Campus Green Builder

This is a re-blog of a post by The American Meteorological Society. See the original post here.

The AMS Education Program has been awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to implement the AMS Climate Studies course at 100 minority-serving institutions (MSIs) over a five-year period. The project will focus on introducing and enhancing geoscience coursework at MSIs nationwide, especially those that are signatories to the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and/or members of the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation. AMS is partnering with Second Nature, the non-profit organization administering the ACUPCC.

“This national network involves more than 670 colleges and universities who are committed to eliminating net greenhouse gas emissions from campus operations by promoting the education and research needed for the rest of society to do the same,” explains Jim Brey, director of the AMS Education Program. “AMS and Second Nature will work together to demonstrate to current and potential MSI signatories how AMS Climate Studies introduces or enhances sustainability-focused curricula.”

In the first four years of the project, AMS will hold a weeklong AMS Climate Studies course implementation workshops for about 25 MSI faculty members. The annual workshops will feature scientists from NOAA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Maryland, Howard University, George Mason University, and other Washington, DC area institutions. Faculty will initially offer AMS Climate Studies in the year following workshop attendance and colleges that successfully implement AMS Climate Studies will be encouraged to build a focused geoscience curricula area by also offering AMS Weather Studies and AMS Ocean Studies.

“The major outcomes of this project will be a large network of faculty trained as change agents in their institutions, sustained offering of AMS undergraduate courses within MSIs, and the introduction of thousands of MSI students to the geosciences,” comments Brey. He notes that this project builds on the success of similar NSF-supported programs for MSI faculty implementing the AMS Weather Studies and AMS Ocean Studies courses, which together have reached 200 MSIs and over 18,000 MSI students. “We’re looking forward to working with Second Nature to continue to expand the climate course and the education that it represents.”

By Second Nature

Colleges and universities that sign the ACUPCC become part of a vast network of schools leading society towards climate neutrality by implementing climate action plans that address education, research initiatives, community engagement, and campus operations. On-campus emissions-reducing efforts benefit the environment, the students who gain hands on experience in the field of sustainability, and the institution’s budget.

Click here to learn more about how ACUPCC campuses are saving money.

By Anne Sjolander, on behalf of Second Nature team

The World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development have been developing Product and Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standards as a part of a multi-stakeholder 12-year partnership with the GHG Protocol Initiative. These comprehensive global standards will aid businesses and the government in understanding, measuring and monitoring greenhouse gas emissions.

The Product Accounting and Reporting Standard and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard, build off of the success of the existing GHG Protocol for Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (2004) and the GHG Protocol for Project Accounting (2005), which are used globally by companies to measure GHG emissions and reductions from mitigation projects. The two new systems will standardize the process of reporting and measuring emissions from corporate value chains and the life cycles of individual products.

The Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard will be used alongside the 2005 Corporate Account and Reporting Standard to quantify Scope 3 emissions. Scope 3 activities prove the most difficult emissions to report on, as they are emissions indirectly caused by a business. The diagram below shows the indirect origin of Scope 3 emissions.

Origins of Scope 3 Emissions
Photo Credit: Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative

Due to the inclusion of upstream and downstream activities in its measurement, Scope 3 is often times the greatest source of emissions and is therefore one of the best areas to target in lowering GHG emissions. The Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard is meant to be used by various types of companies, government sectors, NGO's and Universities.

The Product Accounting and Reporting Standard provides the methodology to inventory and report on GHG emissions associated with the life cycle of a specific product. The main purpose of this standard is to aid companies in understanding the environmental impact of their product and, therefore, empower companies to make knowledgeable choices about the product’s design, use, etc.

The Product Accounting and Reporting Standard along with the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard have been part of a three year effort. The process began in 2008 and was overseen by a 25-member Steering Committee. In 2009, Working Groups made up of more than 160 members developed the first drafts of the two GHG Protocol standards. The first drafts were then “road tested” by over 60 companies in 2010 in order to gain feedback for the second drafts. Finally, Stakeholder Advisory Groups consisting of over 1,200 members gave their feedback on the new standards.

Upon completion of this three year process we finally await the arrival of the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting system and the Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard this September; WRI and WBCSD will soon announce the details of the associated launch events to occur this fall.

The ACUPCC Steering Committee continues to monitor this process. Currently, it does not have plans to adjust the specified emissions sources covered by the Commitment (namely, all Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and Scope 3 emissions from air travel paid for by the institution and regular commuting to and from campus). The ACUPCC continues to encourage institutions to account for and report on additional Scope 3 emissions, however these are not part of the reporting requirements. Please share your thoughts or feedback on this matter with Second Nature by emailing acupcc@secondnature.org and we will incorporate it in our reports to the Steering Committee on this issue as it continues to evolve.

This is a re-blog of a post by Rosa González, Education Director, Green For All. See the original post here.

I can confidently say the green movement is fully underway at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)! This is a big deal because most HBCUs are located in communities disproportionately impacted by climate change and poverty. And in the past, HBCU students have been under-informed about these issues and have not been significantly engaged around developing solutions to economic and environmental crises. Today, HBCU students from all around the country are building a student-led movement to ensure their communities do not remain on the margins of the sustainability movement.

On August 19th through August 21st, Green For All brought 30 student leaders from 15 Historically Black Colleges and Universities together in Washington, D.C. for the 2nd Green For All College Ambassador training.

The program kicked off with a keynote address by award-winning journalist, social activist and political commentator, Jeff Johnson, who engaged the Ambassadors in a strategic thinking around campus organizing. The rest of the program included a dynamic combination of team building activities, environmental literacy training (using the Roots of Success curriculum), student organizing workshops, and opportunities for deep dialogue and planning. Ambassadors shared songs, poetry, and testimonies at a celebratory dinner, proving this multi-talented cohort is unstoppable!

The potential of HBCU students may be overlooked by many and understood by few in the green movement, but these students are determined to shape the local, state and national discourse on the needs and benefits of an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.

Green For All launched the College Ambassador program in September of 2010 to invest in student organizers to champion the green-economy within communities most impacted by climate change and poverty. The program follows the academic calendar and runs on fifteen historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The Ambassadorship consists of expert trainings, a mentorship program in partnership with Green For All Academy Fellows, student-led green education workshops, and a semester long campus sustainability initiatives created and carried out by the Ambassadors with support from students, faculty and Green For All.

Through the Green For All Ambassador program, we hope to provide the tools and support that will allow students to step up to new levels of leadership. Through their leadership we are expanding the base of students calling for sustainable economic development, and creating real change throughout the HBCU system.

The students who have successfully finished serving their Ambassadorships can be found on the College Ambassador Alumni page.

By Anne Sjolander, on behalf of Second Nature team

The first time I heard the grid mentioned it sounded rather ominous to me. The concept reminded me of the movie The Matrix. Just as Neo takes the red pill and awakes to find that in reality he is being used as an energy source, I awoke to find that I have been dependent on the grid since birth.

The phrase "going off the grid" has recently been popping up within the field of energy conservation and sustainability. Living off the grid essentially means living in a way that does not rely on some or all public utilities, such as the municipal water supply, electricity, sewage treatment, etc.

I can easily say that I have never gone a day of my life completely "off the grid". Whether it is water from the faucet, my currently charging computer or microwaving a hot pocket, I am ALWAYS stuck to the grid.

When I heard that Butte College, an ACUPCC Signatory, in Oroville, California has not only gone "off the grid", but has become the first institution to become grid positive, I was, needless to say, very impressed.

Butte College Solar Panels
Photo Credit: National Wildlife Federation

Surrounded by a 928 acre wildlife refuge, Butte College has a long history of sustainability efforts and environmental awareness on campus. As President Diana Van Der Ploeg emphasized, going grid positive is really the culmination of years of sustainability and energy efficiency efforts.¹

With the installment of 25,000 photovoltaic panels on campus, Butte College has eliminated the need for outside energy sources and is capable of sending clean energy back to the grid. The solar panels will generate “6.5-million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.” According to Campus Technology that is enough to power more than 9,000 US homes._²

Not only does this benefit the environment, it also aids the students and the campus economy. Students will gain first hand experience with green technology, opening the doors to green jobs, while the school benefits from an estimated 50 to 75 million dollars saved in the next 15 years.³

Kudos to you Butte College for soaking up that California sunshine.

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¹http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/06/29/butte-college-goes-grid-positive-with-solar-energy.aspx?sc_lang=en

²http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=feeding-the-grid-with-sunshine-at-c-11-07-24

³http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/06/29/butte-college-goes-grid-positive-with-solar-energy.aspx?sc_lang=e