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| Arizona State University: Sustaining Size |
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| Written by Eric Slack | ||
| Sunday, 30 November 2008 23:00 | ||
“We are one of first universities to develop an integrated effort to achieve sustainability. The Global Institute of Sustainability—ASU’s organizational hub for sustainability—has four pillars: education, research, operations, and outreach,” said Bonny Bentzin, manager of university sustainability business practices. “On the operations side, we have three main goals: carbon neutrality or reaching zero on our carbon footprint, zero waste (both solid and water waste), and active engagement.”  Perhaps the most important goal is engagement. Including staff and faculty, the university has 80,000 potential change agents at its fingertips, and everyone has a role to play. Addressing the carbon footprint by understanding how energy consumption, transportation, and chemicals like fertilizer affect the footprint, as well as reducing the amount of waste generated on campus, is impossible without each individual’s commitment. To get a grasp for just how large ASU is, consider this: it has an enrollment of 68,000 students with 52,000 on one campus alone. Those numbers account for students only and do not include faculty, administration, and staff. A population of nearly 70,000 students means the university’s student body is larger than the population of 16 American state capitals. Aside from being larger than most colleges and many cities, ASU offers what you might expect from any similarly structured university. It has 23 schools and colleges, including a business school highly regarded for supply chain management and design and engineering programs known for expertise in urbanization. Given the struggles that cities and towns are having in encouraging and developing sustainable living programs, it isn’t surprising that ASU has come up against problems of its own. But thanks to its learning environment and its dynamic president, Michael Crow, ASU has willingly chosen to pursue a course rooted in sustainability. Long known for environmental research, the university established its Center for Environmental Studies three decades ago. In 2004, a contribution of $15 million from Julie Wrigley, businesswoman and philanthropist, established the university’s Global Institute of Sustainability, which led to the School of Sustainability’s opening in 2007 after another $10 million donation from Wrigley. When the programs were started, students and faculty alike didn’t really know what the sustainability effort was all about. Suffice it to say that awareness has grown. ASU made great strides in doing something foreign to the world of higher education. Whereas law schools and business studies have traditionally focused on distinct disciplines, the sustainability effort and curriculum has taken a fully integrated and collaborative approach to connecting students, faculty, and fields of learning across the campus. The School of Sustainability launched two years ago with a PhD and masters program and this year expanded to include an undergraduate program. In addition, the School of Sustainability has several certificate programs and is working with departments throughout the university to develop courses, certificates, and other programs to connect multiple disciplines to sustainability. Turning concept into reality Bentzin is quick to remind people that sustainability is different than environmentalism and the pursuit of clean and renewable energy sources; still, ASU has long been a leader in solar energy research and development. It is in the process of installing solar technology on its Tempe campus and will have almost 2 MW of power generated by December with an overall goal of at least 7 MW in Tempe. There are additional planned installations on two other campuses and possibly the fourth. Another important component of the effort is affecting a behavioral change in the way people live and buildings are operated. In May, ASU launched an interactive Web site called Campus Metabolism that provides a public portal to understand campus energy consumption; solid waste and water information will eventually be added. The idea of campus metabolism means that a campus or city is like a living organism. Whereas animals are made up of cells and organs that create a system, buildings and other components make up a system that uses resources and produces waste. The Web site is designed to educate people about what is happening in campus facilities so they will modify their behavior. The system was built inhouse to provide more flexibility and long-term expense control when it expands to other buildings. The eventual goal is to have all campus buildings monitored on the site, although there are currently only 10. Users can select a building to see the real-time energy consumption inside. Historical data is available, and comparison charts benchmark buildings against each other based on change percentage. While Campus Metabolism is generating a buzz around campus, other efforts include additional interactive Web sites and expanded distribution of a pocket-sized guide for sustainability called Pocket Change. The guide was designed to impact human behavior by featuring quick-read factoids and tips on how to integrate sustainable living practices easily in daily life. The guide promotes the idea that “small actions can make big green impacts.” ASU created an identity to connect all of its sustainable efforts called Greening Maroon & Gold, a reference to the ASU colors. Some of the biggest hurdles for the sustainability effort going forward include continuing to spread the word and retrofitting old infrastructure. Retrofitting is difficult because of old infrastructure, something cities and towns also have to deal with. The trick is balancing the costs and benefits of retrofitting structures versus tearing them down and starting from scratch. Part of Bentzin’s responsibility is to look for best practices and lessons learned for sustainability efforts that are being implemented globally and use this knowledge to help shape ASU’s strategy. He said sustainability is about more than efficiency, saving energy, and reducing waste—it’s also about smart business. “When businesses look for inefficiencies in their supply chain they need to take a holistic approach. For example, when you start a recycling program, you must look at your trash program as well to find the most efficient approach,” said Bentzin. “Sustainability is about taking a longer term view and putting those practices in place, and that is the approach we are developing at ASU.” |