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Two Articles on Green Campus: Transportation and Energy

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:39:21 +0000

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.

Teaching Green: Curriculum Resources

Billy — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 06:03:37 +0000

A lot of recent planning research is debunking assumptions of environmental determinism and the idea that the built environment controls behavior. As such educational programs are important factors in encouraging healthy and green practices. So what kind of programs are out there? Well, there aren’t many but here are few that I could find on short notice; definitely room for improvement in both quality and quantity.

NESEA (Northeast Sustainable Energy Association) > Curriculum: http://www.nesea.org/k-12/curricularunits/
GreenNexxus.com > One Million Acts of Green > Climate Classroom: http://www.greennexxus.com/omaog/us/education
Smart Communities Network > Curriculum: http://www.smartcommunities.ncat.org/buildings/gbedtoc.shtml
Climate Classroom: http://online.nwf.org/site/PageNavigator/ClimateClassroom/cc_teachers_slideshow
Green Education Foundation: http://www.greeneducationfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_fjrelated&view=fjrelated&id=234&Itemid=111

Planner Ann Forsyth's Advice on Grad School

Billy — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:52:38 +0000

Considering I met with someone about going to grad school and getting into the planning field this morning, I thought it appropriate to cite a recent post by Ann Forsyth about the need for relevant experience to contextualize a planning education. Check out here intro below:

The short answer to the question about whether someone needs professional or activist planning experience before graduate school is yes! You will have a clearer sense of the important questions you have about planning and your peers will have more to learn from your experiences. For this reason admissions committees favor students who have some employment and/or activist history. (With a few years of work experience you’ll also likely have more money, which is handy in terms of paying for things like heat).

The current job market can seem very frightening to undergraduates, of course. But graduate school is not a refuge. Graduate school applications were way up last year and are likely to be that way again. Those who have not yet graduated will find it very difficult to gain admission, let alone substantial funding. Committees looking for ways to narrow the field will often put all those in the not-yet-graduated group straight in the “B,” “C,” or “D” pile of applications. In this blog I describe how to navigate the current internship and job markets so current undergraduates can gain enough experience to make it into the applicant “A” list for your preferred graduate school offering reasonable funding, in a few years.

First it needs to be said that this is not the first time that job markets have been tight. There are periodic recessions that limit options—I was an undergraduate in the downturn of the early 1980s for example and entered academic life in the early-to-mid-1990s when there was little hiring. Experiences of many planners in those numerous earlier downturns show it is possible to make enough money to support oneself and prepare for a career in planning. The path, however, may be a little different when compared with the easy job market of recent years…