scene November 2019 1
Sustainability Bulletin
Inside this Issue 3 ……………………………………...………...Curriculum 4 ……………………………………..…..…..…Operations 5 ..………………..…………………...…….…….Research 6 ..………………………..…………….….….Engagement 7 ..……...…………………….……..Community Events 8 …………………………………………..……...Leadership
10 ..……………..…Sustainability Alumni Spotlight
@UAlbanyGreenScn
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Spring Sustainability Courses Searching for that last class to add to your schedule for the spring semester? Our office provides a database of courses offered at the University that include an element of sustainability. This spring a variety of courses are on the schedule including: AENG 121
Reading Literature– Environmental Humanities, Prof. Ogden, MWF 11:30-12:25PM, CH 151
AGOG 101
Intro to Physical Environment, Prof. Jiang, TTH 8:45-10:05AM, LC 21
AHIS 329
American Environmental History, Prof. Smith-Howard, TTH 11:45-1:05PM, BB B006
IESE 301
Intro Environment and Sustainable Engineering Prof. Kim MWF, 10:25AM-11:20AM, BB 221
AENV 250
Sustainable Development Energy, Online
IESE 221
Intro Sustainable Engineering, Prof. Millard,, MWF 09:20AM-10:15AM, HU 125
IESE 321
Engn Appl Sustainable Design, Prof. Millard, MWF 11:30AM-12:25PM, HU 125
IESE 533
Sustainable Air Pollution Management
AATM 103
Introduction to Climate Change, Prof. Liu, Online
AATM 413
Weather, Climate Change, Societal Impacts, Prof. Tang, MWF 09:20AM-10:15AM, Catskill 147
AATM 419
Numerical Weather Prediction, Prof. Fovell, TTH 04:15PM-05:35PM, ES 333
AENV 480
Air Pollution & Public Health, Prof. Russo, TTH 04:15PM-05:35PM. ES 13
AENV 490
Major Topics Environmental Science, Prof. Vuille, TTH 02:45PM-04:05PM, ES 13
RPAD 399
Law and Climate Change, Prof Stein, TTH 1:15-2:35PM, SS 255
RPAD 475
Understanding Energy Policy/Climate Change, Prof. Saxonis, M 5:45-9:25PM, HU S219
Prof. Bari, T 2:45PM-05:35PM, BB B007
Additionally, Dr. Mary Ellen Mallia is available to come to classes or other organizational activities and discuss a variety of sustainability issues such as climate change, waste reduction, food choices and carbon emission reductions.
Full Course List for Spring 2020
Curriculum
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Energy Campaign Reveal Our 13th annual Energy Campaign wrapped up this month and the campus community came together just before Thanksgiving break to celebrate our accomplishments. Overall, we achieved a 7% reduction with 645,169 kilowatt hours saved or a 241 metric ton decrease in carbon dioxide emissions. This is equal to the emissions associated with using 27,118 gallons of gasoline or taking 51 cars off the road for one year or the carbon sequestered by 3,985 trees. The top performing academic buildings were the Massry Business Building, Life Sciences and the University Library. The top performing living residences were Colonial Quad and Freedom Apartments. The semester Terra Awards, recognizing faculty, staff and student innovation with regards to sustainability, went to : Dr. Aleksandra Kovacheva, Jason Jones, Bradley Hershenson, and Zachary Fisher. See more about the awards on page 6. We would like to thank everyone who took part in our Energy Campaign this year!
Operations
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100% Renewable Energy—YES! Dr. Richard Perez discusses how the US can achieve 100% clean energy in a recent UAlbany Podcast. You can hear the interview here. SUNY Chancellor Kristina Johnson has set some very aggressive goals for the system with regards to renewable energy. Specifically, she has called for 100% of our electricity to be sourced from renewables.
Is this possible? Yes, says Dr. Richard Perez. He is a world renown expert on solar energy and a Senior Research Associate at UAlbany’s Atmospheric Science Research Center. In fact, Dr. Perez has a plan to achieve this not only for our campus but the entire country. While the mandate for renewable sourcing is good, it does not seem realistic to many because there is no blueprint to achieve the goals. According to Dr. Perez, the key is to oversize our renewable systems and combine this with curtailment and storage. This idea was first generated by Dr. Perez’s son Marc who developed the concept in the course of his studies and is now a senior researcher with Clean Power Research in California. Perez notes that there are only two renewables large enough to meet our energy demand, solar and wind. Seasonal variations and the intermittent nature of the source means you need a lot of storage and this makes these renewables unaffordable But if you oversize your supply and curtail it, you need less storage and this will make renewables affordable. Curtail means “throwing away” the excess. How large of an oversize will depend on the region. A northern climate will need to over size more. Dr. Perez did a demonstration study in Minnesota and determined that you would need to oversize by 30—40% in order to get to the desired low cost. He also notes that curtailment is already happening naturally, as evidenced by the waste heat on pavement on a hot day. Dr. Perez also addressed the land use issues associated with solar. He published a paper that calculated if a quarter of the current hydro-power dams incorporated solar, we would be able meet 100% of the US electricity demand with solar. Right now there is no incentive to over-build and Dr. Perez advocates for regulation changes that would address this barrier. Dr. Perez plan was published in the May 2019 issue of PV-Tech Power.
Research
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Around the Terra Award Recipients Todd Foreman, V.P. of Finance and Administration helped to hand out the Terra Awards at our Energy Campaign Reveal and Recognition ceremony.
Office of Sustainability’s Graduate Assistant Bradley Hershenson accepting his award for mastery at engagement and his mentoring of sustainability to the campus community.
Dr. Aleksandra Kovacheva accepting her award for the different ways she shows her love of the environment. She prints student assignments on the backs of scrap paper, reusing name badges at conferences, and implementing sustainability factors into her marketing course.
Engagement
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UAlbany’s Director of Parking and Mass Transit Jason Jones accepting his award for bringing universal access of the CDPHP Cycle program to our campus as well as maintaining several initiatives such as bike registration and GPS tracking of UAlbany buses.
Student Association’s Director of Health and Sustainability Zachary Fisher accepting his award for helping plan the Climate strike, making sustainable self-care products, and his contributions to UAlbany Students for Sustainability .
Community Around the Community Discover the Pine Bush Sunday, December 1st at 1pm at the Pine Bush Discovery Center An extraordinary journey into the Albany Pine Bush – a globally rare, nationally significant and locally distinct inland pine barrens. Reservation Required: https:// www.albanypinebush.org/index.php?section=visit-calendar&evtid=775 Solarize the Capital District Thursday, December 5th from 6-8pm at Honest Weight Food Co-op, 100 Watervliet Ave (Community Room) Solarize is a bulk purchase of solar equipment and installation services. By working together with many households interested in buying solar, customers can get better prices on equipment. This increases overall demand for solar, a true win-win for all local installers, for our communities, and for the environment. If you are interested in putting solar on your property, please email Dave Hochfelder at dphochfelder@gmail.com Pine Bush Perspectives Exhibit Opening Friday, December 6th at 6pm at the Pine Bush Discovery Center The unveiling of this year's juried photo exhibit, celebrating the uniqueness and diversity of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve. Reservation: https:// albanypinebush.org/index.php?section=visit-calendar&evtid=776 Zero Waste Cooking: Holiday Edition Sunday, December 8th at 2pm at Honest Weight Food Co-op, 100 Watervliet Ave (Teaching Kitchen) Learn how to make your favorite holiday dishes in an environmentally friendly!
Events
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Around the Student Leadership From November 8th-9th students went to the C2C Fellows Network at the Bard Center for Environmental Policy. This conference was for undergraduates and recent graduates aspiring to leadership work in sustainable politics, NGO’s and business. This skills-based weekend workshop was attended by young people from across the country to share ideas. Five UAlbany students attended the event to sharpen their sustainability leadership skills. The State of NY Sustainability Conference was held from November 13th-15th in Rochester, NY at the RIT campus. This conference brought together faculty, staff, and students from private and public higher education institutions from across New York State. The theme this year was "Connecting the Campus with Community". The aim was to showcase ways higher education and institutions can advance sustainability efforts on campuses and communities throughout New York State. This year, a student-focused summit was held on Friday from 11 am to 5 pm. Three of our students travelled out to Rochester to attend the summit.
Leadership
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Community UAlbany Junior Lauren Segal had this to say about the Student Summit: “Over the weekend, I attended the NYS Sustainability Conference, this year it was held on the RIT Campus. We got to attend several presentations throughout the conference, such as how the school has sustainable food purchasing for their campus through a group called Harvest Table and is buying an increasing amount of local foods for their students. They recently won an award for their practices. All over campus was their Ozzi reusable containers as well and there were Ozzi recycling stations throughout campus, too. They are microwave-safe, and eliminates the use of 90,000+ disposable to-go containers per year. With a group called FLOWS, another presentation I had went to, people travel to countries on social justice or environmental justice issues. One keynote speaker noted that there is a misperception about the level of concern over environmental issues and their data showed a high level of importance placed on the topic by the Latina community. At the end of the day, we went to a round-table discussion and discussed with other students what we had learned at the conference.” UAlbany Senior Kelly Zelaya reflected on her experience at the Student Summit: “This past weekend I attended the NYS Sustainability Conference at RIT. Through lectures and workshops, I was able to gain more knowledge on a wide range of topics that relate to environmental sustainability. A few presentations that stood out to me involved sustainable purchasing, ESG investing, and social equity. It was inspiring to learn about the reality behind this issue as well as the many successful measures that have been taken at various universities. The NYS Sustainability Conference connected me with students and professionals from all over the country leaving me more empowered than ever before.”
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Sustainability Alumni Spotlight
Sean Taylor 1. What year did you graduate? 2015 2. What was your major/minor? Major: Environmental Science Minor: Geography 3. What was your co-curricular and student organization involvement on campus? UAlbany Green Scene, UAlbany Student for Sustainability 4. What are you doing now? Where do you live? I work in the City of Albany as a 4H Urban Environmental Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension. 5. How have you applied your experience with the sustainability movement on campus and involvement with the Office of Sustainability into your post-college life and career? The experiences that I have learned working to promote sustainable initiatives on campus have motivated me to implement those same practices in my community. I work with local organizations and schools to educate and excite youth and their families about environmental stewardship through engaging hands-on STEM activities and community projects. My experience in the UAlbany sustainability movement gave me an understanding of how to execute community engagement and coalition building to address systemic ecological issues we face in society. Skills attained allowed me to approach obstacles in a casual, down-to-earth way, yet maintaining a high level of professionalism and integrity. The systemic problems that I tend to focus on in a more local context consist of urban agriculture, community development, and food deserts. I am a leader for sustainability in the community because of my commitment to co-curricular University activities. My participation in student organizations ultimately provided me with the interpersonal skills to navigate and make inroads in my life and career. The Office of Sustainability is proud of the successes of our sustainability alumni! They were essential in the early stages of the sustainability movement at UAlbany and have shaped where it is now. Take a moment to read about them in our “Sustainability Alumni Spotlight� section of the Sustainability Bulletin each month. 10