Greening Universities

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Greening Universities

• Lecture 9

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Overview

• Why do universities need to change
• Greening universities movement
• How to start within your university
• Vision, goals and objectives
• Change of curriculum and operations
• Conclusions

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Why do Universities need to change

• Universities have no overall map or vision of how
  the research conducted will help humans to live
  within the global ecosystem.
• Different specialties collide economies, natural
  science, social sciences
• Potential damage to the natural and social
  environment by research and its results is not
  systematically investigated.
• Students are not trained in interdisciplinary
  systems thinking.

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Questions not currently addressed at Universities

• What is the task of universities today in light
  of decreasing well being of our societies?
• What sort of research should be conducted?
• In what sorts of social and economic settings do
  people thrive best?
• What are the values and institutions most likely
  to produce justice and sustainability?

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The Greening Universities Movement

• The Telloires Declaration 200 universities
  worldwide
• The Copernicus Declaration 180 universities in
  Europe
• Second Nature Greening curricula
• Campus Ecology Greening university operations
• The World Resources Institute Greening business
  colleges
• Consortium for Environmental Education in
  Medicine
• Association for University Leaders for a
  Sustainable Future

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Taillores Declaration
1. Increase Awareness of Environ. Sustainable
Development 2. Create an Institutional Culture
of Sustainability 3. Educate for Environmentally
Responsible Citizenship 4. Foster Environmental
Literacy For All 5. Practice Institutional
Ecology 6. Involve All Stakeholders 7.
Collaborate for Interdisciplinary Approaches 8.
Enhance Capacity of Primary and Secondary
Schools 9. Broaden Service and Outreach
Nationally and Internationally 10. Maintain the
Movement
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Alliance for Sustainability through Higher
Education
Center for Respect of Life and Environment(CRLE)
Consortium for Environmental Education in
Medicine (CEEM) Management Institute for
Environment and Business (MEB) National Wildlife
Federation's Campus Ecology Program (NWF/CE)
Second Nature (SN) Association for University
Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF)
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How to start

• Initiate a process of greening the university by
  finding like minded people among faculty, staff,
  administration and students
• Recognize the critical need to improve
  environmental literacy
• Formulate a vision for the university to reorient
  the universitys culture to a core philosophy of
  environmental stewardship, sustainable
  development and social justice

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more

• Formulate goals and objectives
• Set up organizational structure
• Seek support of administration

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Vision for a University

• Environmentally knowledgeable faculty and staff
• Graduates with highly developed knowledge of the
  natural and social systems and their
  contributions to human well-being
• A university with a small ecological footprint
  that is healthy and resource efficient.
• Research that develops clean, resource efficient
  technologies with low environmental and social
  impacts

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Goal and Objectives
Goal Significantly reduce the Ecological
Footprint

• Objective 1 Create a Green University Strategic
  Plan
• Create inventory of all existing projects which
  support sustainable development
• Develop strategy for reducing resource
  consumption and waste
• Create clearing house for information, concerns
  and questions
• Organize and conduct university-wide eco-audit
• Objective 2 Define and Promote Environmental
  Literacy
• What is environmental literacy?
• How do we put environmental literacy in
  curriculum?
• How do we ensure environmental considerations
  appear as key criteria in decision making?

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Action Committees

• Curriculum Committee
• Define environmental literacy,how to achieve it
  campus-wide
• Promote curriculum changes in Colleges and
  Departments
• Liaison with other universities relative to
  curriculum
• Campus Ecology Committee
• Inventory existing efforts that are greening UF
• Review the protection of natural systems and
  their function
• Examine resource consumption and reduction
• Review waste and pollution and their prevention
• Look at procurement practices
• Review planning, construction, and maintenance
  activities
• An alternative to the present ecology
• Create links between campus organizations

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• Outreach Committee
• Create a clearinghouse for information
• Liaison with Campus Ecology and Second Nature
• Create links between UF units and organizations
  involved in specific greening actions
• Publicize existing efforts and new programs that
  contribute to greening the university

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Curriculum Change

• Two main approaches
• 1. Create courses which teach sustainable
  development in a comprehensive approach
• 2. Include various aspects of sustainability into
  existing courses

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Things a BCN Professor Should Know!

• ASTM is producing Green Building Standards
• The US Green Building Council is the major US
  force in greening the built environment
• New Urbanism and Sustainable Architecture are
  rapidly increasing in influence
• Healthy interior environments are critical
• LEED US Green Building Rating System
• WasteInefficiencyLost

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Course Modifications Pre-BCN

• BCN1210 Construction Materials
• Environmental Impacts of Materials Cement,
  Metals, Drywall, Plastics, Glass, Tiles,
  Composite Materials, Wood Products,..
• Sustainable Forestry
• Renewable vs Nonrenewable Resources
• Reuse and Recycling Alternatives for Materials

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• BCN 3223C Superstructures
• High Performance Buildings
• Alternative materials and products
• High performance systems and Advanced Framing
• Waste issues and Construction waste management
• Indoor Air Quality
• BCN 3521 Electrical Systems
• Global warming, energy resources and energy
  issues
• Energy efficient lighting and passive lighting
• Energy efficient transformers, motors, EPA Energy
  Star
• Control systems for energy conservation
  photovolatics
• BCN 3500 Plumbing and Piping
• Water resources, greywater, reclaimed water,
  rainwater
• Materials issues PVC, recycled content

Jr 1
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Change of Campus Ecology

• Examine local impact of university
• Conduct eco audit
• Formulate indicators

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Sustainability Indicators

• Indicators are bits of information that highlight
  what is happening in the large system, small
  windows to provide a small glimpse of the big
  picture
• Indicators are models simplifying a complex
  subject to a few numbers which can be easily
  grasped and understood by policy makers and the
  general public

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Purpose of Sustainability Indicators

• To better track campus activities efforts
• Standardize accounts streamline monitoring
• Communicate progress to the campus community
• Compare our efforts with other universities
• Facilitate recommendations support change

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Areas in Which Indicators Could Be Developed

• Energy
• Water
• Material Resources
• Waste Disposal
• Food
• Land Stewardship
• Transportation

• Built Environment
• Health Science
• Campus Community
• Research
• Decision Making

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Areas in Which Indicators Could Be Developed

• Energy
• Water
• Material Resources
• Waste Disposal
• Food
• Land Stewardship
• Transportation

• Built Environment
• Health Science
• Campus Community
• Research
• Decision Making

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Example Indicators

• Water - Water consumption
• - Ground water quality
• - Waste water disposal
• Food - Food waste on campus
• - Food purchasing policies
• - Research on food sustainability
• Transportation - Car dependence
• - Green space converted to parking
• - Transport-related safety
• Built Environ. - Building decision process
• - Building priorities
• - Ecological design of buildings

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Local UF Impacts

• 36,854 students plus 10,939 facultystaff (1993)
• 61,400 automobile trips per day 3.25
  miles190,000 miles or 85,000 gals gasoline
• Students 34 auto 3 transit 16 bike 47 walk
• Fac/Staff 87 auto 0 transit 2 bike 11 walk
• 1996 900 million gal water, 360 million Kwh
  electricity, 16,200 tons of solid waste (500
  lbs/capita), 7,900 tons in lined landfill

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Closing Thoughts

• Greening universities should be a grass roots
  movement
• Support of administration and other key
  organizations within the university structure is
  needed
• Marketing and visibility are crucial
• Financial support should be secured from within
  and from outside sources

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Conclusions

• Time is short to change onto a sustainable path
  and the next generation needs to be prepared
• Many research opportunities exist
• Many savings from optimizing the operation can be
  realized