The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

IMB Teams Up With IHEs For Green Data Center

IBM has teamed with New York State and Syracuse University to open what the company says is one of the world's greenest data centers. The Green Data Center at Syracuse University provides a showcase for a number of state-of-the-art technologies designed to reduce power consumption and emissions. The 12,000 square-foot facility generates its own power on site, for electrical, heating, and cooling systems. It houses energy efficient IBM Blade Center, Power 575, and z10 servers and is expected to use 50% less energy than a comparably sized data center using traditional power sources and hardware. IBM contributed $5 million in design services and equipment to the project. Read more at:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/data_centers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222000346&subSection=All+Stories

Clemson Will Use Grant For Wind Power

What Clemson University officials are calling the largest research grant in school history will lead to a wind turbine research facility in Charleston and create an immediate 100 jobs for its construction.The grant could lead to thousands of jobs in the coming years, according to Clemson and state officials, who were involved with landing the $45 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and $53 million in matching funds.The wind turbine drive-train research facility will be at the university’s Restoration Institute. Read more at:
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2009/nov/23/big-grant-puts-clemson-wind-turbine-business/

Achieving Art On Campus While Going Green

Perhaps the first significant wind installation on an American college campus, Quinnipiac’s “wind garden” is free of propellers and their objectionable whoosh. Each of its 25 upright cylindrical turbines is encircled by a vertically aligned apparatus that spins slowly and in virtual silence. The futuristic display is the most prominent feature on the partially completed campus, a symbol of the green ethic guiding the campus design, said John L. Lahey, Quinnipiac’s president. “It’s the tallest thing on that campus,” he said, “and I think it makes an enormous and positive statement. I hope people will see these as aesthetically pleasing, and it may very well encourage more projects of this kind.” Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/realestate/08wczo.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Who's The Greenest In Higher Ed

Everything under the sun is being sold as green nowadays, and colleges are no different. "Sustainability is increasingly becoming an area where schools are putting their best foot forward," says Mark Orlowski, founder and executive director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute, which just released its annual report card tracking green initiatives at 332 schools in the U.S. and Canada. While it's arguably impossible to pinpoint the greenest school in the land, we can pinpoint which colleges and universities are ahead of the pack. Read more at:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/07/greenest-colleges-harvard-business-energy-evergreen.html?feed=rss_business_energy

IHEs Demonstrate Their Commitment To Going Green

Times may be tough, but colleges are not abandoning their efforts to be green, according to the 2010 College Sustainability Report Card. Of the 322 schools evaluated this year, 56 percent earned higher grades than in previous years, while 13 percent showed slight declines.The report card found that half the schools surveyed earned an overall grade of B- or better. Read more at:
http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/despite-hard-times-colleges-are-still-going-green/

Add The Eco-Dorm To Specialty Campus Housing

In recent years, colleges like Warren Wilson took a leading role in the sustainability movement, which seeks to foster a durable human relationship with the environment. The EcoDorm is one of only two student residences that have LEED’s platinum rating, its highest. Two Warren Wilson students first proposed the dorm a decade ago. Undergraduates on the planning committee initially suggested that it be built with corncobs or straw bales. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/magazine/27Ecodorm-t.html?_r=1

IHEs Go Trayless To Save Money And Be Green

Call it eco-dining, or another sign of tough economic times in American academia. Pomona this fall joined a growing number of colleges in California and across the nation that have eliminated cafeteria trays in an effort to reduce food waste, cut water usage and save on energy bills. Aramark Higher Education estimates that 60% of the 600 campuses it serves are trayless, and Sodexo Inc., which works at a similar number of schools, says about 40% have switched. Read more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trayless14-2009sep14,0,3200940.story

Across The Nations IHEs Implement Energy Efficiency Initiatives

Bolin is the college’s heating/cooling specialist, and he presides over a system of direct digital control for the academic buildings. All are equipped with sensors that enable him to regulate heating and cooling, room by room, via his laptop — or if he’s out of the office, via his Palm Pilot. That’s a commitment that extends to an array of cutting-edge energy-conservation and efficiency initiatives — all with an eye toward holding down greenhouse-gas emissions and suppressing the college’s contribution to climate change.
And that’s how it goes at colleges and universities across the country, as sustainability and the fight against climate change capture the imagination and mobilize the energy of students, faculty and administrations alike. Read more at:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090830/NEWS05/90828019/Colleges-push-energy-efficiency--conservation-

Who Is The Greenest Of Them All

Universities these days are scrambling to burnish their sustainability credentials, with efforts that include wind power, organic food and competitions to save energy. They are also adding courses related to sustainability and energy — including, as I report today, in the field of continuing education. But which university is the greenest? Several ranking systems have emerged to offer their take. The Princeton Review, best known as a test-preparation firm, recently came out with its second annual green ratings. Read more at:
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/ranking-universities-by-greenness/

Options For Green Degrees Expanding

Students interested in pursuing a job in sustainability now can choose from a variety of "green" degree programs. With an increased interest in the environment and growth in the "green collar" job sector, colleges and universities are beginning to incorporate sustainability into their programs. From MBAs in sustainable-business practices to programs that give students the technical training necessary to operate wind turbines, students have an increasing array of options to choose from. Read more at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-08-02-sustainability-degrees_N.htm