Monday, December 20, 2010

UNC Sustainability Update - Upcoming Events

Today's UNC Sustainability Update includes the following headlines:
  • Pre-Christmas Market

  • Solar Fuels: Catalysis and Conversion

  • Soils and the Sustainability of Civilizations

  • Clinton Global Initiative University 2011

  • An Evening with Terry Tempest Williams: Conservationist and Nature Writer

  • Water Efficiency Workshop at the School of Government

  • And more!

Click here to read the full UNC Sustainability Update.

Click here to join the UNC Sustainability Listserv.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

Seafloor Samples Show Troubling Effects Of Oil Spill
"All Things Considered" National Public Radio
...Her colleague, Andreas Teske from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, says most of this "pudding" is probably oil from the BP well that has since passed through the digestive systems of all sorts of animals on its way to the seafloor. Teske says it reminds him a lot of the spring algae blooms that can choke coastal bays. "We think something similar has happened here," he says. "It was not a spring bloom, but an 'oil bloom,' and we are looking right now at the remnants of this oil bloom."
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Friday, December 3, 2010

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

Study: N.C. has 'great potential' for offshore wind power
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
North Carolina could have the most viable offshore wind power on the East Coast, with the ability to bring power to hundreds of thousands of homes and generate up to 20,000 new manufacturing jobs, according to a new study by the National Wildlife Foundation. ...That’s based on studies from the Department of Energy and UNC-Chapel Hill.
Click here to read more.

Gifts can help make good nutrition easier (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Gift-giving is a pleasure, even more so when choices combine thoughtfulness with practicality. This year, nearly all of us could use gifts that inspire and make it easier to take care of our diets and health. The first idea is about making it easier to cook meals at home. The more often you can fix your own food, the more control you'll have over what goes into your body. (Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical assistant professor in the department of health policy and administration in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

Drilling banned; eyes turn to wind
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
President Barack Obama on Wednesday declared North Carolina's coastal waters and the rest of the Atlantic Ocean off-limits to drilling for oil and gas, reversing a policy his administration established this spring - just weeks before an oil platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. ...The state has "great potential" for offshore wind power, thanks to its shallow waters, lengthy coastline and excellent wind speeds, according to the report. That's based on studies from the U.S. Department of Energy and UNC Chapel Hill.
Click here to read more.

New Hanover trying to keep contract awards local
The Star News (Wilmington)
In these tough economic times, should a local company that missed being the lowest bidder by less than $700 on a nearly $33,000 government contract get the business anyway? ..."Practically, economically speaking, there are definitely some issues about it," said Eileen Youens, an assistant professor with the School of Government at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
Click here to read more.

Power: Drilling alternative is here, blowing in the wind. (Editorial)
The Fayetteville Observer
After the Deepwater Horizon explosion and massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April, it was clear: New offshore drilling leases will have to wait. ...On the same day (Ken) Salazar announced the delays in offshore leasing, the National Wildlife Federation released a report saying North Carolina could have the most productive offshore wind power on the East Coast - enough to run hundreds of thousands of homes and create as many as 20,000 new jobs. The report was based on studies by the Department of Energy and UNC-Chapel Hill.
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

January Workshop: Become a Certified Interpretive Guide!


What are you doing when you return from Winter Break?
Get a jump on the Spring Semester by earning national certification!

-Communicate more effectively to give better presentations and tours!
-Earn nationally-recognized certification!
-Get an inside look at the NC Botanical Garden's new green Education Center and learn about sustainable practices at UNC!

Interested?
January 5-8, UNC and the NC Botanical Garden will be hosting an CIG Workshop for UNC students, faculty, staff, alumni, and NC Botanical Garden volunteers. It is sponsored by UNC’s Sustainability Office, American Studies Department, and the NC Botanical Garden so the cost is significantly reduced. Enrollment is limited to 15 participants.

What is a CIG?
CIG stands for “Certified Interpretive Guide” – the professional certification for those who communicate with diverse audiences as educators, tour guides, and communications specialists. Successful interpretation incorporates elements of public speaking, storytelling, and psychology to communicate specific information and messages on a subject. Effective interpreters play an invaluable role at schools, parks, museums, nature centers, zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums, and commercial tour companies worldwide. For information on CIG, visit http://www.interpnet.com/certification/cert_atglance.shtml

What is the workshop?
This 32-hour intensive workshop introduces participants to the basic principles of interpretation, and coaches them in the application of those principles. Examples will be drawn from UNC campus sustainability features and initiatives, though the principles are applicable to any subject. Upon completion of this workshop, participants will have satisfied all requirements for the national recognition as a Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG) by the National Association for Interpretation (NAI). This includes completion of an open book exam, preparation of a program outline, and delivery of a 10-minute interpretive presentation on the final day.

Learn more and enroll by reading the Program Details at:
http://go.unc.edu/Dp68N


Please direct any questions or comments to:
Brian Cain, C.I.T., C.I.P.
Research & Outreach Manager
Sustainability Office
Office: 919.843.5295
Email: Brian.Cain@fac.unc.edu
Web: http://sustainability.unc.edu

Friday, November 19, 2010

UNC, Orange County launch joint landfill methane gas project

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Orange County will start the first phase of their joint project to convert methane gas from the county landfill into electricity.

“The landfill gas project is a very important part of UNC’s near-term strategies for carbon reduction,” Chancellor Holden Thorp said. “In collaboration with Orange County, this project will enable UNC to use a locally available fuel which would otherwise be wasted.” 

With this project, methane gas from the Orange County landfill that is currently being released into the atmosphere – and contributing to global warming – will be captured and converted into electrical energy. The University will gain carbon credits for reducing pollution, which will help the campus honor the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment to be climate neutral by 2050. The project is one strategy in the 2009 Climate Action Plan to reduce UNC’s carbon footprint to zero by 2050.

Methane, which is many times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, will be destructed by flaring in this first phase of the project. The installation of the gas collection and flaring system will begin this month and is expected to be operational in July 2011. In the second phase, UNC will pipe the landfill gas to a generator for producing electricity to power its complex of buildings along Airport Drive. The 1,000-kilowatt power generation system, expected to be operational in early 2012, also may be an energy source for the first buildings constructed at Carolina North.

“We are very pleased that county staff has come forward and with University staff have conceived and now are making this project a reality,” said Valerie Foushee, chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners. “Orange County and the University make a strong team and it is my hope that other mutually beneficial projects will be jointly pursued in the future.”

Orange County has been investigating landfill gas recovery opportunities since the late 1990s, Foushee added. Only within the past four to five years has the regulatory and economic climate made gas recovery from small landfills feasible. UNC and Orange County reached an agreement on the project in 2009, with the University paying the county for use of the methane gas.

The project offers these benefits to the University and Orange County:

  • Reduction in carbon emissions through methane destruction;
  • Offsets from avoided purchased power;
  • Beneficial use of otherwise vented landfill gas;
  • Revenue stream to Orange County; and
  • Advancement of UNC carbon-neutrality goals.

The total emissions reduction as a result of the project is equivalent to any one of the following:

  • Annual greenhouse gas emissions from 8,000 passenger vehicles;
  • Carbon sequestered annually by 9,000 acres of pine forest;
  • Carbon dioxide emissions from burning 200 railcars worth of coal; or
  • Carbon dioxide emissions from 4.7 million gallons of gasoline consumed.

Landfill gas collection and treatment system handout: http://uncnews.unc.edu/images/stories/news/campus/2010/unc%20landfill%20gas%20dedication%20handout%20ver%2002.pdf
UNC 2009 Climate Action Plan: http://www.climate.unc.edu/CAP/cap2009

UNC Energy Services contact: Ray DuBose, (919) 966-4100

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

Orange County, UNC Kick Off Energy Project
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC and Orange County are beginning a joint project to convert methane gas from the county landfill into electricity for community buildings. Government and University officials gathered Tuesday at the Solid Waste Administration Offices Building to celebrate construction of the gas collection and flaring system, which will be operational next July. UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp says new energy is a great reason to bring the University and Orange County together.
Click here to read more.
UNC Release:
Click here to read more.

Environmental Impact Subject Of Carolina North Mtg
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC and the Town of Chapel Hill are inviting residents to a public meeting on Tuesday concerning the future development of Carolina North. The meeting is designed to explain the US Army Corps of Engineers’ permit process, which the University and the Town will have to complete before the development of Carolina North.
Click here to read more.

Lead in water linked to brass plumbing
United Press International
U.S. researchers warn even new buildings' brass plumbing components can create serious lead-in-water health problems that could go undetected. ...Study leader Carolyn Elfland of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and colleagues found high lead levels in water in their new buildings and asked Virginia Tech researchers for help.
Click here to read more.
UNC Release:
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Monday, November 15, 2010

Media invited to new UNC-Orange County landfill gas project event

Tuesday (Nov. 16)
1:30 p.m.
Solid Waste Administration Offices Building
1207 Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill

Rep. Joe Hackney, North Carolina Speaker of the House, will speak at this event to mark the launch of a project to convert methane gas from the Orange County landfill into electricity. The event is co-hosted by Chancellor Holden Thorp of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Chair Valerie Foushee of the Orange County Board of Commissioners because Carolina and the county are partners in the project. Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs and Ray DuBose, director of Energy Services at UNC, will also speak.

Photo opportunities: At the end of the speeches, the platform party will go outside for a ceremonial and symbolic lighting of a gas flare. A tour of the landfill site also will be available immediately following the ceremony on a first-come, first-served basis.

Directions and parking: The Solid Waste Administration Offices Building is on Eubanks Road, about halfway between Rogers Road and Millhouse Road. Parking for the event is available next to the building. Please contact News Services no later than 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, if you plan to attend.

Background: Methane gas is many times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. With this project, methane gas from the Orange County landfill that is currently being released into the atmosphere (and contributing to global warming) will be captured and converted into electrical energy. At first, the methane will be destructed by flaring. Next UNC will use the energy to power its complex of buildings along Airport Drive, with the potential for it to be an energy source for the first buildings constructed at Carolina North. In both cases, UNC will gain carbon credits for reducing pollution.

The first phase of the construction project is the installation of the gas collection and flaring system, with that system operational in July 2011. The second phase, piping the landfill gas to a generator for producing electricity, is expected to be complete by April 2012.

News Services contact: Susan Houston, (919) 962-8415

UNC Sustainability Update - Upcoming Events

Today's UNC Sustainability Update includes the following headlines:
  • Outdoor Education Center Interest Meeting

  • Ambassador Klaus Scharioth on transatlantic relations and the Transatlantic Climate Bridge

  • Music Saves Mountains

  • Carbon Nation Film Screening

  • Finding Your Green Dream Job

  • And more!

Click here to read the full UNC Sustainability Update.

Click here to join the UNC Sustainability Listserv.

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

Shining Light on the Cost of Solar Energy
National Geographic
...Converting light into electricity with no moving parts is a profoundly different enterprise than turning a turbine to make power—the technology that is at work in coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydropower plants and, most visibly to the public, at wind farms. “Wind power is the same technology as it’s been for 1,000 years,” said Tom Meyer, a professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “There’s nothing to invent. It just needs to be improved.” The makers of wind turbines have made huge cost reductions in recent decades with relatively small tweaks to an otherwise familiar system.
Click here to read more.

Reducing the Tar Heels' carbon footprint (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill Herald
At Carolina, we're proud of the tar on our heels. But the carbon on our footprint is not something to brag about. Because of the dedication of Tar Heels all across campus, I'm pleased to say that we are making great strides toward reducing that carbon footprint. Earlier this month, our latest greenhouse gas inventory showed that UNC had reduced its greenhouse gas emissions for the first time, by 20 percent, taking us back to 2003 levels. That's a big step toward our commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050. (Holden Thorp is chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Click here to read more.

College Campuses Continue to Leave Coal Behind
Reuters (Wire Service)
With more than 60 campuses nationwide getting energy from coal plants, student protests and lawsuits over power generation have become a part of the college experience. ...Commitments to transform campuses to largely or completely coal-free are coming from high-profile institutions, among them the University of North Carolina (UNC), the University of Illinois, Western Kentucky University, and Case Western Reserve in Cleveland. Already, UNC has named 2020 as its coal-free deadline, with an “aspirational” deadline of 2015.
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Friday, November 5, 2010

Press Release Title Here

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invites local residents, faculty, staff and students to attend a Nov. 16 public meeting to explain the permitting process required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before development at Carolina North.

The meeting will begin at 5:15 p.m. in the large basement conference room of the Chapel Hill Public Library, 100 Library Drive. Free parking is available, and Chapel Hill Transit serves the library via the D route.

A representative from the Army Corps of Engineers will attend the meeting and be available to explain the permitting process and how the public may participate. Attendees will have opportunities to ask questions and share comments.

The public also is invited to review an electronic version of the draft application on the Carolina North website at http://cn.unc.edu

Carolina North is envisioned as a vibrant, compact, mixed-use academic campus on University-owned property along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, two miles north of the main campus. University and Town of Chapel Hill representatives signed a development agreement in June 2009 that covers the first 20 years of development on the site.

While most of the planned construction for Carolina North – when funding becomes available – will take place on or near the site of the Horace Williams Airport, streams and creeks cross other parts of the property, making any impact on wetlands an important consideration. The Army Corps of Engineers is the primary agency that regulates development in wetland areas and would have to approve any potential impact. 

The University plans to submit a permit application to the agency later this year. This month’s meeting will be the second public information meeting about the draft application. The first one was held June 21, 2010. While not required as part of the Army Corps of Engineers’ permitting process, these meetings are opportunities for the University to share information and receive feedback from the public. 

News Services contact: Susan Houston, (919) 962-8415

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

UNC Chapel Hill, Sears, JCPenney Named Biggest Kilowatt Losers
Reuters (Wire Service)
A residence hall at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, a Sears store in Maryland and a JCPenney in California took first, second and third place respectively in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's contest to find the biggest kilowatt loser in the country. ...The winner was the Morrison Residence Hall at UNC (top picture), which reduced its energy use by 35.7 percent in one year and saved more than $250,000 on energy bills.
Click here to read more.
UNC Release:
Click here to read more.

Progress Energy, Ford team up to get Triangle ready for electric vehicles
The Triangle Business Journal
...Progress also is developing a charging station pilot program as part of a $200 million smart grid grant the company received from the U.S. Department of Energy. This will include installing about 600 stations across the company’s territory in the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, Progress has partnered on electric transportation initiatives with several universities, including UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State and the University of Florida.
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

UNC Sustainability - Upcoming Events

Today's UNC Sustainability Update includes the following headlines:
  • Highlands Field Site Interest Meeting

  • Composting Class

  • How Social Enterprise and Energy Solutions Can Fuel Bottom of the Pyramid Markets

  • Green Event Certified Trainings

  • Pie Cook-Off and Square Dance

  • And more!

Click here to read the full UNC Sustainability Update.

Click here to join the UNC Sustainability Listserv.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

Dorm Wins Energy Contest
The Wall Street Journal
Ultimately, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels prevailed over rival North Carolina State Wolfpack—as well as trouncing Sears, J.C. Penney and Sheraton. The playing field: a national competition sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency to see which commercial building could trim its energy use the most over 12 months. The EPA will report Tuesday that ranking first was a dorm at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Click here to read more.
Related Links:
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UNC News Release:
Click here to read more.

UNC wins EPA energy contest
"Marketplace" American Public Media
Six months ago, the Environmental Protection Agency launched its Biggest Loser competition. It's a contest to see which commercial building can lose the most kilowatts, and become the most energy efficient. Here's Eve Troeh with the results. ... First place in the EPA's National Building Competition goes to the University of North Carolina!
Click here to read more.
UNC News Release:
Click here to read more.

NC college dorm wins EPA energy savings contest
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A residence hall at the University of North Carolina beat more than a dozen competitors to win a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contest to see which building could save the most energy. The EPA announced Tuesday that Morrison Residence Hall on the university's Chapel Hill campus slashed energy use by nearly 36 percent in one year. That was best in a field of 14 buildings across the country chosen from nearly 200 that wanted to join the EPA's first National Building Competition.
Click here to read more.
Related Links:
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International Water Conference at UNC
WUNC-FM
Hundreds of international water and sanitation experts will gather on UNC Chapel Hill's campus for a meeting on the future of the world's water. Larry Band heads the university's Institute on the Environment. He says producing consistently safe water isn't just a problem for the developing world. There are plenty of examples of threatened waterways nearby.
Click here to read more.

Thorp to Give Talk on Innovation
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC faculty members will have an opportunity Thursday to share their thoughts on innovation and entrepreneurship with Chancellor Holden Thorp. The talk is called “Beyond the Sciences: Why the World’s Problems Need the Whole University.” UNC Interim Director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities Bill Balthrop says it’s an extension of a roadmap called Innovate@Carolina: Important Ideas for a Better World.
Click here to read more.
UNC News Release:
Click here to read more.

North Carolina Dorm ‘Biggest Loser’ in EPA Building Competition
Bloomberg News
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill cut energy use at a residence hall by 36 percent, making it the winner of an Environmental Protection Agency contest inspired by the television show “The Biggest Loser.” Morrison Residence Hall, which saved more than $250,000 and cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 730 metric tons in one year, took first place in the first National Building Competition to reduce energy waste, the EPA said today in a statement. The 14 buildings in the competition together cut their energy bills by $950,000 from Sept. 1, 2009, to Aug. 31, the EPA said.
Click here to read more.
UNC News Release:
Click here to read more.

UNC College Kids School Everybody on How to Save Energy (and Money)
Time
In a national competition organized by the Environmental Protection Agency, buildings around the country were challenged to decrease energy use over the course of a year. The winning building was a dorm at UNC-Chapel Hill, which reduced energy use by 35.7% and saved more than $250,000 on energy costs.
Click here to read more.
Related Links:
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UNC News Release:
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Morrison Hall, a winner, 'test bed for new ideas'
The Chapel Hill Herald
With a light mist falling outside of Morrison Residence Hall, officials with the Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that the Carolina Watt-Busters is the winner of the agency's first National Building Competition. The EPA held the year-long competition to see which of 14 competing teams could reduce energy consumption by the greatest percentage in a large commercial building.
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Related Links:
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UNC News Release:
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UNC's powerful example (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Bragging rights are nice, but $250,000 is better. Morrison Residence Hall at UNC Chapel Hill ended up with both after it won the Environmental Protection Agency's first EnergyStar National Building Competition. The operators of 200 buildings across the country applied for the yearlong contest -- which, by the way, didn't offer a prize. Morrison, a 45-year-old, 10-story brick monolith that houses about 860 students, was one of 14 competitors chosen by the EPA. The competition's "prize money" came from the dorm's savings on energy bills.
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

TODAY: Campus Sustainability Day!

TODAY: Celebrating Campus Sustainability Day with honors!

Today is not just any ordinary day at Carolina! Yesterday, UNC was named the national champion in the EPA's first National Building Competition. You can read more about UNC's victory here.

And just this morning, the Sustainable Endowments Institute announced that UNC received an A- on the 2011 College Green Report Card! Our University also earned the designation of "Overall College Sustainability Leader," which is an accolade reserved schools that earn top marks in all areas of the report card: administration, climate change & energy, food & recycling, green building, student involvement, and transportation. Our score was again the highest in the whole state - besting Duke, NC State, Wake Forest, and others. Read more about the 2011 College Green Report Card here.

Congratulations to everyone all across the campus that works so hard day after day to make UNC Chapel Hill a smarter, healthier, happier, more sustainable university!

Are you Carolina Green? Make the pledge! Get the bottle!

UNC Chapel Hill is celebrating Campus Sustainability Day by launching the first-ever Carolina Green Online Pledge for students, faculty, staff, and alumni! With each pledge, individuals are asked to choose from a range of sustainable everyday actions related to food, energy, transportation, waste, water, and more. You can also let us know what you already do to help make UNC a more sustainable campus.

Submit your pledge online at CarolinaGreen.unc.edu or by visiting pledge tables from 10:30AM - 1:30PM today at:

  • Carrington Hall
  • Davis Library
  • FedEx Global Education Center
  • Hanes Art Center
  • Hooker Research Center
  • Johnston Center
  • Law School
  • Lenoir Dining Hall
  • McColl Building
  • Peabody Hall
  • Polk Place
  • Sitterson Hall
  • Student Recreation Center
  • Student Stores

Students, faculty, staff, and alumni who submit their pledge starting October 27 will be eligible to receive a BPA-free, reusable "Carolina Green" Nalgene water bottle while supplies last! We will be accepting pledges throughout the academic year, but we only have so many water bottles. So don't delay! Make your pledge to be Carolina Green today!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Today: Victory! Tomorrow: Carolina Green water bottles return!

We're counting down the hours until Campus Sustainability Day on Wednesday! What's to celebrate? LOTS!

TODAY: UNC wins EPA's first National Building Competition!

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ENERGY STAR program today announced that Morrison Residence Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has won the first-ever EPA National Building Competition. The competition launched April 27, 2010, challenging teams from 14 buildings across the country (including NC State!) to measure their energy use and work off the waste with help from EPA's ENERGY STAR program.

The Carolina team, the Watt-Busters, reduced energy use at Morrison Residence Hall by 36 percent in just one year, saved more than $250,000 on energy bills, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions equal to the electricity use of nearly 90 homes for a year.

Click here to learn more about this victory!

TOMORROW: Make YOUR pledge to be Carolina Green!

UNC Chapel Hill is celebrating Campus Sustainability Day by launching the first-ever Carolina Green Online Pledge for students, faculty, staff, and alumni! With each pledge, individuals are asked to choose from a range of sustainable everyday actions related to food, energy, transportation, waste, water, and more. You can also let us know what you already do to help make UNC a more sustainable campus.

Members of the campus community can submit their pledges by either:

  • Visiting pledge tables across campus from 10:30AM - 1:30PM tomorrow, OR
  • Pledging online anytime starting tomorrow!

The best part? Students, faculty, staff, and alumni who submit their pledge starting October 27 will be eligible to receive a BPA-free, reusable "Carolina Green" Nalgene water bottle while supplies last! So don't delay! Make your pledge to be Carolina Green today!

Click here to learn more about tomorrow's events!

UNC’s Morrison Residence Hall wins EPA’s first National Building Competition

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR program today announced that Morrison Residence Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has won the first-ever EPA National Building Competition. The competition launched April 27, 2010, challenging teams from 14 buildings across the country to measure their energy use and work off the waste with help from EPA’s ENERGY STAR program.

The Carolina team, the Watt-Busters, reduced energy use at Morrison Residence Hall by 36 percent in just one year, saved more than $250,000 on energy bills, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions equal to the electricity use of nearly 90 homes for a year.

UNC reduced energy use through a combination of energy efficiency strategies, including improved operations and maintenance as well as outreach to Morrison residents. Improvements to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, optimizing the solar heating water system and lighting improvements helped to increase the building’s energy efficiency and maximize savings. A computer touch-screen monitor in the lobby helped Morrison residents and the energy team at UNC keep track of energy consumption. Competitions between floors in the dorm to see who could save the most energy encouraged students to turn off lights and computers, and friendly reminders were posted in elevators, bathrooms and common areas.

“We are honored to win EPA’s first National Building Competition,” said UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp. “Carolina is a recognized national leader in sustainability and energy and carbon reduction. At UNC, sustainability is not just an academic topic. It’s part of our culture. It’s reflected in everything from our construction program to how we conduct business every day.”

In the past year alone, UNC reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent, and the UNC Energy Conservation Measure project, which Morrison was part of, resulted in a reduction of nearly $4 million in utility costs.

“The University of North Carolina is committed to energy efficiency, and we received strong support from EPA’s ENERGY STAR program throughout the competition, said Chris Martin, director of Energy Management. “We have expanded our energy efficiency initiatives to the whole campus and are excited to deliver even greater results as a community of students, staff and faculty.”

Together, the 14 competitors reduced their energy use by 44 million kilo British thermal units, saved more than $950,000 in utility bills, and reduced carbon dioxide emissions equal to the electricity use of nearly 600 homes for a year. The National Building Competition measured energy reductions from Sept. 1, 2009, through Aug. 31, 2010. The energy use of each building was monitored through EPA’s ENERGY STAR online energy measurement and tracking tool, Portfolio Manager. The winner is the building with the greatest percentage-based reduction in weather-normalized energy use intensity. Third party utility statements were required at the conclusion of the competition to verify the energy performance of each competitor.

“EPA is pleased to recognize Morrison Residence Hall at the University of North Carolina as the winner of the National Building Competition,” said Maura Beard, communications director for the commercial buildings branch of EPA’s ENERGY STAR program. “The achievements of UNC are a great example of how energy efficiency is good business and helps Americans fight climate change while saving money on their energy bills.”

The final rankings for EPA’s National Building Competition are:
1. Morrison Residence Hall at UNC, Chapel Hill, N.C. (35.7 percent)
2. Sears Glen Burnie, Glen Burnie, Md. (31.7 percent)
3. JCPenney, Orange, Calif. (28.4 percent)
4. 1525 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Va. (28 percent)
5. 522 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. (18.1 percent)
6. Solon Family Health Center, Solon, Ohio (13.9 percent)
7. Crystal River Elementary School, Carbondale, Colo. (12.2 percent)
8. Tucker Residence Hall at N.C. State University, Raleigh, N.C. (10.3 percent)
9. Courtyard by Marriott San Diego Downtown, San Diego, Calif. (8.6 percent)
10. Maplewood Mall, Maplewood, Minn. (6.7 percent)
11. Memorial Arts Building at Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta, Ga. (5.7 percent)
12. Van Holten Primary School, Bridgewater, N.J. (5.3 percent)
13. Sheraton Austin Hotel, Austin, Texas (1.9 percent)
14. Virginia Beach Convention Center, Virginia Beach, Va. (1.5 percent)

Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. On average, 30 percent of the energy used in commercial buildings is wasted.

Carolina is a recognized national leader in sustainability and energy and carbon reduction. UNC has committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050 and to stop using coal on campus by May 2020.

EPA National Building Competition: http://www.energystar.gov/BuildingContest;
http://www.energystar.gov/BuildingContestReport

UNC Energy Management website: http://www.save-energy.unc.edu/

UNC’s 2009 Climate Action Plan: http://www.climate.unc.edu/CAP/cap2009
UNC’s 2009 Greenhouse Gas Inventory: http://www.climate.unc.edu/GHGInventory/reports/GHGInv2009

News Services contact: Susan Houston

Monday, October 25, 2010

UNC Sustainability - Upcoming Events

Today's UNC Sustainability Update includes the following headlines:
  • Campus Sustainability Day! Pledge to go green!

  • Institute for the Environment's Thailand Study Abroad Program Interest Group Meeting

  • Green Event Certified Trainings

  • Pie Cook-Off and Square Dance

  • And more!

Click here to read the full UNC Sustainability Update.

Click here to join the UNC Sustainability Listserv.

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

UNC Talks Water Resources Issues
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC is bringing representatives and scholars from nearly 50 different countries together to talk about water. The two day symposium titled “Water and Health: Where Science Meets Policy” will take place on October 25 and 26. The representatives will discuss water issues as they relate to engineering and technology, health, community development, public policy and climate change. UNC professor and co-chair for the symposium Dr. Larry Band says one of the key themes of the conference will be collaboration.
Click here to read more.
UNC Release:
Click here to read more.

TOMS Shoes' giveaways helps it stamp towards profit
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)
...But TOMS is steering this concept in a new, and potentially powerful, direction, says Lisa Jones Christensen, a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at The University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School. In a typical "buy one, get one free" arrangement, the benefit accrues only to the buyer, she says. "With the TOMS model, you generate something for someone else while also advancing your own fashion."
Click here to read more.

Legacy loophole (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
There is a good deal of populist rage in the air. Some is, no doubt, misguided. American populism has a checkered history. But some is just good common sense. I know my old man would have thought that bankers who drove the economy over a cliff in a frenzy of dishonesty and greed, and then paid themselves millions in bonuses wrung from the tax dollars of waitresses and construction workers, ought to be horsewhipped. And my old man was often right. (Gene Nichol is director of the UNC Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity.)
Click here to read more.

College campuses embrace solar for energy, revenue
The Triangle Business Journal
The 850 students living in UNC-Chapel Hill’s Morrison Residence Hall have the sun to thank for their hot showers. A 2007 renovation included the installation of a $300,000 solar thermal system that heats water for the building. And students paid for it by approving a $4 per student fee for each semester that supports a renewable energy fund to pay for projects on campus. “With 28,000 students, it generates a significant amount of revenue,” says Ray DuBose, the university’s director of energy services.
Click here to read more.

UNC Habitat project kicks off
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC Build a Block kicked off the start of a yearlong housing project on Sunday with a celebration at Phoenix Place, located off of Rogers Road, that was attended by Patti Thorp, wife of UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp, and Jonathon Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity. "All I could think about was how proud I am to be at Carolina, to be a Tarheel and to have the opportunity to be a part of this incredible project," Lauren Blanchet, co-director of UNC Build a Block, wrote on her blog after the event.
Click here to read more.

Habitat for Humanity Plans 10 Homes for U. of North Carolina Employees
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Habitat for Humanity chapter, which normally builds one house every semester, plans to build 10 this year—all for university employees who need decent housing. According to The Daily Tar Heel, the project got its start when the organization’s countywide chapter noticed that 14 of the first 18 applications it received this year for homes came from families whose members include employees of the university. Called Build a Block, the project has dual goals—build five houses a semester and at the same time break down barriers among students, administrators, and faculty and staff members.
Click here to read more.

UNC cuts greenhouse gas emissions
The Chapel Hill News
For the first year since a 2007 pledge to achieve climate neutrality by mid-century, UNC has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions in 2009 were 20 percent lower than the previous year, reflecting the compounding effects of internal efficiency programs and external market influences.
Click here to read more.

Good works as good business
The Chapel Hill Herald
Exploring how a safe drinking water program for children is good business will be the subject of a talk on Tuesday at Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC. Greg Allgood, director of Procter & Gamble Co.'s Children's Safe Drinking Water Program, and Lisa Jones Christensen, assistant professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at Kenan-Flagler, will discuss "To Be For-Profit or Not to Be For-Profit: A False Choice: How the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program Builds Shareholder Value for P&G."
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Experts from nearly 50 countries gather at UNC to discuss water and health issues

Scholars, water resources executives and policymakers from around the world will gather at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Oct. 25-26 for a symposium, “Water and Health: Where Science Meets Policy.”

The two-day event will examine water-related issues in five areas – engineering and technology, health, community development, policy, and climate change – and highlight international research, education and public outreach in each one.

The conference, one of the largest environmental events in the University’s history, is presented by the UNC Institute for the Environment and the new Water Institute at UNC, based in the Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Participants come from nearly 50 countries, including Australia, Canada, Georgia, Honduras, Kenya, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States. Attendees represent diverse organizations, such as the Public Authority for Electricity and Water of Oman, Procter & Gamble, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Water for People, AmeriCorps, the University of Surrey (United Kingdom), the Sudan Academy of Sciences, the Ethiopian Civil Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The symposium is open to the public until filled; registration is $135 for students and $295 for the public. It is also preceded by a networking weekend (registration fee $90).

Keynote speakers include:

  • John Borrazzo, chief of the maternal and child health division, bureau for global health, U.S. Agency for International Development.
  • Clarissa Brocklehurst, chief of water and environmental sanitation, UNICEF.
  • Catarina de Albuquerque, independent expert on human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and senior legal advisor, Office of Documentation and Comparative Law, Portugal.
  • Peter Kolsky, senior water and sanitation specialist, World Bank.

The event is the third in a series at Carolina. It represents an ongoing effort to bring UNC’s water resources expertise to bear on the growing challenges involved with providing safe water and adequate sanitation to the people of North Carolina, the nation and the world.

The symposium also marks the establishment of the new Water Institute at UNC, led by Jamie Bartram, Ph.D., professor of environmental sciences and engineering. Before coming to UNC, Bartram coordinated the World Health Organization’s water, sanitation, hygiene and health unit. The institute’s mission is to bring together individuals and institutions from diverse disciplines and sectors and, through academic leadership, empower them to work together to solve the most critical global issues in water and health.

Chancellor Holden Thorp will preside at the symposium dinner on Oct. 25, where the Water Institute will be formally launched.

“We are excited to host an event with such broad international participation,” Thorp said. “Water-borne diseases claim an estimated 12 million lives every year, and over a billion people lack access to safe water. Our new Water Institute is just one of a number of ways that Carolina is helping address this critical international challenge.”

The conference is co-chaired by Bartram and by Lawrence E. Band, Ph.D., a watershed hydrologist and ecologist. Band is the Voit Gilmore Distinguished Professor of Geography in the  College of Arts and Sciences and heads the UNC Institute for the Environment.

Symposium sponsors from UNC include the Institute for the Environment, the Water Institute and the environmental sciences and engineering department. Other sponsors include the American Water Works Association, Gannett Fleming, the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, NSF International and P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water.

Symposium website: http://www.ie.unc.edu/water2010
Symposium program: http://www.ie.unc.edu/content/news_events/symposia/2010/program.cfm
Networking weekend schedule: http://www.ie.unc.edu/content/news_events/symposia/2010/networking.cfm.

Media note: Conference co-chairs Bartram and Band are available for media interviews. To arrange an interview, contact Josh Meyer

Monday, October 4, 2010

UNC Sustainability - Upcoming Events

Today's UNC Sustainability Update includes the following headlines:
  • UNC's Inaugural Bike to Uganda

  • October Green Drinks

  • Natural Cleaners

  • Rain Garden Certification Workshop

  • Katrina, Haiti, Deepwater Horizon: Building a More Resilient World

  • Energy Sustainability: How Do We Get There?

  • And more!

Click here to read the full UNC Sustainability Update.

Click here to join the UNC Sustainability Listserv.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

Carolina North is dealt a setback
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The deal to build a technology-transfer incubator that would kick off the Carolina North campus is off. The project would have provided laboratory space for UNC researchers to try to turn their findings into business ventures. Carolina North's executive director, Jack Evans, announced this month, how ever, that the university was unable to negotiate a deal with Alexandria Real Estate Properties, the lab-space developer that had been planning the 80,000-square-foot Innovation Center at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Municipal Drive.
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Related Links:
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UNC sees less demand for study abroad programs
The Triangle Business Journal
Despite greater emphasis on gaining a global education, it appears fewer students are spending time studying abroad, another likely casualty of the down economy. At UNC-Chapel Hill, the number of students studying abroad has fallen 15.9 percent over the past two years, from 1,307 in the 2007-08 school year to 1,127 during the recently completed year.
Click here to read more.

Homeland security expert Flynn to speak at UNC Wednesday
The Chapel Hill Herald
Homeland security expert Stephen Flynn, president of the Center for National Policy, will speak at UNC at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Flynn will deliver a lecture titled "Katrina, Haiti, Deepwater Horizon: Building a More Resilient World" in the Nelson Mandela Auditorium at the FedEx Global Education Center. A reception will be held in the Global Center's atrium following the event.
Click here to read more.
UNC Release
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Graduate students receive Department of Energy fellowships

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded fellowships to two graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Graham Giovanetti, who is studying nuclear physics, and Joseph Falkowski, who is studying inorganic chemistry, were among 150 students nationwide chosen to receive the fellowships, worth $50,500 per year for up to three years. Support for the new fellowships comes in part from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The goal of the new fellowship program is to strengthen the nation’s scientific workforce by providing support to young science students during the formative years of their research.

Giovanetti, a native of Harrisonburg, Va., graduated from the College of William and Mary. His research focuses on increasing understanding of the fundamental properties of the neutrino. The neutrino is an elementary particle that plays a crucial role in everything from nuclear decays and the burning of stars to the evolution of the early universe.

Falkowski, a native of Spring Hill, Fla., graduated from the University of Florida. His research focuses on creating new materials containing extremely small pores. These materials can be used as catalysts, which can facilitate and regulate the speed and manner of chemical reactions.

For more information on the winners, visit http://scgf.orau.gov/fy2010-fellowship-awardees.html.

College of Arts and Sciences contact: Kim Spurr, (919) 962-4093

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

To study greenhouse gas, researchers take the ferry
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Clues about how the earth responds to climate change may soon emerge from the lower decks of the Floyd J. Lupton and other ferries sailing along the North Carolina coast. In the ferries' hot, noisy engine rooms, instruments for measuring the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide will join sensors and collection bottles that have been used for years to monitor vital signs of the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound. ...Hans Paerl, a professor at the UNC Institute of Marine Science, is leading an effort to learn the value of the Pamlico Sound and other coastal waters in absorbing greenhouse gases.
Click here to read more.

The Poverty Project
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
...There’s an effort underway at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to confront the moral challenge of poverty and how it relates to inequality. Can changing the conversation about poverty help poor people? The project is led by Duke Professor Bob Korstad and Jim Leloudis, a professor at UNC. ...Leloudis is UNC’s Associate Dean for Honors, and Director of the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence. ...Also joining the conversation is historian Rachel Siedman, Research and Policy Associate at the Kenan Institute for Ethics and director of the Poverty Project Lab; and Maureen Berner from the UNC School of Government.
Click here to read more.

Economy Affecting Plans For Carolina North
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
The first project to be built at Carolina North was supposed to be the Innovation Center. But the executive director of Carolina North Jack Evans says that won’t be the first thing built at UNC’s 250-acre satellite campus. The Innovation Center was going to be a joint project with a private developer with the goal of attracting some of the world’s best start-up companies, researchers and top minds to Chapel Hill.
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

Carolina North Annual Report Up For Discussion
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
An annual report that details the future development of Carolina North will be presented at a public meeting Wednesday evening. Both Town and UNC officials are seeking public comments on the most recent plans for the proposed mixed-use research building site. UNC leaders say the facility will help transform the state’s economy and compete with other such facilities in the nation. Its location is two miles north of the main campus off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and will absorb what is now the Horace Williams Airport.
Click here to read more.

UNC, Durham pleased with meeting on N.C. 54
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
UNC Chapel Hill and Durham officials say their meeting this week to discuss the N.C. 54 corridor's traffic problems went well, in part by clarifying that the school has no short-term plans for any major development there. The discussion underscored that UNC administrators' major interest at this point is seeing that N.C. 54 "continues to serve as the primary corridor for getting employees to work," said Durham City Councilman Mike Woodard.
Click here to read more.

Research campus boosts local rail traffic
The Independent Tribune (Kannapolis)
While the future of light rail is uncertain in the region because of the recession, heavy rail including Amtrak passenger rail has seen big boosts in ridership in Cabarrus County with the opening of the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, city officials said. ...Universities represented at the Research Campus include N.C. State University, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, N.C. Central, N.C. A&T State, UNC-Greensboro, Appalachian State and UNC Charlotte.
Click here to read more.

-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Monday, September 27, 2010

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

The Entrepreneurial University (Commentary)
Inside Higher Ed
What is an entrepreneurial university, and how does it address the world’s biggest problems? It’s a question that we’ve been asked regularly the last few months in the run-up to the recent publication of our book, Engines of Innovation: The Entrepreneurial University in the 21st Century (University of North Carolina Press). We wrote the book because we think this is an important question. Friends of higher education who believe, as we do, that universities are the key to taking the U.S. economy to a prosperous and more egalitarian future need examples and evidence to help make the case for investment in universities and basic research. Holden Thorp is chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Buck Goldstein is entrepreneur in residence at the university.)
Click here to read more.

12 Months to Save the World (Blog)
The Wall Street Journal
I want to save the world, and I mean it in the most idealist way a person can mean it. This evokes images of men in capes and too-tight spandex with super-human strength. After all, saving the world is not an easy task. These images are a stark contrast to myself, a 20-year old female student in a business suit. Unfortunately, in my past three years I have never come across a job listing looking for someone to save the world. Furthermore, on my resume next to my name there is no “Major in Heroic Deeds” or “Bachelor’s of Science in World-Changing.” (Emily Noonan, of Bloomingdale, Ill., is a senior at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business, pursuing a degree in business administration and a second major in Asian studies.)
Click here to read more.

Gulf's baby fish may have 'dodged a bullet' in oil spill
The Press Register (Birmingham, Ala.)
Early results from an annual count of juvenile fish in grass beds scattered around the northern Gulf of Mexico suggest that the larvae of some species survived the oil spill in large numbers, according to the scientists involved. “My preliminary assessment, it looks good, it looks like we dodged a bullet. In terms of the numbers of baby snapper and other species present in the grass beds, things look right,” said Joel Fodrie, a researcher with the University of North Carolina’s Institute of Marine Science who has been studying seagrass meadows along the coast for five years.
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Related Link: Click here to read more.

UNC expo caps science festival
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
With the balloons, tables, music and families scattered around the McCorkle Place quad at UNC-Chapel Hill, Saturday's scene might have been mistaken for freshman orientation or Family Day. But after one overheard question - "How does the heart keep working after a person dies?" - it was quickly apparent this event was something more. The first UNC Science Expo drew hundreds of science enthusiasts of all ages to the UNC-CH campus, with features such as an "Ask a Scientist" booth to answer questions about successful organ transplantation.
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Marine ecology in a warming planet Earth
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
John Bruno, 44, is a marine ecologist and professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. He contributes regularly to the blog Climate Shifts, which covers climate change. He also contributes to the Huffington Post. Questions and answers have been edited. Q. Many of your posts draw on mainstream media news stories that you critique or comment upon. Which media outlets do you tend to read, or trust, the most? I browse and draw material from a pretty large range of online sources including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and blogs that cover environmental science and issues like ClimateProgress and DotEarth. I spend a frightening amount of time reading blogs written by other scientists like Real Climate and SkepticalScience and I certainly keep tabs on what the many deniers of global climate change are saying.
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Apex officials bicker over green resolution
The Cary News
During the past few years, dozens of counties, states and municipalities across the country - even the federal government itself - have passed rules requiring environmentally friendly construction. Don't expect Apex to join the bandwagon any time soon - at least, it seems, if Bill Jensen is proposing it. ...State law bars public officials from taking actions that could lead to a personal financial benefit, said Freyda Bluestein, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor who specializes in government conflicts of interest.
Click here to read more.

Public welcome at Native Foods Celebration Monday
The Chapel Hill Herald
Samples of succotash, wild rice, chocolate and more will be offered at a Native Foods Celebration on Monday at UNC Chapel Hill. UNC's American Indian Center will sponsor the free, public festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the lawn of Abernethy Hall, which faces South Columbia Street near Cameron Avenue. Squashes, dried Indian corn and sunflowers with seeds and roots will be displayed, and information about American Indians in North Carolina shared. Education booths will cover American Indian studies at UNC and native peoples' contributions to sustainable agriculture, world cuisine, medicine and more.
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-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Bold plan to enhance innovation, entrepreneurship to launch bolstered by early fundraising success

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has raised more than $11 million for a new $125 million fundraising campaign supporting an ambitious plan to bring the power of innovation and entrepreneurship to bear on the world’s biggest problems.

“Innovate @Carolina:  Important Ideas for a Better World” is a roadmap developed through nearly a year of deliberations by alumni and friends with extensive experience leading innovation in science, business, medicine, nonprofits and academia. Alumnus Lowry Caudill, co-founder of Magellan Laboratories Inc. and an adjunct faculty member, chaired the Innovation Circle, which also worked with a Faculty Innovation Working Group and Student Innovation Team. The roadmap was previewed today (Sept. 23) for the University’s Board of Trustees and will be officially released on University Day, Oct. 12.

“The innovation roadmap provides a well-researched and conceived strategy for helping our faculty and students produce basic knowledge of the highest quality,” said Chancellor Holden Thorp. “We want them to have the freedom and encouragement to seek solutions and answers to the most important problems – and then to be empowered to act on their ideas.”

The Innovation Circle made five major recommendations:

  • Prepare faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, staff and the broader Carolina community with the knowledge, skills and connections to translate ideas into innovation;
  • Collaborate with diverse groups on campus to explore issues, options and creative approaches that may lead to innovations;
  • Translate important new ideas into innovations that improve society more expediently and at an increased volume;
  • Align people, incentives and processes to strengthen an intentional culture of innovation at Carolina; and
  • Catalyze innovation at Carolina by facilitating the work of faculty, staff and students as they put important ideas to use for a better world.

Examples of goals and strategies in the roadmap supporting those recommendations include:

  • Build the University’s capacity for innovation, drawing in part on successful existing programs such as a minor in entrepreneurship in the College of Arts and Sciences and a chancellor’s faculty entrepreneurship boot camp.
  • Enhance robust interdisciplinary collaboration and advance the applied sciences; establish five new distinguished professorships.
  • Collaborate and coordinate activities around key themes of local, national and global significance.
  • Expand the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence program to put 18 such positions around the campus.
  • Recruit innovators and future innovators and reward activities that contribute to the culture of innovation; create two innovation professorships to provide release time to pursue important innovations.
  • Establish a Carolina Innovation Fund to support promising innovations.
  • Create a user-friendly central online gateway to innovation and a hotline to help the campus community learn more about innovation with easy-to-find engaging opportunities.

Thorp said the roadmap’s recommendations would foster and support a campus culture that remains true to the University’s historic mission even as it invites faculty, staff and students to build upon it with their own visions for making the world a better place.

The roadmap also provides the University with a strong blueprint for success that already has inspired private donors to support the new Innovate@Carolina Campaign, Thorp said. Goals include creating an $88.2 million endowment and providing $36.8 million in expendable funds to help implement the roadmap.

The more than $11 million in pledges and gifts to date represents nearly 10 percent of the $125 million goal, Thorp said. Major commitments include:

  • A $2 million pledge from an anonymous donor that will support an existing minor in entrepreneurship in the College of Arts and Sciences. Part of this gift will support a distinguished professorship to recruit a faculty member to teach in the program.
  • A $2.25 million commitment from an anonymous donor to create an innovation scholarship endowment fund, as well as $340,000 for the Frederick H. Houk, Jr. Innovation Scholarship Endowment Fund. These gifts will go toward the new Innovation Scholars, a merit-based scholarship that enrolled its first recipient this fall.
  • A $2 million gift to establish the C. Felix Harvey Award, which supports innovative faculty projects in the humanities and social sciences that directly serve the people of North Carolina.
  • A $200,000 award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support innovation in the arts. It will fund a PlayMakers Repertory Company residency program that will bring a theater ensemble each summer to campus to create a new artistic work.
  • A $268,000 commitment from ChildFund to create an Innovation Laboratory that will develop a framework for healthy and secure infant-through-2-year-olds that can be scaled across ChildFund’s programs for vulnerable children around the world. Based at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, this initiative will build on the innovation labs created by Dennis and Joan Gillings’ $50 million commitment to the Carolina First Campaign.

The campaign runs through mid-2013.

Thorp emphasized that the Innovation Circle and faculty and student groups coordinated their work with the University’s Academic Plan Steering Committee currently leading efforts to develop a new five-year plan to guide campuswide academic priorities.

“We see important synergy between both of these efforts in thinking about the future of the University,” Thorp said. “Careful planning like the roadmap is going to position us well when the economy recovers.”

For additional information about the innovation roadmap, refer to innovate.unc.edu.

Contact:  Mike McFarland


UNC Sustainability - Upcoming Events

Today's UNC Sustainability Update includes the following headlines:
  • In the Spotlight: International Project Reception at the Y

  • September Green Drinks

  • Food, Inc. Screening

  • Net Impact Undergrad Intro Meeting

  • Noam Chomsky discusses Environmental Responsibility

  • Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference

  • And more!

Click here to read the full UNC Sustainability Update.

Click here to join the UNC Sustainability Listserv.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

UNC Science Expo Brings Science Fest To Close
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
The first-ever North Carolina Science Festival is drawing to a close this weekend, but Morehead Planetarium Director Todd Boyette says they’re planning to send it out in style. The UNC Science Expo is taking place this Saturday, with activities scheduled all over the UNC campus. The event includes virtual reality demonstrations, catapult testing, NASCAR displays, and an all-day science challenge for local kids, and culminates with a talk by Nobel Prize-winning medical researcher Oliver Smithies.
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UNC Release:
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-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Monday, September 20, 2010

UNC Sustainability - Upcoming Events

Today's UNC Sustainability Update includes the following headlines:
  • Entrepreneur-in-Residence Buck Goldstein reads from The Entrepreneurial University in the 21st Century, co-authored with Holden Thorp

  • Hanes Visiting Artist Jason Middlebrook discusses his work involving decaying landscapes and nature/culture clashes

  • Wellness Into Your Day: Health, Fitness, and Academic Success Fair

  • Carolina: A Living Laboratory for Sustainability

  • Managing Biologically Active Compost

  • Update on Environmental Legislation that Pertains to Government Agencies in NC

  • And more!

Click here to read the full UNC Sustainability Update.

Click here to join the UNC Sustainability Listserv.

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

In Push for Diversity, Colleges Pay Attention to Socioeconomic Class
The Chronicle of Higher Education
It's hard to spot one of the most underrepresented minority groups at many four-year colleges: students and faculty members from the working class. Efforts to promote campus diversity have tended to gloss over them, focusing instead on members of racial and ethnic minority groups, whose presence or absence is easier to detect. ...A long list of other elite colleges, including Stanford University and the Universities of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Virginia, have followed Harvard's lead in seeking to cover most or all of the education costs of students of modest means.(Note: News Services is contacting this Chronicle reporter to point out that the Carolina Covenant was established before Harvard’s initiative to help low-income students.)
Click here to read more.

UNC lands $11.29M in grants
The Triangle Business Journal
Seven international centers at UNC-Chapel Hill have received grants totaling $11.29 million. The four-year awards from the U.S. Department of Education will support global business education, international and regional studies, language instruction, teaching, research and community outreach in Africa, Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East. “These coveted awards recognize UNC’s role in global education as we prepare our students for leadership in the 21st century,” said Ronald P. Strauss, executive associate provost, who oversees the University’s international initiatives.
Click here to read more.
Related Links:
http://wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=15923
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/uncs-global-efforts-get-11-million-boost
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3910/73/

Noam Chomsky To Speak At UNC September 30
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Noted linguist and political thinker Noam Chomsky will speak at the Parr Center for Ethics at UNC later this month. Chomsky is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at MIT, and will give the keynote address as part of the Parr Center’s series on environmental ethics. Chomsky has long identified as an anarchist, and was a leading voice against the Vietnam War. Chomsky will speak at 12:30 p.m. September 30 at Gerrard Hall.
Click here to read more.

UNC Lecture Series Highlights Sustainability
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC’s Friday Center is hosting a series of lectures starting this week about sustainability in local communities. Program specialist Rosemary Howard says the “What’s the Big Idea?” series includes local experts who will cover a variety of topics dealing with sustainability. The lectures will focus on water, energy and food conservation, using UNC as a case study for the series.
Click here to read more.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3900/68/

Chapel Hill changes game day transit
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Fans coming to the UNC home football games this year will notice transportation changes as part of the "Touch Downtown Chapel Hill" campaign. The campaign's goal is bolstering the community, hometown spirit and economic activity during football weekends. Fans should be aware of some transportation and parking changes this fall. Nationwide Insurance, now partnering with Tar Heel Sports Properties as a sponsor of UNC athletics, will be offering The World's Greatest Free Ride in the World: Free shuttle rides for Tar Heels to the stadium on game day.
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Three opportunities to turn your kids on to science
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Looking for ways to share science with your kids? For the next couple of weeks, you'll find lots of cool opportunities. The N.C. Science Festival, a celebration featuring science and technology, kicked off last Saturday with BugFest at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences and continues through Sept. 26. "This is the first statewide science festival in the country," says Julie Rhodes, coordinator of the N.C. Science Festival. "UNC's Morehead Planetarium and Science Center was interested in developing a regional science festival. The idea was received so well that people said, 'Why not make it a statewide science festival?'"
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UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3903/107/

Wind Energy Still A Viable Option On The Coast
North Carolina News Network
A strong supporter of energy alternatives says there is still plenty of opportunity for wind power on the coast despite the recent move by Duke Energy to cancel plans to build test turbines. Rep. Pricey Harrison of Greensboro said she remains optimistic about the future for renewable energy. ...Duke Energy will continue to fund research by UNC-Chapel Hill related to wind power and the potential for building turbines on the ocean side of the coast. There is no timetable for building those turbines.
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-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Monday, September 13, 2010

Carolina in the News

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, people at UNC:

Festival brings science - and myths - to N.C.
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The first N.C. Science Festival began this past weekend and will run for the next two weeks throughout the state. More than 400 events are part of this first festival, which is planned as a celebration of science in our everyday lives. We talked with Julie Rhodes, coordinator of the festival, about the 16-day event. ...One of the signature events is on Sunday, when we have Adam [Savage] and Jamie [Hyneman] of "MythBusters" coming to UNC. Another signature event is on Sept.25, which is the UNC Science Expo Day. That's sponsored by Morehead Planetarium and UNC and will be held on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. It's expo style, running from 11 [a.m.] to 4 [p.m.] that day, and things are happening all over campus.
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UNC Release:
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UNC's share of federal grants is record haul
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC-Chapel Hill’s research grants and contracts totaled $803 million in fiscal 2010, the largest amount in campus history, officials announced today. The figure is a 12.2 percent increase over the $716 million received last year. The contracts and grants come primarily from the federal government – especially the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. The NIH is traditionally the university's largest source of research funding.
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UNC Release:
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Tar Heels turn to science this month
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A statewide science festival, billed as the first of its kind in the nation, gets under way Saturday with BugFest 2010 in downtown Raleigh, plus a variety of other events across the state. The N.C. Science Festival is modeled after similar regional science celebrations in San Diego and Boston but spans from the coast to the mountains and includes programs, lectures, demonstrations, lessons, tours and other fare. Events run through Sept. 26. Among the highlights will be an appearance Sept. 19 by the two stars of "MythBusters," a popular Discovery Channel TV program. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, famous for testing ideas using impressive explosions, will lead a 90-minute program with outtakes and behind-the-scenes experiences from the show.
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UNC Release:
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N.C. Science Festival kicks off this weekend
Local Tech Wire
Todd Boyette has made a career of communicating science to the general public. In addition to heading the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, he also has led the charge to create the first statewide science festival in the country. The N.C. Science Festival begins this weekend and features events across the state for the next two weeks. It's a partner event in concert with the USA Science & Engineering Festival next month in Washington, D.C.
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UNC Habitat for Humanity Offering Free Tutoring
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC Habitat for Humanity and the Hillsborough Police Department are teaming up for the third year to offer free tutoring services. Corporal Tereasa King says she hopes people take advantage of the program. UNC student volunteers will help with every subject but computers. The program is open to Orange County Schools students of all ages.
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Environmental Outlook: Extreme Weather
National Public Radio
Several parts of the world are coping with severe weather related events, including a record heatwave in Russia, severe flooding in Pakistan, mudslides in China, droughts in sub-Saharan Africa, and record high temperatures in parts of the U.S. For this month's Environmental Outlook Series, climate scientists explain what we can learn from weather extremes. Guests ... Gavin Smith Executive Director, Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters and Associate Research Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Profs to discuss long-term impact of Gulf oil spill
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A panel of faculty experts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will present their findings on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill at a forum Sept. 15 that is sponsored by the General Alumni Association. "Oil on the Water: A Public Discussion and Analysis of the Long-Term Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill" will be presented from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on Stadium Drive. The experts also will answer questions from the audience in the free public forum.
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Carolina North meeting slated
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A public information meeting will be held at 5:15 p.m. Sept. 29 to receive comments and feedback on the UNC-Chapel Hill 2010 Carolina North Annual Report to the Town of Chapel Hill. The meeting will be held in the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
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-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu

Monday, August 23, 2010

Two PAID Fall Semester Internships at the UNC Sustainability Office

The Sustainability Office at UNC Chapel Hill works with students, staff, faculty, administrators, and community members to catalyze the development and implementation of sustainable policies, practices, and curricula.  Interns will become familiar with the many sustainability practices, policies, and curricula at UNC, while receiving hands-on experience developing communication tools, supporting Sustainability Office initiatives, and assessing sustainable practices at UNC Chapel Hill.  All internships are competitive and require an in-person interview.


Internship #1: Education Internship
Wage: $10/hr
Hours: 10 hours/week
Responsibilities and projects will include:

  • Research and write case studies of select campus sustainability-related programs and practices.
  • Assist to develop and facilitate educational materials and events for faculty and staff
  • Staff promotional tables at special events, such as the UNC Science Expo (Sept. 25) and Campus Sustainability Day (mid-October)
  • Develop, publish, and maintain online Green Guides to promote sustainable choices
  • Assist in the development and promotion of an online pledge tool

Internship #2: Communications Internship
Wage: $10/hr

Hours: 10 hours/week
Responsibilities and projects will include:

  • Track, compile, and post summaries of media coverage of UNC sustainability programs
  • Compile and edit weekly email newsletters for Sustainability listserv
  • Manage online events calendar, Google Maps, and Facebook profile
  • Assist in maintaining, updating, and improving Sustainability Office and Carolina Green websites
  • Update and maintain Sustainability Office exhibit case
  • Staff promotional tables at special events, as needed, such as Campus Sustainability Day

Interviews will start next week, so apply ASAP! Click here to learn more and apply for these internships!