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Ball State University 2006 Campus Sustainability Achievement Award Application

Category

Four-year and graduate institutions over 10,000 student FTE

Contact

Robert J. Koester
Chairman, Ball State University Council on the Environment (BSU/COTE)
Ball State University
Muncie, IN
(765) 285-1135
rkoester@bsu.edu

Governance & Administration

Ball State University maintains active membership in the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Program (NWF/CEP), and the University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF), among others.

Ball State University is a signatory to the Talloires Declaration and has used the framework to implement numerous initiatives including creation the Council on the Environment a university-wide administrative structure. Its membership represents every quarter of the institution and the surrounding community; professional staff, tenure-line and contract faculty and students are represented on the Council as are local business leaders, the Sierra Club, the local/regional hospital, and a local land trust. Members are appointed to the Council by the Provost; the administrative secretariat for the Council is the university-level Center for Energy Research/Education/Service.

Ball State University has adopted a commitment to sustainability initiatives in its Mission Statement, Strategic Plan, and Master Plan and has published on its web page a Sustainability Statement adopted by the University Senate, Senior Administration, Academic Deans and Board of Trustees.

Ball State University has enacted a number of resolutions promulgated by the Council on the Environment; those of the last two years are described in detail in the respective categories below.

Operations

Ball State University has under construction two LEED Silver Certified Buildings: the addition to the College of Communication, Information and Media and the Park Residence Hall.

Ball State University has increased the square footage of its physical plant and at the same time reduced the net density of energy consumption per square foot of that physical plant; this is the result of aggressive campus-wide energy conservation retro-fits using enhanced roof insulation systems, replacement windows with e-coated insulated glazing, variable speed drives on fans and pumps, and a centralized computer-based electrical load shedding system.

Ball State University also uses bio-diesel in its university service fleet, has purchased a hybrid-electric bus, hybrid-electric vehicles for its automotive fleet, makes bulk purchasing of janitorial supplies, installed waterless urinals and reclaims water from the chilled-water side of the district heating/cooling plant.

Ball State University acquired state-level funding in the amount of $48 million and has begun the design and engineering to replace its current coal-fired boiler facilities with fluidized-bed combustion units.

Ball State University recycles all yard cuttings and recyclable waste products of cellulosic structure as mulch for placement on its planting beds campus-wide.

Ball State University has contracted with its private sector waste hauler to monitor recycling of the solid waste stream and receives monthly reports on its increasing performance.

Ball State University continues to expand its campus reforestation program broadening the variety of indigenous ground covers, bushes, and tree specimens.

Curriculum & Research

Ball State University offers a summer “Green for Green Workshop” for faculty and professional staff to enable implementation of sustainable principles in the ongoing teaching and operational practices of the respective participants. To date, fully ¼ of the entire University faculty have participated.

Ball State University has continued to promote sustainability by offering the university-wide Clustered Minors in Environmentally Sustainable Practices; at present there are 5 minors available and others are to be brought on line.

Ball State University now offers a Master of Architecture First Professional Degree with a Concentration in Sustainability. Much of the content of this course sequencing is based on the successful history of professional practice/internships with Indiana’s Allied Design fields and builds as well on the work of the post-professional Masters Program in which its Sustainable Design Studio received recognition from the AIA Committee on the Environment Eco-Literacy in Design Report, funded by the Tides Foundation.

Ball State University produced a Statewide Resource Assessment for the Bio-mass Potential of Indiana and is working with the Governor’s Office to transform Reynolds, Indiana into Bio-Town, the first community in the state of Indiana whose operation will be based entirely on bio-fuel energy sources.

Ball State University students have established the Students for a Sustainable Campus, have actively participated in the Recyclemania Program, and have worked in collaboration with the Environmental Action Team in the residence halls to effect changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns of residents.

Community Service and Outreach

Ball State University continues to work with the Building Better Communities Initiative in which university faculty and students engage immersive educational, research and seminar projects with the private and public sectors for the betterment of Indiana communities. These outreach activities include economic, social and environmental assessment and innovation.

Ball State University has partnered with the City of Muncie/Delaware County community in the development of the White River Watershed Project. This work includes assessment of the health and long-term sustainability of the White River Corridor, selected intervention rehabilitation project activity, and public education.

Ball State hosted its 6th Greening of the Campus Conference this past year in which members of the East Central Indiana Community, Ball State University Campus, and the International Academic Community participated in 2½ days of keynote presentations, paper presentations, workshops, and local outreach tours/activities; these included tours of the living machine installation at PAWS Inc., bicycling on the Rails to Trails Cardinal Greenway in Muncie/Delaware County and in years past, participation in on-campus plantings as part of the Campus Reforestation Program.

Ball State University sourced the entire menu for this conference from local area farmsteads. Menus documenting the trace of the supply were provided during the breakfast, lunch and dinner sessions.

Ball State University has completed construction/reconstruction of its primary on-campus watershed feature, otherwise called the “Duck Pond” (there are now 2) in which the surface run-off from storm water drainage from parking and rooftop areas of campus now move through pre-treatment before being discharged into these surface water features. These ponds have been re-landscaped to accommodate pedestrian access to the water’s edge without damaging the shoreline, and the seeding of the land-water transition on the northern banks to enable nesting of ducks and geese and other critters. This reconstruction is part of the overall Campus Master Plan.

Ball State University is currently working under an NWF Fellowship Grant with the Barnes and Noble bookstore on campus to reconfigure its sourcing of materials and the options of recycled content products offered to the students, faculty and professional staff, on campus.

Ball State University completed collaboration with the National Wildlife Federation/ Campus Ecology Program also to develop a Sustainability Video which was shown as part of the Indiana Outdoors series, telecast through the University’s Public Television Station, WIPB to 55,000 viewers in Indiana.

Additional information on the many activities at Ball State University can be found at these web sites:

• www.bsu.edu/sustainability
• www.bsu.edu/cote
• www.bsu.edu/greening
• www.bsu.edu/cluster

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