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The College of New Jersey

The College of New Jersey
Campus Category: 
Four year and graduate institutions 5,000 – 15,000 student FTE

Contact Information

Curt
Heuring
Vice President
Facilities Management, Construction and Campus Safety
Education and Research:

TCNJ's leadership in sustainability education and research includes the following:

The Municipal Land Use Center is engaged in important green initiatives that balance economic development with environmental protection and natural resource conservation, including:

  • The “Sustainable Jersey” initiative is working with municipalities interested in reducing their “carbon footprint” and becoming more “green.”
  • The Green Jobs initiative connects vocational and technical schools to career and employment opportunities through colleges and universities.

The Bonner Center for Community Engagement and Related Activities links students to service in the greater community. Such service includes cleaning up waterways to working on engineering projects in the developing world. Bonner initiatives include

  • Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park/City Parks Division - Environment and Park Restoration
  • Water Watch - student organization cleans local parks and waterways and visits local schools to teach environmental education;
  • Engineers without Borders - engineering students and faculty travel to SE Asia to work on sustainable projects;
  • Roots and Shoots – participation in this national campaign strives to implement positive change through service learning projects that promote care and concern for animals, the environment and the human community.
  • Green31 – TCNJ network that helps people become educated and engaged and to cultivate community leaders on the issue.

The School of Engineering recognizes the direct connection of technology and sustainability. Incorporating basic concepts of sustainability into the engineering curricula is required in all engineering programs.

Sustainability Course Integration
Faculty incorporate climate change in their courses, including:

  1. Prof. Matthew Cathel - Biotech Environmental Systems course;
  2. Prof. Susanna Monseau - environmental law and legal responses to climate change;
  3. Prof. Don Hirsh - laboratory on carbon dioxide monitoring;
  4. Prof. Leeann Thornton – the carbon cycle and the role of plants in global warming;
  5. Prof. Karen Becker - consumer attitudes toward climate change;
  6. Prof. Diane Bates - climate change and probability models;
  7. Prof. Janet Gray - climate change in children's literature;
  8. Prof. Janet Morrison – the effect of global warming on tree/pest dynamics in Western forests;
  9. Prof. Miriam Segura-Totten - the effect of global warming on the spread of infectious disease.

Selected Faculty Research on Sustainability

  1. Dr. Matthew Cathell - creating innovative school activities to help teachers understand remediation of contaminates.
  2. Dr. Lisa Grega - working on a project funded by the NJ Board of Public Utilities to identify sites for wind turbine deployment in the central New Jersey area.
  3. Dr. Karen Yan - working with students on solar energy through the Solar Boat Design.
  4. Dr. George Facas - working with students to create a semi-portable water desalination/ water purification device to provide sustainable potable water to communities.
  5. Dr. Steve O'Brien - working with students on a solar-driven Stirling engine (thermal power converted to mechanical power), a river-powered generator, and a mobile power source for laptops.
  6. Dr. John McCarty – has published on marketing and environmental issues, specifically how to use marketing to get people to engage in environmentally responsible behavior.
Campus Operations:

TCNJ's sustainability leadership in the area of campus operations is notable and includes the following:

Facilities Management and Building Services

  • A recognition program was established within the Office of Building Services: staff members observed recycling by a Supervisor will receive a "TCNJ Recycles" lanyard.
  • Coordinated a campus Mini Dump and Run, named Stop, Drop and Roll, in November, 2008.
  • A recycling website was created this fiscal year
  • A recycling container assessment was completed with Introduction to Sociology students.
  • Expanded number of exterior recycling containers by 18 in FY09 to bring the total number to 24.
  • The Paint Shop is creating recycling signs to add to the existing exterior recycling containers to provide additional visibility and to further help encourage recycling.
  • Established a recycling internship between the Department of Sociology and the Office of Occupational Safety and Environmental Services, which started Spring 2009.
  • Staff members attended the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions and presented information on recycling and energy conservation.
  • Developing public service announcements on recycling for the College's radio station.
  • Working with the College's newspaper  to develop public service announcements and a feature article on campus recycling initiatives.
  • Establishing a "Going Green" section in Departmental newsletter.
  • Planning to coordinate another Dump and Run program in May, 2009.
  • Planning to develop recycling packages for distribution during Welcome Week in August, 2009 to promote recycling awareness from day one.
  • Recycling banners in the Brower Student Center.
  • Transitioning cleaning chemicals so that 90% are Green Seal Certified.
  • Purchased paper products are all made from recycled materials.
  • Recycling residential mattresses instead of throwing them away.
  • Sending all green material from campus to a composting facility at no cost versus including it in the trash stream at a cost.
  • Purchased 6 Flex-Fuel cargo vans.

Campus Police Services

  • Ordered a Segway (personal transport carrier), which, when used, will result in the reduction of full-sized gasoline powered police cruisers.

Grounds and Landscaping Services

  • Established specifications for low maintenance/native plants for new construction and replacement plantings for existing landscape.
  • Established a scrap metal recycling program.
  • Implemented landscaping plan to plant new trees to replace trees lost to age, disease, construction, etc.
  • Utilize composted material from recycling plant.
  • During the months when the cogeneration plant's inlet cooling coil is operational, utilize the water that condenses from the humid air to water the landscaping.

Energy and Central Utilities

  • Cogeneration plant generates 5.2 MW of electricity while producing waste heat that is recovered and used for steam. Annual CO2 reduction is 18,200 tons.
  • Produce chilled water for campus-wide cooling from steam turbine driven centrifugal chillers that utilize waste heat from the cogeneration plant.
  • Use solar photovoltaic cells to power the Maintenance building.
  • Demand Response Initiative – provides TCNJ financial incentives for reducing electric consumption.
  • 129 geothermal heat pumps installed.
  • Variable speed, high efficiency motors in HVAC and pumping systems.
  • Fuel Cells for clean electric generation (600 kW) in Spring 2009.

Campus Planning and Construction

  • All projects are designed to comply with LEED guidelines. Sustainable Sites Initiatives
  • Reuse of existing buildings is high priority.

 

Administration and Finance:

TCNJ‟s sustainability leadership is evident in the area of administration and finance.

The Municipal Land Use Center (MLUC) @ TCNJ is engaged in:

  • The “Sustainable Jersey” initiative works with municipalities interested in reducing their “carbon footprint”.
  • The Green Jobs initiative connects vocational and technical schools to career and employment opportunities through colleges and universities.

The Bonner Center for Community Engagement is engaged in:

  • Service in the greater community including cleaning up waterways to working on engineering projects in the developing world.

Other initiatives include:

  • Water Watch: student organization cleans local parks and waterways and visits local schools to teach environmental education;
  • Engineers without Borders: TCNJ engineering students and faculty travel to SE Asia to work on sustainable projects.
  • Roots and Shoots – TCNJ's participation in this national campaign strives to implement positive change through service learning projects that promote care and concern for animals, the environment and the human community.
  • Green31 – A TCNJ network that helps people become educated and engaged and to cultivate community leaders on the issue.

President's Office

  • Dr. Gitenstein, President of TCNJ, signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), one of the first college presidents in New Jersey to do so. The committee has completed the first round of climate commitment obligations.
  • Established the Presidents Climate Commitment Committee consisting of faculty, staff and students. The PCCC has completed a greenhouse gas inventory for the College for the past three years.
  • The PCCC has complied with the initial obligations of the ACUPCC by establishing a policy of purchasing only Energy Star © rated equipment and offsetting the carbon released from faculty and staff air travel through the purchase of carbon offsets.
  • The PCCC has hired a consultant to develop TCNJ's climate neutrality plan which will map out the steps the College needs to take to achieve climate neutrality and zero net greenhouse gas emissions. This report is complete in draft form.
  • TCNJ has joined the Greater Mercer Transportation Management Authority (MTA) and has begun to develop a mass transportation program for faculty, students and staff.

Special Events at TCNJ, Academic Year 2008-2009

  • TCNJ began the year with a campus-wide reading of James Howard Kunstler's World Made by Hand, with discussions/lectures led by the author.
  • School of Education's workshop on environmental sustainability education.
  • Community Fest (fall 2008) took greening the community as its theme
  • Women's History Month, which is integrally related to sustainability and includes a panel on „Women: Honoring Their Health by Healing the Environment.
  • Mid-Atlantic conference, Ecological Society of America and Society for Ecological Restoration, “Bridging the Gap: Connecting Ecological Research and Restoration Practice”
     

Please email resources@aashe.org with any suggestions, additions or updates.