usf going green movement sustainability

8/6/2019 USF Going Green Movement Sustainability

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Team GreenBulls

Melodie Austin-LeadResearcher, Interviewer

Secondary Compiler,

Editor

Sean Gleason-Lead

Presenter, Secondary

Researcher, Compiler

Kesla Rene Lead Editor,

Compiler, Secondary

Researcher

So it is understandable that sustainability is a top priority

at the University of South Florida. This white paper focuses

on the going green and sustainability efforts of the Universi-

ty of South Florida, Tampa.

Although USF has made signif-icant progress in the areas of

recycling, energy efficiency,

campus and building design, is

this enough?

We will begin our paper by

providing various definitions of

sustainability, the basis for

USFs involvement in this go-ing green movement, the uni-

versitys achievements, and their on-going activities. This

will be followed by what USF can do in the future, both here

and globally.

Professional Wring

Dr. Francis Tobienne

University of South Florida

Department of Foreign Lan-

guages, Literature and

Wring

140 Seventh Ave South

What is Sustainability? 3

Campus Sustainability

Programs

4

University Commitment 7

Local and Global Sus-

tainability Programs

13

Interview Question 17

Global Current Events 18

New Ideas to Strength-

en Sustainability

21

Inside this issue:

USFs Involvement in the Going Green Movement

USFGoingGreenMovement:

SustainabilityJune 2011Team GreenBulls


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Table of Contents3 What is Sustainability?

4 Campus Sustainability

Programs

American College & University

Presidents Climate Commitment

(ACUPCC)

Naonal Wildlife Federal Cam-

pus Ecology Program

Sustainability Tracking, Assess-

ment & Rang System (STARS)

I Have A Dream

USF earns GOLD rating 2011 Report Card

Sustainable Endowments Ins-

tute College Sustainability Re-

port Card

7 University Commitment

The University of South

Floridas implemented stra-

tegic goals

The creation of the Office of

Sustainability

Academics - Master the Global

World

Preparing Scientists to En-

hance Global Sustainability

Transportation

The Curriculum-33 semester

hours

Building Design

Campus Design

Energy

Recycling

13 Local and Global Sustaina-bility

The New Patel School of

Global Sustainability

Sustainability Champions

Program Sustainability Mentors

Program Sustainability Fellows

Program Sustainability Scholars

Program

Mentors (2011)15 Notable Faculty

EPA's Sustainable DesignCompetition Winner - Uni-

versity of South Florida17 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS18 Global Current Events

Engineers Without Borders

USF: UNSTOPPABLE

Problems in Paradise19 USFs Future Plans to

Strengthen Sustainability

FLEX HOUSE OTHER CONTINUING EF-

FORTS21 New Ideas to Strength-

en Sustainability

Home Sustainability As-

sessment Course OCEAN POWER

23 Conclusion

24 Sources25 Annotated Bibliography


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Sustainability, as defined by

the EPA, is policies and strat-

egies that meet societys pre-

sent needs without compro-

mising the ability of future

generations to meet their own

needs. Wikipedia states that

sustainability is the capacity

to endure. The University of

South Florida declares:Our definition of sus-

tainability reflects what

the UN and the World

Wildlife Fund suggest

as the process of im-

proving the quality of

human life while living

within the carrying ca-

pacity of supporting eco-

systems. We use the def-inition where human,

societal, environmental,

material, and economic activi-

ties are fundamentally inte-

grated dimensions that are

mutually reinforcing." Most

proponents of sustainability

take it to mean the existence

of the ecological conditions

necessary to support human

life at a specified level of well-being through future genera-

tions. (Lele)

We care about sustainability

because we are scholars and

as scholars we are compelled

to better our lives, our world,

and our environment. We and

our earth are facing some of

the most challenging issues in

the history of our civilization

and yet we have no overall co-

ordinated global plan on how

to deal with them. We are

struggling to develop, agree

on a plan, or even one issue

such as climate change.

Are we humans working as

effectively as we should to ad-

dress the global challenges

that the world is facing? We

find that a plan needs to be

developed to achieve a sus-

tainable world. This plan ismerely a starting point, which

provides a basis for others to

use, grow, develop, and adapt

from. If we humans are to

succeed in building a sustain-

able world - not only for our

generation but also for all

generations to come immedi-

ate action is required.

(Chambers)

The challenges that the world

is facing include: unsustaina-

ble population growth, climate

change, energy supplies, wa-

ter and food supplies, planet

sustainability and biodiversi-

ty, extreme poverty,global health, universal

education, conflict and

peace and financing a

sustainable world.

As humans, we are able

to adapt and

acknowledge that

change is urgently re-

quired. Over the lastdecade there has been

an increasing recogni-

tion and understanding of the

global challenges faced at eve-

ry level. There has also been

improved coordinated action

to address them. The World

Economic Forum, the Organi-

zation for Economic Coopera-

tion and Development

(OECD), The World Bank,The Green Economics Insti-

tute and many more are in-

volved in addressing the Glob-

al issues faced, resulting in

exciting new initiatives and

increasingly coordinated glob-

al action. (Chambers)

What is Sustainability?

Photo courtesy of Google


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As centers of change, innova-

tion and progress, universitiesand colleges are well-poised to

take the lead on sustainabil-

ity. By adopting good envi-

ronmental practices, not only

can campuses reduce their

own environmental impact

but also serve as role models

for larger communities. Incor-

porating sustainability princi-

ples in their policies and prac-

tices also enable institutions

of higher learning to buildstudent capacity for critical

thinking and problem solving.

The recognition of these bene-

fits has led to the creation of

numerous campus sustaina-

bility initiatives in recent

years. Universities and col-

leges are choosing to partici-

pate in state and nationwide

sustainability networks. They

look for those that emphasize

knowledge sharing and collab-oration within and among in-

stitutions. . A few of the nota-

ble campus sustainability pro-

grams in the US are described

below.

its inception in 1990, more

than 3000 specific ecological

conservation projects have

been completed on college

campuses around the U. S. As

part of this initiative, the Na-

tional Wildlife Federation pro-

vide practical training and in-

The Campus Ecology Program

developed and run by Nation-

al Wildfire Federation, is a

conservation program that

aims to promote practical con-

servation projects on campus

and train a new generation of

environmental leaders. Since

centives to college and univer-

sity communities, organize

student competitions, and

supports a publicly shared

knowledge base of effective

conservation practices.

Campus Sustainability Programs

bound commitments that in-

clude a campus-wide emis-

sions inventory, setting up

short-term and long-term

emissions reduction actions

and integrating sustainability

into curriculum. All submitteddocuments, including action

plans inventories and pro-

gress reports are made public-

ly available.

Developers of ACUPCC believe the

commitment will not only de-

crease institutional carbon

footprints, but will also help

them generate strategic in-

vestment opportunities and

cost savings, open up new

funding opportunities and im-

prove their competitive posi-tioning. The commitment was

conceived in 2006, and is sup-

ported by three non-profit Or-

ganizations: AASHE, ecoAm-

erica and Second Nature.

The ACUPCC is a collective

effort undertaken by a net-

work of colleges and universi-

ties to minimize their institu-

tional greenhouse gas emis-

sions and promote sustaina-

bility research and education.The commitment provides

participating institutions a

framework to implement com-

prehensive plans in pursuit of

climate neutrality. Signato-

ries agree to five broad time-

American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC)

Page 4 USF Going Green Movement: Sustainability

National Wildlife FederalCampus Ecology Program


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STARS, developed by the As-

sociation for the Advancement

of Sustainability in Higher

Education (AASHE), is a self-

reporting framework for col-

leges and universities to

gauge relative progress to-

wards sustainability. The pro-

gram aims to enable meaning-

ful comparisons over time and

across institutions by estab-

lishing a common standard ofmeasurement for sustainabil-

ity in higher education.

Institutions earn points in

three main categories: Educa-

tion & Research; Operations;

and Planning, Administration

and Student Engagement.

There is also an innovation

category to recognize pioneer-

ing practices that are not cov-

ered by other STARS credits

Parcipang colleges and univer-

sities are awarded one of fivelevels of ratings depending on

the extent to which they fulfill

the criteria. Ratings are

based on an absolute scale of

progress toward sustainabil-

ity and are not relative to the

performance of other institu-

tions. AASHE launched the

pilot version of the reporting

system in February 2008.

STARS is available to any col-

lege or university in the U. S.

or Canada.

Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS)

the University pristine

acknowledgement that it is

heading in the right direction.

In 2010 USF joined the rating

program and submitted their

first assessment for which the

university received its very

first gold stars. An accom-

plishment that helps the uni-

versity recognize its strengths

and weaknesses, The STARS

system helps us track our sus-

tainability efforts and allows

us to find our weak spotsE.

Christian Wells

(Madduexpress.com).

The University of South Flori-

da earned a GOLD rating

from the Association for the

Advancement of Sustainabil-

ity in Higher Education.

USFs efforts to build and eco-

friendly campus and to help

advance research in sustaina-

bility has earned them an out-

standing award, which gives

I Have A Dream

USF earnsGOLDrating

Continued from p. 4 Page 5

AASHE is an association of colleges and universities that are

working to create a sustainable future. Our mission is to empow-

er higher education to lead the sustainability transformation.We do this by providing resources, professional development,

and a network of support to enable institutions of higher educa-

tion to model and advance sustainability in everything they do,

from governance and operations to education and research

(AASHE.org).


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The University of South Florida has made sustainability a priority, and

has implemented strategic goals to address this issue:

University Commitment

1. Expanding world-class interdisciplinary research, creative, and scholarly

endeavors.

2. Promoting globally competitive undergraduate, graduate and professional

programs that support interdisciplinary inquiry, intellectual development,

knowledge and skill acquisition, and student success through a diverse, fully-

engaged, learner-centered campus environment.

3. Expanding local and global engagement initiatives to strengthen and sustain

healthy communities and to improve the quality of life.

4. Enhancing all sources of revenue, and maximizing effectiveness in business

practices and financial management to establish a strong and sustainable

economic base in support of USFs growth.

The creation of the Office of Sustainability by USF is as a supplementto Strategic Plan resulting in:

Strengthening and supporting integrated and synergistic interdisciplinary

research across disciplinary, departmental, college and campus boundaries (Goal

1)

Building a sustainable campus environment at USF (Goal 2)

Constructing an up-to-date clearinghouse of information about all the

sustainability engagement activities currently occurring at USF and encouraging

and rewarding faculty, staff, and student engagement in sustainability initiatives(Goal 3)

Creating a sustainable environment that supports an expanded and improved

teaching and research mission, a more engaged residential community, and a

university-based global village (Goal 4)


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The University of South Florida created the Office of Sustainability to up-

hold the Universitys strategic goals, contributing to the Universitys green

movement in a number of ways.

Some of the initiatives of Office of Sustainability include Academics, Trans-portation, Water, Energy, Recycling and Green Building

Continued from p. 7

A new School of Global Sustainability was begun in January 2010. It

is made up of faculty from natural and social sciences, engineering

business, the humanities, arts and health. The initial program focuses

on water. The School of Global Sustainability shows USFs

commitment to transforming educations practices.

Academics - Master the Global World

The Master of Arts in Global Sustainability is offered by the

University of South Florida where students learn skills that

they can utilize in the advancement of sustainability both in

the United States and abroad. The program prepare students

with a total of thirty-three credits, most of those credits can

be done online. The program also includes domestic and

internal internship opportunities.

Preparing Sciensts to Enhance Global Sustainability

Photo courtesy of USF website


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Continued from p. 8

The program begins in Fall and concludes the

following Fall semester.

Core Courses

Interdisciplinary Sustainability Seminar

Public Health Topics in Global Sustainability

Special Topics in Management and

Sustainability

Focus Area Courses:

These courses focus on water and

sustainability issues

Internship (Core) and Sustainability Project (9

semester hours)

There are four core courses for the degree

program.

These courses provide students an overall

understanding of global sustainability

including environmental, historical,

humanities, culture, engineering, health and

other overarching components along with

practical experience (internship).

The Curriculum-33 semester hours

13 Transit Style

9 Bluebird with Cummins

engine

4 Thomas with Cummins

engine

17 Cutaway style

11 Ford, 7.3 Power stroke

6 Chevrolet, 6.5 Dura Max

BiodieselBull Runner

Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel manufactured from vegetable oils, animal

fats, or recycled restaurant greases. It is safe, biodegradable, and produces less

air pollutants than petroleum-based diesel (fueleconomy.gov)

Transportation


Photo courtesy of Google


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Current Efforts

USF looks forward to having several buildings be LEED

(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified,

these buildings include Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for GlobalSolutions, Tampa Campus, Interdisciplinary Science, Tampa

Campus, Science and Technology Building, St. Petersburg

Campus, USF Polytechnic Phase I, Lakeland Campus ,and

Wellness and Nutrition Center, Tampa Campus.

Building Materials-The University has achievedapproval from LEED for all its building projects. Concrete

and locally produced brick and stucco has been used as

structural material on campus, the use of renewablematerials has become a major part of the USFs building

construction.

Material Conservation & Recycling- Stained

concrete floors have been used throughout the

campus. Unpainted materials such as brick, concrete blocks,metal, and concrete have also been used on the campus. The

campus is also incorporating the use of recycled materials in

the construction of new buildings and the renovation of the

old ones.

Green Roofs- Roof replacements are in order throughoutthe campus. Roofs with very high insulation values and high

reflectivity SRI (Solar Reflective Index) of 94 are being

used. Over the last three years a total of fifteen roofs have

been replaced.Rainwater Harvesting & Dual Plumbing Theuse of cisterns to collect rainwater is part of the new Patel

Center for Global Solutions Building. The rainwater

collected by the cisterns is used for toilet and urinal flushing;this reduces the need to withdraw water from the aquifer for

that purpose.

Building Design

Campus DesignOpen Space Network is the implementation of

landscape improvements,to preserve open space and

retention ponds through

the Greenway preserva-tion.

Integrated Land-

scape- Over 2,000 treeshave been planted on cam-pus in the last 15 years.

The trees have been strate-

gically planted alongLeroy Collins Boulevard

and other pedestrian paths

on campus, including Ses-sums Pedestrian Mall from

the College of Engineering

to the new residence Hallat Magnolia.

Conservation The

construction of new build-

ings with many levels have

reduced building foot-

prints. Conversion of sur-

face parking has reduced

the increase of impervious

areas and the heat island

effect.



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Energy

Monitoring - The University of South Florida

has applied many standards, such as build-

ing insulation for walls, roofs, windows, mo-

tor and equipment efficiencies, mechanical

systems insulation and controls for both

HVAC and lighting. This requires Life cycle

cost analysis and FLACOM (Florida Com-

mercial Building Energy Computational Pro-

gram) Building Construction Document pro-

cess.

Recovery - Energy recovery is being appliedto design when appropriate. The Green

lights Program replaces inefficient light fix-

tures across the campus. High efficiency

chillers have been installed and heat pipes

have received additional insulation. The lost

energy is being recovered through the chilled

water distribution system. The campus is

also installing a heat recovery system in air

handling units with a hundred percent out-

door air.

Renewables-

In 1995 the College of Engineering atUSF established The Solar Energy

Charging Station, which became the first

20,000 watt solar charging station in the

United States.

The retrofitting of gas powered golf carts

to solar power is under evaluation.

In the last ten years the University of

South Floridas Clean Energy Research

Center has received $15 million of fund-

ing for renewable energy projects such as

electric vehicles, photovoltaics, micro-

turbine landfill gas, battery developmentand management, and hydrogen produc-

tion/storage and conversion to fuel cells.

$15 million has be secured by The Power

Center for Utility Explorations at USF

as a prestigious Smart Grid project to

work with local utilities to create, test,

and develop smart grids.

Continued from p. 10

Dining Services- USF Aramark currently receives localproducts from Flowers Baking Company, Dressler Foods, TG

Lee Dairy, R.G.E. Distributing, and Beege Distributing. TheUniversity is also looking into receiving fresh produce from a

company called Fresh Point that supports local growers. All

of the dining halls offer USDA Organic Certified, Vegan &Vegetarian options at every day at all of its locations. Tray

less dining to save water and energy (32,992 gallons of water

saved per academic year), have been implemented in everydining hall. The campus also provides reusable, recyclable

cups for discounted fountain beverage purchases and

reusable, recyclable bags to transport food purchases. Dining

Services throughout the University recycles cardboard and tinmaterials through Frito-Lay and Republic Waste Services. 1,689 kilowatt hours per academic year is being saved

through the use of Low-watt light bulbs and the recycling

of bulbs through Frontier lighting. Grease from the restaurants is taken by Darling

Restaurant Services or Filtafry, which recycles it for

biodiesel to power automobiles. Some restaurants are now using paper napkins made from

100 percent unbleached, recycled content and are

switching to green-ware that uses a renewable corn-based

resin. Patrons are able to recycle materials in three recycling

containers outside of each dining hall. Aramark also

partners with the university to recycle at other retaillocations.

Waste - Since 1990 the Physical Plant has operated anextensive recycling program. The Plant collects garbage

solids and burns it to generate electricity. Scrap metal is

also recycled and some food waste is being composted withby the USF Grounds department. The University of South

Florida also participates regularly Recyclemania, in the

Waste Minimization category.

Recycling - USF completed its first waste audit, which

included volumes and revenue for paper and aluminum

compiled from 1996 through 2007 has been audited by the

University of South Florida for the first time recently. Over

9,700 tons of mixed paper has been recycled by USFS

physical plant, becoming an important step in developing a

plan to increase recycling efforts. There has been an

Recycling


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expansion of the Physical Plants recycling of plastics and glass in addition to the Sycamore Drive Community

Recycling Center, which includes an additional three hundred and fifty blue recycling containers, dispersed to

academic and administrative Tampa campus buildings. The USF Student Environmental Association is

working on establishing aluminum can recycling in residence halls, by securing a private sector partner Tampa

Bay Recycling to donate the bins. The Housing and Residential Education Recycling Committee has directed a

project in the 1,000 bed residence in the Juniper-Poplar with bins donated from Coca-Cola Recycles.



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Local and Global Sustainability

Programs

Innovative - global satellite and campus-based

programs

Distinctive - enduring global partnerships

Visionary - emphasizing global citizenship for

sustainability

No-Walls - not a "brick and mortar" school

Faculty tenured in home departments

The reduction of intellectual "silos" created by

disciplines and departments

The integration of engineering, the humanities,

the arts, with the social and natural sciences,

business, education, and medicine

Faculty- and student-driven initiative

A response to global urgency for research andpractice to create sustainable futures

Comprised of a global network of SGS-affiliated

Scholars

The New Patel School of Global Sustainability is:This program highlights outstanding

faculty and staff who display a strong

commitment to making the USF cam-

pus and community a cleaner, greener

place to live and work. SustainabilityChampions are selected based on their

commitment to conserving resources,

reducing waste, recycling and reusing

materials, increasing energy efficiency,

and other behaviors that will help

make USF a more sustainable cam-

pus.

Sustainability

Champions Program

Sustainability

Mentors Program

This program highlights outstanding

faculty and staff who mentor under-

graduate or graduate students in sus-

tainability activities on campus, with

the dual goals of celebrating faculty/staff mentoring excellence and encouraging others to serve

as mentors. Sustainability Mentors are selected based on their commitment to working with

USF students on sustainability issues as well as the social, economic, and environmental im-

pact of these efforts.


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This service-learning program pro-

vides talented USF graduate students

with the opportunity to work closelywith the Office of Sustainability staff

to make USF a Green University. Sus-

tainability Fellows will serve as 0.25

FTE Graduate Research Assistants,

working 10 hours per week to help co-

ordinate sustainability activities on

campus, educational and community-

based initiatives on sustainability, and

other tasks integral to the mission of

the Office of Sustainability.


Sustainability

Fellows Program

Sustainability

Scholars ProgramThis service-learning program pro-

vides talented USF undergraduate stu-

dents with the opportunity to work

closely with the Office of Sustainability

staff to make USF a Green University.

Sustainability Scholars will work col-

laboratively with stakeholder groups

on a range of sustainability projects on

campus, examining and assessing cou-

pled social, economic, and environmen-

tal practices that promote or impede

sustainability. The greater goal of the

research effort is to help the USF com-

munity become a cleaner, greener

place to live and work. Throughout the

experience, Scholars will learn how toconstruct and implement a formal re-

search design, receive training in re-

search ethics and relevant methods for

data collection and analysis, and use

their results to help create and evalu-

ate policies and programs for sustaina-

bility initiatives at USF.- Courtesy of http://usfweb2.usf.edu/

Sustainability/about_programs.aspx

Mentors (2011)Assistant Professor in the Department of

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Daniel Yeh is the Faculty Advisor for Emerging

Green Builders (EGB) and for Engineers without

Borders (EWB). He has worked closely with the Pa-

tel Center for Global Solutions and Columbia Uni-

versity to create a solution for clean water in a

neighborhood in the Dominican Republic.

Assistant Director of University Scholar-

ships & Financial Aid Services

Dameion Lovett is an advisor to Students in Free

Enterprise (SIFE) since its founding in 2005. He has

worked with the Refill-A-Bull program, a program

designed to reduce the use and waste of plastic bev-

erage bottles on campus. Lovett also helped the or-

ganization partner with Sam's Club to provide envi-


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Notable FacultyEPA's Sustainable Design Competition Winner - University

of South Florida

(Below is a copy of the audio Transcript from the interview with Dr. Trotz)

MUSIC: Science Works theme music

LACAPRA: Welcome to EPAs Science Works, a podcast about how the EPA uses science to meet its

mission to protect your health and environment. From Science Works at EPA, Im Vronique LaCapra.

In this podcast, well meet one of the winning teams from this years P3 student design competition. P3

stands for people, prosperity and the planet, and students from any U.S. college or university can partic-

ipate. EPA sponsors the competition to challenge students to work together in interdisciplinary teams, to

design and build sustainable technologies that improve quality of life, promote economic development,and protect the environment.

This team from the University of South Florida in Tampa is creating an educational collaboration involv-

ing the university, a middle school in East Tampa, and the broader East Tampa community. The goal of

the project is to increase awareness of local water quality, focusing on storm water ponds.

East Tampa is an economically disadvantaged area that is currently undergoing a number of revitaliza-

tion projects. Faculty advisor Maya Trotz describes the neighborhood:

TROTZ: So East Tampa is a 94% African American community that is 7.5 square miles in area. They

have 31 storm water ponds and 16 schools. The community itself has invested in beautifying three of the

ponds, because theyre trying to redevelop the area.

LACAPRA: One of the storm water ponds is located across the street from the Young Middle Magnet

School for math and science. Graduate student Erlande Omisca says the P3 team developed an environ-mental curriculum for the middle school students, focusing on pollution problems in the pond:

OMISCA: The students got involved because they would go every week across the street to the storm

water pond, and test the water, monitor the water quality there, and get hands-on experience through

that.

TROTZ: We go every Friday and work with them.

LACAPRA: Again, faculty advisor Maya Trotz.

TROTZ: Some of them got to come to university to visit the lab, so that we at least start planting the

seed that you know, that science and engineering could be something thats interesting and accessible

and fun.

LACAPRA: I caught up with the University of South Florida team again at the P3 awards ceremony,

where EPA Acting Science Advisor Kevin Teichman announced the winning projects:

TEICHMAN: Were half way home, we have three more P3 awards to give out. The next one goes to the

University of South Florida, for Water Awareness Research and Education in East Tampa: a pilot collab-

oration involving University of South Florida, Young Magnet Middle School and the East Tampa Com-

munity. [APPLAUSE]

LACAPRA: The teams reaction to winning?

OMISCA: WOOHOO! [LAUGHTER]

TROTZ: Erlande is like, were excited. [LAUGHTER]

OMISCA: We are excited! [LAUGHTER]


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LACAPRA: Erlande Omisca.

OMISCA: Were just excited about it, were just thinking about the students that we worked with in the

community, and the other faculty members, and the other students at university, theyll be so happy

about it.

LACAPRA: I asked Maya Trotz about the teams plans for the next phase of their project.TROTZ: The next phase is to expand the project to other schools in the neighborhood, including an ele-

mentary school which is right next to the middle school that we worked with, and also to the high school,

and hopefully do events that bring other teachers and other [] schools in the neighborhood, so that

they can learn and build from it. And then also to build educational kiosks at the storm water ponds,

that help to build environmental awareness, and show the work that, you know, all the students in-

volved have been doing, in terms of monitoring water quality and stuff like that, associated with the

ponds.

LACAPRA: You can learn more about the University of South Floridas project on our website, at

epa.gov/P3.

MUSIC: Science Works theme music

LACAPRA: Thanks for listening to Science Works, a podcast series produced by EPAs Office of Re-search and Development. Please check back again soon for our next program, at epa.gov/ncer.



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INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

In regards to Sustainability, what do you think the university should do going forward?There are many programs in place. There is an Oce of Sustainability, a Masters in Sustainability

Program, and the Patel School of Global Sustainability. What is missing, if anything? Is the University on

the right track? Can we improve?

The below question was posed to several faculty members with five responses received, there are shown below. Although

the answers were different, all agree that there are areas that could be improved. Additionally, the lack of funding is a

concern.

Have a sustainable, accountable, and transparent mechanism for engaging multiple

stakeholders interested in making USF and the local communities more sustainable.

Maya Trotz, PhD

Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department Kiran C. Patel

Center for Global Solutions University of South Florida

"I would like to see USF work with the city of Tampa to develop some initiatives in the water,

energy and transportation areas that would build on research expertise at USF and create amore sustainable campus and city. Transportation issues can include mixed use

development, public transportation, promoting biking and walking, telecommuting,

carpooling, etc. Water issues include water reuse, low impact development technologies for

storm water, nutrient recovery from wastewater, aquaculture, biofuel production.

Sarina Ergas, Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator

Dept. Civil & Environmental Engineering

I think the university is missing a huge amount of environmental benefit (and economic savings) by

going after what I consider to be low hanging fruit, these are easy things you can contro, versus

working on larger big picture items. A few examples, sprinklers that go on while it is rainingoutside, building lighting systems not engineered with motion detectors, lack of "safe" transit

infrastructure for cyclists on campus, promotion of easy parking for students on campus that

encourages them to drive single use vehicles to campus and arrive at classes at last minute,

landscaping with flowers that require water, .. recycling all the paper and plastic generated in the

food court area of marshal center (they promote they are "trayless" and that saves water, but seems it

produced more solid waste), ..[more] use of lots of roof space to generate renewable energy, Jim

(Mihelcic)


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Global Current Events

Engineers Without BordersUSF is currently working in other countries to help other cultures receive eve-

ryday items. USF has entered into the country of Dominican Republic to help

out with their water crisis. A team of USFs engineers has made it their goal to

help out the Dominican Republic by providing clean water for the residents. The

goal of the project is titled Water for Miches. In this project the engineers are

providing 20 liters of clean water per day to each of the 500 residents of Miramar

USF: UNSTOPPABLE

USF has made it their goal to help others in need. USF Unstoppable is a campaign

that is dedicated to helping others whether they are at the university or in an-

other country. USF reaches others by using their public broadcasng staon

WUSF. The radio staon is a tool that USF uses to make a tremendous impact on

the quality of life, business climate, and educaonal opportunies around the

Tampa Bay area. USF has made a made a dierence in 120 dierent countries by

using their public broadcasng system to reach out to the Alumni that are mak-ing an unstoppable dierence in the world.

Problems in ParadiseUSF has just marked a decade in Costa Rica for their health research on a changing popula-

on. The program allows students at USF to go into the country of Costa Rica to help the res-

idents who are struggling with unique modern ailments. The purpose of this program is to

give students the opportunity to research and see how the unintended consequences of

global integraon literally unfold. The program also lets the students help make Costa Ricas

food more sustainable while being nutrious. The country of Costa Ricas food has causedtremendous health problems for the people that live in the country. More junk food is being

imported into Costa Rica, because the country is trying to cater to the American tourists.

USF students have gone into the country to help out the local people to demonstrate

healthy eang habits, and also show the local farmers more or new sustainable ways to

grow new produce. The problems that have been raised with local farmers growing crops on

the land are the rising cost of land in Costa Rica.


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USFs Future Plans to Strengthen Sustainability

USF plans to strengthen their sustainability by

adding many new resources. USF students have

helped add to the future strength by designing a solar

FleX House

house. The solar house was built for a competition

and was named the FleX House. The FleX House won

USF a spot in the Department of Energys Solar

Decathlon competition for the worlds best solar-

powered house. Many colleges were involved in the

project as well as USF, but USF used their college of

Arts school of Architecture + Community Design,

Engineering, Arts and Sciences, and Business. Thiswas a great project for USF to involve several on

campus colleges to collaborate on one project. The

team designed the house to make it more affordable

while also making the house use zero-energy. The

team also worked with the Beck Group Company. The

Beck Group was founded in 1912 and has a strong

emphasis on sustainable practices. The students were

encouraged to help as much as

they liked, but the Beck

Group took the lead on the

actual construction of the

FleX House. The Beck

Company also is LEED

certified which stands for

Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design. More

than a third of Becks

employees are LEED

accredited or are Green

Advantage professionals. USF

hopes to learn a lot from this

company and hopes that their

involvement in the project will

give them the strong edge in

the competition that is needed

to win.




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USF also hopes to continue strengthening their sustainability by continuing the Office of

Sustainability, the Masters of Arts in Global Sustainability program, and adding a solar

power plant to a USF campus. The Office of Sustainability informs the students at USF of

different programs and different sustainable issues that USF is accomplishing or has

accomplished. The Office of Sustainability has made it their mission to coordinate and build

partnerships for university-wide initiatives that advance the University of South Florida's

strategic goal of creating a sustainable campus environment. USF is accomplishing this goal

with the FleX House, new Masters degree of Arts in Global Sustainability, and their new

solar plant. The solar plant was just announced on the Office of Sustainabilitys website.

There is a ten minute video that explains the reasons why USF is deciding to build a solar

power plant. USFs sustainability efforts are strong especially since they earned a GOLD star

rating and a B+ on the 2011 report card, but they will need to continue and improve on their

efforts if they want to obtain an A+ on the report card.

OTHER CONTINUING EFFORTS


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New Ideas to Strengthen Sustainability

Adding an online general course about home sustainability would be one way

to strengthen USFs future sustainability. A home sustainability assessment

course would give all graduates the basic knowledge of making informed

decisions when it comes to their energy and water consumption. Victoria

University is one of the first Universities to introduce a course of this kind;

where there are no prerequisites for the course. The course would be very

beneficial for electricians, plumbers, residential heating and air conditioning

installers, carpenters, landscapers, auditors, energy and water companies

and small-business people working in a green industry. A course of this

degree will require the professors who teach the class go to a professional

development course. By taking a professional development course in

sustainability; professors will have the ability to understand the principles of

sustainability, and will understand how to incorporate sustainability into

their daily lectures. Skills that will be taught in a home sustainability

assessment course will be the following:

Home Sustainability Assessment Course

Conduct home sustainability assessments.

Evaluate options for waste management.

Evaluate water usage for gardens.

Determine appropriate mulching and composting options. Use basic energy and water rating technology and tools.

Conduct domestic energy, water and waste assessments.

Measure energy and water efficiency and provide

recommendations to reduce consumptions. Provide advice to customers on sustainable practice

appropriate to their situation.


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The University of South Florida should pursue a course in home sustainability for

many reasons. One reason would be to increase profit which is USFs strategic goal

number 4. Another great reason to pursue the course would be the chance of receiv-

ing funding for the course from the government. This will help USF since the

school has had to make tremendous cut backs from the budget. A third reasonwould be to just improve students knowledge and quality of life another strategic

goal from the University. USF has everything to gain and nothing to lose if they

pursue the idea of adding a course in home sustainability assessment.

Ocean power is an innovave way to

produce electricity; thus reducing the

need or dependence on foreign fuels.Ocean power is a new idea that has

OCEAN POWER

been made popular in Japan, Europe,

and Australia. The United States of

America has proposed small scale

ocean energy projects for the

following cies: New York and San

Francisco and o the coast of

Massachuses, Washington, Oregon,

and Hawaii. Ocean power is currently

being supported by the Energy Policy

Act of 2005, but was not originally

included unl October 2008. Ocean

energy is expensive, but cost will

reduce with future technological

improvement. There are currently

three sources of ocean energy that

can be pursued by the University of

South Florida. The possible choices of

wave energy include wave power,

dal power, and ocean thermal

power.

One of USFs strategic goals is to be expanding local and global

engagement iniaves to strengthen and sustain healthy

communies and to improve the quality of life. This goal ts

nicely when pursuing ocean power since ocean power will

improve the quality of life by reducing emissions that are

caused by fossil fuels which destroy the ozone layer. As a

research university, USF could possibly be the number one

research University of the State of Florida with a project like

ocean power. This would be a big improvement from being one

of the top three research universies.

The issues that will arise with this project are the following:

cost to pursue the project, locaon of ocean power facility, the

governments approval, and compeng against other

companies/Universies. Ocean power is a costly project to

pursue. The capital cost of installaon is the highest out of all

other sources of renewable energy. Geng approved for the

project will be the hardest part of the project, because in one

instance it took about ve years for Verdant Power to obtain a

license so that they could start the project.

The results that USF could obtain from the project are

phenomenal. One result from obtaining the project that was

stated previously is becoming Floridas number one university.

This would be a big accomplishment for the University to

achieve. Another result of pursuing the project would be the

addional funding that would be provided to the university

from the state. A third result would be the addional programs

that students could learn from this project. The school of

sustainability could pick this program as an internship or use it

as a curriculum to demonstrate how ocean power is a

sustainable source for energy.

Photo courtesy of Climateprogress.org


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ConclusionThe University of South Florida has made numerous contributions and advance-

ments toward ecological sustainability.

We have some serious work to do. Far too many people lead miserable lives be-

cause they lack the most basic necessities to deal with hunger, thirst, shelter, dis-

ease or disability. In addition, the prosperity currently enjoyed by many of us may

not be taken for granted in the future. There will be some hard choices and some

lines of research will probably need to be pursued at the expense of others. Indus-

try should change and adopt new strategies. And we as a society should accept and

foster that change. The evolution of technology, industry, and society is a complex

process full of feedback mechanisms and surprises. Its vital that we understand

the most promising ways to facilitate the necessary changes of direction. (Van San-

ten)

In closing, we would like to quote Dr. Yogi Goswami, Co-Director of the Clean En-

ergy Research Center,

Having all of these offices in them selves will not lead to improving Sustainability at USF. There needs

to be an active plan for the following:

1. Improving the energy efficiency of the campus buildings

2. Increasing solar and renewable energy generation oncampus (covering parking lots etc, which will also provide

shade to the cars)

3. Reducing waste and increasing waste recycling

4. Introducing sustainable transportation options (there are anumber of ideas on that)

5. Looking at the energy efficiency of the physical plant andimproving it as necessary.

Some of these would require investment, which may not be available to the university.

However, private capital may be available as long as we allow the investors to take a part

of the savings to provide them a return on investment.

With committed faculty, staff and students, we believe that USF is on

its way in leading Universities in sustainability.


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SourcesChachere, Vickie. "Problems in Paradise." 10 June 2011. University of South Florida NEWS. 15 June 2011 .

. "Sustainability Gold." 7 February 2011. University of South Florida News. 8 June 2011 .

Chambers, Ian, and John Humble.Developing a plan for the planet: a business plan for sustainableliving. Surrey, UK:

MPG Books Group: 2011. 6-7. Print.

The University of South Florida. The Office of Sustainability. n.d. 8 June 2011

.

. USF: UNSTOPPABLE. n.d. 8 June 2011 .

Van Santen, Rutger, Djan Khoe, and Bran Vermeer. 2030: Technology that will change the world. New York: Oxford

University Press, 2010. 259-260. Print.


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logical sustainability and the concept of sustainable development. This was used to compare

USF with what experts say to be important in our objectives of sustainability.

Stirling, Julia. "University's sustainability assessment course adds a green string to trades people's

bow." The Australian 19 March 2011: 4.

This source was used to add an additional course to USF's general education requirements. The

source demonstrates how a college has already successfully implemented a course of this sort.

We used this source in the paper to have USF implement a general requirement class that would

teach everyone sustainability in their own homes. The source also demonstrated what USF

would gain if they were to pursue the idea of adding an online course in home sustainability.

University of South Florida Office of Sustainability. 2011. 4 June 2011.

This website is the main website for Global Sustainability for the University of South Florida.

The website gives detailed information on the universitys goals towards Sustainability in the

USF area and in the nation. The reader is provided with information which includes, people as-sociated with the green movement on campus, what can be done towards achieving the campus

sustainability goals, and ways to become a part of the green movement. The website has a lot of

useful information about the universitys efforts, which makes it a valuable source.

usf going green movement sustainability

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