University of Iowa
Contact Information
Education and Research:
University of Iowa students may augment their undergraduate majors and minors with a Certificate in Sustainability that promotes an integrated understanding of human and environmental systems and the complex interactions between them. Students must complete 24 semester hours, including three introductory core courses; four electives from a designated list of over 110 courses; and one project course. Courses already required as part of a student's major or minor fields of study may count toward the certificate. Students must also maintain at least a 2.00 grade point average.
Jerry Schnoor, professor of civil and environmental engineering and considered one of the founders of phytoremediation, serves as co-director of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, researches carbon sequestration and chairs the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council. Greg Carmichael, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering, is using a $750,000 NASA grant to examine the atmosphere above the Arctic. Larry Weber, director of the UI's world-renowned IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering research unit, is studying the flood of 2008 to develop better ways to predict future flooding and help communities live more sustainably near volatile waterways. And this spring, the Iowa Flood Center was established at IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering and received $1.3 million to enable real-time forecasting of floods and help communities improve flood monitoring.
Iowa is a leader in the development of renewable energy and the UI's commitment to sustainability supports that effort. Iowa leads the nation in wind generation as percentage of total generation, with more than 7% of its total electricity generated by wind power facilities. With 2,883 MW installed, Iowa recently surpassed California (2,517 MW) for the No. 2 position in wind power generating capacity. The UI College of Engineering is involved with the newly launched Iowa Alliance for Wind Innovation and Novel Development, a partnership among the Regents universities, community colleges, industry, and the Iowa Department of Economic Development, to support Iowa’s efforts to attract and nurture wind energy and related industries. Albert Ratner, professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, is identifying sources of biomass and characterizing physical and chemical properties for syngas production through gasification. Vicki H. Grassian, professor of chemistry, is a leader in green chemistry.
Iowa City was recently named a UNESCO City of Literature, the only one on this continent and one of three in the world with that designation, reflecting UI’s stature in arts, literature and cultural offerings and its ability to attract the world’s finest creators. Artists in these areas are turning to their experiences in the 2008 flood to inform and inspire their work.
Student members of Engineers for a Sustainable World, working with faculty advisor Craig Just, recently won a first-place award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for designing a $5, hand-held device to sanitize water in small Mexican communities. Len Sandler, professor of law, is researching the application of universal design in affordable housing in Dubuque.
College of Engineering research: http://www.sustainability.engineering.uiowa.edu/research-capabilities.php
Alumni sustainability work: http://www.sustainability.engineering.uiowa.edu/alumni-activities.php
UI Sustainability Centers and Institutes: http://www.sustainability.engineering.uiowa.edu/centers-and-institutes.php
Campus Operations:
For the fourth year running Buildings magazine has ranked University of Iowa Facilities Management among the 10 most proactive and innovative infrastructure managers in the nation. The UI has committed to building new buildings and conducting major renovations to at least LEED Silver Standards. Currently, seven buildings are in the construction or design process.
The UI's Energy Conservation and Management Plan calls for a 10% reduction in energy consumption and a 15% renewable energy utilization by 2013. In her Earth Day 2008 speech, President Sally Mason challenged the University to move those goals up to 2010. The UI is a member of USEPA's Green Power Partnership. About 11% of the UI's purchased energy is from renewable sources. In 2002, the UI power plant (a combined heat and power facility) pioneered an innovative partnership with the Cedar Rapids Quaker Oats Plant to secure a new fuel: oat hulls. In FY08 alone, the co-combustion of oat hulls displaced about 25,000 tons of coal, resulting in $825,000 of fuel savings. In addition, the power plant realized annual efficiency savings of over $1.0M. From 2003 to 2007, around 254,453 metric tons of CO2 emissions from coal combustion were avoided through the use of biomass fuel. The UI joined the Chicago Climate Exchange in 2004 and was one of the first institutions of higher education to do so. The UI power plant has earned two 2003 Governor's Iowa Environmental Excellence Awards for air quality and energy efficiency/renewable energy. The UI biomass project was featured as a best-practice example to reduce greenhouse gases in the National Wildlife Federation 2008 report "Higher Education in a Warming World: The Business Case for Climate Leadership on Campus." The UI is a partner in Johnson County's in "Cool Cities" initiative.
This summer, a new Energy Hawk team is targeting buildings for intensive audits and improvements. A new retro-commissioning team will be working to optimize building systems performance.
Approximately 30% of campus waste is recycled and up to 2 tons per week of pre-consumer food waste from campus dining facilities is composted at the Iowa City landfill.
Providing the largest public transit system in Iowa, the UI offers free shuttle (Cambus) service on campus. The UI Diesel Fleet (31 Cambuses and 85 trucks) operate on up to 10% biodiesel. UI Parking and Transportation offers discounted bus passes on two local community systems. It operates 75 vanpools for 805 employees and three-person and two-person car pool programs. Bicycling on campus is supported by funding biking programs and the installation and upgrading of bicycle parking spaces. A "day pass" system allows employees who occasionally need to drive to purchase a one-day parking permit.
In its fleet of 544 vehicles, the UI has 214 Light duty Flex-Fuel vehicles and 8 Hybrids. Facilities Management purchased electric vehicles for a trial "green fleet" program. GPS monitoring devices will be installed in service vehicles to help the University develop an idling policy.
UI Energy Conservation and Management: http://www.facilities.uiowa.edu/uem/uemindex.htm
UI Sustainability Practices: http://energy.uiowa.edu/UISustainablePractices20080407.pdf
Administration and Finance:
On Earth Day 2008, President Sally Mason called for a strengthened emphasis on sustainability across the UI campus. She challenged faculty, staff and students to achieve even greater efficiencies in energy conservation and to pursue new sources of renewable energy (moving up the UI Energy Conservation and Management Plan goals of 10% energy conservation and 15% renewable energy from 2013 to 2010), to consider life-cycle costs in campus planning and purchasing, to expand recycling, to incorporate environmentally-friendly design in building construction, to reduce the carbon impact of University-related travel and commuting, and to incorporate sustainability into all aspects of academic study, research pursuits and campus living. She also called for the creation of five new, interdisciplinary faculty positions to lead sustainability research and to incorporate student activism in the UI's journey to sustainability. Finally, she directed the development of a Sustainability Steering Committee and the establishment of a new Office of Sustainability.
The new Office of Sustainability was formally established on December 8, 2008 with the hiring of a director. A Sustainability Advisory Committee (which includes representation from the community at large) was established to work closely with the new director (Liz Christiansen) to develop a campus sustainability plan (in progress).
Recovery from Iowa's worst disaster, the devastating 2008 flood, has underscored the importance of adopting sustainable practices at the UI. Campus operations, planning, design and construction, purchasing, academics, research, student life and activities are all expected to have sustainability as a central theme.
University purchase terms and conditions have been updated to specify Energy Star-rated products. The UI is evaluating and purchasing green-certified janitorial supplies and services. Recycled paper is specified at 30% post-consumer waste. All campus computers have an energy management system installed and activated and all new printers are programmed to duplex printing as a default. To reduce waste, beginning this year the campus catalog is only available on-line.
Students have been active in developing the framework for the new Sustainability Living/Learning Community, coming Fall 2010. A new student garden was established in April 2009 and now supplies fresh produce to the Iowa Memorial Union dining and catering services. This success has spurred the Director of Food Services to commit to purchasing up to 75% of food and produce from local or regional sources by Fall 2009. Students have proposed a Bike Share program, currently being evaluated. Students also spearheaded the expansion of plastics recycling on campus, organized Earth Month activities (including a Green Summit and Expo and a film festival) and conducted weatherization improvements on homes of low and moderate income citizens and participated in the construction of an annual Habitat for Humanity home building project. Sustainability has also been added to the orientation program for new students. Finally, the UI gathered 6,013 pledges for the "Power Down for the Planet" challenge, the most by any university participating in the program and a third of the pledges made by all participating universities nationally.
President Mason's Sustainability Initiative: http://www.uiowa.edu/president/speeches/sustainability_042208.htm
Sustainability video: http://ui.media.uiowa.edu/btn/iowamag4.html
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