Campus Sustainability Case Studies - Campus Ecology

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Taking Action for the Climate

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Many campuses are like small cities… and as a result, many experience the same transportation challenges that our cities do. Traffic congestion, sprawling parking lots, and excessive fuel use all pose threats to air and water quality on campus. Specifically, fuel use contributes to global warming by pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And new parking spaces not only can cost up to $25,000 per space according to Green Investment, Green Return but campus habitat is usually cleared for new parking lots and garages.

Alternative fuels, such as ethanol and electricity, carpooling incentives, campus shuttles, increased bike accessibility, and other solutions are being explored on campuses across the country...and as a result, these campuses are saving money, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, decreasing water runoff, and realizing myriad other benefits.

Colleges and universities committed to stepping up climate leadership on campus are approaching transportation as a way to confront global warming and reduce emissions on campus by implementing bicycle plans, providing walking paths, developing no-idle policies, and fueling campus shuttle fleets with cleaner fuel.

Additional Resources:

Web conferences on greener transportation and biodiesel (archived Power point presentations and audio files
Higher Education in a Warming World: The Business Case for Climate Leadership on Campus (see section on Implementing Climate Action Solutions, Transportation)

Alaska Pacific University

2005 - APU joins in the fight to reduce emissions and traffic congestion.

2004 - APU establishes a biodiesel workshop for undergraduate and graduate students as part of the Summer Field Session on Sustainability.

Ball State University

2008 - Miles Electric Vehicles Corporation awards Ball State with an all-electric car for use on campus.

2005 - A hybrid-electric bus shuttles over 19,000 students around BSU’s campus.

2004 - BSU receives delivery of biodiesel for use by the campus bus and shuttle fleet. Campus Ecology Recognition 2003-2004

2003 - Ball State University goes green on wheels by acquiring hybrid electric vehicles for its University transportation fleet. Green Campus Recognition, 2002-2003

Bard College

2009 - Bard launches electric bike-sharing program on Earth Day 2009.

Bastyr University

1998 - During the week of Earth Day, students held an alternative transportation contest, complete with prizes for those who did the lowest impact transportation method.

College of Wooster

2002 - Tired of searching for on-campus parking? Students at the College of Wooster were, so they started a community bicycle program to cut the use of cars and provide a model of greener transportation.

Colorado School of Mines

2006 - The Colorado School of Mines installs a small-scale portable biodiesel processor on campus.

Eckerd College

2005 - Against all odds Eckerd vigorously works to increase bicycle transportation through out campus.

Harvard University

2009 - Harvard U’s Departmental Bike Program offers any department the option of purchasing a bike for use around campus instead of using a car or taxi.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

2004 - Production of biodiesel and soap are two ambitious environmental initiatives of the Hobart and Smith campus.

Marquette University

2009 - Marquette’s eLIMO project runs a student shuttle, a fleet of 15-passenger vans used to transport students across campus

Middlebury College

2000 - This school leased electric vehicles from a Vermont-based public-private partnership of groups dedicated to the demonstration of alternative vehicles. This allowed the campus to try a new green technology at low risk.

Rice University

2006 - Rice's Biodiesel Initiative (RUBI) acquires space for the construction of a pilot plant with a 70-gallon reactor.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

2005 - Buying brand new yellow bikes might be the only hope for Southern Illinois to move to a sustainable bicycle fleet.

University of British Columbia

2004 - U-Pass, an expanded transit service, resulted in approximately a 20 percent reduction in single-occupancy vehicular traffic.

University of California at Santa Barbara

1998 - Five Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) pickup trucks were purchased to help reduce air emissions, upgrade the maintenance fleet, and provide better service to students, while saving money over the life of the truck.

University of California Los Angeles

2009 - “Take a Vacation from the Pump” was a promotion designed to encourage UCLA commuters who drive solo to try transit for an entire summer, risk free.

University of California: San Diego

2009 - UC San Diego’s alternative transportation program saved an estimated 18,972 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2008.

University of Colorado at Boulder

2006 - University of Colorado Boulder student develops plan to address traffic congestion at the Colorado School of Mines.

2004 - Zero Energy CU Bike Station constructed using green building products and PV technology.

University of Illinois at Chicago

2009 - UIC conducts a commuter survey to determine the modes of transportation used and the distance traveled by staff and students.

University of Kentucky

2005 - University of Kentucky finds a way to organize bicycle transportation on campus.

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

2009 - UNC Charlotte reduces petroleum use by 30% through a Petroleum Displacement Program.

University of Rhode Island

2009 - URI surveys campus on knowledge and use of alternative transportation methods.

University of South Carolina at Columbia

2004 - The Carolina Shuttle that operates on the USC campus for students, faculty and staff is powered with biodiesel.

2003 - USC took the hum of people wanting more bike racks, bike lanes and overall bicycling safety and turned into a buzz.

University of Vermont

2002 - Students are having a gas figuring out which buses and fuels offer the lowest emissions. Will it be regular diesel, bio-diesel, or natural gas, and how will this affect the school’s decision when they replace old buses in the future?

Wellesley College

2006 - Wellesley College establishes a community bike program.