begin implementing change instead of using the unknown as an excuse for inaction. To help the campus community envision goals of becoming healthier, cleaner, safer and more prosperous, one iCAP contributor, Assistant Professor Brian Deal led in authoring a creative letter from the perspective of a future chancellor in the year 2050. The letter helped iCAP collaborators put aside current obstaclesbudget, technology, resourcesand focus on the futures opportunities, even without knowing every step along the way. The letter predicted the Universitys position as a global leader in education and research based on brave decisions made in 2010. Indeed, the iCAP goals exemplify ambition: elimination of coal combustion by 2017, a reduction in building energy use of 40 percent by 2025, and carbon neutrality by 2050. The plan limits facility growth, incorporates aggressive building energy conservation plans, and calls for the de-carbonization of energy generation systems along with changes to transportation, food and agricultural systems and large-scale renewable energy sources. Illinois is proud to be the first Big Ten University to have met the commitment, especially to have met it with a strong plan, but it wasnt easy to engage and satisfy constituencies, including skeptical administrators.
4. Dissertation work by Deputy Assistant Secretary of U.S. Dept. of Education examines leadership role in implementing sustainability
"In recent years, top-level officials at these institutions have called for institution-wide commitments to a more "sustainable" relationship with our natural environment. Nevertheless, leadership faces complex political, structural and personal barriers to significant change in the pursuit of sustainability. A renewed call to action in the ACUPCC Steering Committee's 2009 white paper "Leading Profound Change" underscores leadership's vital role in achieving climate neutrality in American higher education. Simultaneous to the Steering Committee's report, I found myself developing a closely related thesis for my doctoral dissertation on sustainability in higher education. The research question sought to answer 'what common characteristics and actions were taken by successful university and college leaders in pursuit of sustainability?' Five common themes cut across the study."
5. UC Irvine Vice Chancellor assesses institutional readiness for implementing climate solutions
"During the past three years I have served in the roles of both Chief Business Officer (CBO) and ACUPCC Implementation Liaison at the University of California, Irvine. In this dual role I have recognized certain factors critical for attaining success in implementing climate action plans. In this first of four articles to be published over the next twelve months, I will describe two basic tools that can determine whether your organization and key stakeholders are adequately prepared to move forward in implementing solutions to the complex problem of attaining institutional climate-neutrality. The following 10 factors are strong predictors of an organizations success in addressing any large, complex problem including climate change solutions."
6. Butte College Has Grid Positive Plans for May 2011
With the upcoming addition of 15,000 solar photovoltaic panels, Butte College (CA) is on track to becoming grid positive, producing more clean energy from sustainable on-site solar power than it uses. The college's Board of Trustees recently approved the installation, which will add to its existing 10,000 solar panels for a system total of 4.5 solar megawatts. The $17 million project, funded in part by federal Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, is slated for a May 2011 completion.
See also: List of Campus Solar Installations
7. Butte College, Chico State U Students to Help Retrofit Households
Butte College (CA) and California State University, Chico have received a grant of almost $400,000 from Pacific Gas and Electric's Innovators Pilot Program to retrofit at least 100 Chico, Calif. households with energy-saving measures. The funding will be used to employ students to conduct energy audits and assist with the installation of energy conservation measures like caulking and sealing cracks, doors and windows, and placing real-time energy monitors on homeowner meters to track energy consumption.
8. Johns Hopkins University Students Help to Green Local Nonprofits
Students at Johns Hopkins University (MA) have recently completed sustainability assessments at 20 Baltimore nonprofits as part of the university's Climate Showcase Project. Through the project, students learn ways to reduce the organizations' energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts. The inaugural co-hort of six students looked at details like weatherproofing, lighting fixtures, toilet and sink water flow, recycling efforts and in-house dining options. The students made recommendations including the use of energy-efficient light bulbs, insulation, low-flow toilets, recycling programs and biking to work.