by Beth Gray

The question of how to finance sustainability projects on campus can often be one of the biggest obstacles to getting a campus sustainability movement off the ground.  Often, “going green” is perceived as more expensive than not and the increasingly tight budgets on many college campuses means a lack of capital funding available to initiate projects related to sustainability.  Several colleges, however, have found creative ways to initiate and fund sustainability projects on their campuses and in turn have found that going green can often not only be fiscally feasible, but can also be a way of generating funding for additional projects.  Read the rest of this entry »

by Beth Gray

In 2009 the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) published a resource entitled, Financing Sustainability on Campus.  Ben Barlow, a consultant for Second Nature, and Andrea Putman, Director of Corporate Partnerships at Second Nature, team up to author this resource and do a very good job at exploring a variety of funding options that can be helpful in pushing forward with sustainability initiatives.  At just over 100 pages, this publication is a worthwhile resource for anyone tasked with implementing sustainability initiatives on a college or university campus.  Read the rest of this entry »

by Beth Gray

The growing concern over climate change has led many companies to consider how to alter their own practices in order to mitigate their carbon emissions.  Several large corporations have taken significant steps toward assessing and taking steps to lessen their environmental impact.  Walmart, for example, has a very well-developed sustainability initiative and has a page on their corporate website devoted to tracking how the company is doing in its attempt to have a less negative impact on the environment.  General Electric also has a sustainability initiative and publishes an annual sustainability report to track the company’s progress in achieving a greener future.  Nearly 700 institutions of higher education (including American Public University System) have also pledged to assess their carbon footprints through signing the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and take dramatic measures toward eventually achieving carbon neutrality.  Read the rest of this entry »

by Beth Gray

Written by educators for educators, 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Sustainability is an invaluable resource for anyone teaching sustainability.  In his forward to the work, David W. Orr, Director of the Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College, notes that colleges and universities must equip young people “with the analytical skills and wherewithal to become change agents beyond the years of formal education.”  Anthony Cortese, President of Second Nature, also provides a forward in which he notes “We are the first generation capable of determining the habitability of the planet for humans and other species.”  Cortese continues by quoting Albert Einstein who said, “’We can’t solve today’s problems at the same level of thinking at which they were created.’”  For all of these reasons, 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Sustainability is a resource that can help college and university educators to engage their students in gaining a full and thorough understanding of the current state of the environment and what must happen in order to improve the quality of life within it for generations to come. Read the rest of this entry »

by Amy N. Panzarella, SPHR

The concept of “going green” has taken on an entirely new meaning, look, and feel for American Public University System (APUS). APUS is proud to announce that our 2009-2010 graduates will be donning eco-friendly regalia during the commencement ceremony at Constitution Hall on May 21, 2010.  This environmentally friendly regalia look and feel like the traditional cloth previously utilized.  However, the regalia are made of 100% recycled plastic bottles!  Understandably, it is tempting to envision over 450 “Lady Gaga” look-a-likes walking through the procession to receive their diploma wearing gowns made of plastic bottles.  Alas, the reality is that the regalia, known as the “GreenWeaver” line, come from Oak Hall, a company out of Salem, Virginia.

Oak Hall is the leading manufacturer of academic apparel and is leading the charge in helping colleges and universities stay true to their promise to remain environmentally conscious.  The GreenWeaver regalia are made from approximately 23 bottles per gown.  As of March 1, 2010, 3.5 million plastic bottles have been reclaimed from landfills to produce GreenWeaver regalia.  APUS President Wallace Boston signed the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in September 2007.  We believe our commencement ceremony is the appropriate forum to showcase our support to this commitment.  We are proud to recognize the achievements of our 2009-2010 graduates on May 21 while saving over 10,350 plastic bottles from being permanently deposited into our landfills!  This effort is merely a foreshadowing of what our university can accomplish using innovative ideas and forward thinking to accomplish the commitment made by President Boston and APUS.

To learn more about the May 21, 2010 commencement ceremony held at the Daughters of The American Revolution Constitution Hall, visit the website at http://www.apus.edu/student-affairs-center/commencement/index.htm.

by Beth Gray

In the most recent issue of the American Council on Education’s (ACE) publication, The Presidency, Judy Genshaft provides an article likening today’s focus on sustainability to the Soviet-American Space Race of the 1950s and 1960s.  Genshaft is the President of the University of South Florida and immediate past chair of the ACE Board of Directors.  The parallels that she draws are quite insightful.

The Space Race between the Soviets and Americans began in 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into space.  Fearful of falling behind the technological prowess of their Soviet Cold War enemies, the Americans threw tremendous amounts of money and energy into bulking up their own space technologies.  Genshaft notes in her article that today’s race toward securing a more sustainable future is in many ways similar to the Space Race as college and university presidents are vying for the prestigious position of creating “green” campuses.

Whereas the Soviet-American Space Race was driven largely by a sense of fear, Genshaft notes that the sustainability race does not yet have the same sense of urgency that helps push the movement forward as easily.  She writes, “Although fear is a great motivator, it too is unsustainable to spur long-term and well-measured action.”  Without question, the changes required to reverse the damage already done to our environment will require long-term and well-measured action and the solutions “must transcend borders.”

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by Jennifer Lefebvre

Many colleges and universities are attempting to green their campuses using LEED-certification standards.  However, some of their existing buildings may be counter acting those efforts.  In an article by Tom Robinson in Today’s Campus, he addresses some of the culprits your campus and green efforts could be up against.

The article states that on a typical brick-and-mortar campus, buildings can account for 60 percent of the university’s electricity usage and 30 to 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.  LEED certification standards in new buildings can greatly reduce energy consumption by almost 50 percent.  However, like many college and university campuses, 95 percent of the buildings are existing ones and not new nor are they LEED certified.  This means that most of the buildings are gobbling up all of the electricity and creating greenhouse gas emissions.  What is the typical brick and mortar campus planner to do?  It’s not feasible or economically sound to raze all existing buildings, therefore an alternative is to incorporate new standards set forth by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); Energy Star; or LEED for Existing Building Operations & Maintenance (EBO&M).

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by Beth Gray

Information Technology (IT) operations and infrastructure can be a significant portion of a school’s overall carbon footprint.  As a recent article by Matthew Sarrel in eWeek Magazine points out, taking steps to green your data center and IT infrastructure can not only help reduce your school’s greenhouse gas emissions, it can also provide tremendous cost savings. 

Sarrel points out in his article that “a warm feeling at night is not a compelling business reason for going green, but saving millions of dollars on power and HVAC sure is.”  He describes how many companies and organizations have taken steps toward greening their IT operations and in turn have experienced tremendous cost savings.  IBM, for example, announced in May 2009 that it is building a green data center.  The project, anticipated to cost some $12.4 million, is being jointly funded by IBM, New York State, and Syracuse University.  Highlights of what IBM is touting as the “world’s greenest data center” include an on-site power generation system for electricity, IBM’s most innovative and energy-efficient servers, and computer-cooling technology.  Other companies and organizations, including Sun, the National Security Agency (NSA), and Microsoft, are also touting green data centers.

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Second Nature is an organization based in Boston, Massachusetts dedicated to providing helpful resources to leaders in higher education seeking to create a more sustainable future.  Second Nature’s mission is to “accelerate movement toward a sustainable future by serving and supporting senior college and university leaders in making healthy, just, and sustainable living the foundation of all learning and practice in higher education.”  Second Nature supports the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) as well as other initiatives including Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC).  The organization’s website provides a variety of resources related to financing sustainability in higher education, integrating sustainability into higher education curriculums, and green building practices.  For college and university leaders working towards greater sustainability in their organizations, Second Nature’s website can serve as a helpful and worthwhile resource.

by Jessica Stasiw

“Being green” starts at home. From the items you throw into the trash, to the amount of time you spend in the shower, it all adds up to an increased overall carbon footprint. Gas is one thing that is constantly a hot button topic for discussion in regards to the environment. With daily commutes to work and school, lately it seems better for everyone, especially the environment, to just stay home. If you’re interested in returning to school, however, there are eco-friendly ways of doing so, the most obvious one being attending an online school.

There are several eco-benefits to going to school online starting with the consumption of gas…there is none. Fuel emissions from time spent in traffic can have hazardous impacts on the environment and are multiplied when there is nobody with whom to carpool.  With an online school there is no traffic, no gas being consumed by your car on the way to school, and less overall environmental impact since the school is not required to maintain brick and mortar classrooms which require lighting, heating and cooling, and maintenance. E-learning can be considerably less carbon-intensive than conventional brick and mortar-based coursework. Convenience is also an appealing reason to attend an online school.

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