Book References

Book References:

Title: Greening the Ivory Tower: Improving the Environmental Track Record of Universities, Colleges, and Other Institutions (Urban and Industrial Environments) by Sarah Hammond Creighton. MIT Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts; 1998.

Book Description:

Greening the Ivory Tower is a motivational and how to guide for staff, faculty and students at colleges and universities around the country. The book gives detailed greening strategies, which teach and demonstrate how colleges and universities can lessen their environmental impact. Sarah Hammond focused on Tufts University. The author was the program manager of TUFTS CLEAN! Although this book focuses on Tufts University, the story goes beyond Tufts and includes examples of successful practices at other institution. Sarah Hammond Creighton is Energy Conservation Manager, Massachusetts Division of Capital Planning and Operations; consultant on special projects to the Tufts University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Tufts Institute of the Environment.

Title: Collett , Joseph and Karakashian , Stephen (editors) Greening the College Curriculum: A Guide to Environmental Teaching in the Liberal Arts by Joseph Collett (editor) and Stephen Karakashian. Island Press; 1995.

Book Description:

Greening the College Curriculum provides the tools college and university faculty need to meet personal and institutional goals for integrating environmental issues into the curriculum. Leading educators from a wide range of fields, including anthropology, biology, economics, geography, history, literature, journalism, philosophy, political science, and religion, describe their experience introducing environmental issues into their teaching. The book provides a rationale for including material on the environment in the teaching of the basic concepts of each discipline and guidelines for constructing a unit or a full course at the introductory level that makes use of environmental subjects sample plans. For upper-level courses it provides a compendium of annotated resources, both print and nonprint. Contributors to the volume include David Orr, David G. Campbell, Lisa Naughton, Emily Young, John Opie, Holmes Rolston III, Michael E. Kraft, Steven Rockefeller, and others.

Title: Campus Ecology: A Guide to Assessing Environmental Quality & Creating Strategies for Change by April Smith and the Student Environmental Action Coalition Living Planet Press; 1993.

Book Description:

Campus Ecology is a book designed to provide members of the campus community with a framework, a guide for analyzing the nature and magnitude of environmental issues on campus. The book is split up into four sections. The first two sections of the book, "Wastes and Hazards" and "Resources and Infrastructure," outline how to research and analyze campus environmental practices issue by issue. The third section of the book, "The Business of Education," addresses the environmental impacts of the institution's research and economic activities and its ethical stance. The forth section is called "Taking Action" and provides strategies for working with members of the campus community to create and implement environmentally responsible, sustainable practices. Hopefully, the ideas in this book will provide the foundation for planning and implementing recommendations, and creating long-term environmental goals for your campus.

Title: Ecodemia: Campus Environmental Stewardship at the Turn of the 21^stCentury By Julian Keniry. National Wildlife Federation; 1995.

Book Description:

This book highlights staff-initiated campus environmental reform, and details the best management practices in eight major categories: purchasing; landscaping and grounds; transportation; parking and fleet maintenance; energy and utilities; dining services; communications; and solid and hazardous waste management. Ecodemia presents case studies of green initiatives and programs at various colleges and universities around the U.S. The book documents the fact that creative and ecologically smart management can reduce institutional operating costs, improve the quality of services ranging from food served in dining halls to lighting; reduce waste and ecological impacts, and help to rejuvenate local economies.

Title: Green investment, Green Return: How Practical Conservation Projects Save Millions on America's Campuses by David J Eagan. National Wildlife Federation; 1998.

Book Description:

This Campus Ecology report highlights 23 cost-saving conservation initiatives at 15 public and private institutions across the United States. The projects collectively saves the institutions nearly $17 million annually, showing that what is good for the environment is also good for the bottom line.

Title: Greening of the Campus: a Whole-Systems Approach by R.J. Koester, J. Eflin , J. Vann. Elsevier Ltd; 2006.

Book Description:

An overview is presented of the comprehensive, whole-systems approach used at Ball State University to institutionalize its ongoing 'greening of the campus.' This approach bridges academic content, administrative policies, and facilities management practices. It enables a campus-wide unfolding of education for sustainability. Tracking the history, evaluating the progress, modifying the approach and continually refocusing the effort are presented as essential to a whole-systems approach.

Title: Sustainability and University Life by Walter Leal Filho. Peter Lang Publishing; 2nd Rev edition; 2000.

Book Description:

Prepared in cooperation with the Association of University Leaders for Sustainable Futures (ULSF), this book represents a number of case studies and experiences which illustrate how higher education institutions may pursue sustainability. A wide range of views and perspectives illustrate how, via projects, networks, academic programs, curriculum greening initiatives and student involvement, higher education institutions in various countries (U.S., United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, France) are trying to bring sustainability closer to their institutional lives.

Title: Sustainability on Campus: Stories and Strategies for Change (Urban and Industrial Environments) by Peggy F. Barlett (Editor), Geoffrey W. Chase (Editor). The MIT Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts; 2004.

Book Description:

The authors of Sustainability on Campus report from a diverse group of institutions ranging from two-year community colleges to famous research universities. They tell of environmental stewardship on campus, curriculum changes, green building design, working with local communities, and system-wide initiatives. Written by faculty, staff, administrators, and a student, from varying perspectives and reflecting divergent experiences, these stories map the growing strength of a national movement toward environmental responsibility on campus. Environmental awareness on college and university campuses began with the celebratory consciousness-raising of the first Earth Day in 1970. Since then environmental action on campus has been both global (in research and policy formation) and local (in efforts to make specific environmental improvements on campuses). The stories in this book show that achieving environmental sustainability is not a matter of applying the formulas of risk management or engineering technology but instead is part of what the editors call "the messy reality of participatory engagement in cultural transformation."

Title: The Campus and Environmental Responsibility by David J Eagan, David W. Orr. Jossey-Bass Inc. Publishing; 1992.

Book Description:

The Campus and Environmental Responsibility briefly lays out various environmental issues and problems occurring within the framework of colleges and universities around the United States. The book is a composite of eleven different projects, initiatives and organizations that have been started at various colleges and universities. One such project is the "Hendrix College Local Food Project" - which shows the reader that by purchasing locally grown foods, a college's food service can offer better nutrition, cut environmental damage, and spur economic development. "Can Brown be Green? Lessons from One University's Quest for Environmental Responsibility" is another section of this book which breaks down the complex process of becoming a "green" campus, through improvements in areas such as energy efficiency and waste reduction. The projects in this book aim to act partly as a "how to do it" volume with practical suggestions.

Comparison Institutions (NCG)

Students and faculty conducting research for the SLU Environmental Action Plan are encouraged to consider our comparison institutions in the course of their analysis.

• Allegheny College PA
• Bates College ME
• Bucknell University PA
• Carleton College MN
• Colby College ME
• Colgate University NY
• College of the Holy Cross MA
• College of Wooster OH
• Connecticut College CT
• Denison University OH
• Dickinson College PA
• Drew University NJ
• Gettysburg College PA
• Hamilton College NY
• Hobart&William Smith NY
• Kalamazoo College MI
• Kenyon College OH
• Macalester College MN
• Middlebury College VT
• Muhlenberg College PA
• Ohio Wesleyan University OH
• Skidmore College NY
• Trinity College CT
• Vassar College NY
• Wheaton College IL

Greenhouse Gas Data (GHG)

Research Summary

- by Alice Lenanyokie '07

The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty that requires countries to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With industrialization the level of GHGs, in the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), has been increasing due to fossil fuels combustion and other human activities. The increased concentration of C02 in the atmosphere enhances the greenhouse effect and warms the earth's surface. The resulting global warming affects human and non-human life in many ways, including species extinction, sea level rise, coastal erosion, food production, insurance services, and species ranges- very serious impacts indeed.

In response, the Kyoto Protocol was developed in 1997. The protocol requires developed countries to reduce their GHG emissions by 5.2% from 1990 levels. The United States agreed to 7% cuts, but has not ratified the treaty. Due to lack of leadership at the national level, institutions like universities are taking it upon themselves to meet the US target. This study calculates St. Lawrence University's GHG emissions and suggests cost effective ways to reduce our GHGs to the standard required of the US. In addition, the report includes the costs associated with reducing GHG emissions and a possible way to finance the reduction process. The cost is compared to student's willingness to pay for the SLU to become Kyoto compliant.

This first step is to develop a GHG inventory for St. Lawrence University. Using a GHG calculator developed by Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP), a comprehensive emissions inventory of SLU activities for the years between 1990 and including 2006 is provided herein.

SLU emissions come from energy, wastes, and agricultural sources. Energy sources are divided into on-campus stationary sources (mainly heating), purchased electricity, and transportation. Agricultural sources come from horse and sheep that the University keeps at the stables and Ecological Sustainability Landscape and fertilizer applied to the grounds. Data for some sectors, such as air transportation and coolant recharging, were not available and not included in this report. By calculating GHG contribution of each emission source, it is possible to identify where most emissions are coming from. In addition, it will allow the University to identify cost effective reduction efforts.

SLU emitted 14,506 metric tonnes of eCO2 (a metric measure used to compare the emissions of different greenhouse gases based upon their global warming potential) in 2006, a 27% increase from 1990. On-campus, stationary sources account for the largest share of emission (49%), with purchased electricity a close second (47%). Agriculture, wastes, and transportation account for relatively minor contributions (figure 1). GHGs released from purchased electricity increased by 3,429 tonnes since 1990. However, eCO2 released by stationary sources and the transportation sector has decreased by 248 and 66 tonnes respectively.

This inventory shows that SLU can become Kyoto Protocol compliant in a cost effective way by substituting 6% of its conventionally produced electricity with renewable energy. In 2006, SLU used a total of 16,263,404 kWh of electricity at a cost of $1,912,600 (~11.8 cents per kWh) and emitted 68,818 metric tonnes of CO2. SLU could reach the US Kyoto target of 7% below 1990 emission levels (dashed line in Figure 1) by purchasing 932,619 kWh of electricity from renewable sources (solid brace in Figure 1). The extra cost to SLU to offset 3,917 tonnes of CO2 would be $13,989.29. The cost per student would be $6.50 per year or $3.25 a semester.

Figure 1: Total SLU GHG emissions by sector per year.

A poll was conducted to measure the willingness of SLU students to pay for the extra tuition costs needed to meet the Kyoto Protocol target. On average, SLU students are willing to pay $28.59 per semester to meet the Kyoto targets; some as high as $1,000. The results show that SLU students are more than willing to pay for our institution to become Kyoto compliant and show leadership in climate protection.

Recommendations for future work include:

• Establish a GHG inventory and database that is updated yearly;
• Make GHG calculation part of the operating duties of SLU operations;
• Start tracking missing data;
• Conduct a more extensive survey of students;
• Consider other options to reduce GHG emissions such as energy conservation and efficiency.