Blog | Second Nature

May 4, 2012

Glendale Community College: A Culture of Sustainability

By Mary Harris, Professor of Physics, Glendale Community College
(This article appears in the May, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Creating a video to show case Glendale Community College’s (GCC) sustainability initiatives was a wonderful opportunity for the college and helped us realize that the holistic nature of all our efforts had truly led us to a culture of commitment to sustainability. Developing the video was fun and we relied heavily on student input. Students said “Deliver lots of information – six pieces per frame; use upbeat music instead of talking heads since interviews slow down presentation tempo and accents can impact audience reception; be colorful and visual.” We listened and chose a non-traditional format as a template. Use of this technique enabled us to show case over 30 ofGCC’s sustainability efforts in three short minutes of video. Many groups from across the college collaborated to create our video and the process has brought our GCC family closer. Also, our video is viewable from multiple places at the college and has increased college sustainability awareness and efforts. We will continue to use our video as a demonstration of the initiatives we are so proud of and as a marketing tool to inspire all stakeholders at GCC.

May 4, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, ACUPCC Implementer

SUNY Upstate Medical University: Sustainable Medical Care

By Thomas Pelis, Assistant Vice President for Facilities and Planning, SUNY Upstate Medical University

(This article appears in the May, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

As an academic medical center, SUNY Upstate Medical University faces unique sustainability challenges. A major portion of our mission is in direct patient care. Our hospitals and clinics account for 75% of the campus’ carbon footprint, and our Operating Rooms generate almost half of the institution’s solid waste. Upstate has responded to the challenge by implementing a variety of innovative sustainability initiatives while maintaining the highest levels of patient care, without compromising our academic and research missions. Our Central Sterile Process and Medical Device Re-Processing initiatives have reduced the use of costly polypropylene “blue wrap” by 23% and saved the University over $1 million during the last 20 months. We are proud of our efforts and look forward to continuing to set an example for other medical universities by delivering top notch training to heath care providers, providing exceptional patient care, and reducing our contribution to negative environmental impacts that deteriorate human health.

May 4, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, ACUPCC Implementer

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign: Reducing Energy Usage by 19% in Four Years

By Stephanie Lage, Assistant to the Director, Office of Sustainability

(This article appears in the May, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

The University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC) Climate Action Plan (iCAP) has an energy reduction target of 20% by 2015. Conservation efforts have led to a 19% reduction to date! Our emissions reduction goal of 15% by 2015 has already been surpassed with a 16% reduction! And our water conservation reduction goal of 20% by 2015 has also been exceeded with a 16% reduction to date. Beyond operations we are also making an impact in preparing graduates for a changing global market place. Sustainability education can be found in more than 250 courses offered through 43 different departments on campus. The Office of Sustainability organizes an annual curriculum workshop. The instructors that have taken this workshop can reach 6,500 students per year. Creating our Climate Leadership Award video provided us the opportunity to tell our evolving and exciting story in a dynamic platform. We look forward to sharing the video with our many campus and community stakeholders.

May 4, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, ACUPCC Implementer

Allegheny College: Deep Infrastructure Sustainability

By Kelly Boulton, Sustainability Coordinator, Allegheny College

(This article appears in the May, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Sustainability at Allegheny College is a community endeavor. In collaboration with the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, we’ve pledged to achieve climate neutrality by 2020. To meet this goal we’ve integrated sustainability principles into budgets, daily operations, job descriptions, purchasing and contract policies, and our Strategic Plan. Students explore and advance sustainability in interdisciplinary courses, innovative research such as aquaponics and wind feasibility studies, collaborations with the City of Meadville and local schools, and extracurricular activities such as the annual October Energy Challenge and theTrashion Show. Creating a video to highlight our institution’s unique culture of sustainability as a finalist for Second Nature’s Climate Leadership Award was a rich and informative experience. Conversations with our president, senior staff, faculty and students revealed a consistent yet multifaceted appreciation of our current sustainability initiatives as well as a deep-rooted commitment to the practical approaches needed to support future efforts and to meet our climate neutrality goal.

April 26, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, Conferences & Events, Partnerships, Policy, Regional News: Northeast

Connecticut “Lead-By-Example” Energy Efficiency Initiative

On April 19^th, Eastern Connecticut State University and their Institute for Sustainable Energy hosted the Green Campus Conference to discuss Public Act 11-80. The bill requires the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to develop a comprehensive State Energy Plan and establish a variety of new programs to promote clean energy and energy efficiency.

DEEP recently launched the Lead-By-Example (LBE) program requiring energy use in State owned and operated buildings to be reduced by 10% by January 1, 2013, and another 10% by January 1, 2018. The LBE program applies to all state agencies, including the facilities within Connecticut’s Higher Education sector, which makes up 50% of the square footage of buildings under the control of state government. Buildings controlled by the CT Board of Regents constitute 50% of Higher Education and 25% of the Governor’s energy reduction goal.

April 20, 2012

Posted in: 2012 Climate Leadership Awards, ACUPCC, News, Partnerships, Regional News: Northeast, School Innovations, Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards

Top Votes for William Paterson University of New Jersey's Innovative Video

After more than 14,000 votes were cast during the Planet Forward video competition this month (on videos created by the 2012 Second Nature Climate Leadership Award Finalists), Planet Forward announced the top vote-getter this week: William Paterson University of New Jersey!

Watch the video at planetforward.org

William Paterson University was honored at the George Washington University Moving the Planet Forward Innovation Summit on Tuesday, April 17th, and will be featured in continued publicity with Planet Forward.

All 20 finalists are under consideration for a 2012 Climate Leadership Award. The winners will be chosen by the Second Nature Board, and honored at the Climate Leadership Summit at American University, June 21-22nd. Look for the announcement of this year’s Award Winners soon!

The top vote-getters for videos in each Carnegie Classification produced incredible videos documenting their climate innovation:

April 20, 2012

Posted in: Adaptation

It's Happening: Being prepared for climate change

Over the past year at Second Nature I've been coordinating the Higher Education Adaptation Committee” - a group of college and university administrators, climate scientists, sustainability professionals and educators exploring higher education’s role and responsibility in ensuring that society is prepared to weather the storms of climate change.

On Monday at the Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference at the University of Maryland, I co-facilitated a session on this topic with David Caruso, President of Antioch University New England (who serves on the Adaptation Committee).

It proved to be a timely event. On the day of the session, temperatures in New Hampshire reached the 90s (in April!). It’s been a warm spring all over the northeastern US. And it was a warm winter – not really a winter at all in many places. Here, the mild weather doesn’t feel all that bad. But if you understand the implications of climate disruption, it’s pretty horrifying.

I won’t run through the usual list of climate impacts – but here are just a few of recent headlines:

April 17, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, Climate Action, Education for Sustainability, News, Public Reporting, School Innovations

Advancing Higher Education: ACUPCC Institutions Lead Sustainability and Climate Progress

The American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) is celebrating five years of higher education’s leadership on the critical issues of our time, with new data from signatories’ public reports showing unprecedented success and innovation in renewable energy, curriculum, energy efficiency, green building, and financial savings. 202 institutions have submitted Progress Reports on their implementation of the commitment in the first five years, showing the following results, which are indicative of progress throughout the network. While reports are still coming in and numbers are subject to change, preliminary analysis of the latest data shows:

April 9, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, Conferences & Events, Regional News: Southwest

Highlights from the 2012 ACUPCC Southwest Regional Collaborative Symposium

By Sarah Brylinsky, Program Associate, Second Nature

(Download the symposium agenda, or a PDF version of this summary here.)

The Southwest Regional Collaborative Symposium – the second regionally focused conference hosted by Second Nature and the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment – took place at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona March 1^st- 2^nd, 2012. ACUPCC Regional Symposiums focus on fostering collaboration among ACUPCC signatoriesfacing similar challenges and opportunities in their geographic regions. With attendance by 38 universities and organizations throughout the Southwest, participants sparked cross-institutional dialogue and solutions to Climate Action planning, curriculum reform, and other key issues.

Keynote Speaker

Diana Liverman, Co-Director,
University of Arizona Institute of the Environment

April 5, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, ACUPCC Implementer

Dialogue is Key

By Carlos Ochoa, Interim Director, University of Arkansas Office for Campus Sustainability

(This article appears in the April, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

The University of Arkansas Office for Campus Sustainability is changing. We have new members on board including an interim-director, five interns, and newly appointed executive director for Campus Sustainability, who will report directly to the provost. Via Dave Newport’s blog on the Death of Campus Sustainability, we see a changing tide of sustainability in higher education across the nation. Technologically, we’re seeing new social media platforms rising (think Klout, Kred, Pinterest, and Google+). Change is scary but our office is using it to our advantage.

Keynote Speaker

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