Campus Green Builder

By Vanessa Santos, Second Nature

The Campus Green Builder web portal has recently been awarded with an Outstanding Achievement by the Interactive Media Awards. The web portal also received an Honorable Mention by the Creativity International Awards under its “Public Sector/Non-profit” category.

Campus Green Builder's Outstanding Achievement Award
Photo Credit: Interactive Media Awards

The Interactive Media Awards (IMA) “recognize the highest standards of excellence in web site design and development and honor individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievement,” according to its web site. Entries for the Interactive Media Awards are judged on several criteria, such as the design, content, features, functionality, usability and standard compliance/cross-browser capability.

Campus Green Builder also received an Honorable Mention by the Creativity International Awards. This award recognizes outstanding creativity and design in media and interactive formats, as well as print and packaging formats. Campus Green Builder was one of eight web sites that were chosen for the award among hundreds of applicants.

Campus Green Builder, a Second Nature initiative, is a one-stop web portal offering the most up-to-date and helpful information and resources on green building and campus sustainability. Campus Green Builder is an effort by Second Nature’s Capacity Building Program to help under-resourced colleges and universities with their campus sustainability and green building initiatives.

Blue Coda, Inc is the web design company that assisted Second Nature in designing this web portal. With around 1,500 visitors per month, Campus Green Builder has been able to provide colleges and universities with resources, personal stories and case studies on the issues of sustainability. The portal also offers a platform for these schools to learn from each other and share ideas. The four in-depth case studies on Campus Green Builder, for example, illustrate the specific steps taken by these resource-constrained institutions to build green on their campuses, while also highlighting how these institutions overcame the challenges.

The newest additions to the web portal include the Green Students page, which highlights students' green initiatives and personal stories. Students are given this opportunity to get their voices heard. We invite all students to write about their experiences and efforts in the field of sustainability and green building!

Another addition is the Kresge Fellows’ page, which highlights the 40 Kresge Fellows who represent various higher education institutions and are championing sustainability on their respective campuses. With the help of the fellowship awards, fellows attend a green building focused conference. The Kresge Fellows’ page has reports written by the fellows on their conference experiences and how the fellowship helped them in their greening efforts. There is also an exclusive interview with one Kresge Fellow who is greening his campus operations and inspiring others to join his work.

Along with the new and relevant content, Second Nature always tries to find creative ways to share the resources. The Campus Green Builder has a recently added slide show on its homepage that helps users easily and quickly access information through a medium that is dynamic and interesting.

As readers and users of the Campus Green Builder, please make sure to take advantage of all its tools and information. To make the content even more beneficial, we welcome your comments and feedback.
 

by Van H. Du, Second Nature 

At many colleges and universities, students often choose to live off campus after their first year in school, and as a result, it becomes challenging for schools to manage their carbon footprint.  Additionally, the students' decision to reside in the neighboring communities also impacts those local communities and their infrastructure.  Thus, an institution’s responsibility to reduce its carbon footprint is not limited to the campus, as the environmental impacts of off-campus housing are just as significant as the impacts of on-campus dormitories.

Both University of Maryland and Monmouth University show that dealing with these issues beyond the campus boundaries is necessary when the majority of students either commutes to the campus or lives in local neighborhoods.  Monmouth University recognizes and addresses its off-campus carbon footprint by dedicating a web page to “greening” off-campus living.  In addition, the University has been sending out weekly email updates to its off-campus and commuter population informing them about the best practices on water conservation, energy-efficiency practices, recycling, carpooling to campuses, etc.  Similarly, the University of Maryland has developed a Guide to Living Green Off Campus to encourage off-campus students to green their lifestyle while living outside the campus properties.

The Green House Project
Photo Credit: Ohio University

The Green House Project at Ohio University is another example of how an institution deals with its off-campus carbon footprint.   Besides its objective to offset the University’s carbon footprint, as mandated by the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), the project is also part of the City of Athens’ greenhouse gas reduction goal directed by the Cool Cities Initiative.  Project participants receive a professional whole-house efficiency audit, utility billing analysis and recommendations, and up to $500 cash refund for improvements.  The great collaborative efforts between the University and the City of Athens not only help strengthen the relationship between the two communities but also create a safer, healthier, and more sustainable environment for both the students and the city residents.

Greening off-campus living could be small but a vital step toward achieving holistic climate neutrality.  It is imperative for institutions of higher learning to be cognizant of their impact inside and outside of their campus spaces.  And, it is great to see that several colleges and universities are taking their pledge of climate neutrality a step further by addressing their performance and progress on campus as well as in their neighboring communities!

By Vanessa Santos, Second Nature

The Curio House at the Solar Decathlon
Photo Credit: Allison Fisk

 Last October, Tufts University 2010 graduate Matt Thoms and his team of six other students gathered with 19 student teams from around the world at the National Mall in Washington D.C. All student team members stood in front of the projects they built – 20 completely solar-powered homes, one for each team of seven students.

Every two years, the Department of Energy hosts a Solar Decathlon, an event that consists of 20 selected teams from around the world, each of which must build a solar-powered home that can succeed in the 10 different competitions within the event. The 10 different competitions are meant to test a house’s ability to generate the energy needed for daily activities. Therefore, the competitions test features like the hot water in a home, the functioning of appliances, the lighting, the comfort and the entertainment features, to name a few.

During his sophomore year at Tufts University, Matt joined a team of seven students from Tufts and from the Boston Architectural College to compete in the 2009 Solar Decathlon as “Team Boston.” It wasn’t until his senior year at the university that he and his team finished what they called the Curio House – a two-year project whose total costs added up to about $400,000, according to Matt.

When it came time for the Solar Decathlon, Team Boston had to dissemble the Curio House, and transport it to Washington D.C., where they had just a small amount of time to reassemble the house and get it functioning properly. Because of this short time period and a bit of a lack of preparation, Matt said the team had a more difficult time in the first few competitions as they started to test the functioning of many of their features through a process of trial and error.

Even though the Curio House didn’t win the competition (the winning home had costs totaling about $800,000 and was built by Team Germany), Matt said he and his team are most proud of the fact that they were able to build a solar-powered home with relatively simple materials and technology. In fact, he said the team made sure to buy most of their products from stores like Home Depot to show people that green buildings don’t necessarily have to incorporate new cutting-edge, expensive and inaccessible technologies.

The Curio House was also one of the few homes in the competition that was actually sold. The Housing Assistance Corporation of Cape Cod, MA bought the house for $150,000, and is using it in its new project – a development of sustainable and affordable community housing.

The Solar Decathlon may be a competition, but it is clearly having an impact on our movement to a more sustainable society. The competition and teams like Team Boston are showing that a future of sustainability can and is starting right now.

To see the slideshow of pictures of the Curio House, click here.
 

by Van H. Du, Second Nature 

While many colleges and universities are known for their world-class education, it is the built environment that can play an important role in embodying and defining the character of a higher education institution. Over hundreds of years, many buildings have stood witness to legacy and traditions taking place—memories made and shared among generations of students.

At the same time, in efforts to achieve campus sustainability, a challenge for many schools is rooted in the renovation of historic spaces. While historic buildings reflect an institution’s past and present, in many cases they have become outdated and thus lack the functional capacity to provide cutting-edge technologies and efficiency of modern facilities to serve the school’s mission as well as the needs of its students.

Franklin Environmental Center
Photo Credit: Middlebury College

Can schools achieve sustainable development while preserving their history?

After a little research, I believe that the answer is “YES.” It is not uncommon that old buildings become abandoned once their original uses are outdated. However, retrofitting a historic building can be a sustainable option, especially in this economy when capital funding for campus construction grows tighter and new construction costs make it infeasible to carry out. In addition, the buildings have an opportunity to "re-purpose" and maximize their service. Here are a few examples of what some schools have done in their efforts to undergo historic preservation, with a touch of “green” renovation:

Colorado State University--Guggenheim Hall’s Green Classrooms
Guggenheim Hall was built in 1910, and is now one of the few historic buildings left on campus. The building is home to the Construction Management program. Aside from being the first university to achieve the LEED® Silver certification (in Commercial Interior) in 2006, the renovated facility was a great on-site resource to teach design and construction students about the benefits of green building.

University of Pennsylvania—Music Building
Constructed in 1892 and located in the heart of the University’s historic district, the Music Building has been home to the Music Department over the years. With the need for more classrooms and rehearsal spaces, recent renovation of the building consisted of restoring its historic structures and materials in addition to the construction of the new wing with a more contemporary architectural design. The project achieved the University’s first LEED® Silver certification on its historic campus.

Middlebury College—Franklin Environmental Center
This 1875 Vermont farmhouse has served the college over the years as a dormitory, classrooms and faculty offices. In 2007, the historic building was once again transformed into the Franklin Environmental Center, which now shelters the Dean of Environmental Affairs, the Environmental Studies program, the Sustainability Integration Office, the Environmental Outreach and Service Learning program, and the Middlebury Fellowships in Environmental Journalism. The project received LEED® Platinum certification, and most significantly, it also emphasized the College’s commitment to sustainability through the adaptive reuse of a historic building.

These historic renovation projects epitomize the exemplary idea of preserving the characters and history of a place, without compromising the sustainability goals for the future of an institution.

By Katrine Eriksen, former Second Nature Intern

ACPCC Facebook Page
Photo Credit: Facebook

From January to June of this year I had the pleasure of participating in the Northeastern University Co-op Program and work for Second Nature. During my six months there, I learned about the many various projects Second Nature has developed and implemented and was able to jump right in and was given my own responsibilities.

One such project was the transition of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) “Group” on Facebook to a “Fan Page.” I was given the responsibility of managing the page and soon began to see how using Social Networking sites can be a vital resource for getting messages out to the public, especially for the companies and non-profits like Second Nature who are promoting environmental and sustainability education.

Using sites like Facebook allowed the ACUPCC to reach new audiences and allowed me to become in contact with people who had never heard about the ACUPCC and wanted to know if their school was a part of it. I was able to post updates about the ACUPCC, articles that had appeared in student newspapers as well as bigger name newspapers, and interact with the fans of the page.

The page also allowed the fans to get in direct contact with me, which created a more personal relationship, since they had someone who could answer questions almost instantly. Fans could also post their opinions and reactions on the page, and it allowed for an open forum of discussion.

Having the ACUPCC be a part of Facebook allowed me to view Facebook not just as a personal site in which I could have a profile and share parts of my life, but also as an important tool for people and ideas to get heard. Watching the number of fans continuously increase and interact showed that Facebook is one way for the ACUPCC to spread its message and can allow for future growth with more people becoming a part of the online community we created.

Visit the ACUPCC Facebook page and become a fan.