Fall 2011

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ENVISIONS

a future...Sustainability at GW

Sustainability at GW 1

To Begin Dear Friends,

Sustainability has been a key priority since I arrived at the George Washington University in XYZ year. At George Washington, we seek to engage the world by convening discussions of the important issues of our time. Through our efforts in academia and our operations, we can make a significant impact on climate change, fresh water availability, and ecosystems, and we can encourage others to take similar leadership steps.

Chartered by an Act of Congress in 1821, the George Washington University was founded to realize our namesake’s vision for a university in this nation’s capital that would train citizen-leaders for the new country. Today, we continue that mission by educating students from the District of Columbia, all 50 states, and more than 130 countries who will become citizen-leaders for the nation and the world.

At George Washington, we believe that an awareness of the principles of sustainability must be a part of the educational experience, so have made it a priority to infuse these principles into everything we do. Our vision is to create resource systems that are healthy and thriving for all. Through efforts underway in our operations and throughout our diverse academic programs, we are committed to transforming George Washington into a model of sustainability. In this way, we join our colleagues across the United States and around the world in educating the next generation of leaders about being responsible and engaged citizens.

What follows is a summary of our sustainability initiatives and progress to date. We look forward to sharing updates with you in the years to come

Sincerely,

XXX

7 institutes on campusARE FOCUSED ON ISSUES OF SUSTAINABILITY

Close-up of the solar thermal system on the Elliott SchoolIndex: Practice......3 | Curriculum.......11 | Research.........13 | Outreach.........15

PRACTICE | Sustainability at GW 3

GW COMMITS TO

Carbon Neutrality by 2040

GW was the first school in the District to sign the American College and University PRESIDENT’S CLIMATE COMMITMENT (ACUPCC). As a signatory of the ACUPCC, GW is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and to measuring our progress by updating our greenhouse gas inventory.

The University released its CLIMATE ACTION PLAN in May 2010, and targets carbon neutrality by 2040 and to reduce its on-site carbon emissions from its buildings, transportation, and energy use by 40 percent by 2025.

GW has a revolving GREEN CAMPUS FUND to leverage energy savings derived from current projects and use them as seed funding to execute future conservation projects. As of spring 2011, close to one-million dollars of projects are in the works.

The university is home to three SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEMS, which are heating the hot water in three residence halls, Building JJ, 1959 E Street and Ivory.

GW has taken accountability for its transportation carbon footprint and is working on projects to help incentivize lower carbon intensity transportation option. GW provides shuttle stops, bike racks and Zipcars in both academic locations and residence halls. GW operates two shuttles to our Mount Vernon campus and to our Ashburn campus, offers a carpool matching service, and offers many bike amenities, including bike racks, three bike share stations and a discounted membership at the gym for cyclists who wish to use the shower facilities.

Climate

PRACTICE | Sustainability at GW 5

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As an urban campus, GW’s biggest source of electricity usage comes from our buildings. As part of its Campus Plan, GW is committed to building to the equivalent of LEED Silver. In its first two projects, the university has surpassed this mark and earned certification at the Gold level. For the university’s most ambitious project, the Science and Engineering Hall, building stakeholders came together to discuss the vision for sustainability and adopted guiding principles to help steer the design process.

PAST PROJECTS

South Hall (LEED GOLD): Opened in Fall, 2009 this hall houses upperclassmen in in apartment-style living. This building features bamboo paneling, carpet tiles, low-voc materials, a white roof and energy star appliances.

West Hall (LEED GOLD): Opened in Fall, 2010, this hall houses freshman and sophomore residents in suite-style living. This building features low-flow faucets, toilets and showers, native and adaptive plants and solar light tubes.

UPCOMING PROJECTS

Renovations: Lafayette Hall, Ames Hall, Smith Center, Law School Townhouse Clinics

New Construction: Science and Engineering Hall, Law Learning Center, School of Public Health and Health Services

Spotlight on Buildings

PRACTICE | Sustainability at GW 7

GW is committed to reducing its POTABLE WATER FOOTPRINT and negative impacts on the surrounding watershed. On Earth Day 2011, GW revealed its water footprint and announced its targets around water sustainability.

The GWATER PLAN is one of the most comprehensive plans for water sustainability issued by an American university, with clear goals and targets spanning across four major focus areas—potable water, rainfall capture, wastewater and bottled water.

Existing water efforts include the completion of SQUARE 80 PLAZA. a unique water reclamation park captures and retains all water that falls on the site. Through a network of cisterns, runnels, permeable surfaces and rain barrels, this ¾ acre site highlights the technological possibilities for managing storm water. The Square 80 plaza is a participant in the SITES pilot program, which is developing a certification for outdoor spaces.

GW is also making strides to reduce the use of bottled water on campus by reducing direct expenditure on bottled water in university procurement. GW is piloting new drinking water infrastructre on campus and promoting the use of REUSABLE WATER BOTTLES.

In efforts to enhance STORMWATER QUALITY and reduce the amount of runoff, is increasing the amount of permeable space on campus through GREEN ROOFS. 1959 E Street is home to a pilot green roof on the Elliot School, which was proposed by students, and opened in fall 2008.

Water

40 million gallonsTHE AMOUNT OF WATER SAVED IN THE PAST FOUR YEARS THROUGH CONSERVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS.

GW students help clean litter from the Anacostia River as part of the 2010 Freshman Day of Service.

PRACTICE | Sustainability at GW 9

In the coming year, GW will compose a plan to address its ecosystem impacts. Topics covered will include solid waste and recycling, food, biodiversity, and grounds and landscaping.

Several projects on campus have already begun to address our ecosystem impacts.

The Food Justice Alliance student group planted two gardens on campus and has brought HONEYBEES to the Mount Vernon Campus. These gardens feature native vegetables and plants which require less watering, and the addition of vegetation to the campus also helps prevent storm water runoff.

GW runs a pilot COMPOSTING PROGRAM in Pelham Commons at the Mount Vernon Campus. Current studies are underway to investigate the feasibility of bringing composting to our Foggy Bottom facilities.

The FOOD WORKING GROUP works to implement sustainability projects in Sodexo run facilities. To date, the group has been instrumental in bringing biodegradable plate ware to J Street and to Pelham Commons as well as increasing signage about these products. Other focus areas include increasing local food options and expanding composting options.

Finally, GW has a longstanding partnership with the DC based non-profit CASEY TREES, who works to promote urban tree canopy in the District. To date, GW and Casey Trees have partnered on multiple tree planting studies, a tree canopy study for our greenhouse gas inventory, expansion of the GROW COMMUNITY GARDEN, tree health studies on campus and are currently investigating piloting a new treebox technology on our campus.

EcosystemsSINCE SPRING 2010, GW HAS BEEN

home to 125,000

honeybees WHICH PRODUCED OVER 150 POUNDS

OF WILDFLOWER HONEY IN 2011.

GW student Melissa Eddison tends to the honeybee hives on the Mount Vernon campus

STUDENT GROUPS – Numerous student groups from GreenGW, the Food Justice Alliance and Net Impact work to educate, engage and inspire their fellow students around issues of sustainability.

GREEN GRAD PLEDGE – Rati omni occullu ptatumque lab ipis as ut officaest, sit optatquos rem et, qui omnim rectoris ipsusdae plit, odit labor a con re, sus asperferibus seribusam, quas nisquid qui comnim int, comnimet Rati omni occullu ptatumque lab ipis as ut officaest, sit optatquos rem et, qui omnim rectoris ipsusdae plit, odit labor a con re, sus asperferibus seribusam, quas nisquid qui comnim int, comnimet

Through the GREEN OFFICE PROGRAM staff across the University bring green practices to their workplace as teams investigate practices with lighting, computer usage, commuting, waste and recycling, and then work with staff and faculty groups to set realistic objectives for improvement. Following the workshop, offices select a person to lead their team towards more sustainable practices.

GREEN@WORK is a partnership between GW’s Operations Division and Human Resources, which encourages faculty/staff to incorporate sustainability into their jobs. For the last three years the group has promoted a Green@Work Fair to inform GW staff about sustainable practices, provide an opportunity for recycling electronics, and promote GW’s sustainability programs and resources.

PRACTICE | Sustainability at GW 11

Student and Employee EngagementGW is preparing the next generation of decision makers and leaders. The GW experience provides students with opportunities to gain skills and knowledge that they can take with them to help create a sustainable future.

ECO-CHALLENGE is an annual competition among GW residence halls encouraging students to reduce electricity/water consumption and inspire efficient use of resources. In the 2009- 2010 academic year, GW’s residence halls conserved more than 700,000 kilowatt hours of electricity and more than four million gallons of water compared to the prior year. The emissions savings of this reduction are equivalent to removing 96 cars from the road for one year.

GREEN MOVE OUT & GREEN MOVE IN are led by students and staff to ensure GW students can be sustainable as they arrive to/depart from the campus. In spring 2009, 100+ student and staff volunteers collected more than 2,261 bags of clothing/household items (11.5 truck loads), 4,500 books, 51 pieces of e-cycling materials and 3,000 pounds of food and distributed these items to local food banks, children’s agencies, homeless shelters, and animal shelters. In 2009, the Washington Business Journal recognized Green Move Out as a regional leader for its efforts to incorporate environmental/sustainable practices into businesses and community work.

RECYCLEMANIA – GW participates in the annual nationwide recycling tournament, Recyclemania. Recyclemania promotes waste reduction and recycling across university and college campuses.

CURRICULUM | Sustainability at GW 13

100 coursesARE OFFERED ON TOPICS OF SUSTAINABILITY

GW is home to over 100 courses on topics of sustainability that span fourteen academic programs. Such programs include undergraduate studies in geography and environmental studies, masters programs in environmental policy, sustainable urban planning. GW’s environmental law program is one of the oldest in the countries and is a key strength of the legal program on campus. Students consistently join the business school program because of its commitment to sustainability and corporate responsibility.

Students consistently cite strengths in sustainability as a reason for their course of study and choice of school. Environmental Policy master’s student, Cassandra indicates “As a student in the GW Environment and Natural Resource Policy program I have come to appreciate the benefits of an interdisciplinary environmental program. My classes in environmental studies, economics, and policy have helped me to understand the complexity of solving environmental challenges. I have also had the opportunity to apply these skills to real-world applications by conducting cutting-edge research with GW faculty regarding storm water infrastructure in the District.”

Curriculum

A sample of courses offered on campus include:

GEOG 3143 Urban Sustainability

ECON 6237 Economics of the Environment and Natural Resources

MSTD 6601 The Green Museum

REL 0775 Man and Natural Environment

IAFF 2190W International Environmental Policy

IAFF 6138 Financing Climate Change Policy

CE 3730 Sustainable Urban Planning Dynamics

PubH 6004 Environmental and Occupational Health in a Sustainable World

PubH 2114 Environment, Health and Development

PSUS 6202 Economics of Sustainable Communities

PSUS 6204 Land Use Law

Law 6435 Trade and Sustainable Development

Law 6828 International Rights of Women

Law 6847 Intellectual Property and Indigenous Heritage

RESEARCH | Sustainability at GW 15

GW is home to 7 number of academic institutes conducting research on topics ranging from solar energy, sustainable landscapes, urban sustainability policy and new energy technologies.

Below is a profile of three of GW’s newest professors who are conducting research on pressing sustainability issues.

DR. ROYCE FRANCIS is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at the George Washington University and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. At George Washington, Dr. Francis leads the SEED research group—Sustainable [urban] Ecologies, Engineering, and Decision-making. Currently, SEED is focusing on sustainability measurement in drinking water systems, risk-based management of drinking water infrastructure rehabilitation and renewal, and integration of decision modeling with life cycle cost assessment methodologies for evaluating low-impact development approaches to stormwater management. One current project supported by DC Water and DC Water Resources Research Institute is evaluating the influence of customer preferences concerning adoption of low-impact development on reduction of stormwater runoff.

DR. MELISSA KEELEY’S research on urban sustainability examines the intersection of urban ecology, engineering, and environmental policy and planning. Her active research interests are clustered around several themes including urban sustainability policy, green infrastructure and green building certification. Through her work she is identifying trends in sustainability in green-building policy, assisting the DC Offices of Planning and the Environment on urban stormwater management through green infrastructure, and is helping to evaluate how public buildings are accruing “LEED” green building points. She serves as the Assistant Professor of Geography and of Public Policy and Public Administration.

MELISSA PERRY, SCD, MHS, Chair and Professor of the Environmental and Occupational Health Department, researches environmental health risks and solutions, with a focus on workplace environments. “To have a sustainable food system, we must address the health of workers involved in producing food, and improve their working conditions to reduce the risk of injuries and illness,” she explains. Prompted by her personal experience with farming, she has conducted extensive research into the effects of pesticides on farmers’ health, including their cancer risks and reproductive health. She is currently funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to study the impact of environmental contaminants on male reproductive function, and is working with the US Geological Survey and Potomac Riverkeeper to investigate endocrine disruptors in the Potomac River. Dr. Perry is also funded by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health to study the factors that increase the risk of meatpacking workers experiencing laceration injuries and identify ways to prevent hazards. This research brings her to the Midwestern pork processing facilities that are collaborating with her; she has also collaborated with colleagues in South Africa, Tanzania, China, New Zealand, and Albania.

Research

7 institutes on campusARE FOCUSED ON ISSUES OF SUSTAINABILITY

Close-up of the solar thermal system on the Elliott School

Outreach

OUTREACH | Sustainability at GW 17

GW’s professors are frequently called upon to offer testimony on Capitol Hill. Their testimony is just one way that the university’s academic leaders are linking their research to practical policy and helping to advance an understanding of sustainability concerns in the broader community.

DR. LYNN GOLDMAN, dean, School of Public Health and Health Services, and professor of environmental and occupational health, testified most recently on July 12, 2011 where she presented in an oversight hearing called by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on the implementation by the EPA of the Unregulated Drinking Water Contaminants in the Safe Drinking Water Act. In her testimony, Dean Goldman articulated ways that EPA could strengthen the regulation of chemicals in drinking water.

DR. JEROME PAULSON, American Academy of Pediatrics, and associate professor of pediatrics and public health, George Washington University, and director, Mid-Atlantic Center for Children’s Health and the Environment, Children’s National Medical Center of Public Health and Health Services, representing American Academy of Pediatrics, provided testimony to the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee on the implications of the Clean Air Act and Public Health on June 15, 2011. Dr. Paulson articulated the need for Congress to strengthen the Clean Air Act and the EPA’s ability and authority to set, implement, and enforce Clean Air Act regulations throughout the country.

KEN ZWEIBEL, Director of the GW Solar Institute, has made significant progress in raising awareness of the potential of solar energy and informing related policy. Early highlights of his tenure at GW include: testifying before the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee on the need for the creation of a solar research and development roadmap, which informed legislation that later passed in the House; and serving on the steering committee of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Vision study, a major effort to develop a 20-year roadmap to accelerate the deployment of solar energy in the United States.

GW is providing leading sustainability expertsTO ADVISE POLICYMAKERS IN OUR NATION’S CAPITOL

Dean Goldman testifies on Capitol Hill about public health considerations.

The Office of Sustainability opened in January 2009, following the completion of the Task Force Report on Sustainability. The Task Force, convened by President Knapp upon his arrival at the University, provided a series of recommendations on sustainability to the University. Creating an Office of Sustainability was one of their top priority areas. The Office provides a strategic home for sustainability initiative on campus, and we work in partnership with many stakeholders on campus to advance our work.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Email us at: SUSTAINGW@GWU.EDU

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GW Office of Sustainability

ON THE COVER: GW’s water reclamation park located on G Street between 21st and 22nd. All of the water captured on the site, remains on the site.

20 studentsHAVE PROVIDED THEIR SKILLS AND EXPERTISE TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS SINCE THE OFFICE OPENED IN 2009.

Permeable pavers a key element of the Sq 80 water reclamation site.

...with resource systems that are healthy

and thriving for all.In efforts to enhance our campus, our nation’s capital and the world at large,

GW community is building a greener campus, providing research and intellectual discourse on policies and pathways to sustainable systems, and equipping students

with the skills and knowledge to contribute to a sustainable future.