USF Going Green nt: Sustainability Moveme

Team GreenBulls

June 24 2011

Inside this issue:

USFs Involvement in the Going Green Movement

Sustainability is a top priority at the University of South Florida. We know this because USF is making many efforts to reduce our carbon footprint by recycling, finding ways to reduce greenhouse gases and by getting students and the community involved. When it comes to recycling the university is taking a progressive stance. Transportation options for staff and students are in place to reduce greenhouse gasses. The University of South Florida with Sustaina-Bull gets students involved and they are working with other organization to reduce energy usage within the community.

What is Sustainabil-

Campus Sustainability 4 Programs University Commitment Local and Global Sustainability Programs Interview Question 7 13 17

Photo courtesy of USF website

Global Current Events 18 New Ideas to Strength21 en Sustainability Team GreenBulls Melodie Austin-Lead Researcher, Interviewer Secondary Compiler, Editor Sean Gleason-Lead Presenter, Secondary Researcher, Compiler Kesla Rene Lead Editor, Compiler, Secondary Researcher

Professional Writing Professor Francis Tobienne University of South Florida Department of Foreign Languages, Literature and Writing 140 Seventh Ave South St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Photo courtesy of USF website

Table of Contents
3 Executive Summary 4 Introduction: What is Sustainability? 5 Campus Sustainability Programs American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) National Wildlife Federal Campus Ecology Program Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) I Have A DreamUSF earns GOLD rating 2011 Report Card Sustainable Endowments Institute College Sustainability Report Card 8 University Commitment The University of South Floridas implemented strategic goals The creation of the Office of Sustainability Academics - Master the Global World Preparing Scientists to Enhance Global Sustainability Transportation The Curriculum-33 semester hours Building Design 11 Current Efforts Campus Design Energy Recycling 14 Local and Global Sustainability The New Patel School of Global Sustainability Sustainability Champions Program Sustainability Mentors Program Sustainability Fellows Program Sustainability Scholars Program

Mentors (2011) 16 Notable Faculty EPA's Sustainable Design Competition Winner - University of South Florida 18 Interview Questions 19 Global Current Events Engineers Without Borders USF: UNSTOPPABLE Problems in Paradise

20 USFs Future Plans to Strengthen Sustainability Flex House 21 Other Continuing efforts 22 New Ideas to Strengthen Sustainability Home Sustainability Assessment Course Ocean Power 24 Conclusion 25 Works Cited 26 Annotated Bibliography

Executive Summary
USFs Sustainability Initiative begun in January of 2007 in efforts to address how to green the university and to initiate manifold sustainability movement on the USF campus. The University of South Florida created an Office of Sustainability, focusing on reducing waste, recycling and reusing materials. The University is employing new efforts in finding new sources of clean energy, increasing energy efficiency, and diminishing life-cycle impacts and consumption of greenhouse gas producing materials. This is done through the development and implementation of programs, policies, and other courses of action. The integration of academics with the concern for global sustainability on the USF campus has brought a need for the Patel School of Global Sustainability. The school is one of the main centers of information for students, faculty, and staff for on-campus environmental activities. These initiatives by the University of South Florida have a great impact on the environment and the community, via the Universities capacity in leading significant global movements. This white paper focuses on the going green and sustainability efforts of the University of South Florida, Tampa. Although USF has made significant 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 and by introduction various sustainability programs. This will be followed by the University of South Floridas basis for their involvement in this growing green movement, the universitys achievements, and their current efforts of building and campus design, energy, and recycling. Our paper will then focus on local and global sustainability, the Universitys faculty involvement, and interview answers from faculty. This will lead into the final portion of the paper showing what the Universitys plans are for their part in global sustainability and future ideas.

Introduction: What is Sustainability?

?

When talk about green, we talk about sustainability. Why does the University care? Why should we care? Sustainability, as defined by the EPA, is policies and strategies that meet societys present needs without compromising 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 sustainability reflects what the UN and the World Wildlife Fund suggest as the process of improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems. We use the definition where human, societal, environmental, material, and economic activities are fundamentally integrated 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 wellbeing through future generations. (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 coordinated 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.

ate action is required. (Chambers) The challenges that the world is facing include: unsustainable population growth, climate change, energy supplies, water and food supplies, planet sustainability and biodiversity, 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 required. Over the last decade there has been an increasing recognition and understanding of the global challenges faced at every level. There has also been improved coordinated action to address them. The World Economic Forum, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), The World Bank, The Green Economics Institute and many more are involved in addressing the Global issues faced, resulting in exciting new initiatives and increasingly coordinated global action. (Chambers)

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Are we humans working as effectively as we should to address the global challenges that the world is facing? We find that a plan needs to be developed to achieve a sustainable world. This plan is merely 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 sustainable world - not only for our generation but also for all generations to come immedi-

Campus Sustainability Programs

As centers of change, innovation and progress, universities and colleges are well-poised to take the lead on sustainability. By adopting good environmental practices, not only can campuses reduce their own environmental impact but also serve as role models for larger communities. Incorporating sustainability principles in their policies and practices also enable institutions of higher learning to build student capacity for critical thinking and problem solving. The recognition of these benefits has led to the creation of numerous campus sustainability initiatives in recent years. Universities and colleges are choosing to participate in state and nationwide sustainability networks. They look for those that emphasize knowledge sharing and collaboration within and among institutions. . A few of the notable campus sustainability programs in the US are described below.

American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC)

The ACUPCC is a collective effort undertaken by a network of colleges and universities to minimize their institutional greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainability research and education. The commitment provides participating institutions a framework to implement comprehensive plans in pursuit of climate neutrality. Signatories agree to five broad timebound commitments that include a campus-wide emissions inventory, setting up shortterm and long-term emissions reduction actions and integrating sustainability into curriculum. All submitted documents, including action plans inventories and progress reports are made publicly available. Developers of ACUPCC believe the commitment will not only decrease institutional carbon footprints, but will also help them generate strategic investment opportunities and cost savings, open up new funding opportunities and improve their competitive positioning. The commitment was conceived in 2006, and is supported by three non-profit Organizations: AASHE, ecoAmerica and Second Nature.

National Wildlife Federal Campus Ecology Program

The Campus Ecology Program developed and run by National Wildfire Federation, is a conservation program that aims to promote practical conservation projects on campus and train a new generation of environmental leaders. Since 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 National Wildlife Federation provide practical training and incentives to college and university communities, organize student competitions, and supports a publicly shared knowledge base of effective conservation practices.
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Campus Sustainability Programs, Cont.

Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS)
STARS, developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), is a selfreporting framework for colleges and universities to gauge relative progress towards sustainability. The program aims to enable meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions by establishing a common standard of measurement for sustainability in higher education. Institutions earn points in three main categories: Education & Research; Operations; and Planning, Administration and Student Engagement. There is also an innovation category to recognize pioneering practices that are not covered by other STARS credits Participating colleges and universities are awarded one of five levels of ratings depending on the extent to which they fulfill the criteria. Ratings are based on an absolute scale of progress toward sustainability and are not relative to the performance of other institutions. AASHE launched the pilot version of the reporting system in February 2008. STARS is available to any college or university in the U. S. or Canada.

I Have A Dream USF earns GOLD rating

The University of South Florida earned a GOLD rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. USFs efforts to build and ecofriendly campus and to help advance research in sustainability has earned them an outstanding award, which gives 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 accomplishment that helps the university recognize its strengths and weaknesses, The STARS system helps us track our sustainability efforts and allows us to find our weak spots E. Christian Wells (Madduexpress.com).

AASHE is an association of colleges and universities that are working to

create a sustainable future. Our mission is to empower 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 education to model and advance sustainability in everything they do, from governance and operations to education and research (AASHE.org).

Campus Sustainability Programs, Cont.

2011 Report Card
The College of Sustainability Report Card is the only independent assessment of campus and endowment sustainability activities at the colleges and Universities in the United States and Canada. It evaluates these institutions, based on their level of sustainability. The University received a B+, a grade higher than the grade it received in the previous year.
Department Administration Climate change & Energy Food& Recycling Green Building Student Involvement Transportation Shareholder Engagement Grade A B B A A A D

Sustainable Endowments Institute College Sustainability Report Card

The College Sustainability Report Card is an independent sustainability evaluation of colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. In contrast to the academic focus on sustainability in research and teaching, the Report Card focuses on institutional operations and endowment investment activities to identify institutions that are leading by example on sustainability. The aim is to provide accessible information for schools to learn from each others experiences and to help high school students identify a sustainable college. portation, Endowment Transparency and Shareholder Engagement. The data is collected by surveying administrators and students at target institutions as well as gathering information from publicly available sources. The annual Report Cards are made available to the public free of charge.
Photo courtesy of Google

The assessment is made across 43 indicators in 9 main areas of policies and practices, such as Food & Recycling, Student Involvement, Trans7

University Commitment

The University of South Florida has made sustainability a priority and has implemented strategic goals to address this issue: 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, fullyengaged, 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 a supplement to the 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)

University Commitment Cont.

The University of South Florida created the Office of Sustainability to uphold 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, Transportation, Water, Energy, Recycling and Green Building

Academics - Master the Global World

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.

Photo courtesy of USF website

Preparing Scientists to Enhance Global Sustainability 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.

University Commitment Cont.

The Curriculum-33 semester hours
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).

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Transportation
Biodiesel Bull Runner
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

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)

Photo courtesy of USF website

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Current Efforts Building Design

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 Global Solutions, 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 achieved approval 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 renewable materials 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 throughout the 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 The use 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.

Campus Design
Open Space Network is the implementation of landscape improvements, to preserve open space and retention ponds through the Greenway preservation. Integrated Landscape Over 2,000 trees have been planted on campus in the last 15 years. The trees have been strategically planted along Leroy Collins Boulevard and other pedestrian paths on campus, including Sessums Pedestrian Mall from the College of Engineering to the new residence Hall at Magnolia. Conservation The construction of new buildings with many levels have reduced building footprints. Conversion of surface parking has reduced the increase of impervious areas and the heat island effect.

Photo courtesy of USF website 11

Current Efforts, Cont.

Photo courtesy of Google

Energy
Monitoring - The University of South Florida has applied many standards, such as building insulation for walls, roofs, windows, motor and equipment efficiencies, mechanical systems insulation and controls for both HVAC and lighting. This requires Life cycle cost analysis and FLACOM (Florida Commercial Building Energy Computational Program) Building Construction Document process. Recovery - Energy recovery is being applied to design when appropriate. The Green lights Program replaces inefficient light fixtures 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 outdoor air. Renewables

photovoltaics, microturbine landfill gas, battery development and management, and hydrogen production/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.

Recycling

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In 1995 the College of Engineering at USF 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 funding for renewable energy projects such as electric vehicles,

Dining Services - USF Aramark currently receives local products from Flowers Baking Company, Dressler Foods, TG Lee Dairy, R.G.E. Distributing, and Beege Distributing. The University 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 every dining 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 tin materials through Frito-Lay and Republic Waste Services.
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Current Efforts, Cont.

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 retail locations.

Waste - Since 1990 the Physical Plant has operated an extensive 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 with by 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 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

Sustainability:
The New Patel School of Global Sustainability is:

Champions Program
This program highlights outstanding faculty and staff who display a strong commitment to making the USF campus and community a cleaner, greener place to live and work. Sustainability Champions 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 campus.

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 and practice to create sustainable futures Comprised of a global network of SGS-affiliated Scholars

Sustainability Mentors Program

This program highlights outstanding faculty and staff who mentor undergraduate or graduate students in sustainability 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 impact of these efforts.

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Local and Global Sustainability Programs, Cont.

Sustainability: Fellows Program

This service-learning program provides talented USF graduate students with the opportunity to work closely with the Office of Sustainability staff to make USF a Green University. Sustainability Fellows will serve as 0.25 FTE Graduate Research Assistants, working 10 hours per week to help coordinate sustainability activities on campus, educational and communitybased initiatives on sustainability, and other tasks integral to the mission of the Office of Sustainability.

construct and implement a formal research design, receive training in research ethics and relevant methods for data collection and analysis, and use their results to help create and evaluate policies and programs for sustainability initiatives at USF. (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 Patel Center for Global Solutions and Columbia University to create a solution for clean water in a neighborhood in the Dominican Republic.

Sustainability: Scholars Program

This service-learning program provides talented USF undergraduate students with the opportunity to work closely with the Office of Sustainability staff to make USF a Green University. Sustainability Scholars will work collaboratively with stakeholder groups on a range of sustainability projects on campus, examining and assessing coupled social, economic, and environmental practices that promote or impede sustainability. The greater goal of the research effort is to help the USF community become a cleaner, greener place to live and work. Throughout the experience, Scholars will learn how to

Assistant Director of University Scholarships & 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 beverage bottles on campus. Lovett also helped the organization partner with Sam's Club to provide environmental sustainability consulting to local businesses.
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EPAs Sustainable Design Competition WinnerUniversity of South Florida

Notable Faculty

(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 participate. 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 involving 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 revitalization 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 environmental 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 collaboration involving University of South Florida, Young Magnet Middle School and the East Tampa Community. [APPLAUSE] LACAPRA: The teams reaction to winning? OMISCA: WOOHOO! [LAUGHTER] TROTZ: Erlande is like, were excited. [LAUGHTER] OMISCA: We are excited! [LAUGHTER] 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.
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EPAs Sustainable Design Competition Winner Cont.

Notable Faculty
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 elementary 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 involved 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 Research and Development. Please check back again soon for our next program, at epa.gov/ncer.

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Interview Answers
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.

In regards to Sustainability, what do you think the university should do going forward?

There are many programs in place. There is an Office 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?

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 a more 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 control, versus working on larger big picture items. A few examples, sprinklers that go on while it is raining outside, 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 Boarders

USF is currently working in other countries to help other cultures receive everyday 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 Republic.

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 another country. USF reaches others by using their public broadcasting station WUSF. The radio station is a tool that USF uses to make a tremendous impact on the quality of life, business climate, and educational opportunities around the Tampa Bay area. USF has made a made a difference in 120 different countries by using their public broadcasting system to reach out to the Alumni that are making an unstoppable difference in the world.

Problems in Paradise
USF has just marked a decade in Costa Rica for their health research on a changing population. The program allows students at USF to go into the country of Costa Rica to help the residents 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 integration literally unfold. The program also lets the students help make Costa Ricas food more sustainable while being nutritious. The country of Costa Ricas food has caused tremendous 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 eating 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

Photo courtesy of USF website

FleX House
USF plans to strengthen their sustainability by adding many new resources. USF students have helped add to the future strength by designing a solar 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 solarpowered 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. This was 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 and Environmental 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.

Photo courtesy of USF website

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Continued from p. 19

OTHER CONTINUING EFFORTS

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.

Photo courtesy of USF website

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New Ideas to Strengthen Sustainability

Home Sustainability Assessment Course

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:

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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New Ideas to Strengthen Sustainability, Cont.

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 receiving 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 reason would 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.
thermal power. One of USFs strategic goals is to be expanding local and global engagement initiatives to strengthen and sustain healthy Photo courtesy of Climateprogress.org communities and to improve the quality of life. This goal fits 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 universities. The issues that will arise with this project are the following: cost to pursue the project, location of ocean power facility, the governments approval, and competing against other companies/ Universities. Ocean power is a costly project to pursue. The capital cost of installation is the highest out of all other sources of renewable energy. Getting approved for the project will be the hardest part of the project, because in one instance it took about five 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 additional funding that would be provided to the university from the state. A third result would be the additional 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.
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OCEAN POWER
Ocean power is an innovative way to produce electricity; thus reducing the need or dependence on foreign fuels. Ocean power is an innovative way to produce electricity, thus reducing the need or dependence on foreign fuels. Ocean power is a new idea that has been made popular in Japan, Europe, and Australia. The United States of America has proposed small scale ocean energy projects for the following cities: New York and San Francisco and off the coast of Massachusetts, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii. Ocean power is currently being supported by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, but was not originally included until 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, tidal power, and ocean

Conclusion
The University of South Florida has made numerous contributions and advancements toward ecological sustainability. The University of South Florida may or may not have some serious work to do. Far too many people lead miserable lives because they lack the most basic necessities to deal with hunger, thirst, shelter, disease or disability. USF has made many programs that have taken the initiative to help local communities and even other countries become sustainable, but there are other countries that still need help. In addition, the prosperity currently enjoyed by many of us may not be taken for granted in the future. The projects that USF has won have made a tremendous impact on the campuss sustainability program. There will be some hard choices and some lines of research will probably need to be pursued at the expense of others. Industry should change and adopt new strategies. And we as a society should accept and foster that change. The change that USF has made towards sustainability has played a crucial part in the changes that USF has implemented on and off of their campuses. 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 Santen) In closing, we would like to quote Dr. Yogi Goswami, Co-Director of the Clean Energy 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 on campus (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 a number of ideas on that) 5. Looking at the energy efficiency of the physical plant and improving 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.
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Works Cited

Chachere, Vickie. "Problems in Paradise." 10 June 2011. University of South Florida NEWS. 15 June 2011 <http://news.usf.edu/article/templates/?a=3492&z=158>. Chambers, Ian, and John Humble. Developing a plan for the planet: a business plan for sustainable living. Surrey, UK: MPG Books Group: 2011. 6-7. Print. "Sustainability Gold." 7 February 2011. University of South Florida News. 8 June 2011 <http:// news.usf.edu/article/templates/?a=3116>. The University of South Florida. The Office of Sustainability. n.d. 8 June 2011 <http:// usfweb2.usf.edu/Sustainability/>. USF: UNSTOPPABLE. n.d. 8 June 2011 <http://usfweb3.usf.edu/unstoppable/impact.aspx>. 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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Annotated Bibliography
This Annotated Bibliography is for our teams whitepaper concerning the issue of the University of South Floridas participation in the going green movement. We needed to research various sources of information to find what the university has done and what the university is currently doing. We gathered information from the library, offices on campus and the internet. We also wanted to add information regarding the future of USFs Sustainability endeavors and the global implications. The below sources cover most of the information which we were seeking. However, we find that we may need to continue gathering information to see where USF can go in the future.
"About the Patel Center." Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions. 2011: 4-8. Print.

The information packet on the Patel Center highlights the centers achievements and goals concerning research, businesses, and initiatives. This source is beneficial in its display of the Centers goals, accomplishments, and future endeavors. It is a quick and easy access into the Center. Marshall, Paul. "Green Energy in the US." Management Report. 2009. This source was used to determine a way that USF could strengthen their future sustainability. The source demonstrates many uses of sustainable energy, and we used the ocean power section. We incorporated the information into the paper by informing the University of South Florida of the option of installing and using this sustainable source of energy as a research resource. If the University pursues the idea of implementing an ocean power facility then we have listed the possible issues and possible results from attaining the project. Palmer, A. "Human Activities are Impacting the Climate System." Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science. March 2009: 6-7. Print. This article provides valuable information about the impact that man has on the Earths climate globally. It provides the reader with information about green houses, fossil fuels and other industrial activities that are detrimental to the earths atmosphere. The goal of the article is to bring awareness about global issues that can have long term effects on the earth. Lele, Sharachchandra M. Sustainable Development: A Critical Review. Green Planet Blues: Four Decades of Global Environmental Politics. Ken Conca, Geoffrey D.
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Annotated Bibliography, Cont.

Dabelko. Bolder: Westview Press, 2010. 226-228. Print. This book had a number of chapters that address sustainability and environmental problems about climate, water, energy, food, and biodiversity. This particular article focused on ecological 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. <http:// usfweb2.usf.edu/sustainability> 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 associated 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.

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