... or your college, for that matter?

Each member of the National Alliance for Green Education has resolved to develop a program for campus greening. For example, see the new dorm and strawbale structure which were toured during NAAGE 2 at Northland College in August, 1998.

The definition of campus greening will of course be debated by the members of NAAGE. It is suggested that there are three major elements in the campus greening process:

1. Remodeling or Constructing a Sustainable Showcase Building
2. Establishing Sustainable Practices on Campus
3. Extending Sustainable Practices into the Local Community

Remodeling or Constructing a Sustainable Showcase Building

One potential project for campus greening is to identify a single building, either existing or in the design stage, as a model for sustainability. This building might be residential, classroom, administrative, or special purpose.

The building would be designed and constructed (or remodeled) to incorporate features such as the following, as appropriate for the campus location:

• Renewable electrical energy: photovoltaics, wind generators, biomass electric generators, ...
• Capture and reuse of water: cistern, graywater system, ...
• Passive solar heating and cooling
• Extensive use of local and renewable materials in construction
• Recycling of packaging and other materials used only during construction
• Recycling of materials used by occupants of the building
• Composting toilets
• Woodburning stove for space and water heating with wood from a sustained harvest woodlot

Combined with local meteorological data, the above hardware systems might be instrumented and linked to the campus website to display progress being made, and perhaps with comparison to another similar building that uses conventional systems.

Establishing Sustainable Practices on Campus

This component of campus greening might take place simultaneously with the above project, and would have the goal of achieving sustainability in campus-wide infrastructure, such as:

System: [Examples] Water System: Onsite wells, local catchment systems Food Systems: Gardens/farm for on-campus food production Composting: Of organic wastes Toxics: Limitations on and monitoring of toxic substances Gray Water: Separation and treatment of gray water Composting Toilets: Campus-wide Solids Recycling: Recycling centers in all campus buildings Energy: Campus-wide renewable energy systems Shelter Systems: (See above) Transportation: Electric vehicles charged by renewables _________________

Status _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________

Criteria for measurement may be established to evaluate progress towards sustainability with respect to the above systems.

Extending Sustainable Practices into the Local Community

In keeping with good campus-town relations, once the campus has achieved advanced levels of greening on various subsystems, it may become appropriate to set up training programs and demonstration projects for residents, local government agencies, and businesses in the local communities adjacent to campus.

Further thoughts on campus greening are sought. To send your contributions, please email our Webmaster.