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Syracuse University

Syracuse University
Campus Category: 
Four year and graduate institutions over 15,000 student FTE

Contact Information

Steve
Lloyd
Chief Sustainability Officer
Energy and Computing Management
Education and Research:

Syracuse University is developing and implementing curricula across campus for undergraduate and graduate students addressing the ecological, economic, and socio-political dimensions of global climate change. While more than 160 traditional courses are offered on a range of subjects related to sustainability, our major efforts have focused on creating an interdisciplinary understanding of sustainability issues.

For 2009, SU has created eleven completely new interdisciplinary courses which emphasize environmental and sustainability-related concerns. A list of new and pre-existing interdisciplinary environmental courses is available at http://enspire.syr.edu/courses.htm.

Schools and Colleges Offering Courses

SU Abroad offers a full semester program in Chile, focused on “Sustainable Development and the Environment.”

The University offers numerous programs, symposia, and activities related to sustainability and global climate change. Several institutes and centers participate, as do many schools and colleges through lectures, seminars, and workshops on pertinent themes.

Interdisciplinary Institutes and Centers

  • Adirondack Ecological Center
  • BEESL—Building Energy and Environmental Systems Laboratory
  • Center for Community Design Research (landscape architecture)
  • CEPA – Center for Environmental Policy and Administration
  • CESE—Center for Environmental Science and Engineering
  • Center for Native Peoples and the Environment
  • Center for the Urban Environment
  • Collaborative Initiative for Research Ethics in Environmental Health
  • Community Design Center (architecture)
  • Council on Hydrologic Systems Science
  • Daniel Patrick Moynihan Institute for Global Affairs
  • EFC—USEPA Environmental Finance Center (Region 2)
  • EQS Star Center—Star Center for Environmental Quality Systems
  • Forest Biotechnology Working Group
  • Gender and Environmental Justice Project
  • Great Lakes Research Consortium
  • Imagining America
  • INSCT—Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism
  • Institute for Manufacturing Enterprises
  • PARCC—Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration
  • Sustainable Business Collaboration
  • Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Innovations
  • Syracuse Sustainable Science Action Center
  • USDA Forest Service Urban Forest Research Unit

The University has hosted over two dozen lectures, workshops, and symposia with subjects ranging from climate change to biomimicry to oil wars.

The University’s L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science this year established an endowed professorship in Sustainable Energy Studies.
Faculty and staff sustainability training is provided through presentations, brown bags, lectures, sustainability audits, employee orientation, and information distribution. The University sponsors professional development through certifications in LEED, sustainability, and energy management and conservation.

Campus Operations:

Building on over thirty years of energy conservation efforts, Syracuse University continues to expand its portfolio of sustainable business practices across campus.

Buildings and Grounds

  • LEED certification policy for new building and total renovation projects over
  • $10 million
  • LEED Volume Certification program—pilot participant with sixteen buildings registered
  • Grounds incorporates natural landscapes and indigenous plants
  • Green cleaning products and techniques
  • Buildings use low-flow fixtures to conserve water
  • Virtual PM—energy management system tests HVAC equipment prior to use, reducing vehicle use

Energy Conservation

  • Campus-wide EMS reduces energy consumption by over 15%
  • LEDs and CFLs saved over 600,000 kWh
  • Space temperature policy reduces energy consumption
  • Virtualized servers reduce computing energy usage
  • Centralized energy and power settings for desktop computers
  • Lighting occupancy controls in classrooms and offices
  • Closed campus between Christmas and New Year holidays
  • Vending-misers installed in academic buildings

Environmentally Friendly Products

  • Retail outlets carry recycled, organic, and fair-trade products
  • Sustainable purchasing policy under review
  • 20% of electricity purchased from renewable sources
  • Soy ink and 100% recycled paper used for campus publications
  • EnergyCAP® accounting program tracks carbon and reduces paper

Food

  • Dining centers provide reusable takeout containers
  • 10% discount for drinks dispensed into reusable containers at food centers
  • Dining centers serve locally-grown produce
  • Commitment to other local products
  • All new students receive free reusable beverage bottles
  • Meal plans exclude canned soda and bottled water
  • Organic food sold at student center
  • Fryer oil converted to biodiesel through a student-run campus coop
  • Vegan/vegetarian menus available at food centers

Paper reduction

  • Enterprise document imaging program stores documents including admissions applications, payments, purchasing requisitions, blueprints, and contracts
  • Electronic paychecks and expense reimbursements
  • Online parking permit registration
  • Online student housing, meal plan, and class registration
  • Departments utilizing paperless meetings
  • E-procurement system offered
  • Food Services uses paperless FoodPro® menu management system
  • General Stores warehouse catalogue online
  • Blueprints converted to electronic format

Transportation

  • Campus shuttles use hybrid or CNG—over a million riders per year
  • Free campus and neighborhood buses
  • Direct buses from suburbs to campus
  • Zipcar program
  • Bike racks manufactured on campus
  • Carpooling program with financial incentives
  • Telecommuting available
  • Compressed work week available
  • Safety officer bicycle patrols
  • Electric carts at major campus events
  • 10 hybrid fleet vehicles
  • Campus bike lane system
  • Residence hall bike storage rooms

Waste

  • Excess Property Disposal program reuses furniture and equipment and recycles computer components
  • Improved campus recycling by distributing additional containers
  • Recycling for electronic components, batteries, toner and printer cartridges
  • Food Services composts pre-consumer kitchen waste
  • Records Management working with campus to divert paper waste during office moves
  • Recycling/trash room doors painted green in residence halls
  • Big Belly solar trash compactor and recycling container installed
  • Recycling construction debris, yard waste, steel, and concrete

 

Administration and Finance:

Sustainability is an institutional priority at Syracuse University.

In 2008 and 2009, the University formed six new committees:

  • Climate Action Plan Awareness Committee
  • Climate Action Plan Curriculum Committee
  • Campus Recycling and Composting Committee
  • Green Information Technology Committee
  • Green Library Committee
  • Housing Maintenance Sustainability Committee

Syracuse University also maintains numerous ongoing sustainability-related committees, programs, and memberships: 

Committees

  • Campus Sustainability Committee
  • ACUPCC Steering Committee
  • Division of Student Affairs Civic Engagement and Sustainability Council—provides civic engagement opportunities for students and staff
  • Indoor Air Quality—addresses concerns and solutions
  • Preventive Maintenance—evaluates programs
  • Sustainability Representatives—provides awareness and information dissemination
  • Utilities—financial and operational evaluation of utility usage

Programs

Memberships

Public Engagement

A hallmark of Syracuse University is its emphasis on engaging with the community and the world:

  • Sustainability presentations to area professional organizations
  • JPMorganChase Corporate Challenge–worked to “green” this local charitable event
  • Local Farmers’ Markets held on campus to promote local sourcing of perishable goods
  • “Go Green, Eat Slow”—food tasting event with proceeds donated to the Food Bank of CNY
  • Westcott Cultural Fair–provided sustainability education and information to near-campus community
  • Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Innovations–platinum partner in a federation of more than 200 businesses and institutions that research and develop innovations to improve health, productivity, security, and sustainability in built and urban environments
  • Environmental Engineering undergraduate capstone projects providing pro bono civil and environmental engineering services in support of local communities, governments, and non-profits
  • Ongoing coordination of sustainability efforts with other local institutions of higher education: SUNY Upstate Medical Center, LeMoyne College, SUNY-ESF, and Onondaga Community College
  • The Office of Orientation and Off-Campus Programs partners with Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA) and the City of Syracuse to educate students about recycling and to reduce trash in the off-campus community. In addition, the office organizes the largest Earth Day celebration registered through OCRRA. This year over 150 student, staff, and community members cleaned over 120 blocks and three local parks.
  • Presentations at sustainability conferences hosted by NYAPPA, NACUBO, SCUP, PERC, ACPA, and USGBC.
  • Say Yes to Education
  • Sustainability Academy
  • Native American Scholarship Program
  • Scholarship in Action/Connective Corridor
  • Near West Side Initiative
  • South Side Innovation Center
  • Imagining America

Human Resources

  • Diversity training for all employees
  • LGBT Center/Safe Spaces Campaign
  • Employee orientation programs

 

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