Why higher education leadership for the environment in Virginia is important

“NWF started the Campus Ecology Program back in 1989, Mr. Lyon explained, because NWF knew higher education needs to lead the solutions to the conservation and wildlife challenges we are facing and to ensure that the graduates of today are prepared to lead the solutions of tomorrow.”

Colleges and universities, he explained, are places where people from all walks of life expect to see solutions demonstrated in practice, whether wind turbines, solar panels or electric recharge stations. Hands-on conservation and sustainability go hand-in-hand with the curriculum.

Campuses, clean economy and healthy wildlife connections in Virginia

“It is no longer business as usual for protecting wildlife, explained Lyon. We can’t simply set aside land and water, or regulate for clean air and clean water, although all of that is critical. We also have to look upstream to the impacts on wildlife and habitats- and there we can see that it is our building choices, our energy choices, our transportation choices and all of those need to be overhauled for a clean, safe, 21st Century.”

Reducing carbon pollution to zero within the lifetimes of Virginia college students today

“The challenge to society is to reduce carbon pollution to nearly zero before 2050, or within the lifetimes of most college students today,” Lyon explained. “This means that we are not talking here about being trained to recycle aluminum cans, although that is certainly a part of the solution. We are talking here about a much larger shift- educating students to scale solutions to the scope of the problem.”

“While this can be a daunting challenge,” admitted Jim, “it is the conservation fight of a lifetime.  The fact is 99% of scientists overwhelming agree human reliance on fossil fuels is destabilizing the climate. Is this the legacy we want to leave our children or even the current generations of students today?”

How Virginia colleges and other universities are leading

Jim highlighted several examples of higher education leadership in Virginia, including:

• Dabney S. Lancaster Community College’s Wind Turbine Service Technology program prepares individuals for career entry and advancement opportunities in the advanced technology applications of wind energy technologies.
• Randolph College has an organic garden & orchard, an extensive recycling center that accepts CFLs, electronics, CDs, DVDs, in addition to glass, plastic, aluminum and cardboard. Through NWF’s partner, the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), Randolph has commitment to reduce the campus’s carbon footprint through energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other strategies.
• George Mason University’s (GMU) Board of Visitors, in 2007, pledged that the university would build all new construction to a higher environmental standard, specifically, LEED Silver certification level. In addition to two certified National Wildlife Habitats, GMU has purchases 10% of its annual electricity through wind powered Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), avoiding over 17 million pounds of CO2 emissions, which is like taking almost 1,500 cars off the road for a year or like powering 963 homes for a year!
• Northern Virginia Community College is committed to green building. NVCC’s newly-opened Student Services Building on the Annandale campus recently received their LEED certification award (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design); the student services building is the first LEED Certified building at NVCC. More of NVCC’s campuses will feature LEED buildings soon – Manassas, Woodbridge campuses, etc.
• Thomas Nelson Community College installed two solar panels to power the lights, ventilation and battery chargers for its motorcycle storage containers used for the campus’s motorcycle safety courses) that are located adjacent to a campus parking lot.

Virginia students gain some greener career insights

These kinds of programs help students prepare for a growing array of greener career opportunities throughout Virginia, he noted.  Drawing on labor market studies developed through the Greenforce Initiative (a partnership with Jobs for the Future and National Wildlife Federation sponsored by the Bank of America Charitable Trust at 100 community colleges in six states), Lyon highlighted some of the Virginia specific job trends of relevance to students.

For example, some of the top green jobs by category in Virginia, include pollution reduction, removal & remediation (with 3402 postings), energy efficiency (with 2148 postings), and natural resource conservation (with 1859 postings). Among the top 10 green skills in Virginia, Lyon explained, are scheduling, HVAC, and inspection, while the leading green certifications in Virginia, include professional engineers, certified safety professionals and certified energy managers.

“We’ll need solar financers, project managers and installers and an array of other renewable energy technologies in Virginia,” explained Lyon, including offshore wind. We’ll also need people skilled in climate mitigation and adaptation,  restoring habitat and protecting biodiversity for people and wildlife.”

***

Green Campus Financing Advances

It was a watershed moment for campus and other sustainability enthusiasts because it illustrated just how far college and university leaders have come since financing tools were limited, when simple payback was the primary measure of the value of campus sustainability projects, and when savings from energy efficiency and conservation projects were generally lost to campuses’ or organizations’ general fund.

Addressing Disincentives to Conservation on Campus

Green revolving loan funds will help correct some of the unnecessary financial disincentives to conserve natural resources, it is expected, while adding a relatively new approach to the financial toolkit. So far, results are promising.
Last year, SEI released the report, Greening the Bottom Line, illustrating how 52 colleges and universities of all types and sizes all across the US are revolving savings from energy efficiency and other green campus efforts back into funds that finance additional conservation initiatives. Green revolving loan funds (GRFs) replenish through savings that are captured and reinvested in additional conservation programs.

Large Financial Returns for Going Green on Campus

Agnes Scott College President Kiss Presents Luncheon Keynote

SEI also found that students, administrators and facilities were about equally likely to serve as the initial promoters and champions of the existing GRFs and that both student fees (generated through referenda in which students vote generate a few dollars per term to campus sustainability activities) and administrative funding played leading roles in starting many of the funds.

“Billion Dollar Challenge” Spurs Progress

Mark Orlowski, founder and Executive Director of SEI, shared with summit attendees that “thirty-five higher education institutions have so far collectively pledged $83 million to their green revolving funds as part of the “Billion Dollar Green Challenge,” a new campaign SEI launched at the AASHE conference in October 2011.”

Among them is Agnes Scott College (my alma mater), which has committed to securing $1 million for its green fund. During her keynote presentation, Agnes Scott College President, Elizabeth Kiss, shared how support from SEI with implementation of a green revolving loan could help colleges advance sustainability objectives, particularly through help from consultation, case studies and tracking software.

GRITS Offers Assistance

SEI representatives demonstrated the new Green Revolving Investment Tracking System (GRITS), which is designed to help manage the many projects involved in green revolving fund, and will be made available to campus members of the “Billion Dollar Challenge.” Background on this campaign, case studies on successful green revolving funds at nine colleges and universities, an implementation guide and an investment primer are available on SEI’s website.

Harvard's Sustainability Director, Heather Henriksen, Describes Green Returns

Additional Articles about Green Campus Financing Tools:

New Financing Tools Help Push for Green Campuses (review of Financing Sustainability on Campus by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, NACUBO)

Reflections on the Financing the Future of Energy Efficiency Summit by sustainability leader, Mitchell Thomashow

Harvard Leads Green Challenge with $12 Million, by Alyza J. Sebenius, quotes Harvard Sustainability Director, Heather Henriksen

(NWF’s Campus Ecology Program proudly joins more than one  dozen organizations in co-sponsoring the Greening the Bottom Line report and in serving on the invitation committee for the Financing the Future of Energy Efficiency Summit. Our work is made possible through generous donations from NWF members, The Kendeda Fund, Bank of America Charitable Foundation, NASA and private donors. NWF’s Campus Ecology Program empowers student leaders to advance sustainability across the higher education curriculum, operations, and wider community.)

Afternoon Panel Surveys Green Campus Leadership in So. Korea

What stood out in particular, as a participant, were the level of governmental support demonstrated for greener campuses in Korea, its international approach, the focus on climate change and wildlife sciences, and its large network of energized students.

Government Makes Greener Campuses Priority

The Governors of Gyeonggi-Province and Yongin City and other senior public officials, shared perspectives with attendees on the importance of greener campuses to South Korea and to the larger world. The President of Kangnam University, Yoon Sin-il, highlighted the

“meaningful roles of the green campus movement in assisting with the country’s preparation of environmental policies, sustainable development strategies and measures for addressing climate change.”

Government support has also helped South Korea link to international efforts. Over the past three years, for example, its global green campus forum has brought in university practitioners from at least eleven countries and four continents, including Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

Kangnam U's Honeywell-designed Green Campus System

From Sustainability Curricula to Sacred Forests

Proceedings illustrate various higher education emphases across countries and continents and highlight exemplary programs that might not otherwise be known as widely as deserved, such as Miriam College in the Philippines, in which the faculty and staff take a

“whole-school approach to sustainability education,” according to presenter, Reyett Paunan, “developing sustainability modules for most courses and implementing policies for campus operations, including the recycling of 80% of the campus’ materials stream and green building standards.”

Sonia Koumba Christelle Gerda, from Gabon, meanwhile, described her research efforts at  Dalian University of Technology in China, focused on a large-scale urban renewal project in Libreville, Gabon, as well as work to  protect and connect the country’s network of thirteen national parks that include biosphere reserves, elephants, and sacred forests.

Low-Carbon Strategies

Green campuses are one of eight national priorities in Korea for addressing climate change science, according to Environment Bureau Director General, Shin-Whoan Park, and also play a role in wildlife and habitat protection and restoration. Professor Si-hu Ju, of Kangnam University, for example, illustrated how the campus is achieving its goals to lead in becoming a low-carbon campus through education for students and staff, a detailed green campus plan with targets and timetables for efficiency and conservation, use of geothermal and other clean energy sources and a recycled water treatment system. The campus also boasts a state-of-the-art resource monitoring and management system designed by Honeywell.

Protecting and restoring wildlife habitat

Green Campus Initiative organizers shared the 2008 report, The Wetlands of Gyeonggi Province, describing Korea’s protection plans and priorities for some 2,000 rivers and streams that provide some of the most important habitats in the world for migratory birds, insectivorous (e.g. carnivorous) plants, and life sustaining water for farmers. Students and faculty, they explained, are key to the research, education and hands-on projects needed to protect and restore these important sanctuaries that hang in the balance as citizens debate the most sustainable approaches to development.

Passionate student leaders for climate solutions

Proud Green Campus Student Leaders in So Korea

The students supported through these various programs presented about how the hundreds of green projects they have lead to date, all across Korea and beyond, are motivated by the need to find solutions to growing global ecological and social problems. They pass out stickers that encourage “turning off power strips and standby power,” “saving every drop of water” and to “remember the millions of people throughout the world who are suffering from shortage of water and the climate refugees whose homeland is turned into desert.”

Fostering International Linkages

Thank you to Korea’s Gyeonggi-do Association for Green Campus Initiative for the honor of inviting me to present a keynote for this year’s forum about how “Ecologically Literate and Engaged Students will Lead the 21st Century,” as well as to Paul Rowland, executive director of the American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for connecting Korea’s green campus leadership with National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program. It is clear that Korea is working hard to advance green campuses as a national framework for sustainability and, through its higher education leadership and international linkages, is a country to watch as it enlightens the world about what is possible.

Global Green Campus Forum South Korea
Ashwini Srinivasa Presents and Reports on Global Green Campus Forum
Green Campus, Amanda Miu Chung Han, Asia Pacific Business & Technology Report, June 8, 2012

The Greenforce Initiative, a partnership of Jobs for the Future and National Wildlife Federation, sponsored the event, and hosted a workshop on linking campus sustainability to green career pathways. The Greenforce Initiative seeks to advance green career pathways, geared toward lower-skilled adults, and helps make the connection between on-campus sustainability efforts as hands-on training opportunities for students.

While the Greenforce Initiative partners with ten community colleges in Virginia, during the workshop “Linking Campus Sustainability to Hands-On Training,” we highlighted three.

Germanna Community College new LEED building

Germanna Community College highlighted their new LEED Silver building (at their Fredericksburg campus); students will be giving tours of the buildings to educate the community on the green features (including rainwater harvesting, passive solar, etc.). 

Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave featured their sustainable and edible landscaping program engaging local farmers as well as students interested in starting new businesses in the landscaping industry.

Thomas Nelson Community College solar installation

Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton Roads spotlighted their new solar installation project for their motorcycle storage containers. Thomas Nelson students helped design and build the solar panel installation (two panels) that will be placed on the top of two containers that store all equipment, including motorcycles, for their motorcycle safety courses. The panels will power lights as well as a ventilation system.

Other colleges and groups featured are developing green programs as well:
- Virginia Western Community College (VWCC) is hosting three renewable energy showcases this spring featuring consumer information on various aspects including geothermal systems, photovoltaic systems, solar water and space heating systems, and residential wind turbine systems. Showcases will be on April 8, 14 and 21. Learn more about this opportunity.

- The Virginia Weatherization Training Center provides training and certification in both weatherization and residential practices at their 14 partner campuses across Virginia. Course offerings include, but are not limited to, air conditioning & heating pump professional, energy auditor, Lead Safe Weatherization Training, and Energy Star Inspection and Procedures. Learn more about the Center.

Learn more about the Greenforce Initiative in Virginia and our community college partners.

Davidson College in North Carolina recently hosted its 8th annual Green Ball to raise money for the Davidson

Davidon College - Credit: Environmental Action Coalition

Lands Conservancy (DLC). The Green Ball is a Davidson tradition, combining contra dance, local food and an auction to raise money for the Conservancy. The DLC is a land-trust organization that works to protect land in and around Davidson, and last year it received $2,300 from 125 participants in the Green Ball. The Green Ball ties Davidson students to their community as the campus Environmental Action Coalition works with local businesses and charities to improve the regional environment, and ties Davidson (both town and college) to the globe by situating the activism of the Green Ball as a conscious attempt to counter worldwide climate change by guarding green spaces in the community.  Learn more about this effort.

In an ongoing project that applies service-learning teaching

Delgado Community College - Credit: Angela Lorenzo

methods to the Horticulture program classes at Delgado Community College, students work to restore the coastal barrier islands suffering from coastal erosion and the effects of 2010’s B.P. oil spill. Using the Delgado City Park Campus Greenhouse, Horticulture students propagate native coastal sand dune plants, which are then re-planted along coastal habitats of Southeast Louisiana by students and community volunteers. Students learn effective propagation methods and care of these native plants, a necessity for land-building and wetlands stability; filtering pollutants from watersheds; and providing habitat for local animal and plant life. Learn more about this effort.

The University of South Florida preserved an area of approximately one square mile comprising a variety of habitats including extensive wetlands(mostly cypress swamp) and the only

University of South Florida - credit: Anne C. Schmidt

large, intact piece of Florida sandhill habitat within 50 miles (sandhills are open dry savanna-like habitats, usually with an open overstory of longleaf pine).  An estimated 400 gopher tortoises  – a species currently listed as of special concern in Florida and being studied for federal listing – inhabit this sandhill area; Eastern indigo snakes  – a federally endangered species – occur in the area but are quite rare. At least 404 plant species are present in the preserved area, including nine listed as endangered, threatened or commercially exploited in Florida, and four known to grow nowhere else in Hillsborough County.  Learn more about this effort.

Campuses nationwide are making great strides to green their operations and curricula, but one green topic seems to be especially popular for 2011 – campus gardens. Colleges and universities are planting gardens on campus for a few reasons: they provide experiential learning opportunities for agriculture students, a source of local food for dining halls, and green space for the campus and wider community. Several campuses were featured in the 2011 case study database for their campus garden projects, a few highlights include:

Dominican University - Kristen Peterson

• Dominican University (IL) In May 2011, a community garden was launched, engaging volunteer faculty, staff, and students, along with members from the community and children from the campus daycare facility. The garden is an ongoing educational and recreational project blooming before its volunteer’s eyes. It is watered each morning, and shift leaders take a day or two each week to teach others about gardening.  Organic gardening methods are used (compost, in the form of coffee grounds, eggshells and other leftovers, is collected from staff lounges weekly and dispersed around the garden as needed.  As produce ripens, volunteers can take whatever they will use. The remainder is brought weekly to the local food pantry.  Learn more about this project.

• George Mason University (VA) The Potomac Heights Vegetable Garden was introduced in April 2009 with the help of George Mason’s Office of Sustainability. A student club, the GMU Organic Garden Association, oversees the garden and is responsible for outreach and education as well as coordinating volunteer efforts. Mason Dining Executive Chef Peter Schoebel and Auxiliary Enterprises and Campus Retail Operations Executive Director Mark Kraner worked together to arrange vegetables grown at the garden to be sold to Southside, a central dining facility at Mason’s Fairfax campus. Learn more about this project.

University of Minnesota Morris Alumni Relations

• The University of Minnesota Morris has partnered with local businesses, student groups and representatives of Native American nations to establish a garden adjacent to the campus to honor the knowledge and  cultural practices of traditional Native American farming. The garden provides access to fresh, organically-grown traditional fruits and vegetables on campus. The garden was tilled and planted this summer and the fruits and vegetables are being harvested this fall. Learn more about this project.

University of Texas at Austin - Daniella Lewis

• The University of Texas at Austin Concho Community Garden, the first of its kind on campus, provides students and staff with the opportunity to garden, learn and share knowledge about food production, pursue sustainability-minded projects and participate in free classes and events. Food at the garden is grown for individual consumption, for use in UT’s dining halls, for donation and, organizers hope, eventually to supply an on-campus garden stand.  Learn more about this project.

With the start of a new school year, a growing coalition of sustainability and recycling organizations, including National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Campus Ecology Program, is engaging with North American campuses to help them boost recycling by tracking and improving their paper recovery rates. From text books to blue books, paper is essential to successful campus recycling programs. Yet while paper recycling rates have slowly increased over the years, they are not keeping up with demand from manufacturers who need recovered paper to produce new, recycled-content stocks. With over 50% of paper still being thrown away on college campuses, there is a need to dig deeper and find those valuable sources of paper. 

“Fall means getting back to the books, but for many students it also means finding new ways to help green their campus,” states Pam Blackledge, coordinator for the RePaper Project and home of the Challenge campaign.  “The RePaper Campus Challenge provides an incentive and opportunity for campuses to track their recovery rates of recycled materials, and to further their efforts by boosting overall performance by increasing their paper recovery rates.”

Many campuses have already pledged to reach a 75% paper recovery rate by 2015, including Harvard University, CU Boulder, University of South Florida and Central Carolina Community College.  Any campus can join the RePaper Campus Challenge and pledge to reach a 75% paper recovery rate by 2015.  In return those campuses will receive tools and resources to reach that rate, and will gain recognition in public materials.

“The success of the RePaper Challenge relies on its endorsing partners,” says Blackledge.  “We’re happy to welcome national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful (KAB) to the growing list of endorsing organizations.”  

If your campus is interested in becoming involved with the RePaper Campus Challenge, please visit www.repaperproject.org to learn more. To learn more about college and university recycling efforts nationwide, check out NWF’s campus sustainability case study database.

Content for this post was based on the RePaper Project Challenge Press Release, September 7, 2011

“What I felt was very telling was that many of the young people who attended the event in Cleveland were not up to speed on the pipeline,” says Juliana Goodlaw-Morris, campus ecology manager at the National Wildlife Federation, “however, now more than ever they are ready to take action on their campuses and in their communities.”
For example, when student leaders from all across the U.S. who recently attended the annual conference of the American Association of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) in Pittsburgh, PA, discovered that President Obama would be speaking in the city, they mobilized buses to meet him.

In Ohio, students are organizing at least three trainings to learn how to confront dirty energy projects like the Keystone XL oil pipeline and to advocate for safe, clean energy.

On November 6 at 2 pm (ET) in Washington, DC, students, faculty and staff from dozens of colleges and universities in the Mid-Atlantic region will gather with thousands of other concerned citizens at LaFayette Square in front of the White House to express opposition to the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline and support for clean, safe energy. The President is expected to make a decision on the pipeline proposal in the coming weeks.

Many of the campus leaders are registering for the Nov 6 rally through National Wildlife Federation and will meet up with NWF staff there as well as the staff from Energy Action Coalition and many other sister organizations. Students and others are also submitting hand-written letters to the White House (President Obama is said to read as many as 500 per day), letters to the editor (see Alexandra Costaki’s post with examples), videograms, and online letters.

The first solar array, with a capacity of 120 kilowatts, will be installed on a canopy to be constructed over the upper deck of the campus’s parking structure. Lewis Hall, home of the University’s School of Law, will host the second array, a rooftop installation with a capacity of 330 kilowatts. The roof of Lewis Hall will have 1,032 high-efficiency photovoltaic panels manufactured by the SunPower Corp., and the parking-deck canopy will hold 540 photovoltaic panels made by Sanyo. Washington and Lee has entered into a 20-year power-purchase agreement with Secure Futures to buy the solar-generated electricity.

The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year; the two arrays combined will become the largest solar project in Virginia, with enough power to supply the total average annual electricity needs for the equivalent of 44 homes in Lexington.

“This is an important step for Washington and Lee as part of our continuing emphasis on sustainability,” said Kenneth P. Ruscio, W&L’s president. “This is another instance of how we are aligning our institutional practices with what we preach to our students about their duties as responsible citizens and their obligations to future generations.”

According to the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, the largest solar project in the state is currently the 104-kilowatt installation on the roof of the Hartzler Library at Eastern Mennonite University, in Harrisonburg, a project Secure Futures developed in the fall of 2010.

Washington and Lee University has signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment and the international Talloires Declaration. The campus’s sustainability efforts include composting, local and organic foods, energy conservation, purchasing, transportation and more.

Learn more about Washington and Lee’s sustainability efforts

Learn more about other campus solar arrays:

Butte College’s solar panel array, led their way to grid positivity

Harvard’s 500 kW Installation

The Catholic University of America’s 294 kilowatt Installation

Check out National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Sustainability Case Studies on energy

Reference: August 8, 2011 Washington and Lee University Press Release

Image credit: Washington and Lee University

Cornell University’s Civic Ecology Lab has been chosen to lead the EPA Office of Environmental Education’s environmental education training program, to the tune of a 5-year, $10 million grant. The Civic Ecology Lab focuses on bringing environmental education to disadvantaged or traditionally underserved communities.

From Krishna Ramanujan at the Cornell Chronicle:

Traditionally, environmental educators have focused on pristine, natural environments while teaching in schools, nature centers and outdoor education centers. More recently, a new tradition is emerging in cities, with community development, environmental restoration and social justice groups also teaching environmental education, largely to minority and urban youth. Cornell’s “EECapacity” project seeks to link these two types of educators through workshops, online courses and other means, and to create opportunities to exchange ideas, practices and resources.

Marianne Krasny, professor and chair of the Department of Natural Resources and the project’s principal investigator:

Cornell's famous McGraw Hall and Tower (flickr | andymw91)

“Most young people today are going to experience the environment in urban neighborhoods,” said. “In the largest sense, we are trying to redefine environmental education practice within the reality of an urban society.”

The prestigious Ithaca, NY, school is no stranger to sustainability in higher education, having been featured in NWF’s Campus Ecology Campus Sustainability Case Studies five times to date, most recently for a 2010 “Sustainable Development: Green Jobs for the 21st Century” (PDF) course offered to high school students throughout New York State. Cornell also built New York’s first LEED-certified residence hall, participated in an award-winning Transportation Demand Management Program, and established a Cornell Sustainable Campus Initiative more than five years ago.

Two summers ago, Julian Keniry, NWF’s director of Campus and Community Leadership, reported from an American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) Climate Leadership summit that Cornell was investing up to a gross $150 million over the next 30 years to achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals, with an eye toward achieving a net energy savings and creating more than 1,500 new jobs in the region.

The Big Red may not have won a conference championship in football in the last 20 years, but Cornell is at the forefront of exploring ways to make college greener and give back to the community.