Is RCC Sustainable

For my blog assignment in Dr Huff’s class I am going to determine how green the Riverside community College campus is. Our campus has brand new architectural with building that define the personality of the institution and a refurbish of some old buildings. I believe the new ones or retrofits to the ones that already exist—are decreasing their carbon footprint, saving energy, saving water, reducing waste and saving money.

The green movement on college campuses is more than a passing fad. There is a growing interest among students in identifying and applying to colleges where there is a demonstrated commitment to sustainability. Infusing sustainability principles into every aspect of higher education, there is a new priority for a whole generation of leaders, educated and trained, to make a greener world now.

University of Redlands

"As one of the 605 colleges and universities across the country to have signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, the University of Redlands is committed to significantly reducing its carbon footprint. The cogeneration plant is an important milestone toward this objective." - Phil Doolittle, University of Redlands chief operations officer.

Carbon footprint On campus co-generation has reduced the carbon footprint by 33%

Website: http://redlandsapps.redlands.edu/sustains

Green Highlights

The University of Redlands is doing a good job of educating tomorrow’s environmental leaders. The university is an ACUPCC signatory, and one of its faculty members helped found the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. The University of Redlands has not wasted any time moving wholeheartedly toward becoming a greener, more sustainable campus by completing an emissions inventory, setting a target date for becoming climate neutral, and taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The university is home to a cogeneration plant that allows it to produce its own energy and heat and cool 14 campus buildings. Work is in progress to expand the system. Redlands has also embraced green building technology. Lewis Hall, home to the department of Environmental Studies, is a high performance, earth sheltered building. All new buildings are required to meet green building standards. The new Center for the Arts earned LEED Gold certification. Students have joined the effort to go green and since 2007 have had the opportunity to live in a themed residential hall emphasizing green living. All student residents commit to following stringent recycling standards and moderating their use of electricity and paper products. In a unique effort to promote sustainability awareness, Redlands took part in an Eat Local Challenge. Chefs were tasked with creating a lunch made solely of ingredients from within a 150-mile radius of the kitchen. In addition, in 2010 students helped create a three-acre Sustainable Farm on campus for farm-to-fork learning and participation.

Detailed Assessment Plan: There are basic characteristics that colleges and universities will need to be fully committed to sustainability. Those institutions wanting greener higher education will need the following: incorporate the concepts of sustainability into all academic disciplines and in liberal arts and even professional education requirements. Sustainability will need to be integrated into faculty and student research to include renewable energy, sustainable building design, ecological economics, population and development, etc. All schools will continually engage in reducing its ecological footprint. Create staff and faculty development opportunities to enhance understanding, teaching and research in sustainability. And finally create student opportunities would reflect the institution's commitment to sustainability on campus and in the local community.

I explored short and long versions of the instrument with different blends of quantitative and qualitative measures. The goal of the assessment exercise is to provide a comprehensive definition of sustainability and a snapshot of a college or university on the path to sustainability.

Did You Know?
One ton of paper made completely from recycled scrap saves 7,000 gallons of water, 4,100 kilowatt-hours of energy, three cubic yards of landfill space, and17 trees.
Check out the facts: Source: www.oberlin.edu/recycle/facts.html