February 18, 2010
The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. has joined Arizona State University in an innovative education and science partnership aimed at sustaining a biodiverse planet. Today, Secretary Wayne Clough, head of the Smithsonian, and ASU President Michael M. Crow launched a global classroom – with one foot in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert and the other in the tropical landscapes of Panama.
January 22, 2010
Raymond Mendez, the “original insect wrangler” who tamed 25,000 roaches, and trained moths to attack on command for the movie “Silence of the Lambs,” headlines the Southwest’s first Social Insect Science EXPO on Feb. 20 at the Desert Botanical Garden.
Designed for inquiring minds and families, the EXPO brings together some of the top scientists from Arizona State University, their favorite critters and the public. Attendees will be able to peer inside bee colonies and rub elbows-to-antennae with leaf-cutter, harvester and trap-jaw ants. Mendez, founder of Work as Play, which develops exhibits for zoos and museums, will bring his live ant and naked mole-rat colonies to share, in addition to speaking about his work in science, film and television, design and advertising.
January 21, 2010
TEMPE, Ariz.- The Sustainability Consortium, along with leaders in the manufacturing and sales of consumer electronics, today announced plans to establish a system, including social and environmental considerations, to help consumers identify “green” electronics. The Sustainability Consortium is co-administered by Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas.
Working with Best Buy, Dell, HP, Intel, Toshiba, and Walmart, the consortium will research and publish findings on the lifecycle environmental and social impacts of electronic products. These findings will be used to support efforts to identify products as sustainable or “green.” This type of information is designed to reduce consumer confusion and help standardize product claims.
“Customers tell us they want to purchase electronics that have a minimal impact on our planet. This is an effort to help them do that using a common methodology that manufacturers across the industry participate in,” said Scott O’Connell, environmental strategist, Dell. “This is about making it easy for customers to determine what’s ‘green’ and what’s not, and we’d like to have the whole industry involved.”
December 11, 2009
Sustainability Consortium co-chairs Dr. Jay S. Golden of the School of Sustainability, Barrett Honors Faculty, at Arizona State University, and Dr. Jon Johnson of the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, were the guest speakers at a 90-minute Webcast, “Inside the Sustainability Consortium,” presented by GreenBiz.com on Dec. 2.
The Consortium is an independent group of scientists and engineers from leading academic research institutions around the world who engage with other leading researchers from the NGO, governmental and industrial sectors. The primary function is to develop the science to support the indexing of consumer products throughout all phases of the products life.
The Consortium clarified its mission and strategies in the Webcast, while debunking the misconception that it is working on a Sustainable Product Index exclusively for Walmart. While the discount retailer was a founding partner of the Consortium, the Consortium’s steering committee is made up of CPGs, NGOs, government agencies, and others interested in advocating for good business.
“Walmart understands that multiple retailer engagement is necessary if this initiative is going to work,” noted Dr. Johnson.
This information, along with a comprehensive dialogue on the types of product data to be collected and shared around sustainability were the topics of the Webcast.
Article source:
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December 10, 2009
Timothy Lant, research director at ASU’s Decision Theater, and James G. Hodge Jr., the Lincoln Professor of Health Law and Ethics at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, have received a grant to examine the role law plays in critical public health emergencies, such as the H1N1 flu pandemic.
November 30, 2009
Climate projections for the next 50 to 100 years forecast increasingly frequent severe droughts and heat waves across the American Southwest, sinking available water levels even as rising mercury drives up demand for it.
Declining water supply will affect more than just water flowing from taps and spraying from hoses and sprinklers. It will also strongly impinge on power generation, testing the capacity of sources like Hoover Dam, with its roughly 1.3 million customers in Nevada, Arizona and California, to generate adequate power with less water.
Now, Patricia Gober and David A. Sampson of the Decision Center for a Desert City at Arizona State University are teaming with David J. Sailor of Portland State University on a $65,000 grant to wade into this deep problem.
November 18, 2009
The sun shines bright in the Valley, but that is not the reason why China’s leading manufacturer of solar panels, Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd., decided to locate its first manufacturing plant here. It is its longstanding ties to Arizona State University that helped convince the manufacturer of the benefits of metropolitan Phoenix, said Jonathan Fink, a Foundation Professor in ASU’s School of Sustainability and the School of Earth and Space Exploration.
“These earlier steps, which date back more than a decade, represent the apolitical, technology based cultivation that universities are best suited to carry out, usually behind the scenes,” Fink said.
Suntech announced its choice of the Phoenix metropolitan area for its first U.S. plant on Nov. 15 and cited several reasons, including the research strengths of ASU, Arizona’s statewide renewable energy policies and the favorable local business climate fostered by groups like the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. While Suntech will provide a modest initial commitment of about 75 new jobs and a facility of about 100,000 sq feet of space, it is the fact that they chose the Valley that has many people excited.
November 13, 2009
Daniel M. Bodansky, a preeminent authority in international climate change law, has been appointed the Lincoln Professor of Law, Ethics, and Sustainability at Arizona State University, according to Paul Schiff Berman, Dean of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
Bodansky also has been named an Affiliated Faculty member in both the College of Law’s Center for Law and Global Affairs, and in the Global Institute of Sustainability’s School of Sustainability at ASU. His appointment is effective Aug. 1, 2010.
“The hiring of Dan Bodansky is a tremendously positive step for advancing ASU,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “On the law and sustainability front, Dan will bring us global thinking at the highest level. This is a great day for ASU.”
November 9, 2009
TEMPE, Ariz. (Nov. 9, 2009) — Arizonans are gearing up for more H1N1 activity this flu season, and a new survey reveals how much they really know about the virus and how they’re preparing for its spread.
The new survey of more than 700 Arizona households was designed and analyzed by faculty and students from the School of Health Management and Policy at the W. P. Carey School of Business, the Decision Theater at the Global Institute of Sustainability, and the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University. The study was sponsored by the Arizona Department of Health Services and was conducted during the month of October. The results will be used by public information officials from various hospitals, public health agencies and related organizations to determine how to best communicate to the public about H1N1 influenza.
> Read more see “New H1N1 Survey Reveals Arizonans’ Flu Season Plans”
October 28, 2009
Arizona State University received a gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership and Energy and Environmental Design program for the academic complex at its Polytechnic campus.
October 26, 2009
TEMPE, Ariz. – To engage public dialogue about the mounting challenges that must be addressed to create a sustainable world, the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University (ASU) is announcing the 2009-2010 slate of distinguished speakers for its Wrigley Lecture Series on Sustainability.
October 26, 2009
Arizona State University has topped $300 million in research expenditures for the first time in its school history. With a total of $307 million in research expenditures for FY2009 (which ended June 30), a growth of nearly 9 percent compared to FY08, ASU has made a dramatic climb in the ranks of top research universities.
October 7, 2009
Arizona State University (ASU) is topping the charts for its efforts in sustainability. ASU earned high marks from the Sustainable Endowments Institute’s College Sustainability Report Card 2010, with an overall grade of A-.
September 21, 2009
by Shaun McKinnon
The Arizona Republic
Heat discriminates. Phoenix’s sweltering summer inflicts the most misery and illness in poor neighborhoods, a new study shows, and among people least able to protect themselves from the elements. Conditions in those neighborhoods, with their sparse landscaping, high-density housing and converging freeways, create pockets of extreme heat that persist day and night. Inside, homeowners sometimes can’t afford to turn up – or even turn on – the air-conditioner.
Wealthier homeowners, meanwhile, often in neighborhoods just blocks away, maintain lush yards and trees that help cool the air more quickly at night, shortening the hours of the hottest heat waves. They can buy further relief with a nudge of the thermostat.
The disparities present threats more serious than just discomfort on a hot day, according to the study, produced by Arizona State University researchers. Prolonged exposure to heat can cause illness or even death. The densely developed nature of the hottest areas also means more of the people most vulnerable – the elderly, children, the homebound – live in the neighborhoods where the risk is greatest.
That link between money and the ability to cope with extreme weather emerged clearly in the research. Among the startling revelations: For every $10,000 an area’s income rises, the average outside temperature drops one-half degree Fahrenheit.
September 16, 2009
NEW YORK, N.Y., TEMPE, Ariz. – The Center for Business Education at the Aspen Institute announced today that Professor Jay Golden of Arizona State University (ASU) has been named 2009 Faculty Pioneer. This recognition program, dubbed the “Oscars of the business school world” by The Financial Times, celebrates business educators who have demonstrated leadership and risk-taking in integrating ethical, environmental and social issues into the business curriculum. Golden will be honored on November 6th at an awards breakfast at Ernst & Young’s corporate headquarters in New York’s Times Square.
August 20, 2009
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 http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200909/coolschools/default.aspx.
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.
August 10, 2009
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.
August 10, 2009
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.
August 7, 2009
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.
July 27, 2009
The Princeton Review named 15 colleges to its "2010 Green Rating Honor Roll" – a list that salutes the institutions that received the highest possible score – 99 – in this year’s rating tallies.
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.
5/14 - Student connects art, sustainability through experiential learning
5/13 - Scientists use crowd-sourcing to help map global CO2 emissions
