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August 20, 2009

Sierra Magazine Names ASU as a “Cool School”

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY NAMED ONE OF AMERICA’S TOP 20 “COOLEST” SCHOOLS BY SIERRA MAGAZINE. ASU praised for green efforts by national magazine, ranks #13 on list

TEMPE, Ariz. – Sierra magazine has named the nation’s top 20 “coolest” schools for their efforts to stop global warming and operate sustainably. The magazine’s September/October cover story spotlights the schools that are making a true impact for the planet, and marks Sierra’s third annual listing of America’s greenest universities and colleges. The complete list is available online at www.sierraclub.org/coolschools.

Arizona State University (ASU) placed #13 on the list. Sustainability initiatives at Arizona State University include the only purchasing program to score a perfect “10″ among Sierra’s top 20, ramped-up recycling and waste-diversion efforts, energy-efficiency upgrades that have saved ASU an estimated 33 million kWh and 70 million pounds of CO2 annually, one of the largest university solar initiatives in the country; and ASU is home to the nation’s first School of Sustainability.

“We’re thrilled to see Arizona State University making a real commitment to greening its campus,” said Carl Pope, the Sierra Club’s executive director. “The next generation of students cares deeply about stopping global warming, and schools like Arizona State University that take the initiative to become environmentally responsible are doing the right thing for the planet and are better poised to attract the best students.”

“Universities are in a unique position to address the grand challenges of sustainability in the 21st century,” said Rob Melnick, executive dean of ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability. “ASU is committed to aligning its research, education, outreach, and business practices with these increasingly urgent and complex challenges.”

“We have a great responsibility to advance sustainability in our daily operations – to consistently model best practices for our students and our community,” said Associate Vice President for Business Services and ASU’s Sustainability Operations Officer, Ray Jensen. “It’s imperative for a university that is leading the way in sustainability education to also walk the talk. We’re honored that Sierra has recognized our efforts with this distinction.”

This year’s top-20 coolest schools are taking dramatic steps to curb climate change. Whether it’s ASU, with 67,082 students, or College of the Atlantic with 321 students, Sierra’s list shows that schools of all sizes are taking action.

Sierra’s Top 20 coolest schools of 2009 are:

1. University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, Colorado)
2. University of Washington at Seattle (Seattle, Washington)
3. Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont)
4. University of Vermont (Burlington, Vermont)
5. College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, Maine)
6. Evergreen State College (Olympia, Washington)
7. University of California at Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, California)
8. University of California at Berkeley (Berkeley, California)
9. University of California at Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California)
10. Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio)
11. Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
12. University of New Hampshire (Durham, New Hampshire)
13. Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona)
14. Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut)
15. University of Florida (Gainesville, Florida)
16. Bates College (Lewiston, Maine)
17. Willamette University (Salem, Oregon)
18. Warren Wilson College (Asheville, North Carolina)
19. Dickinson College (Carlisle, Pennsylvania)
20. New York University (Manhattan, New York)

Sierra magazine has 1.2 million readers and is a publication of the Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental group. For full descriptions of each winning school’s green efforts, visit Sierra magazine online at: www.sierraclub.org/coolschools.

About Arizona State University (ASU)

ASU has a vision to be a New American University, promoting excellence in its research and among its students and faculty, increasing access to its educational resources and working with communities to positively impact social and economic development. Further, ASU is a public institution where sustainability is a fundamental precept underlying its teaching, learning, research, and business missions; it seeks to create meaningful change by producing knowledge resulting in solutions to global problems of sustainability.

About ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability

The Global Institute of Sustainability is the hub of ASU’s sustainability initiatives. The Institute advances research, education and business practices for an urbanizing world. Its School of Sustainability, the first of its kind in the US, offers transdisciplinary degree programs that advance practical solutions to environmental, economic, and social challenges. For more information visit the Global Institute of Sustainability at http://sustainability.asu.edu.

About ASU’s School of Sustainability

Established in 2007, the School of Sustainability brings together multiple disciplines and leaders to create and share knowledge, train a new generation of scholars and practitioners, and develop practical solutions to the most pressing environmental, economic, and social challenges of sustainability – especially as they relate to urban areas. For more information visit the School of Sustainability at http://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu.

About Campus Sustainability and University Sustainable Business Practices

ASU recognizes that promoting sustainability begins internally with its own business practices and university policy. ASU’s sustainability initiatives, spearheaded by the Global Institute of Sustainability, are advanced by the efforts of people and departments from across the University; leading sustainable practices are addressed and implemented in the areas of energy, water, buildings and grounds, carbon neutrality, food services, transportation, waste and recycling, and, purchasing and policies. For more information visit http://sustainability.asu.edu/campus.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Karen Leland, 480-965-0013 / karen.leland@asu.edu
Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University

Michelle Schwartz, 480-965-9008 / michelle.schwartz@asu.edu
Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University

Orli Cotel, 415-977-5627 / Orli.Cotel@sierraclub.org
415-977-5627
Sierra Club

August 10, 2009

Experienced students help nurture young minds

Youngsters in a science summer camp hosted by the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering benefitted from the efforts of several ASU students with an enthusiasm for educational outreach.

Among them were Alice Ling, a senior studying mechanical engineering, and Erin Frisk, a doctoral student in ASU’s School of Sustainability.

They worked with 48 Arizona middle school students who participated in the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp.

Ling guided the teens and pre-teens through science and engineering projects and helped them cope with living day and night for two weeks on a university campus.

“I love working with kids,” Ling says. “I love to see them gain confidence in themselves and develop team-building skills in just a couple of weeks.” Frisk developed the camp curriculum, which provided the students a hands-on introduction to the diverse and growing field of sustainability.
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August 10, 2009

ASU Lighting Retrofit at West Campus is Big, Green Deal

Arizona State University’s West campus is getting a new color scheme, and there isn’t a paint brush or drop-cloth in sight.

Working in conjunction with APS Energy Services (APSES), the liberal arts campus tucked in the northwest corner of Phoenix is going green with a major interior and exterior lighting retrofit. The six-month project, scheduled for completion in December, will improve the quality of lighting in offices, classrooms and public areas and reduce the overall energy demand and consumption of the campus.

The project comes on the heels of ASU’s recent selection as one of the country’s “greenest” universities by The Princeton Review for a second consecutive year.
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August 7, 2009

Arizona State University Installs Lighting in Parking Structures as Part of Energy Conservation Project

Lighting Science’s energy saving LED luminaires to reduce annual energy consumption by up to 59 percent in six ASU parking structures

TEMPE, Ariz. and SATELLITE BEACH, FL.– Lighting Science Group Corporation (LSG) (Lighting Science) today announced that Arizona State University (ASU) has taken yet another step in its commitment to ‘going green’ by retrofitting six parking structures on the Tempe campus with new light emitting-diode (LED) fixtures. Changing the existing fixtures to Lighting Science’s LED low bay solution will afford ASU with an annual savings of up to $127,000 in energy and maintenance costs for the six structures that were retrofit.

As part of a Phase II energy conservation and sustainability project underway throughout campus, ASU’s partner APS Energy Services replaced over 2,000, 150 W metal halide fixtures with Lighting Science’s 78 W LED low bay luminaires. By replacing existing metal halide fixtures and lamps, ASU will reduce its energy consumption by 1.5 million kW hours, which is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 208 passenger vehicles.
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