Two Articles on Green Campus: Transportation and Energy

Two of the main culprits of emissions / pollution on corportate and educational campus in the US are 1) energy use (power, heating and cooling) and 2) transportation.  Here are two discourses on this topic.  First a discussion of coal for heat at universities in the eastern US  and then a discussion about where we are with non-motorized transit and how campuses might provided catalyst environments for changing transportation behavior.

In terms of energy use on campuses, a 10 Janurary article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed., discusses the difficulties for campus trying to go off non-renewables.  It cites Penn State which will in 2010 begin to upgrade it’s coal-power steam plants but is now under pressure to pursue more rigorous environmentalism.  The articles notes Ball State University (geo-thermal) and UW-Madison (bio-mass) as examples of colleges pursuing adventurous solutions, but indicates there are costs (many requiring state and federal subsidies) and may lack relability.

Most renewable energy sources are not as reliable, potent, or accessible, and many experts predict that coal will continue providing a significant portion of the nation’s energy. To complicate matters, energy use on growing campuses is more intense than ever—in part because of the living arrangements of students, who occupy bigger spaces and have devices plugged into every wall. Coal is certainly dirty, but colleges that want to stop burning it might have to make significant investments and take some risks to find alternatives.

Likewise the transportation segment is a large portion of institutional GHG emission.   It also is low-hanging fruit for campus wanting to reduce emission — simply shifting travel behavior.  However A separate article from 22 Dec 2009 from ClimateEdu discusses how US cycling and pedestrian infrastructure lags that of European.

American urban planners and road engineers still have a knowledge gap when it comes to building infrastructure for bikes. In Europe, bicyclists enjoy cycling lanes separated from traffic by boundaries. Traffic calming devices and bicycle-specific traffic lights also add to the perception of safety, and European bicyclists can travel long distances without ever coming into close contact with a car.

Similarly to the discussion on coal, many times state and federal subsidies / funding is needed to implement large-scale projects, but that does not preclude incremental steps.   Efficiency and behavioral program, as well as good day-to-day, contextual urban design can help address these step-by-step; with the hope of a large big-hit in the future.