Digital Commons Network^™

Are Subcompact Cars Driving Consumers Towards Sustainable Transport, Enda Mcgovern

WCBT Faculty Publications

Access to private transport is a critical component of the modern industrialized world but it is also recognized as a major source of carbon dioxide emissions, one of the global warming gases contributing to climate change. This paper looks at increased use of subcompact cars as a key component in developing a sustainable transport policy. These cars benefit the environment by emitting reduced levels of carbon emissions due to their smaller engines. This empirical research explores the opinions of Smart car owners in a focus group study. Smart car owners are primarily focused on reducing their costs due to difficult …

An Inquiry Into Eco-Labeling: The Promise Of Predator Friendly Certification (Pfc), Melissa Ellen Katherine Early

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Agricultural landscapes play key roles in preserving biodiversity through habitat protection while providing ecosystem services necessary for rural livelihoods. There is a small, but growing movement among agricultural producers to live with nature rather than to dominate nature. Within this larger agriculture movement are efforts to live with predators rather than eliminating them through lethal means. This is reflective of the changing conversation around predators in the New West. Means of co-existence include livestock guardian animals, electric fencing, fladry, range rider patrols, rotational grazing, and lights etc. One grassroots effort in this area is Predator Friendly Certification (PFC). PFC is …

A Gis Approach For Estimating Optimal Sites For Grid-Connected Photovoltaic (Pv) Cells In Nebraska, Tomotoshi Funabashi

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

In the context of rising energy concerns and increased spotlight on solar energy, this study examines and draws attention to the state of mid potential sunlight. The purpose of this study is to estimate the optimal sites for grid-connected photovoltaic cells in Nebraska, which is ranked 13th nationally in terms of insolation potential. Five factors – insolation potential, adjacency to roads, accessibility to grid, topography, and acreage – are examined with the use of Geographic Information System (GIS). Insolation potential was quantitatively analyzed by averaging, plotting, and interpolating the 20 years of datasets recoded at 28 weather stations of High …

Ecological Revival And Sustainable Living In The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest Of Tamil Nadu: A Measurement Of Residential Perception In Sadhana Forest, Elizabeth Collette Mcguire

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Since 1970, the role and function of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been to promote environmental quality and to form strategies for carrying out environmental policy¹. The EPA has committed to sustainability as the next level of environmental protection. The agency states that sustainability calls for policies and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs². Presently, society’s requirements have resulted in natural resource exploitation and population distention- projected to reach 10 billion people within two human generations³. These paired occurrences are …

Students Attend Midwest Power Shift Gathering, University Relations

Campus News Archive

The grassroots national movement is an opportunity for young people to make their voices heard for climate justice.

Senior Internship With River Keepers, Christine Hokkala-Kuhns

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for BSU Honors Program.

Gettysburg College Sustainability Proposal, Joseph W. Boone, Andrea Carson, Sarah F. Hecklau, Erik J. Hughes, Catherine A. Leech, Taylor J. Mcgrath, Nicole L. Moody, Christian I. Neumann, Mary K. Ranii, John D. Ryder, Megan Sherman, Sara W. Tower, Sarah Weinstein

Student Publications

In the fall of 2011, the Environmental Studies capstone class led by Professor Rutherford Platt was asked to write Gettysburg College’s first Sustainability Plan. The goal of the plan was to develop specific sustainable practices for the campus that were related to the three pillars of sustainability: economic, social, and environmental, and how integrating diligent sustainable practices into each of these respected pillars will result in a more conscious campus, community, and future. In 2010, Gettysburg College turned to the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS) to quantify the institution’s sustainability efforts, providing a self-check mechanism to encourage sustainability …

Developing A Sustainable Business Plan At The Shopping Center Of Southpointe Mall In Lincoln, Nebraska, Jessica Marie Hanson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This project consists of creating sustainable business plans for a group of diverse retail stores at the mall of SouthPointe Pavilions in Lincoln, Nebraska. A series of interviews took place with five managers at the businesses including: Scheels, Old Chicago, Bed Bath and Beyond, Von Maur, and Barnes and Noble. The questions were based around five different topics including: Technological, Environment, Socio-Cultural, Economic, and Public Policy. The Technological area includes processes with the product (or service) that occur before it arrives, during, and after it is sold. The Public Policy area includes if the business has an environmental policy, how …

Unlv Stars Unabridged Report, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Reports (USI)

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, by earning a 2011 Silver Rating in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Ratings System (STARS), is ahead of the curve among public universities – and improving.

STARS is a voluntary, self–reporting framework developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) to help measure sustainability performance over time and among colleges and universities nationwide. The UNLV Sustainability Council oversaw STARS, which by measuring sustainability can help UNLV to reduce energy consumption and waste, improve education, attract research, and generate jobs.

A rating of Silver puts UNLV in great company – with …

Improving Energy Sustainability In Pound Hall, Craig Adams

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This research project deals with improving energy sustainability in Pound Hall dormitory located on the University of Nebraska at Lincoln’s (UNL) city campus.  An investigation on the current energy usage of Pound Hall showed that its energy rates worsened between the years of 2009 and 2010.  These combined (electricity, steam, and water) energy rates were compared with those of the newly renovated Othmer Hall to emphasize the lack of sustainability in the older dormitory.  In order to improve Pound Hall’s energy rates, an energy benefit analysis of implementing a green roof was performed.  Having a green roof on this dormitory …

Designing A School Garden Space That Emphasizes Children's Wants And Uses Permaculture Design Methods, Mikhaela Mullins

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

A case study was organized at Saratoga Elementary school in Lincoln, Nebraska to obtain data on what children desire in a garden space. To collect this data a school garden space was constructed and an after school garden club was implemented. Students who participated in the after school garden club partook in the study by drawing their ideal garden. Elements that the subjects drew were identified and categorized into ‘highly desired’ and ‘somewhat desired’.

These elements were then incorporated into a proposed garden design plan for Saratoga. The proposal plan uses Permaculture design methods to emphasize sustainability.

Home/Land: Kiowa, New Mexico- A Grassland's Story, Heather R. Yaryan

Architecture and Planning ETDs

The purpose of this thesis was to illustrate how cultural and natural histories inform place-based community planning. Utilizing both cultural and natural histories, the planner may begin to see patterns of habitancy as they correlate to ecological fluctuations. I focused my research on Kiowa, New Mexico the community my family homesteaded in the grasslands of Northeastern New Mexico and took an auto-ethnographic approach to conducting my research. The story of Kiowa is both unique and universal. The intricacies of the land and people are, indeed, woven into a specific place and times. It is the intersection of Place and of …

2011 Earth Week Events Provide Opportunities To Learn And Engage, University Relations

Campus News Archive

From speakers to discussions, from clothing swap to bike ride, Earth Week is jam-packed with events.

Campus To Host Guest Speaker Jim Farrell During Earth Week 2011, University Relations

Campus News Archive

Farrell is an author, professor, and frequent speaker on “greening” college campuses.

Joseph Hartmann Named National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Fellow, University Relations

Campus News Archive

Hartmann will help to organize a regional conference and develop UMM’s Green Ambassadors Program

Coal And Climate Policy Expert Barbara Freese To Speak At Morris, University Relations

Campus News Archive

Freese will address the topic Power Struggle: Slowing Global Warming and Building Clean Energy in a Shifting Political Landscape.

Green Roots 2011 Annual Report, Lawrence University

Green Roots

With guiding principles established in the first year, the committee continued its review of university operations in the eight following areas; Water, Food, Buildings, Curriculum, Energy, Waste and Recycling, and Transportation. Within each of these areas the committee worked to identify and prioritize opportunities. In our efforts to coordinate sustainability efforts and to publicize them, we present all activities of which we are aware in each of the focus areas.

Examining The Relationship Between Social Capital And The Built Environment: A Case Study In Measuring Community Sustainability, Shannon H. Rogers

Doctoral Dissertations

The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development are frequently described as having three main components, sometimes referred to as the three pillars or the triple bottom line: environmental, economic, and social. Because the origins of sustainability come from a desire to right environmental wrongs much consideration has been given to the environmental issues, especially how they interface with economic ones. Frequently mentioned but rarely examined, the social aspects of sustainability have been considered the weakest and least described pillar. This work explores the utility of social capital, the value of one's networks and connections, as a measure of sustainability. As …

Earth University (Costa Rica), Mary Finley-Brook, Caroline O'Rourke

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

EARTH is a private nonprofit international university located in the town of Guácimo in the province of Limón, a lowland region in the east of Costa Rica. EARTH derives its acronym from the Spanish title Escuela de Agricultura de la Región Tropical Húmeda (Agricultural School of the Humid Tropical Region). The W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Costa Rican government worked with other national and international agencies to create this unique university in the mid-1980s. The higher education initiative emerged from recognition that unsustainable agricultural practices were damaging and straining soil, water, forest, biological, …

Boldly Sustainable: Hope And Opportunity For Higher Education In The Age Of Climate Change (Book Review), Mary Finley-Brook, Breana Coleman, Kaitlan Lawrence

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

Peter Bardaglio and Andrea Putman’s groundbreaking book, Boldly Sustainable, provides a powerful strategy for colleges and universities to achieve renewal and relevance in the 21st century through innovation, academic rigor, and pragmatism. The book combines a refreshingly optimistic message of hope and opportunity with an honest critique of higher education, highlighting the need for transformative change. Case study examples throughout the book show how sustainability initiatives can stimulate excellence in teaching and learning while also encouraging improvements in physical operations. With a broad range of cases from public and private institutions of various sizes and rankings, the authors convincingly …

Changing Hearts: The Future Of The Environmental Movement, Emily Casey

Global Tides

For many, the environmental movement is a consumer fad with very little intellectual or emotional investment. Generally, sustainability is deemed a “good thing” but given low priority at both the personal level and the public policy level. In this paper, I argue that environmentalism must be modified to meet the needs of the general populace in order to gain momentum as a contemporary political movement. In other words, I examine how the environmental movement can attract the massive number of active members necessary to change public policy and conclude that this movement will need to adapt to the public in …

Climate Services To Support Sustainable Tourism And Adaptation To Climate Change, D.J. Scott, Christopher J. Lemieux, Leslie Malone

Geography and Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Tourism is one of the largest global economic sectors, is a vital contributor to the economy of many nations, and is highly promoted as an important means of future development and poverty reduction in developing countries. The interface between climate and tourism is multifaceted and complex, with broad significance for tourist decision-making and expenditures, as well as industry marketing and operations worldwide. With the close relationship of tourism to the environment and climate, the integrated effects of climate change are anticipated to markedly affect tourism businesses and destinations, as well as the destination choices and mobility of individual tourists in …

Developing Criteria And Metrics For Assessing Recycled Water Program Effectiveness, Michelle Arias

Master's Theses

Many U.S. states are currently experiencing or expect to experience water shortages in the next ten years. Recycling water is one strategy states are pursuing to minimize water shortages. Many states, however, have been unable to reach goals for volume of water recycled, and many regional and municipal programs have been ineffective in meeting production goals. Existing literature focuses primarily on how to implement a program and defines success as the ability to establish a program. After several decades of recycled water use in the United States, there is a lack of accepted metrics that allow for a cross comparison …

A Multicriteria Based Quantitative Framework For Assessing Sustainability Of Pile Foundations, Aditi Misra

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Civil Engineering is the major instrument of anthropocentric development over centuries through ever expanding infrastructure, cities and facilities.  Civil engineering processes are both resource and fuel intensive.  The building industry alone, during the construction stage, uses about 30-40% of the total resources used in the industrialized countries.  There is a growing consensus that delivering a sustainable built environment starts with incorporating sustainability thoughts at the planning and design stages of a project.  Geotechnical engineering is most resource intensive although this intensive consumption of energy goes unnoticed mainly because of the indirect nature of the energy used in the …

University Of Richmond Climate Action Plan, University Of Richmond

Plans

The Climate Action Plan for the University of Richmond establishes the framework for achieving the University’s climate action goals under the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. The University of Richmond’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2020 and 100% by 2050. In addition to emissions reduction, the Climate Action Plan articulates goals for embedding sustainability into the curricular and co-curricular aspects of a Richmond education. The plan has been developed under the leadership of the Sustainability Working Group and the University’s Sustainability Coordinator. Climate Action Plan subgroups, with representation of staff, faculty, and students, drafted …

Jennifer Miller '10 Helps Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center Develop Tour, University Relations

Campus News Archive

Miller worked with PWELC in Spicer to develop a self-guided tour of facilities demonstration projects.

Sustainable Practices And Related Performance Measures At State Highway Agencies, Lenahan O’Connell

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report identifies seven ways in which an SHA can harm the environment: (1) excessive consumption of virgin materials; (2) unnecessary levels or amounts of storm water runoff; (3) release of environmental contaminants by SHA employees and contractors; (4) inadequate environmental training of employees and contractors; (5) wasteful use of energy by SHA employees and contractors; (6) the promotion of excessive driving by the public and concomitant release of green house gases; and (7) inadequate oversight mechanisms and procedures to prevent unsustainable practices. The report then identifies the sustainable practices and related performance measures SHAs can use to prevent or …

The Greening Of The Information Systems Curriculum, Patricia Sendall, Li-Jen Shannon, Alan Peslak, Bruce Saulnier

Management Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is related to Green Information Technology (IT), Green Computing, and/or Sustainability (GITS) curriculum initiatives in institutions of higher education in the US and abroad. The purpose of this study is threefold; 1) to evaluate whether GITS academic programs have been initiated in higher educational organizations; 2) to analyze if GITS programs and/or courses are currently in place; and 3) to investigate the conceptual framework of GITS across campuses.

The Flow Of Ideas, Tony Allen

UNLV Innovation

While drought conditions in the West continue to produce record drops in water levels at Lake Mead, a rising tide of research at UNLV seeks to address some of the region’s most pressing water issues.

Teaching Sustainability Analysis In Electrical Engineering Lab Courses, David Braun

Electrical Engineering

Laboratory courses represent an incompletely tapped opportunity to teach sustainability concepts. This work introduces and evaluates a simple strategy used to teach sustainability concepts in electrical engineering laboratory courses. The technique would readily adapt to other disciplines. The paper presents assessment data and a wiki containing student sustainability analyses.