Sustainability Commons^™

Plans And Living Practices For The Green Campus Of Portland State University, Yoon Jung Choi, Minjung Oh, Jihye Kang, Loren Lutzenhiser

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study aims to comprehend Portland State University (PSU)’s green campus strategies, and students’ level of knowledge and living practices relating to green campus. PSU’s sustainable campus plan has been nationally and internationally recognized. A literature review, field investigation, and interviews were conducted to ascertain the PSU green campus strategies. This study also used a survey to understand students’ level of knowledge and practices. The survey results were analyzed by SPSS. Green campus projects at PSU were operated by official organizations and funded according to PSU’s long term plans in 12 multilateral categories: administration, energy, water, climate action, green buildings, …

Analysis Of Impacts To Ecosystem Services Of Tree Replacement - Recommendations For Broadway Arboretum Phase One, Kim Brown, Joaquin Moore, Jeffrey J. Gerwing

Campus Sustainability Office Publications, Reports and Presentations

The Broadway Arboretum Project is a coordinated effort between the Campus Planning Office (CPO), Campus Sustainability Office (CSO), and the Facilities and Property Management team (FPM) that seeks to increase diversity and resilience of PSU’s urban forest by replacing the existing trees lining Broadway Ave. between I-405 and SW Market Street (currently consisting of almost entirely a single variety, Norway Maple) with a variety of trees that showcase those currently approved by the City for street tree planting while also providing a testing ground for additional varieties that might by resilient to the challenges of growing and surviving in Portland’s …

Campus Sustainability Office Annual Report, 2016-2017, Campus Sustainability Office

Campus Sustainability Office Publications, Reports and Presentations

The Campus Sustainability Office 2016-2017 annual report.

Psu Green Building Summer Internship Final Presentation, 2017, Campus Sustainability Office

Campus Sustainability Office Publications, Reports and Presentations

RESEARCH QUESTION: Is duct cleaning beneficial in terms of energy efficiency and overall occupant comfort?

Comparing Sanitation Delivery Modalities In Urban Informal Settlement Schools: A Randomized Trial In Nairobi, Kenya, Kate Bohnert, Anna N. Chard, Alex Mwaki, Amy E., Kirby, Richard Muga, Corey L. Nagel, Evan A. Thomas, Matthew C. Freeman

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The provision of safely managed sanitation in informal settlements is a challenge, especially in schools that require durable, clean, sex-segregated facilities for a large number of children. In informal settlements in Nairobi, school sanitation facilities demand considerable capital costs, yet are prone to breakage and often unhygienic. The private sector may be able to provide quality facilities and services to schools at lower costs as an alternative to the sanitation that is traditionally provided by the government. We conducted a randomized trial comparing private sector service delivery (PSSD) of urine-diverting dry latrines with routine waste collection and maintenance and government …

Wet Meadow Plant Associations, Double O Unit, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon, John A. Christy

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

This report summarizes vegetation data collected in July 2015 in wet meadow and marshy habitats on the Double O Unit of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR). Because vegetation sampled at the Double O was wetter and more alkaline than wet meadows sampled at the south end of the refuge in 2012 and 2013 (Christy 2014), data from the Double O Unit were analyzed and summarized separately. A total of 83 plots were sampled in 2015, and analysis of the data identified 14 plant associations: Alopecurus aequalis - Juncus balticus, Alopecurus pratensis - Potentilla anserina, Carex praegracilis - Juncus balticus, Cicuta …

Transdisciplinary Weed Research: New Leverage On Challenging Weed Problems?, N. Jordan, M. Schut, S. Grahan, J. N. Barney, D. Z. Childs, S. Christensen, R. D. Cousens, A. S. Davis, H. Eizenberg, David E. Ervin, C. Fernández-Quintanilla, L. J. Harrison, M. A. Harsch, S. Heijting, M. Liebman, D. Loddo, S. B. Mirsky, M. Riemens, P. Neve, D. A. Peltzer, M. Renton, M. Williams, J. Recasens, M. Sønderskov

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Transdisciplinary weed research (TWR) is a promising path to more effective management of challenging weed problems. We define TWR as an integrated process of inquiry and action that addresses complex weed problems in the context of broader efforts to improve economic, environmental and social aspects of ecosystem sustainability. TWR seeks to integrate scholarly and practical knowledge across many stakeholder groups (e.g. scientists, private sector, farmers and extension officers) and levels (e.g. local, regional and landscape). Furthermore, TWR features democratic and iterative processes of decision-making and collective action that aims to align the interests, viewpoints and agendas of a wide range …

Daytime Variation Of Urban Heat Islands: The Case Study Of Doha, Qatar, Yasuyo Makido, Vivek Shandas, Salim Ferwati, David J. Sailor

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent evidence suggests that urban forms and materials can help to mediate temporal variation of microclimates and that landscape modifications can potentially reduce temperatures and increase accessibility to outdoor environments. To understand the relationship between urban form and temperature moderation, we examined the spatial and temporal variation of air temperature throughout one desert city—Doha, Qatar—by conducting vehicle traverses using highly resolved temperature and GPS data logs to determine spatial differences in summertime air temperatures. To help explain near-surface air temperatures using land cover variables, we employed three statistical approaches: Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Regression Tree Analysis (RTA), and Random Forest …

Ecosystem Services In Managing Residential Landscapes: Priorities, Value Dimensions, And Cross-Regional Patterns, Kelli L. Larson, Jennifer L. Morse, Peter M. Groffman, Neil D. Bettez, Tara Trammell

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although ecosystem services have been intensively examined in certain domains (e.g., forests and wetlands), little research has assessed ecosystem services for the most dominant landscape type in urban ecosystems—namely, residential yards. In this paper, we report findings of a cross-site survey of homeowners in six U.S. cities to 1) examine how residents subjectively value various ecosystem services, 2) explore distinctive dimensions of those values, and 3) test the urban homogenization hypothesis. This hypothesis posits that urbanization leads to similarities in the social-ecological dynamics across cities in diverse biomes. By extension, the thesis suggests that residents’ ecosystem service priorities for residential …

Integrating Freight Into Livable Communities, Kristine M. Williams, Alexandria Carroll

TREC Final Reports

Where livability is a goal of the planning process, freight runs the risk of not being considered except as an afterthought or as something to be excluded. Yet, freight is an integral part of local economic development. Because economic prosperity is a key characteristic of livable communities, freight must be incorporated into the planning process. This study explores the relationship between freight and livability through a comprehensive literature review and case study research. The final report includes a menu of strategies and case study perspectives that highlight the importance of transportation and land use integration, interagency coordination, and context-sensitivity in …

Ozone Reaction With Interior Building Materials: Influence Of Diurnal Ozone Variation, Temperature And Humidity, Donghyun Rim, Elliott T. Gall, Randy L. Maddalena, William W. Nazaroff

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Elevated tropospheric ozone concentrations are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Indoor ozone chemistry affects human exposure to ozone and reaction products that also may adversely affect health and comfort. Reactive uptake of ozone has been characterized for many building materials; however, scant information is available on how diurnal variation of ambient ozone influences ozone reaction with indoor surfaces. The primary objective of this study is to investigate ozone-surface reactions in response to a diurnally varying ozone exposure for three common building materials: ceiling tile, painted drywall, and carpet tile. A secondary objective is to examine the effects of air …

Portland’S Food Economy: Trends And Contributions, Jamaal Green, Greg Schrock, Jenny H. Liu

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

The primary goal of this report is to document the scope, growth, and contribution of the food economy to the city of Portland and the region. Specifically, this report addresses the following research questions:

• What is the "food economy," and how is it defined?
• What is the size of Portland’s food economy, and how has it changed in recent years?
• How is the food economy distributed spatially within the city and the region? How is this changing?
• What kind of employment opportunities does Portland’s food economy offer? How do they compare to the broader economy?
• Who works in Portland’s food …

Herbicide Resistance: Challenges For Farmers And Implications For The Environment, George Frisvold, David E. Ervin

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Genetically modified, herbicide resistant (HR) crops offer not only improved weed control, but also the potential to reduce soil erosion and fossil fuel use and to allow substitution toward less toxic or persistent herbicides. The widespread adoption of HR crops, however, has reduced the diversity of weed control tactics and increased ecological selection pressure for weeds resistant to dominant herbicides. This has led to a dramatic rise of HR weeds in many cropping systems. Resistant weeds threaten the sustainability of HR crops, pose environmental risks from alternative weed control practices, are altering public and private R&D programs, and necessitate new …

Experiential Knowledge And Interdisciplinary Approaches To Address Herbicide Resistance: Insights From Theory And Practice, David Shaw, David E. Ervin

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The exponential increase in herbicide resistant weeds around the globe poses a “wicked problem” that resists solutions developed from disciplinary science (Ervin and Jussaume; Shaw). Traditonal voluntary education and technical assistance approaches have failed to stem the advance of resistance. Scholars and practitioners recognize that improved understanding of human behavior leading to more resistant weeds must provide the foundation of knowledge for innovating more effective approaches. Principles to negotiate progress on wicked problems stress interdisciplinary approaches that integrate frontier social and natural science concepts with stakeholder experiences to discover novel approaches (Sayer et al). Standard templates to address the problem …

Academic Incoherence: The State Of Sustainability Literature Today, Anthony Philip Stine

Student Research Symposium

The traditional tools associated with researching and presenting findings in contemporary sustainability literature include very little representation on moral forms of discourse. In the context of social sustainability this is problematic due to the inherently normative nature of the discourse. A citation analysis reveals very little representation of Christian moral environmental claims in the sustainability literature today despite growing concern amongst Christians for the state of the environment today.

Developing Key Sustainability Competencies Through Real-World Learning Experiences: Evaluating Community Environmental Services, Erin Lorene Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

This study focuses on sustainability in higher education and the competencies essential to address sustainability issues. Because sustainability issues are complex, "wicked", and dynamic, sustainability education programs need to reflect the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of the field. Graduates who are competent in sustainability research and problem solving will have the knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary to analyze a sustainability problem systemically and comprehensively, then will construct and implement interventions to reach optimal sustainability solutions. To prepare graduates, sustainability education programs should facilitate the development of key sustainability competencies (Wiek, Withycombe, & Redman, 2011). Such programs provide an interdisciplinary approach …

Forest Park Ecosystems Services Inventory: An Exploratory Study, Pablo Barreyro, Jenny Dempsey Stein

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This report presents both qualitative and quantitative survey data concerning resident perceptions of ecosystem services in Portland’s Forest Park. Focus group best practices and ecosystem services in urban parks literature are reviewed. Representative focus groups were conducted to ascertain local awareness and understanding of the urban wilderness area’s ecosystem services, identify concurrent challenges and measure interest in a potential interpretive center. Individual surveys were also administered in order to connect issues with demographics and recreational use information. Regression analyses were conducted to examine related park usage, access and economic trends.

While the study is preliminary, the results reveal opportunities for …

Peripheral No More: Repositioning Narratives For Empowerment And Change In Sustainability Education, Rell G. Ohlson

Leadership for Sustainability Education Comprehensive Papers

The field of sustainability education challenges dominant modes of thought, with a particular emphasis on the need for diversity and "multiple perspectives" in order to confront complex issues (Capra, 2005; Sterling, 2001; Wheatley, 2006). If this is the case, why are certain perspectives still missing and what narratives have been given prominence? This comprehensive paper examines the problems of a dominant narrative in sustainability education. In order for sustainability education to be truly transformative and empowering for students, leaders, and their communities, the narrative of sustainability must be repositioned from a dominant, white, middle-class context to one that affirms, values …

Who Is At The Forest Restoration Table? Final Report On The Blue Mountains Forest Stewardship Network, Phase 1, Rebecca J. Mclain, Kirsten Wright, Lee Cerveny

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Forest collaboratives have emerged throughout the western U.S. as a governance model to address complex ecological challenges that occur at the landscape scale across multiple landownerships and jurisdictional boundaries. Collaborative groups typically involve multiple parties with diverse interests working together to address complex management challenges. Collaboratives often provide input on or make recommendations about public lands actions and decisions. The Blues Stewardship Project was developed to better understand the size, composition, participation, and diversity of forest collaboratives and to identify organizations that may not currently be represented at the collaborative ‘table.’

The study focuses on five collaborative groups in the …

Modeling Predator Habitat To Enhance Reintroduction Planning, Shiloh Michael Halsey, William J. Zielinski, Robert M. Scheller

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Context

The success of species reintroduction often depends on predation risk and spatial estimates of predator habitat. The fisher (Pekania pennanti) is a species of conservation concern and populations in the western United States have declined substantially in the last century. Reintroduction plans are underway, but the ability of the species to establish a selfsustaining population is affected by predation from its primary predator, the bobcat (Lynx rufus).

Objectives

To develop a habitat model that incorporates both habitat of the focal species and the spatial patterning of predator habitat. To locate areas of densely aggregated habitat that would be suitable …

Sensible Air To Air Heat Recovery Strategies In A Passive House, Santiago Martin Rodriguez-Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

Due to rising energy costs and concerns about global climate change, high performance buildings are more in demand than ever before. With roughly 20% of the total energy consumption in the United States being devoted to residential use, this sector represents a significant opportunity for future savings. There are many guidelines and standards for reducing building energy consumption. One of the most stringent is the Passive House Standard. The standard requires that that air infiltration is less than or equal to 0.6 air changes per hour at a 50 Pascal pressure difference (ACH 50), annual heating energy is less than …

Putting Impact First: Community-University Partnerships To Advance Authentic Neighborhood Sustainability, Michelle L. Holliday, Tony Defalco, Jacob Sherman

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This article profiles a partnership between the Living Cully ecodistrict and Portland State University’s Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative. The case studies presented in this article explore how Living Cully leveraged PSU assets to advance their goals, highlighting successes and lessons learned. This article also addresses how the partnership was formed, what makes the partnership innovative, the role of interdisciplinary/intercommunity organizational strategies, and how the community partner commits to urban sustainability and social justice.

Strengthening The Resiliency Of Dryland Forest-Based Livelihoods In Ethiopia And South Sudan: A Review Of Literature On The Interaction Between Dryland Forests, Livelihoods And Forest Governance, Steven Lawry, Rebecca J. Mclain, Habtemariam Kassa

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Dry forests account for nearly half of the world’s tropical and subtropical forests and provide a multitude of ecological services. They contribute to hydrological cycles and livestock and wildlife provisioning; and host pollinators and wild plants. They are also important ecological zones for dryland agriculture and pastoral livelihood strategies that support hundreds of millions of people around the world. Dry forests cover large areas and their biomass stores carbon and helps mitigate climate change. Dry forests are particularly important to people in Africa. They provide wood for construction and energy, contribute to local diets with wild fruits, vegetables, nuts, edible …

Whose Urban Forest? The Political Ecology Of Foraging Urban Nontimber Forest Products, Patrick T. Hurley, Marla R. Emery, Rebecca J. Mclain, Melissa R. Poe, Brain Grabbatin, Cari L. Goetcheus

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Drawing on case studies of foraging in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, we point to foraging landscapes and practices within diverse urban forest spaces. We examine these spaces in relation to U.S. conservation and development processes and the effects of management and governance on species valued by foragers. These case studies reveal the everyday landscapes of urban foraging and suggest that ideas about what constitutes the suite of appropriate human-environment interactions in the sustainable city are contested and accommodated in diverse ways.

Institute For Sustainable Solutions Annual Report (2013-2014), Portland State University. Institute For Sustainable Solutions

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This brief annual report from Portland State University's Institute for Sustainable Solutions captures the highlights from the year and signals where sustainability at PSU is headed in the years to come.

Mapping Landscape Values: Issues, Challenges And Lessons Learned From Field Work On The Olympic Peninsula, Washington, Diane Besser, Rebecca J. Mclain, Lee Cerveny, Kelly Biedenweg, David Banis

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

In order to inform natural resource policy and land management decisions, landscape values mapping (LVM) is increasingly used to collect data about the meanings that people attach to places and the activities associated with those places. This type of mapping provides geographically referenced data on areas of high density of values or associated with different types of values. This article focuses on issues and challenges that commonly occur in LVM, drawing on lessons learned in the US Forest Service Olympic Peninsula Human Ecology Mapping Project. The discussion covers choosing a spatial scale for collecting data, creating the base map, developing …

The Community Economic Impacts Of Large Wildfires: A Case Study From Trinity County, California, Emily Jane Davis, Cassandra Moseley, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Pamela J. Jakes

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Wildfires are increasing in severity and frequency in the American West, but there is limited understanding of their economic effects at the community level. We conducted a case study of the impacts of large wildfires in 2008 in Trinity County, California, by examining labor market, suppression spending, and qualitative interview data. We found that the 2008 fires had interrelated effects on several economic sectors in the county. Labor market data indicated a decrease in total private-sector employment and wages and an increase in public-sector employment and wages during the summer of 2008 compared to the previous year, while interviews captured …

A Missing Piece In The Sustainability Movement: The Human Spirit, Deborah S. Peterson

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The sustainability movement, committed to the health of our natural world, is making a critical contribution to society. While many agree the sustainability movement should focus on the natural world, recent articles call for an additional focus on human welfare. This article proposes that a missing piece of the sustainability movement is a discussion of the role of the human spirit. By focusing narrowly on an examination of the state of the natural world, we are neglecting to incorporate the deep and enduring power of the human spirit to transform our natural and human-made environment and to support change agents …

Assessing The Homogenization Of Urban Land Management With An Application To Us Residential Lawn Care, Colin Polsky, J. Morgan Grove, Chris Knudson, Peter M. Groffman, Neil D. Bettez, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Sharon J. Hall, James B. Heffernan, Sarah E. Hobbie, Kelli L. Larson, Jennifer L. Morse, Christopher Neill, Kristen C. Nelson, Laura A. Ogden, Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne, Diane E. Pataki, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, Meredith K. Steele

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Changes in land use, land cover, and land management present some of the greatest potential global environmental challenges of the 21st century. Urbanization, one of the principal drivers of these transformations, is commonly thought to be generating land changes that are increasingly similar. An implication of this multiscale homogenization hypothesis is that the ecosystem structure and function and human behaviors associated with urbanization should be more similar in certain kinds of urbanized locations across biogeophysical gradients than across urbanization gradients in places with similar biogeophysical characteristics. This paper introduces an analytical framework for testing this hypothesis, and applies the framework …

A Global Investigation Of Stakeholder And Contextual Influences On Firm Engagement In Sustainability, Annette M. Nemetz

Dissertations and Theses

Global sustainability issues cross all sectors of society, including businesses, governments, and communities and come with substantial costs. Business organizations are increasingly expected to address sustainability issues in a responsible manner and to disclose socially responsible behaviors accurately and transparently, showing that they are effective at managing and being proactive about sustainability challenges. In light of these pressures and expectations for business organizations, the fundamental research question for this study was whether variation existed in the levels of engagement in sustainability efforts across firms globally, and, more importantly, why such variation existed.

The level of strategic firm engagement in sustainability …