My Green Lab is an international community of scientists dedicated to making laboratories more sustainable and resource-efficient. To achieve My Green Lab certification, each lab conducted an initial assessment to evaluate their current sustainability practices and identified areas of improvement, including waste, water, and electricity. Labs were encouraged to adopt measures such as defrosting and cleaning refrigerator coils, using timers for test equipment, and promoting best practices. Alicia Wood-Jones, Lab and Safety Officer for EH&S, was a key leader in the working group. Known for her work on the Chemical Reclamation Committee, Wood-Jones’ vision and drive are instrumental in finding innovative solutions to long-standing challenges in lab decommissioning.
She thanks her colleagues, including the EH&S Lab and Chemical Safety Team, “for their help and vision. We believe that even small steps forward can make a big difference here at Georgia Tech. I am so appreciative to all involved. I look forward to future collaborations with lab members on campus.”
Katherine Nguyen and her team in the Takayama Lab construct multicellular models and dissect cell signaling pathways to understand disease physiology. While pursuing this research, the lab team activated measures to responsibly manage their lab resources, such as recycling in the lab, keeping centrifuges at room temperature when not needed, and consolidating orders.
“I’m incredibly happy and proud to have been a part of this program and appreciate everyone’s hard work to try to make Georgia Tech a more sustainable campus,” she said. “Our lab was the first academic lab at Georgia Tech to get certified. Sometimes, graduate students want to be greener, but don’t know how to or feel like we have the power to. My Green Lab helped identify feasible options for labs to reduce their waste. Even if labs couldn’t make every single change, any improvement is a positive change.”
Sustainability efforts at the Molecular Evolution Core Laboratory are led by Anton Bryksin, Shweta Biliya, and Adam Fallah. The lab is pioneering Tip-Cycle, a program that sterilizes and recycles pipettes for reuse. This lab also monitors campus blackwater for diseases such as Covid-19, using thousands of pipettes in their work. Faced with resource constraints during the pandemic, these researchers developed innovative solutions to maximize resource efficiency. “We’ve always wanted to make our lab practices more sustainable, but weren’t sure where to start. My Green Lab gave us the tools and guidance to turn that intention into action. This certification represents the dedication of our entire team to create a more sustainable environment,” said Biliya, a Georgia Tech research scientist.
The My Green Lab initiative offers an approach for transforming campus labs into more efficient spaces while producing less hazardous waste. By prioritizing sustainability in our labs, Georgia Tech can have both a global reputation for research and responsible resource management.
Visit the Office of Sustainability for more information on My Green Lab.
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Drew Cutright
Director of Sustainability Engagement
Office of Sustainability
The briefcase-sized Lunar Flashlight will be monitored and controlled over the next several months by a team of graduate and undergraduate students in Georgia Tech’s School of Aerospace Engineering. The team will keep the spacecraft on track and capture the data it gathers to be studied by the Lunar Flashlight Science team.
Watch a video on the Lunar Flashlight mission on YouTube
The spacecraft launched at 2:38 a.m. December 11 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that also carried a Japanese-built lunar lander and a United Arab Emirates rover. Shortly after launch, Lunar Flashlight separated from the Falcon 9 to begin an approximately three-month journey that will carry it into a fuel-conserving orbital trajectory 42,000 miles beyond the moon. Gravity from the moon, Earth, and Sun will ultimately bring it into a path that will come within nine miles of the lunar surface.
Once in its science orbit around the moon, Lunar Flashlight will shine four lasers into perpetually-dark craters near the lunar South Pole. Each laser operates at a slightly different frequency, and the reflected light acts like a spectral fingerprint that identifies the material that it illuminated. If ice is there, the near-infrared light from the lasers will be absorbed by the water. If the light reflects back to the Lunar Flashlight, that will indicate the absence of ice. Data from the spacecraft will be radioed to NASA’s Deep Space Network and received by student controllers on the Georgia Tech campus, who will then share it with the Lunar Flashlight Science Team.
Surface water ice may be a treasure trove of water from different sources such as volcanic outgassing and meteorite impact, so knowing where it resides will help point future assets to examine it at the surface. If sufficient amounts exist, the precious liquid may be used to help meet the drinking water needs of future lunar colonies. Water molecules from potential ice reservoirs in the South Pole craters could also be split to provide a source of oxygen for breathing and hydrogen for rocket fuel.
Big Capabilities in a Small Spacecraft
Despite its small size, Lunar Flashlight – which was designed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory – has big capabilities. Lunar Flashlight carries a propulsion system that will be used to make mid-course corrections and allow the spacecraft to get into lunar orbit and accomplish its mission. Built at Georgia Tech’s School of Aerospace Engineering, the propulsion system uses a new monopropellant developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory to be more environmentally safe than earlier propellants.
“It’s a very capable spacecraft for sure,” said Jud Ready, a Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) principal research engineer who served as principal investigator for the final assembly and testing of Lunar Flashlight at Georgia Tech. “Achieving lunar orbit insertion can be challenging for a conventional spacecraft, let alone a vehicle the size of a desktop computer.”
The solar-powered Lunar Flashlight is part of a new generation of small spacecraft with capabilities formerly seen only on larger vehicles. First used in low earth orbit, the smaller vehicles are now traveling to the moon, and potentially to other planets in the solar system.
“Space exploration was formerly the realm of major governments – the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and a few others,” said Ready. “Using smaller spacecraft like Lunar Flashlight means a lot more opportunity for this. There will likely be thousands of other small spacecraft launching behind us.”
A Learning Experience for GTRI and Georgia Tech
Final assembly of the Lunar Flashlight took place in a cleanroom in a GTRI building on the main Atlanta campus, where the laser system also was tested. Specialized equipment at GTRI’s Cobb County Research Facility tested the spacecraft’s radio equipment and simulated the stresses of launch. Thermal, vacuum, and other testing took place in Georgia Tech’s School of Aerospace Engineering.
For the faculty, staff, and students involved, Lunar Flashlight has provided a great learning experience.
“We learned how to apply NASA’s rigorous protocols to everything we did, protect the spacecraft from electrostatic discharge, schedule complex testing tasks, and utilize our student researchers who must also maintain their schoolwork and take exams,” Ready said. “There have been some real sacrifices by a lot of folks who worked long and odd hours.”
After completion of the final assembly and testing at Georgia Tech, Lunar Flashlight traveled to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for fueling and additional testing. Finally, it made the trip to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for integration onto the SpaceX rocket.
Ready is hopeful that if Lunar Flashlight finds evidence of significant ice deposits on the moon’s South Pole, the precious water will help set the stage for creating a permanent human presence there.
“It’s really disappointing that we went to the moon in the 1970s, but didn’t stay there,” he said. “However, when you look at the big scheme of things, exploration is often measured in hundreds or even thousands of years. So, it’s not surprising that colonization of the moon would take longer than a few decades.”
Writer: John Toon (john.toon@gtri.gatech.edu).
GTRI Communications
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta, Georgia USA
About GTRI: The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $700 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, the state, and industry. For more information, please visit www.gtri.gatech.edu.
]]>Michelle Gowdy
Michelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu
404-407-8060
]]>“The radar would be used collaboratively to provide enhanced warning for people in North Georgia, to provide educational opportunities to students at both institutions, and to provide research opportunities for UGA’s Atmospheric Sciences Program, Georgia Tech Research Institute’s (GTRI) Severe Storms Research Center (SSRC), and Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering,” said John Trostel, the SSRC’s director.
Severe weather is a consistent threat to North Georgia that can lead to loss of life and property. The new radar system will fill a well-known gap in radar coverage over northeastern Georgia caused by the existing NEXRAD network coverage and terrain. A large landfill also causes blockage of the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) beam located near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Watch a video about this project on YouTube
A feed from the commercial Furuno WR-2100 radar, which will be located in Gwinnett County, will be shared with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Peachtree City, Georgia, and with other interested organizations. Beyond tornadoes and other severe storms, the radar could help forecasters predict winter precipitation and provide better rainfall estimates for flood warnings.
“The acquisition of this radar is a game-changer for our state,” said Marshall Shepherd, director of UGA’s Atmospheric Sciences Program. “Not only does it provide a potentially lifesaving service for Georgians, but it is also a unique teaching and research tool for students at both institutions.” The radar will enable new research opportunities related to severe weather observations, winter weather forecasting, urban flood assessment, birds, and even insects, Shepherd said.
John Knox, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor in the UGA Department of Geography, also envisions the radar information serving the public in another way. The student-run digital meteorology program at UGA, “WeatherDawgs,” serves over 70,000 followers across north Georgia.
“The radar would allow UGA students to learn how to view, interpret, and use X-band radar data as well as how best to communicate it to the public,” Knox said.
Jessica Losego, a research scientist at the SSRC, said the new device will support the long-term goals of the Center and expand weather-forecasting collaboration.
“This is a unique opportunity for collaboration, and we look forward to working with UGA and the NWS to maximize this radar’s utility for research, education, and operations,” Losego said. “This equipment will support our efforts to understand the evolution and dynamics of severe storms in Georgia and lead to better capabilities for tracking these storms.”
Trostel and colleagues at GTRI became aware of the radar’s availability and reached out to UGA colleagues about collaborating on the acquisition. The three-year-old device, which operates in the X-band, had been used at the manufacturer’s research facility.
The weather radar cost approximately $150,000 and was acquired through donations and internal funding at UGA and Georgia Tech. Shepherd and Tom Mote, the founding director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at the University of Georgia and an associate dean in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, contributed funds from institutional research budgets. A significant financial gift was also acquired from Elaine Neil, a longtime donor in the UGA Department of Geography, which houses the Atmospheric Sciences Program.
At Georgia Tech, funds were provided by GTRI’s Sensors and Electromagnetic Applications Laboratory and the Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems Laboratory, the Georgia Tech Office of the Executive Vice President for Research, and Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering.
A 1998 tornado that stuck Gainesville led to the appointment of a task force to study steps that could be taken to protect citizens from future severe weather. Among its recommendations were the addition of a “gap-filling” radar for northeastern Georgia. Once it is placed in Gwinnett County after testing at GTRI, the new Georgia Tech-UGA radar will help to address that decades-old recommendation.
GTRI Communications
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta, Georgia USA
About GTRI: The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $700 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, the state, and industry. For more information, please visit www.gtri.gatech.edu.
]]>Michelle Gowdy
Michelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu
404-407-8060
]]>"The Institute's strategic plan asks us to envision an institution that leverages its unmatched scale and resources to address the most crucial challenges of our time,” Cimilluca said. “I see the Institute's sustainability plan as one of the many pathways for collaboration, innovation, and action that will lead us toward transformations in research, applied technologies, culture, and ultimately a more sustainable future."
Georgia Tech first celebrated Earth Day in 1997. For many years the celebration was a one-day, afternoon event. In 2020, it was expanded but held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Held in person last year, the event featured The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design’s Living Building Certification by the International Living Futures Organization, and President Cabrera cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the EcoCommons. These two areas on campus represent Georgia Tech’s commitment to sustainability and serve as living, learning laboratories for students, faculty, and staff.
Event co-chairs Anne Rogers, associate director of the Office of Campus Sustainability, and Emma Brodzik, campus sustainability project manager, have planned a strong lineup of events for this 25th anniversary. From a bike ride with President Cabrera, to a waste audit of the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, to a bird walk and tree planting, this year’s “Down to Earth” event offers many opportunities to celebrate nature and learn about new and innovative ways to protect and preserve our planet.
As is the tradition, this year’s theme and logo were chosen from a student design contest. The winner, Abhinav Thukral, is a graduate student in human and computer interaction. “I think it’s incredibly important to be aware of how our activities affect the planet and to learn sustainable ways to progress as a community,” Thukral said. “Earth Day is essential to reflect on some of the environmental issues we face today and how we might work together to address them.”
Students have often requested to work with campus operations to manifest positive environmental change by engaging with the staff of Infrastructure and Sustainability. This unit is responsible for providing sustainable, safe, and well-maintained campus facilities. For example, recent Carbon Reduction Challenge winners aided in implementing the replacement of existing fluorescent lighting with LED in a wing of the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience building. By working with the Building Engineering and Energy Strategies department, this improvement will yield more than 250,000 pounds of carbon dioxide reduction per year. Another area where students are proactive is recycling. When the need for acrylic shields lessened as the intensity of the pandemic waned, student volunteers from the Office of Minority Education assisted campus staff in collecting 800 pounds of acrylic and PVC for recycling.
These types of student-led collaborative efforts are encouraged. If your organization or class would like to collaborate with Infrastructure and Sustainability, use this form to get started.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>"The Institute's strategic plan asks us to envision an institution that leverages its unmatched scale and resources to address the most crucial challenges of our time,” Cimilluca said. “I see the Institute's sustainability plan as one of the many pathways for collaboration, innovation, and action that will lead us toward transformations in research, applied technologies, culture, and ultimately a more sustainable future."
Georgia Tech first celebrated Earth Day in 1997. For many years the celebration was a one-day, afternoon event. In 2020, it was expanded but held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Held in person last year, the event featured The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design’s Living Building Certification by the International Living Futures Organization, and President Cabrera cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the EcoCommons. These two areas on campus represent Georgia Tech’s commitment to sustainability and serve as living, learning laboratories for students, faculty, and staff.
Event co-chairs Anne Rogers, associate director of the Office of Campus Sustainability, and Emma Brodzik, campus sustainability project manager, have planned a strong lineup of events for this 25th anniversary. From a bike ride with President Cabrera, to a waste audit of the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, to a bird walk and tree planting, this year’s “Down to Earth” event offers many opportunities to celebrate nature and learn about new and innovative ways to protect and preserve our planet.
As is the tradition, this year’s theme and logo were chosen from a student design contest. The winner, Abhinav Thukral, is a graduate student in human and computer interaction. “I think it’s incredibly important to be aware of how our activities affect the planet and to learn sustainable ways to progress as a community,” Thukral said. “Earth Day is essential to reflect on some of the environmental issues we face today and how we might work together to address them.”
Students have often requested to work with campus operations to manifest positive environmental change by engaging with the staff of Infrastructure and Sustainability. This unit is responsible for providing sustainable, safe, and well-maintained campus facilities. For example, recent Carbon Reduction Challenge winners aided in implementing the replacement of existing fluorescent lighting with LED in a wing of the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience building. By working with the Building Engineering and Energy Strategies department, this improvement will yield more than 250,000 pounds of carbon dioxide reduction per year. Another area where students are proactive is recycling. When the need for acrylic shields lessened as the intensity of the pandemic waned, student volunteers from the Office of Minority Education assisted campus staff in collecting 800 pounds of acrylic and PVC for recycling.
These types of student-led collaborative efforts are encouraged. If your organization or class would like to collaborate with Infrastructure and Sustainability, use this form to get started.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>The Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) is currently investigating several thefts involving bicycles and scooters from the East and West Campus Residence Halls. In each of these thefts, officers are seeing the use of inferior equipment being used to secure bikes.
“Although we're operating in unfortunate circumstances, given the pandemic, criminals are still out and we have had several reports of stolen bicycles,” said Sergeant Jessica Howard. “We encourage students to lock bikes using a quality, durable U-lock, use the designated locations to lock your bike, and make sure you register your bike with us. That helps us identify the owner of a stolen bike when it is recovered.”
Bikes can be registered with the GTPD at police.gatech.edu/crime-prevention/safety-tips/bicycle — no matter the type. Those who register their bikes with GTPD also receive a free water bottle. Officers will be on campus in the coming weeks doing in-person registration on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 4 p.m. Find out where to find them by following GTPD on social media (facebook.com/GaTechPD, instagram.com/gatechpd, and twitter.com/gatechpd).
Here are some additional tips to help prevent a criminal from taking your bike for a ride.
More information on bicycling on campus can be found at pts.gatech.edu/bicycling-georgia-tech and police.gatech.edu/crime-prevention/safety-tips/bicycle.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>“Georgia Tech is committed to developing leaders who understand the importance of a healthy planet to improve the human condition and who are ready to make a difference. We carry out that mission not only through education and research, but very importantly, by being an example of sustainability in our own operations,” said Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera. “The AWARE program helps the environment and it serves as a daily reminder to all of us that we can make a difference.”
The program began in 2009 in the Carnegie Building, which houses the Office of the President and other campus leadership, before growing to include 18 other buildings. Now it is being incorporated into all campus buildings. AWARE allows occupants to get a personal understanding of their waste footprint, sort their materials as recycling or landfill, and alleviate the burden on custodial staff.
“This transition will allow our custodial teams to reallocate time and focus on disinfecting tasks related to Covid-19,” said Emma Brodzik, campus recycling coordinator. “It will also help advance Georgia Tech’s sustainability goals related to waste diversion.”
During regular operations, the campus produces an estimated 400 tons of landfill waste each month and almost 200 tons of recycling or compost that is diverted from the landfill. Having office occupants further sort their material has historically shown to increase diversion from landfills.
Effective June 18, research buildings that are part of the summer ramp-up transitioned to the AWARE program. Each ramp-up phase will include more campus facilities; the whole campus will have the capacity to participate by Aug. 1. As each building adopts AWARE, custodians in those buildings will no longer service deskside or individual office waste containers. The AWARE Program will be the campus standard moving forward, even after the effects of the current pandemic have dissipated.
The Office of Solid Waste Management and Recycling will be sharing information to building managers and the Office of Emergency Preparedness to get occupants ready for the transition. For an overview, visit the Recycling website. Questions can be directed to Brodzik at emma.brodzik@facilities.gatech.edu.
]]>Solid Waste Management and Recycling
]]>“This is not just a competition for commuters,” said Becky James, fitness instructor at the Campus Recreation Center (CRC). “All rides count from Oct. 1–31, so invite your coworker who rides for fitness on the weekend, but also reach out to those who do not yet ride, as team members can ride for as little as 10 minutes to earn points.” Participants can also encourage each other throughout the challenge with virtual “high fives.”
For more information about bicycling on campus and related resources, visit pts.gatech.edu/bicycling-georgia-tech.
For those who bike to campus, Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) has opened its first-ever bike storage room as part of the new W22-Dalney Parking Deck.
“More people are biking on and around campus, and we want to encourage the use of greener transportation methods,” said Lisa Safstrom, campus transportation planner with PTS. “We are supporting this trend by including high-quality bike parking in new campus development opportunities.”
Located just inside the deck from the Dalney Street entrance, the bike room features 36 Dero Swerve bike racks that hold two bikes each. The room also includes benches and a fix-it station with a pump.
Users can swipe their BuzzCards to enter and secure their bikes to the racks using their personal locks. Bikes may be stored day-to-day during the fall and spring semesters and for longer periods during the summer. PTS plans to implement a second bike room in the Tech Square parking deck later this year.
Bike Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Police Department, and PTS offer one-hour classes in bike and scooter safety. Attendees receive a free helmet and lights. The next classes take place on:
• Thursday, Oct. 10, 11 a.m. in Room 240, Campus Recreation Center
• Thursday, Nov. 14, 11 a.m. in Room 240, Campus Recreation Center
Bike and scooter riders may purchase helmets for $12 at the PTS front desk located at 828 West Peachtree Street NW using credit card, check, or BuzzFunds.
The CRC now offers a Bike Commuter Shower Pass that will allow riders access to locker rooms from 7 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday for $5 per month. Smart Park pass holders and those who do not have a parking permit are eligible for the shower pass. For more information and to sign up, visit bike.hwb.gatech.edu/active-commuting.
If you want to converse with other bike commuters and learn more about campus resources and Atlanta bike news, sign up for Tech’s bicycle commuter listserv. Send a request to commute@gatech.edu.
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]]>The festival offers entertainment and fun, as well as practical resources. Here are a few reasons to attend:
Old sneakers and electronics can be brought to the festival and dropped off for recycling. Shoes may be recycled at the Shoot the Shoes booth near the stage (no shoes with metal parts or cleats). Electronics such as cell phones and computers will be accepted at the electronic recycling station.
The stage will be filled with entertainment throughout the festival, including live bands, karaoke, spoken word performances, and the presentation of the Environmental Leadership Awards.
Ninety groups and organizations have registered to have a booth at the Earth Day Festival. Explore the booths to learn about the variety of Earth-friendly activities happening on and around campus.
Generous donations from the Georgia Tech community have stocked the clothing and office supply swaps. Bring your BuzzCard to partake in both opportunities.
The Earth Day Festival will be sharing free organic popcorn and T-shirts with participants until supplies run out.
It’s not too late to volunteer. To sign up, visit earthday.gatech.edu/volunteer.
]]>Earth Day Festival
]]>A group of students took that tribute a step further by dedicating part of their classwork from the fall semester to presenting Fall of a Champion, an exhibit now on display in Clough Commons.
The students from LMC 3308: Environmentalism and Ecocriticism, taught by Associate Professor Hugh Crawford and in partnership with Serve-Learn-Sustain, the Honors Program, and the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, spent the semester studying the connection between trees and people. When they came to class on Tuesday, Sept. 18 — the day the tree fell — it seemed only natural to make it part of their work.
Institute Communications
]]>The annual Tech Beautification Day event will take place Saturday, April 6, on campus. Project coordinators and senior project coordinators are needed to help get things organized and execute the event.
Students serving in these two roles have supervisory responsibilities in organizing projects, meeting with Facilities personnel, and managing volunteers. Applications are now open for both positions, and more information is available via Orgsync. The deadline to apply is Friday, Feb. 15.
On event day, work will begin at 9:30 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m. More information and volunteer registration will be available soon.
]]>Tech Beautification Day
]]>The program partners with The Common Market, a nonprofit organization that offers farm share options of fruits, vegetables, eggs, coffee, and cheese. Items are purchased directly from producers within 250 miles of The Common Market’s warehouse in East Point, Georgia.
The most popular share option contains six to seven seasonal produce items and a dozen eggs. Marcela Moreno, a research associate at the Strategic Energy Institute, signed up for the program during its first season and found that it has revolutionized how she shops.
“It shapes what I’m making more than anything,” she said. Participants get an email the Friday before the following week’s delivery (which arrives on Wednesdays) telling them what will be included in the next share. That provides the weekend to plan meals and buy other ingredients.
“I usually look at what I’m getting, find a recipe that includes some of the items, and then supplement whatever I need that I won’t get in the share,” Moreno said. “It has reduced the tendency to overbuy things at the grocery store.” The biweekly email also includes recipes for each item in the share that week.
Moreno noted that it’s more affordable than other produce subscriptions she has tried, and the amount is manageable. It also forces her, at times, to be more creative with her cooking and try new foods.
“At one point we got beets, and I didn’t think I liked them,” she said. But after pickling some and baking others to add into quinoa bowls, it turned out she did. She encouraged newcomers to approach the farm share with an open mind, and for students living off-campus to consider it as well.
“It might be difficult to cook a lot in a communal kitchen on campus, but if you’re in an apartment, it’s a cool option and affordable with the eggs included,” said Moreno, who is also a two-time Tech graduate. “I wish we’d had something like this at Tech sooner, especially when I was a student.”
This is the fourth season the farm share is being offered, and each season runs about six months. According to Malte Weiland, senior sustainability project manager with Campus Services, Georgia Tech is the largest Atlanta area site served by the Common Market program.
“You find all kinds of people who like it,” Weiland said. He is also a participant, and enjoys the variety the share brings to his eating. “Recently we’ve added cheese, which I immediately jumped on because I’m a huge cheese fan. It’s local, but still packaged in a way that feels somewhat commercial, which makes people more comfortable.”
Going into the fall and winter, Weiland said subscribers can expect to see root vegetables, such as carrots and sweet potatoes, as well as leafy greens and citrus in their boxes. When there are fewer items in season, another locally made product such as grits or preserves may be substituted for a vegetable.
Those who participate can choose to pay once for the season or in biweekly installments. The pickup location is at the Student Center Healthy Space on the second floor of the building. Weiland also manages the pickup every other week.
“One of my favorite things hosting this is getting to catch up with everyone as they come by to pick up,” he said. “It’s turned out to be a get-together for talking about food.”
An early bird discount is being offered through Friday, Oct. 5. The deadline to sign up for the season is Thursday, Nov. 1.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>Solar Racing has been competing in the Challenge’s Formula Sun Grand Prix, a track-style event, since 2014, but this will be the team’s first year in the American Solar Challenge, a cross-country road race.
“It’s going to be new terrain for us, and we will be camping and racing across the Oregon Trail,” said Tiffany Chau, a mechanical engineering major and outreach lead for the team. Chau also works on the mechanical team for the challenge, specifically on the aerobody, the car’s exterior shell. “Since we’ve never competed in a long-term endurance race, it will be an exciting challenge.”
The team left Tuesday, July 3, to arrive by today for the first part of the event, scrutineering. During scrutineering, race officials examine each solar car to ensure that it satisfies competition regulations and matches information provided in the accompanying vehicle design report. Team members work with officials to answer questions and implement any necessary changes to their vehicle prior to the start of the race.
Solar Racing unveiled its car — the SR-2, Odyssey — to the campus community at the end of the spring semester at the Kessler Campanile. Watch video from the unveiling.
The Formula Sun Grand Prix, which serves as the qualifying event for the American Solar Challenge, will run from July 10–12. The American Solar Challenge will run from July 14–22. Participating teams will have 10 stops along the 1,700-mile journey, ultimately crossing the finish line in Bend, Oregon.
“Our hope, of course, is to place as high as we can in rankings with other schools from across the nation,” Chau said. “We hope to prove that our systems are robust, reliable, and competitive.”
Solar Racing will post updates of the team’s progress throughout the competition. Follow along on Facebook, and learn more about the American Solar Challenge competition and events.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>The Petit Institute’s Lab Cleanup and Swap-O-Rama started in 2014 as a way to encourage labs to report their annual chemical inventory and clean out supplies. That annual deadline has since changed, but the summer swap continues as a way for researchers to clean out unwanted supplies, get new ones they need, and even pick up other hidden gems that have been tucked away.
“Labs don’t ever slow down, but summer still has been a good time for us to do it,” said Mitchell, events manager in the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. “You see all kinds of things show up there, and it’s really fun.”
Though only labs in the Petit Institute can donate to the swap, anyone on campus is welcome to stop by and take from the donations.
“It’s gratifying to see people find something they really need among all these boxes of tubes and pipettes,” Mitchell said.
The swap doesn’t just offer up items for research needs, though. Donations include other supplies and items that might otherwise be discarded. Some past donations have even been repurposed into art by new owners.
All items that are not taken at the end of the swap are recycled, if possible, or go through the process of being surplused for use elsewhere on campus.
This year’s Swap-O-Rama will take place June 18–22 in the Petit Institute Biotechnology Building atrium.
Another unit making use of each other’s unwanted items is the College of Engineering. This summer, the College is hosting its first book swap. The event is being organized by COE Cares, an initiative for faculty and staff to encourage engagement, wellness, volunteerism, and new connections within the College community.
COE Cares is collecting all genres of books that are not textbooks, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. Fiction, non-fiction, general interest, cooking, self-help, and even children’s books are being collected in each school to be shared at the swap on June 21. Books left at the end of the swap will be donated to a local charitable organization.
“We’ve had successful drives for the Atlanta Mission and Buzzin’ Back to School in the past, but this is our first swap,” said Ben Wright, communications officer in the College of Engineering who serves as a co-chair for COE Cares.
While the event lets people free up space in their libraries, it’s also designed to encourage reading for pleasure and getting to know new colleagues.
“We hope to get more staff members reading for pleasure, and to build a sense of community by coming together to pick out books,” Wright said. The COE Cares team consists of a representative from each school and two co-chairs.
Campus swaps also take place each year at the annual Earth Day festival, where clothes and office supplies are collected for exchange among departments and students.
For those thinking of holding this kind of event in their department, Mitchell said it just takes a few dedicated people to make it happen. She encouraged organizers to work with their building and facilities managers since those staff members help with cleanup following the event.
“It works great to have a common place to host it like our atrium,” Mitchell said. “Have fun with it. Make some signs, tell people it’s coming, and make it a regular thing. It doesn’t take much effort and even becomes a community-building activity. It gets people out of their offices and labs, and into the atrium together and chatting.”
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]]>Campus departments will host events in conjunction with National Bike Month, as will the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition.
Institute Communications
]]>Gently used clothing is being accepted until Monday, April 2. The Earth Day Festival, which will take place Friday, April 20, will feature a clothing swap where attendees can shop at a free bazaar of donated apparel. Donation bins are located around campus. More information is available at the Earth Day site.
The free office supply exchange provides a way for campus departments to donate their unused supplies and pick up things they may need. Departments can schedule a pickup at their campus building prior to the festival or arrange a time to bring donations to Earth Day organizers. More information is available at the Earth Day site.
Both events at the festival are open to anyone with a valid BuzzCard.
Mark your calendar for the festival on Friday, April 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Tech Green and Tech Walk. Learn more at earthday.gatech.edu.
]]>Earth Day Planning Committee
]]>The group covered about four miles, weaving in and out of the streets of the neighborhood located just north of the Georgia Tech campus.
“The turnout was great,” said GTPD Chief Robert Connolly. “We had a great time together. I think it was important for the residents of the community to see us riding along with their neighbors. It was a great event. We’ll definitely be doing this again soon.”
The ride consisted of about a dozen Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers and more than 30 GTPD officers, including the bike patrol in their reflective neon uniforms. Also present was APD’s mounted unit, which was a big hit with the children being picked up from the Landon Learning Center where the ride began.
This was the latest community event in Home Park since a series of armed robberies in and around the neighborhood earlier in February. APD and GTPD have been operating an enhanced joint patrol since Feb. 8, and it has now been nearly three weeks since any robberies have been reported in Home Park.
Connolly noted that enhanced lighting was recently added on some neighborhood streets. He hopes future rides can continue to bring awareness to areas that need safety enhancements and let GTPD, APD, and the neighborhood work together to address them.
Report any information regarding criminal incidents to the Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) by calling 404-894-2500 or by emailing crimetips@police.gatech.edu. In addition, you can help GTPD and the community fight crime. Don’t look the other way or ignore suspicious activity. If you see something that prompts concern, say something and notify GTPD immediately.
GTPD offers the following reminders:
The Georgia Tech Study Abroad program on Sustainable Development and Climate Change in Italy is a five-week, six-credit program that will run from May 28 to June 29, 2018. The program offers two courses: Sustainable Development (PUPB 3600), which satisfies the ethics requirements, and a course specifically on Climate Change Policy (PUPB 3320).
Alice Favero and Emanuele Massetti, faculty members in the School of Public Policy, co-direct the program. Both lived and worked in Venice before coming to Georgia Tech and have ties with the University of Venice and the surrounding research community.
The idea of teaching two of their regular courses in Venice was driven by the desire to merge a firsthand experience of climate change and sustainable development challenges with seminars and interaction with experts.
“It was not possible to move Venice, the Alps, and six international experts to Tech — so we thought we’d move the students to Italy for the summer,” said Favero.
The program enriches standard course content with many curricular and extracurricular activities in a rich cultural environment. Field trips, meetings with experts, and guided tours will complement in-class activities.
For example, in Rome, students will talk with United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organizations experts about what can be done to provide food for a growing population while respecting the environment. They will learn what causes nations to fail while visiting ancient Roman ruins.
“In Milan and Bologna, students will learn from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change authors how models are used to formulate future climate, economic, and technological scenarios, and they will have a chance to test their own climate policy strategies,” said Massetti. “During a day trip to the Dolomite mountains, an alpine mountain guide will safely guide us close to the remains of a once-large glacier to learn about the impact of climate change on glaciers and how this in turn affects local communities.”
Students will live and study in the heart of Venice in a recently restored (and technologically updated) monastery built in 1423. In addition, students will have access to the University of Venice libraries and Dining Hall, a great way to meet new students and be exposed to a different campus life.
To complete their intercultural experience, students will have long weekends to explore Italy and Europe. Twelve UNESCO world heritage sites are less than two and a half hours away by train, and sandy, warm- water beaches and charming fishing villages are only 20 minutes away.
The deadline to apply for this summer is Feb. 15. For more information, visit the program website or attend the informational session on Tuesday, Jan. 30, from 11 to 11:45 a.m. in Room 104, D.M. Smith Building.
]]>Public Policy
]]>Jointly funded by Georgia Tech and the PATH Foundation, the PATH Parkway provides dedicated space for motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists and connects the western edge of Midtown to Downtown Atlanta.
Construction on the project began in 2016. It opened for use this fall, and an official ribbon-cutting took place Dec. 5.
Here are a few tips to make biking at Tech safe, practical, and convenient.
Georgia Tech has a variety of resources to help students purchase and take care of their bicycles.
Long-term bikers should check out Starter Bikes, a cooperative bicycle shop with tools, parts, and volunteers. Starter Bikes is open from 4 to 6 p.m. on Fridays and can be found in the bottom level of the Campus Recreation Center parking deck. Bike costs vary from free to $150, depending on quality and condition. Read more in the flyer below.
A shorter-term bicycle option is BuzzBike Rentals. The BuzzBike application has closed for the fall semester but will soon open for spring. BuzzBike offers students bike rentals for a single semester on a first-come, first-served basis. Rentals are $60 and helmets can be purchased for $10. Any faculty, staff, or student with a Buzzcard may rent a BuzzBike.
The shortest-term biking option is offered by Relay Bikes, the City of Atlanta bike share program. Around 60 bicycles are available at six locations on campus for rental. Riders can purchase a monthly membership at a cost of $7.50 per month, which includes 90 minutes of ride time per day. Bikes may be picked up and dropped off at any station throughout the city. Learn more from the Relay website.
For bike owners, Georgia Tech recommends that all students, faculty, and staff register their bicycles with the Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD). This enables GTPD to identify the bikes and contact the owner in the event that the bicycle is recovered after being lost or stolen. Bikes can be registered here.
To ensure that Georgia Tech is safe for bicyclists and other travelers, cyclists old and new should follow a few crucial tips:
Check out the Bicyclist Pocket Guide for more information on rights and rules of Bicyclists in Georgia.
Lisa Safstrom, campus transportation planner for Georgia Tech Parking and Transportation Services, is an avid bicyclist herself and has valuable tips to share with campus cyclists.
“Primarily, cyclists should know that bicycles are considered vehicles, and riders have to follow the same rules as drivers, including stopping for stop signs and red lights,” Safstrom said. She also recommends that bicyclists watch for people in parked cars who might swing a door open without looking. When riding through Tech Square or other places where a bike lane is next to parked vehicles, try to be aware of whether someone is in the vehicle. In those circumstances, a rider may want to stay to the left of the of the bike lane, or may take the traffic lane if necessary.
For students unsure about where to bike on campus, Safstrom said, “Most roads on campus have bike lanes or ‘sharrows,’ which are shared-use arrows that designate that drivers and cyclists may share the lane, and signify to drivers that cyclists may be present.”
“People should not be biking on the sidewalks on campus, but it does happen. If someone is riding on a pedestrian walkway, they should be going the same speed as pedestrians and yielding to them as well.”
When planning bike routes, Safstrom recommends avoiding large, busy roads, using smaller street alternatives, and consulting available resources.
“Google Maps has a feature to plan routes by bike. Parking and Transportation Services is developing a map of bike routes to various off-campus destinations. There is also a listserv for Georgia Tech bike commuters that riders can join using their Georgia Tech email address. Members can ask questions about routes, gear, and more, and receive replies from others who bike to and on campus.”
On Thursday, Nov. 2, Parking and Transportation Services and the Georgia Tech Police Department will host a bike safety class and encourage all new riders to attend. The class will be held in Room 301, Student Center, from 11 a.m. to noon. Additionally, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition hosts classes for all levels of bicyclists.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>EcoCAR 3 is a student competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors. Sixteen North American universities are challenged to redesign a Chevrolet Camaro to reduce its environmental impact, while maintaining the muscle, body design, and performance expected from the iconic American car.
The 2017 competition began in Milford, Michigan, at the General Motors Proving Ground, where the 16 teams endured a week of rigorous safety, technical, drive quality, and emissions tests. Following testing, the teams made presentations in Washington, D.C., to show judges why they chose their specific engineering techniques. This year, Tech placed first in its Mechanical, ADAS/Innovation, and SMS and Controls presentations.
For Molly Jackson, communications manager for the team, the team’s progression since year one — when it placed 15th overall — has been rewarding, as has forming relationships with other participants.
“The students and faculty on each team are driven and encouraging, and it’s nice to develop friendships over friendly rivalries,” Jackson said.
They were also one of only four teams to complete a 100-mile endurance test — and the only one to do it on the first try — to measure efficiency and emissions. The team also won $12,000 in prize money that will be used to improve the car for next year.
“We learned from our mistakes in year one and were able to move up six places the second year, taking home ninth overall,” Jackson said. “This year, the team focused on vehicle integration, attention to detail, and teamwork to bring back third place.”
Next year, the team plans to fully integrate its Predictive Powertrain Control (PPC) App, a system designed to create a smoother, more interactive experience for the driver.
The Georgia Tech EcoCAR 3 team is part of the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program. VIP projects bring together undergraduate education and faculty research in a team-based context.
]]>As part of the City of Atlanta’s recent expansion of the Relay Bike Share program, Georgia Tech now has six campus hubs where users can grab a bicycle.
Relay launched in Atlanta in 2016 with 100 bikes at 22 stations, including one on Fifth Street in Tech Square. In April, it expanded to 500 bikes and 65 stations.
The service provides short-term bike rentals with check-out and check-in places around the city. The six stations on campus are on Techwood Drive at North Avenue, Tech Parkway near the Student Center Transit Hub, the Clough Commons turnaround, West Campus Housing on Turner Street, on Ferst Drive across from the Campus Recreation Center, and on Fifth Street in Tech Square.
“We’re thrilled to have six stations on campus and several more in the vicinity. The stations on campus are spaced in a way to create the most convenient options, based on where we expect the most demand, but if we need to adjust locations going forward we can do that,” said Lisa Safstrom, campus transportation planner in Parking and Transportation Services (PTS).
Pricing is structured for daily, monthly, or annual users. For the Tech community, users can get the benefit of an educational discount. Users who register with an email ending in “.edu” can get a monthly pass for $7.50 per month, which includes 90 minutes of daily ride time. For those who want to try it first or use a bike occasionally, daily passes are $3.50 and include 30 minutes of ride time.
Relay serves as a complement to the PTS BuzzBike rental program, which lets students rent bikes on a semester-long basis at an affordable rate.
“We’ve seen growing interest in cycling on and to campus, and now we’re able to provide options for those wishing to rent bikes long- or short-term,” said Safstrom. “The Relay program offers the opportunity for everybody to have a bike whenever they need it for short trips, without the responsibility of actually owning a bike.”
In recent years, PTS has upgraded campus infrastructure and worked with the City of Atlanta to improve routes to get to campus from nearby neighborhoods.
“Relay is a valuable piece of the puzzle in creating a great bike network on campus,” Safstrom said. “It also offers a valuable complement to transit, whether that’s MARTA or campus transit, to be able to get to campus or to transfer to another transportation mode. You might not live close enough to transit to walk to it, but it’s possible a bike share can get you there in a reasonable amount of time.”
Safstrom suggested that users try a Relay bike for quick trips, including lunch runs or nearby errands.
“You can pick up a bike on campus, ride to Piedmont Park or a restaurant downtown, drop off the bike, take your time, and find another bike to return,” she said.
Relay has bikes at both the North Avenue and Midtown MARTA stations, as well as others. A real-time map on the program’s website and its mobile app shows where and how many bikes are available at any given time.
All bikes have eight speeds, a bell, a basket, and GPS tracking that shows the length and route of rides.
According to data from the City of Atlanta, more than 5,000 people have taken 15,000 trips using Relay bicycles since the program began.
Having six stations on campus lets Georgia Tech help the network be useful citywide.
“The more stations that are available, the more successful a bike share program will be, as they need to be located densely enough to be easily available when needed,” Safstrom said.
Users can get started by signing up at relaybikeshare.com or through the Social Bikes smartphone app. Once you’ve set up an account and purchased a plan, you can unlock a bike with your account number and pin at any hub. To return a bike, simply lock it back at any Relay hub.
Watch a video from Midtown Atlanta on how to get started.
]]>The Shell Eco-Marathon has students build vehicles with fuel efficiencies of thousands of miles per gallon. The Tech Eco-Marathon team was founded as a student organization in fall 2016 and spent months leading up to the competition raising funds for the endeavor, leaving only six weeks for actual construction. Still, the Tech team was one of only six hydrogen-based prototype teams to pass a stringent technical inspection at the competition.
“I am extremely proud of our founding class that had the willpower and dedication to put in long hours at the shop,” said Vivek Sandhu, president of Eco-Marathon at Georgia Tech and a mechanical engineering major. This was the first time Tech has fielded a team for this competition.
This summer, students from Eco-Marathon will table at FASET to recruit new students to the team. The team will start building its next car this fall.
“With the administrative framework largely in place, we will move our focus to winning the competition.” The team will also host workshops for students on skills such as machining and welding. All students are invited to get involved.
See the car in action, and learn more about the team here.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>Students who will be interning or co-oping this summer have the opportunity to be part of a program to identify ways to help employers have more efficient processes. Aside from the value students offer through their regular duties, they will partner with the employer to identify and execute a plan to reduce the company or organization's carbon emissions.
Participants will be guided by professors Kim Cobb from the College of Sciences and Beril Toktay from the Scheller College of Business. Past partner companies include BP, 3M, and RBC Bearings.
The deadline to sign up is Monday, May 15. Email Kjersti.Lukens@scheller.gatech.edu for more information or to sign up. A kickoff meeting will take place Monday, May 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Room 223, Scheller College of Business.
Learn more about past projects here (ppt).
]]>We’re not talking graduate students who’ve been doing research for months or years. No, this is a group of undergrads who spent just over a week abroad as part of a course they’ve been taking with Joe Brown called Environmental Technology in the Developing World.
And while they collected mountains of data about water quality and helped pilot a data-collection approach for the 200 Cities Project, they also came back to campus with new ideas about their futures and the ways they can make the world a better place.
Prior experience as a camp counselor in environmental leadership (e.g. Energy Club, Students Organizing for Sustainability, Community Garden, etc.), leadership (in campus organizations or otherwise), energy or environmental courses, or environmental research are a plus but are not required. Pay will be hourly through Georgia Tech.
Camp will run June 19-23 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and responsibilities will include training before camp starts. Camp participants will be high school students entering grades 9-12.
Interested students should send a resume and letter of interest to Professor Valerie Thomas at vt34@gatech.edu.
]]>From April 17–21, students will try to fit a week’s worth of waste into a single gallon-sized bag. Participants will put anything they can’t reuse, compost, or recycle into a provided bag. The challenge is focused on the “five R’s”: Refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle.
The first 200 students to sign up will be given a zero-waste starter kit with eco-friendly essentials. The winning team will receive a $1,000 donation toward a charity of choice, with points awarded based on participation throughout the week.
Sign up by Wednesday, April 12, at tinyurl.com/LSTV47N and share your progress on social media with #GetWasteless.
For more information, visit the Facebook event page or the SGA Sustainability Committee’s page.
The competition leads up to Tech’s 20th annual Earth Day celebration on April 21. Learn more about the festival at earthday.gatech.edu and plan to attend.
]]>SGA Sustainability Committee
]]>The Earth Day committee is now accepting nominations for its Environmental Leadership Award and Environmental Initiative Award. Nominees can be individuals or groups who are making a positive environmental impact on campus and beyond, either through a new initiative or a body of work. The deadline for nominations is Sunday, March 26.
Nominees should be Georgia Tech students, faculty, staff, alumni, or retirees who demonstrate a positive environmental impact, a commitment to restoring and enhancing the environment, and an ongoing commitment to environmental leadership. Self-nominations are also accepted.
Winners of this year’s awards will be honored at Tech’s annual Earth Day Celebration on Friday, April 21. The festival takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Tech Walk and the surrounding areas. Download the award nomination form at c.gatech.edu/earthdayawards.
The Earth Day committee is also now accepting donations for the event’s office supply exchange and clothing swap. New or gently used office supply donations can come from students, faculty, or staff. At the Earth Day Festival, anyone with a valid BuzzCard can shop donated office supplies for free. Campus departments can contact recycle@gatech.edu to schedule a donation pick-up or drop-off.
Clothing donations can be taken to designated containers around campus. For a list of buildings, visit c.gatech.edu/earthdayswap. Office supply and clothing donations will be accepted through Friday, March 17. Registration is also open for booth reservation and to volunteer at the festival. More information is available at earthday.gatech.edu.
]]>Tech earned recognition as a Tree Campus USA for 2016 from the Arbor Day Foundation. The program honors colleges and universities for promoting healthy trees and for engaging students, faculty, and staff in the spirit of conservation.
“It’s always exciting when we are recognized as one of the elite universities that maintains its trees,” said Hyacinth Ide, associate director for Landscape Services and Fleet Services.
The Arbor Day Foundation recognizes universities based on five standards for sustainable campus forestry, including establishment of a tree advisory committee, evidence of a campus tree care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for a campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance, and sponsorship of student service-learning projects.
Tech has long been a leader among colleges and universities for dedication to its tree canopy. Recent developments include having the campus designated a Level II arboretum in 2016, which built on a campus tree inventory and other proactive measures to prioritize campus oxygen creators.
Landscape Services is now beginning a five-year process of renewing the campus tree inventory, tackling one area at a time based on sectors of campus designated in the arboretum plan.
“The purpose is to look at each tree, find out what may be wrong with it, and what we need to do about it,” Ide said. Landscape Services then determines what work can be taken care of in-house, such as pruning, versus what might require a contractor, such as removing a large tree.
In 2016, Landscape Services completed the first area being evaluated — central campus — and inventoried nearly 2,000 trees. Any tree greater than two inches in diameter is captured in the inventory.
Another new initiative is looking for ways to recycle trees when they have to be removed. Landscape Services keeps tree remains stored for future opportunities to mill and use the processed wood on campus in other ways.
The campus community can learn more about the arboretum thanks to signage at many campus trees that specifies the type of tree, place of origin, and environmental benefits. More information is also available at arboretum.gatech.edu.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>“Prospective students care about having a sustainable environment,” said discussion facilitator, Howard Wertheimer, assistant vice president of Capital Planning and Space Management.
In an effort to achieve a sustainable campus, he pointed to a number of initiatives the community could see completed within the next three years, including the installation of additional bicycle paths, improved stormwater capture and cistern use for irrigation and drinking, and the transformation of a sector of West Campus into what will be known as the Eco-Commons. The sector will expose natural streams that run throughout campus and provide a viable ecosystem, Wertheimer said. In addition to increasing awareness of urban and ecological overlap, he added that he was excited to see students and faculty use the area as a “living-learning lab” for research.
He encouraged attendees to download the GT Eco-Tour smartphone app to learn about sustainability features across campus.
Another upcoming development, Wertheimer said, may have the campus sharing sustainability tips with the City of Atlanta. In a partnership with The Kendeda Fund – a private philanthropic investor focused on the sustainability of communities – Georgia Tech aims to open doors to a Living Building in 2019. The building has a number of imperatives to meet, including net-positive water use and design that optimizes well-being.
“The symbol for the living building is a flower; it is a metaphor asking, ‘What would nature do?’” Wertheimer said. He noted that students were involved during the time that architecture firms were competing in an ideas competition for how the building should look and function, and some students are even using the challenges of the project in their capstone academic work this semester.
To achieve Living Building Challenge certification, the building must be operated and fully occupied for a minimum of 12 months. If the Living Building opens its doors on schedule, this project could potentially receive its certification in 2020 — aligning with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Learn more about the project at livingbuilding.gatech.edu.
The Engineered Biosystems Building, having had its doors opened just over a year ago, is set to receive a mass public art installation at its doorstep. After a national art search, the campus has selected designs and spaces for them around the building, in an effort to “create curiosity” for everyone, said Wertheimer. He pointed to the success of the Pianos for Peace project, the Einstein statue installation, and the Engineered Art sculptures, in exposing a mostly “left-brained” community to creativity and reflection.
“Art can help manage the stress levels of our students,” he said.
He acknowledged that while expansion over the past decade has been reflective of a “robust appetite,” the concentration has shifted to creating experiences for the community. “Our concern is not so much the space between the buildings, but the places between the buildings and the people connecting there,” he said.
]]>Department of Housing
]]>The award, announched Nov. 29, is a promotion from Tech’s designation as a Silver level BFU in 2012.
“We’re very pleased to reach this new level of designation,” said Lance Lunsway, senior director of Parking and Transportation Services. “The Institute has worked hard to promote cycling as a healthy, clean, inexpensive transportation alternative, and through our infrastructure improvements and programs we’ve seen the numbers of community members biking to campus increase significantly.”
The Bicycle Friendly University program evaluates applicants’ efforts to promote bicycling in five primary areas: engineering, encouragement, education, enforcement, and evaluation/planning, known as the Five E's. Georgia Tech particularly excelled in campus infrastructure and its plans to increase programming, such as classes and incentives for cycling.
Georgia Tech encourages bicycling as an easy option for transportation because it’s inexpensive, promotes health and physical fitness, improves air quality, and reduces congestion on campus. Several recent infrastructure improvements have been implemented with cyclists in mind, including the transformation of 6th Street to include a protected, contraflow bike lane; new bicycle markings on Ferst Drive to promote visibility and to direct cyclists; and the Tech Parkway multiuse path conversion project in collaboration with the PATH Foundation. Fix-it stations and new bike racks are being installed on campus on an ongoing basis.
Tech is also home to a station in the city of Atlanta’s new Relay Bike Share network. Users can now access bikes at the intersection of 5th and Spring streets in Tech Square, with five more campus stations coming in the spring.
Going forward, Georgia Tech will have access to a variety of free tools as well as technical assistance from the League to become even more bicycle-friendly.
Georgia Tech joins a group of 51 new and renewing BFUs from 25 states. It is the only college or university in Georgia with the Gold designation.
“In its fifth year, we’ve seen the Bicycle Friendly University program’s momentum continue to grow and reach even more campuses across the country,” said Bill Nesper, programs director for the League of American Bicyclists. “We applaud this round of BFUs for raising the standard and being innovative in making bicycling a safe, convenient, and enjoyable option for students, staff, and visitors alike.”
Each BFU must reapply for designation every four years. Learn more about bicycle resources on campus at bike.gatech.edu and the BFU program at bikeleague.org/university.
]]>Parking and Transportation Services
]]>The award, announched Nov. 29, is a promotion from Tech’s designation as a Silver level BFU in 2012.
“We’re very pleased to reach this new level of designation,” said Lance Lunsway, senior director of Parking and Transportation Services. “The Institute has worked hard to promote cycling as a healthy, clean, inexpensive transportation alternative, and through our infrastructure improvements and programs we’ve seen the numbers of community members biking to campus increase significantly.”
The Bicycle Friendly University program evaluates applicants’ efforts to promote bicycling in five primary areas: engineering, encouragement, education, enforcement, and evaluation/planning, known as the Five E's. Georgia Tech particularly excelled in campus infrastructure and its plans to increase programming, such as classes and incentives for cycling.
Georgia Tech encourages bicycling as an easy option for transportation because it’s inexpensive, promotes health and physical fitness, improves air quality, and reduces congestion on campus. Several recent infrastructure improvements have been implemented with cyclists in mind, including the transformation of 6th Street to include a protected, contraflow bike lane; new bicycle markings on Ferst Drive to promote visibility and to direct cyclists; and the Tech Parkway multiuse path conversion project in collaboration with the PATH Foundation. Fix-it stations and new bike racks are being installed on campus on an ongoing basis.
Tech is also home to a station in the city of Atlanta’s new Relay Bike Share network. Users can now access bikes at the intersection of 5th and Spring streets in Tech Square, with five more campus stations coming in the spring.
Going forward, Georgia Tech will have access to a variety of free tools as well as technical assistance from the League to become even more bicycle-friendly.
Georgia Tech joins a group of 51 new and renewing BFUs from 25 states. It is the only college or university in Georgia with the Gold designation.
“In its fifth year, we’ve seen the Bicycle Friendly University program’s momentum continue to grow and reach even more campuses across the country,” said Bill Nesper, programs director for the League of American Bicyclists. “We applaud this round of BFUs for raising the standard and being innovative in making bicycling a safe, convenient, and enjoyable option for students, staff, and visitors alike.”
Each BFU must reapply for designation every four years. Learn more about bicycle resources on campus at bike.gatech.edu and the BFU program at bikeleague.org/university.
]]>Parking and Transportation Services
]]>Environmental justice is one of Serve-Learn-Sustain’s core themes for the year. The idea came from colleagues in the College of Sciences.
The environmental justice movement is concerned with making sure no community takes on an unfair share of environmental burdens and that environmental benefits are shared equitably, regardless of race, class, gender, or orientation. A series of events and engagement opportunities this year will help the community learn more about this idea.“The goal of the series is to generate serious conversation, examination, and action around justice as it relates to the environment and sustainability,” said Jenny Hirsch, director of the Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain.
River Rendezvous: Water Sampling at Proctor Creek with West Atlanta Watershed Alliance and Chattahoochee River Keeper
Saturday in November; TBD
Engineering and Public Service Panel Discussion
Tuesday, Nov. 1, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Peachtree Room, Student Center
Taboo Talk: Dismantling Racism in a Society That Doesn’t Believe In It
Thursday, Nov. 3, 11 a.m. – noon, Room 117, Smithgall Student Services (Flag) Building
Global Community Engagement and Service: A Service Project with Global Growers and Trip to Your DeKalb Farmers Market
Saturday, Nov. 12, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (transportation provided)
Environmental Justice and Business/Community Engagement: Challenges and Opportunities in the Extractives Industries with Michael Oxman, Managing Director, Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business
Monday, Nov. 14, 12:15 – 1:30 p.m., Technology Square Research Building
What Does Environmental Justice Have to Do With Me? A Student’s Guide to the Responsibilities of Engineers with Bob Kirkman, School of Public Policy, and Chloe Arson, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Tuesday, Nov. 15, 11 a.m. – noon, Room 469, Clough Commons
Those who attend three events this semester will receive two tickets to the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Downtown Atlanta.
To learn more about the environmental justice series and to keep up with additional opportunities, visit serve-learn-sustain.gatech.edu/environmental-justice-series.
]]>Serve-Learn-Sustain is now accepting applications for its second SLS Fellows Program, to take place during Spring 2017. Fellows will examine pressing community issues concerning sustainable and equitable approaches to smart cities, touching on issues such as algorithms and governance, security and privacy, participatory sensing, social and technical infrastructures, and civic engagement.
All faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows are invited to apply. The deadline to apply is Monday, Nov. 7, at 5 p.m.
To learn more and apply, visit c.gatech.edu/slsfellows.
]]>Undergraduate Education
]]>The Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain, in partnership with the Integrated Network for Social Sustainability, College of Design, and College of Engineering, with funding from the National Science Foundation, hosted the Paths to Social Sustainability conference earlier this summer. The goal of the conference was to identify ways to develop stronger and more coordinated social sustainability research, teaching, and action agendas for the Southeast.
The three-day event was attended by Tech faculty, staff, and students; industry and community partners; government partners from Atlanta and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and representatives from other universities. The conference showcased Georgia Tech expertise as well as that of peers and partners in related fields. Topics included the need for adaptable designs, plans, and regulations for future conditions caused by climate, weather, and extreme events, as well as resilience and social sustainability.
One popular component of the conference was a journey through the Emerald Corridor, a seven-mile stretch of the Atlanta BeltLine abutting Proctor Creek. Decades of neglect and illegal dumping have polluted the creek and created several environmental hazards, making this one of the most contaminated waterways in the metro Atlanta region.
“We saw firsthand the impact of an ancient combined sewer system on community functioning and health,” said Iris Tien, assistant professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “We passed routes to schools with cracked sidewalks, or no sidewalks at all. We passed parts of Proctor Creek with water so polluted it not only should not be drunk, it should not even be touched. These elements — the water system, and transportation infrastructure — are all part of the daily functioning of the communities they are designed to support. This is not a question of if these systems can survive a disaster, but about the challenges communities face on a day-to-day basis.”
Many people, even those who have been at Tech for some time, did not even know the Emerald Corridor was there, much less have an awareness of its current state.
“Meeting community leaders and hearing directly from them brings awareness and perspective about life near Georgia Tech that is not apparent from news outlets or politicians,” said Linda Wills, associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who participated in the conference.
The conference also featured keynote addresses by sustainable community experts, roundtable discussions, and cross-site panels broadcast live online. Small group sessions gave participants the opportunity to identify key actions to work on moving forward. Takeaways included exploring the creation of a community-based Institutional Review Board so Institute research projects could be vetted by the communityw and incorporating social sustainability into K-12 curricula.
“The panels and the working sessions were particularly insightful and engaging because
of the dialogue that occurred,” Wills said.
The next step for the Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain will be to create a draft agenda for social sustainability in the Southeast — and Atlanta in particular — and then to support working groups for implementation. The Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain also hopes to connect faculty with surrounding communities and resources for their courses and research.
Serve-Learn-Sustain is an institutional effort to equip Georgia Tech students to learn and serve around the theme “creating sustainable communities,” through engagement with content and context. The initiative was developed as a Quality Enhancement Plan, as a key component to Tech’s reaffirmation of accreditation in 2015.
Learn more at serve-learn-sustain.gatech.edu.
]]>Some sub-units have even incorporated sustainable alternatives into their everyday operations. Three separate initiatives in departments within Operations and Maintenance have succeeded in saving more than 160,000 sheets of paper annually — or 19 trees per year — as well as thousands of dollars in ink and human capital.
In Building Services, eco-friendly cleaning practices earned this department recent Green Seal Certification. But other efforts have demonstrated that this eco-mindedness is truly pervasive. Operations Manager Willa Chatman brought one of her personal sustainable practices to the workplace, proposing that all 12 custodial zones use flash drives to store drafts of annual reviews and other in-house documents such as employee vacation requests and custodial service forms.
“I’ve been storing my own documents this way since 2012, and I thought to myself, ‘Why don’t I bring this method into work?’ I want to encourage the rest of the Tech community to decrease the amount of paper they use,” Chatman said. “By implementing this approach, we have the power to save more trees — and eventually an entire forest.”
Printing documents is now considered a last resort for the department. As a result, paper usage has gone from two cases of paper per month (and almost one case each week during the annual review season) to one case about every six weeks. Chatman hopes the use of paper-saving methods will continue to increase until the department is completely paperless.
Sonny Cody, foreperson for Georgia Tech’s Lock Shop, also wanted to reduce paper consumption within his office. He reached out to Facilities Information Technology Support’s Pat Ficenec to discuss how to incorporate technology into the their day-to-day operations to do so. The collaboration led to the idea for two large wall-mounted display screens that would reduce the need for printing documents and keeping hardcopy records.
“Each Operations and Maintenance shop or area has different workflow processes and different technology needs, but it’s still possible to implement resource-efficient solutions that will produce immediate and long-term savings of valuable resources like paper and energy,” Ficenec said.
After comparing the cost of printers, paper, and toner relative to the cost of procuring the energy-efficient monitors and a new computer, Cody found that the new technology, despite its initial cost, would save the department money in the long term as well as have a positive environmental impact. Once Ficenec and Cody received approval from their respective supervisors, the two put the plan into motion, setting a precedent for resource-efficiency efforts and cross-departmental collaboration.
The final paper-saving initiative sprouted from a desire to optimize operations in Building Maintenance by replacing outdated project-tracking methods. Organizing preventative maintenance updates and shop stock documents while ensuring all work orders are being completed in a timely manner is a difficult task using paper copies. The solution? A software program that provides a streamlined system for organizing and distributing all data and documents. By deploying iPads to maintenance employees so they can take advantage of this application, the entire five-team Building Maintenance unit is now able to efficiently track all preventative maintenance, work orders, and other job requests in real time. The electronic database also allows technicians to reference maintenance manuals and updates quickly and easily while out in the field. The tracking system will save the department 76,000 sheets of paper annually.
]]>Yet there’s no unified way to track all of this burning across the Southeast and account for the resulting impacts on air quality and residents’ health. It’s especially an issue for a region where prescribed burns are the top source of fine particulate matter in the air.
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering researcher Talat Odman has just secured funding to help address the problem, bringing together all of the prescribed burn data from a region stretching from Texas to Virginia.
With support from the federal Joint Fire Science Program, the U.S. Forest Service, Georgia Tech and North Carolina State University, Odman and his team will marry the burn data with air quality data and cutting-edge computer modeling to understand the full impact of prescribed burns on air pollution and people’s health.
It’s a system Odman says will help land managers better plan prescribed burns and public health organizations better protect populations vulnerable to particulate matter in the air, such as the elderly, the very young, and people with existing respiratory problems.
“We want to optimize burns — which have higher demand than supply — and air quality at the same time,” Odman said.
In Georgia, for example, any open burning requires a permit from the Georgia Forestry Commission, and most burning is banned from May through September in the state’s most-populated areas. The burns are important to maintaining healthy ecosystems and preventing out-of-control wildfires, but Odman said the commission can’t keep up with requests.
“There’s so much demand in Georgia to burn, they cannot respond to all of it. Applications come in [to burn] 2 million acres a year, and last year they issued permits for slightly over 1 million acres,” he said. “So they could easily double the capacity.
“We’re looking at new windows of opportunity. If we had the regional forecast [we’re developing], we could do dynamic management.”
Read more from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
]]>“We are very pleased to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for our efforts to create a more sustainable and healthier campus,” said Steve Swant, executive vice president of Administration and Finance. “For many years, Tech has practiced what we preach. We have data-driven, sustainable initiatives across campus, ranging from studying efficient energy utilization in the classroom to the programs we implement to keep our campus clean and healthy. Without this type of long-term commitment, we simply couldn’t achieve these results.”
Notable undertakings include Georgia Tech’s signing of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in 2007 to publicly commit to reduce energy consumption, expand use of renewable energy sources, and become carbon neutral by 2050. The ACUPCC, a signature program of Second Nature, was updated in 2015 and is now known as the Carbon Commitment. Since taking the pledge, the Institute has made strides toward this goal: Greenhouse gas emissions per every 1,000 square feet have been reduced by roughly 8 percent since 2011 — despite the addition of state-of-the-art research facilities with high energy requirements.
Other celebrated initiatives include Georgia Tech’s commitment — supported by a $30 million grant from The Kendeda Fund — to build what is expected to be the most environmentally advanced education and research building ever constructed in the Southeast. Also in 2015, the Institute’s Green Cleaning Program was honored with the American School & University magazine’s 2015 Annual Green Cleaning Award. In addition, Tech’s Green Cleaning Program was recently certified by Green Seal for its leadership in sustainable cleaning. This is a nationally recognized certification awarded for protecting human health and the environment.
For more than 20 years, Georgia Tech has offered a variety of programs to support the health and wellness of the campus community. This past year, the Institute formed the Center for Community Health and Well-Being to unify wellness programs across campus. Staff and faculty also benefit from a comprehensive benefits package with options to meet a variety of needs, and an assistance program for maintaining work-life balance. Students, too, have access to services that support physical and mental well-being, including a peer counseling program and “G.I.T. FIT” (Georgia Institute of Technology Fitness).
Lastly, the Institute is being recognized for its campuswide academic initiative, Serve-Learn-Sustain, which is designed to equip students to address sustainability challenges and community-level needs in their professional and civic lives. Potential outcomes include developing services for the underserved, deploying renewable energy in communities, supporting infrastructure for clean water, and developing local, state, and federal environmental policy.
Across the country, a total of 47 schools, 15 districts, and 11 postsecondary institutions are being honored. An official ceremony is being conducted on July 20 in Washington, D.C. Georgia Tech is the only institution of higher education in the state of Georgia to receive this award.
For more information, including details on U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools honorees, visit the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools website.
]]>If Hyacinth Ide had walked around Georgia Tech’s campus before hiring on with Landscape Services in 1999, he might not have accepted the job. “Luckily,” said the associate director of Landscape Services and Fleet Services, “my former boss said there was a plan to focus on landscaping, and we have done it.”
Have we ever. Tech’s certification as a Level II Arboretum is just the latest feather in the Institute’s gardening cap — on top of Tree Campus USA, Bee Campus USA, and 3 Star Landscape Management Accreditation.
Georgia Tech’s 2010 Landscape Master Plan included a goal to increase the tree canopy to more than 50 percent. Planners knew the campus had a long way to go, but how far? The last time Tech had inventoried its trees was 2004.
To get a new baseline, Landscape Services, Capital Planning and Space Management, and the Center for Geographic Information Systems (CGIS) came together to design a plan for documenting and measuring every tree on campus — with 40 different data points for each one.
A vendor was hired to execute the plan based on an estimated 7,000 trees, but the contract soon had to be revised — it turned out the campus had almost 12,000 trees.
With new information in hand, one of the first decisions — aided by technology — was to make the inventory a moving picture, rather than a one-off snapshot. Since 2013, landscape crews have been armed with handheld GPS devices on which they record tree plantings, removals, and maintenance.
“We don’t know of any other institutions with an inventory that is as up-to-date as ours,” Ide said.
The first person to say the A word — according to several members of the Tree Campus USA committee — was Executive Vice President of Administration and Finance Steve Swant.
“Once we had this incredible database, he’s the one who asked what it would take to be an arboretum,” said Jason Gregory, senior education facilities planner and landscape architect with Capital Planning and Space Management. “So we started looking into it and saw that it really wouldn’t be too difficult with all the documentation and protocol we already had in place.”
As the project evolved, Gregory said, so did the questions surrounding it. “We needed to define why we wanted to be an arboretum — why it was important,” he recalled. “We realized we could break that down to the individual tree: What does it actually do and how does it perform in the landscape? Can we teach people about that and use this information across campus?”
Ramachandra Sivakumar, who goes by Siva, is a senior research engineer at CGIS. He manages Tech’s site license for GIS software and promotes its use for academic and research projects across campus, so the tree inventory and arboretum project have been a natural fit for his expertise.
Before all this, he’d never really paid much attention to trees beyond their beauty and the shade they provide. Now, he is working with computer models that can look at a geographic area of trees and calculate such benefits as carbon sequestration, heat mitigation, air purification, and rainfall interception for stormwater management.
“There’s even a program that can look at health impacts,” he said. “So knowing the importance of our campus tree canopy, we have greater motivation to preserve it or add to it.”
To ensure the numbers stay up to date, the campus has been divided into five zones and has set up a five-year schedule during which, zone by zone, each tree will again be measured and evaluated according to the 40 data points.
Gregory, like Siva, has been making presentations in hopes that faculty and students will find ways to use the arboretum and database as a springboard for innovative projects.
“That’s going to be part of the fun,” Gregory said. “If you were at UGA, you’d have the horticulture or agriculture people looking at this. But Georgia Tech — we’re a completely different arena.”
]]>Long recognized for its sprawling car culture, the effort is part of Atlanta’s growing enthusiasm for making alternate modes of transportation more attractive options. Construction is set to begin in early May, and conclude March 2017.
“The Tech Parkway multiuse path project will create new infrastructure to provide the community a safe and easy way to get to and around campus,” said Lisa Safstrom, campus transportation planner. “The path will contribute to the greater network throughout town, advancing safer cycling opportunities for all users.”
The changes are consistent with both Georgia Tech’s Master Plan vision as well as the city’s Cycle Atlanta strategy. Despite concerns that this project would restrict automobile traffic, pre-project analysis suggests the reconfiguration can be comfortably accommodated.
“The city and design team did full traffic studies during normal and event traffic situations and confirmed these changes would not negatively impact vehicular circulation,” said Jason Gregory, senior educational facilities planner in Capital Planning and Space Management. “This project is a step in managing the traffic volume while also providing for a great connection between midtown and downtown for multiple modes of transportation.”
Near the start of the project, both lanes of Tech Parkway between Means Street and Northside Drive will be closed to through traffic. During that time, drivers will need to adjust their route. Closures may last a few weeks.
At completion, the bicycle and pedestrian routes will continue beyond the Tech campus, stretching down Luckie Street to Centennial Olympic Park. The additional connectivity is likely to open up the campus to its midtown residents, making it a little bit easier for riders to enjoy the underappreciated aesthetics of Tech’s 400 acres, and will also provide a safer and more convenient option for Tech’s bike commuters to access campus.
“It could be as significant to this side of town as other multiuse paths like the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail,” Safstrom said.
Georgia Tech will cover half the cost of the Tech Parkway portion of the project. The PATH Foundation, whose vision is to create a network of connected trails throughout the Atlanta region that converge on the center of the city, will cover the other half.
]]>Those “sidewalks, hotter than a match head” the Lovin’ Spoonful sang about are only getting worse, according to Stone, also author of The City and the Coming Climate: Climate Change in the Places We Live and director of Georgia Tech’s Urban Climate Lab (UCL).
He and his research team are finding that, on average, cities are warming at double the rate of the planet — and much of that warming is driven by activities within the cities themselves.
“Cities are vulnerable places as far as temperature change,” Stone said. “The UCL’s principal mission, initially, was just to measure that. In recent years, we’ve expanded to work with cities to adapt to rising temperatures.”
The UCL’s distinctive niche is in contrast to the bulk of sustainability research conducted these days, Stone said. “Most environmental efforts are rooted in technology, like engineering cleaner cars or electricity. But we also have the option to reduce the demand side of the equation, and our focus on land use provides a perspective and policy arena from which to address environmental issues.”
Conducting studies around the nation, the UCL has found that Louisville, Kentucky, is the most rapidly warming metropolis in the U.S. relative to what’s around it. (Atlanta is No. 3.) The UCL has helped Louisville develop a heat adaptation plan — the first for a U.S. city.
Currently, the UCL’s largest project, funded by the National Science Foundation, focuses on the growing risk of having a heat wave and a blackout at the same time. “That may be one of the most threatening events we can imagine,” Stone said, “and cities are not well prepared for it.”
Stone has been interviewed by WSB-TV, CNN, and NPR, and he’s been the go-to expert for Forbes, USA Today, and The Washington Post, among other publications.
The media always seem to call when it’s getting really hot out, Stone has noticed. “It’s during heat waves that cities struggle the most,” he said. “If you’re New York or New Orleans and you have rising sea levels due to global warming, it would be expensive, but you can build a wall — there’s no barrier for the rising tide of extreme heat.”
The challenge for cities in the face of climate change, then, is both global and local, Stone said. City planning and smart growth can certainly play a role in reducing fossil fuel consumption and the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions, but his group is also working to make sure the “greenhouse” effect is not compounded by the “green loss” effect. “We cut down trees, we build parking lots and buildings — it heats up the environment,” Stone said.
Stone says Georgia Tech is the perfect academic environment for conducting his urban climate research, citing the interdisciplinary scientific, technological, and public policy expertise at his disposal. But the campus itself also plays a role — as a living laboratory.
The UCL has positioned 24 small-scale weather stations around campus to measure not only temperature changes but how different projects impact temperatures.
“Georgia Tech is one of the only places in the city where we’re actually converting asphalt to green space,” he said. “We’re tearing up parking lots and putting in quad space, so we can measure before and after how that’s cooling the air.”
The good news for cities as they adapt to climate change is that they don’t need a mandate from the global or U.S. policy community, Stone said. “They are empowered through their land use authority and policy tool kit to significantly slow the rate of warming.”
Certain policy prescriptions will be part of almost any heat mitigation plan for cities, Stone said. Approaches such as expanding and incentivizing transit; encouraging high-density development; and creating better bike and pedestrian networks can have a direct effect on maintaining green cover and reducing waste heat emissions. For other strategies, he said, cities and environmentally conscious individuals should think “green, white, and blue”:
Green:
White:
Blue:
Learn more about Stone’s work at www.urbanclimate.gatech.edu.
]]>The Energy Expo is hosted by the Energy Club at Georgia Tech, Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT), and the Strategic Energy Institute. This two-day event is both a conference and a showcase where attendees will learn more about the latest technology, policy, and business topics related to energy.
The event begins with a screening of Breaking Free: A Shale Rock Revolution, a film about the natural gas industry in the United States. The movie will be followed by a panel, titled "The Future of Natural Gas," with panelists from Southern Company, AGL Resources, Chevron, and the Strategic Energy Institute.
The second day of the Expo also will include two keynote speakrs: Anya Cherneff, co-founder and executive director of Empower Generation, and Jeff Roberts, program leader for Sustainable Energy Systems and deputy program director for Energy at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The second day of the Expo will end with the showcase and will display research, energy products, and ideas from the Georgia Tech community and industry professionals. Showcase presenters will receive free admission to the Expo, and prizes will be given for first, second, and third place winners. Georgia Tech students, researchers, and faculty are encouraged to participate in the showcase and can sign up at www.energyexpo.gatech.edu/showcase.
Registration is free to the first 50 students and includes a free T-shirt. Student tickets are $5 and general admission is $10. Those interested in attending, volunteering, or presenting can register here.
]]>Nominations are sought for individuals or groups who are making a positive environmental impact both on campus and beyond, either through a new initiative or a body of work. The deadline for nominations is Sunday, March 13.
Nominees must be students, faculty, staff, alumni, or retirees of Georgia Tech and should demonstrate a positive environmental impact, a commitment to restoring and enhancing the environment, and an ongoing commitment to environmental leadership. Self-nominations are welcome. Individuals or groups are eligible.
Last year’s recipients were Hyacinth Ide, associate director for Landscape Services; Grace Brosofsky, an undergraduate environmental engineering major; and Campus Kitchens at Georgia Tech.
Winners of this year’s awards will be honored at Tech’s annual Earth Day Celebration on Friday, April 22.
To nominate a person or group, download the nomination form and submit via email to gtgreenawards@gmail.com.
The Earth Day committee is also now accepting donations for the event's annual office supply exchange. New or gently used donations can come from students, faculty, or staff. At the Earth Day Festival, anyone with a valid BuzzCard can shop the donated items for free.
Campus departments can contact recycle@gatech.edu to schedule a donation pick-up or drop-off.
]]>Serve-Learn-Sustain provides students with learning and co-curricular opportunities that combine their academic and career interests with a desire to improve the human condition.
The two courses being offered this semester are team taught and interdisciplinary. Both have a “GT” designation, meaning they can count as a free elective for any major.
In this course, students will explore sustainability from a systems perspective, including physical/resource balances, ecological/carbon cycle processes, economic/financial practices, political/policy processes, and public participation as they relate to communities in Atlanta and around the world. The course will include case studies in forestry, fracking, climate, and fisheries to demonstrate how these systems interact.
The class will focus on concepts and methods that students can employ in their chosen career path, whether that is research and design at a utility company, engineering for a major city, or environmental and business advising.
Course Code: GT 2803 HP1, GT 4803 HP1, PUBP HP1, MGT A, or EAS HP1. Students who sign up for any of these courses will be in the same class.
In this course, students will explore community connections to sustainability, focusing on methods for working with community partners such as asset mapping, participatory design, and ethnography. The course will focus on the issues of water and fracking.
Proctor Creek in Westside Atlanta will be used as a case study to connect local issues to global considerations. Instructors come from computer science, interactive computing, architecture, mechanical engineering, and public policy.
The 4803 versions of the class will contain assignments specialized to the discipline, such as developing environmental monitoring technologies or producing a feasibility analysis for Proctor Creek remediation.
Course Code: GT 2803 HP2, PUBP HP2, ARCH 2803, GT 4803 HP2, CS 4803 HP2. Students who sign up for any of these courses will be in the same class.
Along with these courses, which are also part of the new Public Service Pathway, Serve-Learn-Sustain offers projects available for students, faculty, and staff. View a full list of programs and courses here (pdf).
Serve-Learn-Sustain is an institutional effort to equip Georgia Tech students with the skills to learn and serve around the theme of “creating sustainable communities.” The initiative launched in 2015 after being developed as Tech's Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) during the Institute’s reaffirmation of accreditation.
Learn more at www.serve-learn-sustain.gatech.edu.
]]>Ellen Zegura
(Sustainable Community Principles)
ewz@cc.gatech.edu
Cory Hopkins
Office of Undergraduate Education
cory.hopkins@gatech.edu
For the first time this semester, students from any major are able to take an interdisciplinary “special topics course” that will teach how to create communities where people want to live and work, as well as how to coordinate with stakeholders to make sustainable ideas a reality for entire communities with diverse backgrounds and interests. The course has two offerings -- a sophomore- and a senior-level version.
Students from any major may register for either one – CS/Arch/GT 4803 or CS/Arch/GT 2803 – through Jan. 15. The class will be team taught by professors from the College of Architecture, College of Engineering, and the School of Public Policy.
“These are broad intellectually and teach an appreciation for what it means to work in and with a community that is different from your own,” said Ellen Zegura, professor of computer science and an original instructor from C4G who has led community projects from Atlanta to Africa.
Projects by C4G – such as implementing electronic health data systems in Africa or helping an Atlanta entrepreneur make a mobile app for women’s safety – inspired Zegura to do more.
“Much of my computer science research work takes years to develop and impact the real world,” she says. “C4G became such a fantastic avenue to do something more applied, more immediate and more directly impactful on society.”
She is now co-architect of Georgia Tech’s 10-year initiative called “Serve, Learn, Sustain” with Beril Toktay, the Brady Family Chair in Scheller College of Business.
Like C4G, students in the courses can apply disciplinary skills to solve community needs. Unique from C4G, Zegura’s new course will enable students to observe a real community challenge – water remediation at Proctor Creek – map the stakeholders, model and learn successful methods for engaging with such stakeholders to make progress on an issue.
The class is ideal for students with “an interest in the real world, an interest in what makes communities great, understanding why there are inequities, and who want to work towards a positive future,” Zegura says.
Zegura and Toktay expect the “Serve, Learn, Sustain” initiative to grow.
Within five years, they aim to add 16 new electives and refresh 28 courses across Georgia Tech with sustainability content. A freshman camp will be formed, support for relevant student organizations will be provided, and two pathways will be specified — one in Public Service and one in Innovating for Sustainability — consisting of classes and experiences such as service-learning projects or internships with organizations that tackle sustainability challenges. Capstone course offerings also will be expanded to offer projects from the sustainable communities domain.
“Eventually we hope that students will be interested in pathways to other courses, that there will be lots of classes across Georgia Tech like C4G that have community and sustainability components, and that more faculty will add sustainability concepts into their curriculum.”
For more: https://oscar.gatech.edu/
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]]>“We are quite proud of our Building Services team for their continued innovation in green cleaning practices. Throughout the nine years of program development, we’ve been able to minimize the use of chemicals down to the very bare minimum,“ states Tommy Little, associate director of building services for Facilities Management. “We believe this minimization helps provide a healthier working and learning environment for Tech’s employees and students.”
Several initiatives contributed to this award including continuous program innovations such as the identification of more effective, chemical-free cleaning solutions as well as improving training programs to educate custodial staff on minimizing impact to populations that are sensitive to chemical exposure.
To learn more about Tech’s Green Cleaning Program, visit facilities.gatech.edu/green-cleaning.
]]>Given the Southeast’s heat, humidity and variable fresh water supplies, the development of any building aiming for zero net energy and water consumption brings unique challenges. Building a facility that meets Living Building Challenge 3.0 criteria — as The Kendeda Fund and Georgia Tech hope to do — will provide the opportunity to create a living-learning laboratory for hands-on educational and research opportunities that will be a model for the region and similar environments around the world.
According to Georgia Tech, the project will be integrated into the Institute’s Eco-Commons, a series of campus green spaces designed to conserve natural resources, including energy and water, and provide the community with educational and recreational amenities. This endeavor not only supports Georgia Tech’s goal to use its resources as efficiently as possible, but also manages stormwater runoff and helps protect drinking water sources.
“Georgia Tech is honored to partner with The Kendeda Fund on this groundbreaking project. The Living Building Challenge aligns with our longstanding vision for the campus and provides a unique opportunity to physically demonstrate how Georgia Tech practices thoughtful stewardship of all of our resources and how our innovative thinking can transform future generations,” said Steve Swant, executive vice president for Administration and Finance at Georgia Tech. “These are disciplines we have proudly instilled in our campus master planning as well as our academic, research and community outreach efforts.”
The Kendeda Fund has committed to investing $25 million over the next several years to privately fund 100 percent of the design and construction costs of the project as well as an additional $5 million to support programming activities. The Kendeda Fund and Georgia Tech intend for the project to become the first Living Building Challenge 3.0-certified facility of its size and function in the Southeast.
The Living Building Challenge is a program, advocacy tool and philosophy that defines the most advanced measure of sustainability possible in the current built environment. Meeting the challenge requires close adherence to some of the most stringent building performance standards in the world. To be certified under the program, a building must meet all the program requirements over a full 12-month period of continued operations and full occupancy.
“We could not imagine a better partner than Georgia Tech to join us in pursuing the Living Building Challenge,” said Barry Berlin, a long time advisor to The Kendeda Fund who oversees its investments and Atlanta-area philanthropy. “This project builds on nearly two decades of work by The Kendeda Fund to advance sustainability throughout Atlanta’s built environment. We look forward to helping an entire region learn what’s possible as we embrace the most rigorous building performance standards in the world.”
Pending final approval by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents and reaching defined milestones, the goal is to begin construction in 2017 with occupancy targeted for late 2018 and building certification planned for 2020.
# # #
About The Kendeda Fund
The Kendeda Fund is one of the leading philanthropic investors in civic and environmental programs in the Atlanta area, and is committed to providing solutions to social and ecological challenges at the local and national levels. The Fund accomplishes its mission by advancing green building design, community-design and public interest architecture; championing community wealth building and sustainability strategies; and leveraging innovation of cities to advance equity and sustainability. Previously, The Kendeda Fund provided $300,000 in funding for Georgia Tech’s Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business. Learn more at www.kendedafund.org.
About the Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology, also known as Georgia Tech, is one of the nation’s leading research universities, providing a focused, technologically based education to more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Georgia Tech has many nationally recognized programs, all top-ranked by peers and publications alike, and is ranked in the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News and World Report. It offers degrees through the Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Sciences, the Scheller College of Business, and the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech has more than 100 centers focused on interdisciplinary research that consistently contribute vital research and innovation to American government, industry, and business.
]]>Gwinnett County commissioners formally approved the project August 5. The idea is to study if it’s possible to clean wastewater well enough to drink it without putting back into Lake Lanier first. The process is called direct potable reuse, and officials said it could help them conserve water without reducing usage.
“This could be a real game changer,” Gwinnett’s director of water resources, Ron Seibenhener, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in July. “Even if it doesn’t prove to be the solution, it could be the start of different paths to get to that solution. We want to make it safe, reliable and cheap.”
Professor Ching-Hua Huang and two graduate students will study whether a process called ozone-biologically active filtration can clean wastewater enough to meet high drinking-water quality standards. They’ll use a pilot plant that will be built at one the county’s existing water facilities, and they’ll conduct advanced water-sample analysis.
If the treatment process works, it could significantly change the economics of direct potable reuse, Huang said.
She said the project is critically important to water utilities because it has the potential reduce cost and eliminate concentrated waste streams that are generated using current filtration and cleaning processes.
“This project will allow water utilities to evaluate water-supply options to decrease their dependence on lake or river withdrawals,” said Denise Funk with the county’s Department of Water Resources. “High-quality reclaimed water is not subject to changes in rainfall, eutrophication, chemical spills, or algae blooms.”
Read more about the project in the Gwinnett Daily Post and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
]]>A new National Science Foundation-funded research network will connect scientists at nine universities with infrastructure groups, public policy experts, and industry partners to reimagine cities. Georgia Tech will be an anchor of the $12 million network, which will be led by the University of Minnesota, and School of Civil and Environmental Engineering professor Ted Russell will serve as a co-director.
“We’re bringing some very different communities together more than past projects have done,” Russell said. “We are getting the engineering community, the health community, the atmospheric sciences community, the economics communities, the policy communities in the same virtual room to look to the future.”
“We’re looking at real-life cities and figuring out how to make these cities work better and how to help cities [in general] evolve.”
The idea is to reimagine infrastructure — energy grids, road networks, green spaces, and food and water systems — to create cities that are highly functional, that promote the health of residents and the environment, and that have that intangible “vibe” that makes them desirable places to live and work.
“We have to think in new ways about a city’s physical infrastructure to develop sustainable solutions,” said Anu Ramaswami, the project’s director and a professor in the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. “Understanding that these physical systems are interconnected serves as a foundation for this work. For example, urban farms wouldn’t work very well without thinking about water, energy and transportation infrastructure as well as people, markets and policies.”
The network will use cities across the United States and in India as “test beds” for its work, a unique approach that Russell said means the outcome of the network’s studies will have significant impact. Atlanta is one of those cities.
“One of the points we made with this proposal is that it’s action-oriented, with the idea that the output of this project is not papers, it’s actually actions,” he said. “[We will] not only specify what actions might be taken but actually help realize those actions.”
The project, called a Sustainability Research Network in NSF parlance, runs for four years.
“Real success at the end of those four years would be one or more cities — having worked with us from the beginning — take actions that will lead to improving the livability of their city,” Russell said. “That could come in multiple ways: improved transit options, improved plans for water usage, effective urban farming, or strategies to improve air quality that they’ve actually implemented and to inform their citizenry of how to reduce their exposures to harmful chemicals and lead more healthy lives.”
The network stretches beyond civil and environmental engineering at Tech: Nisha Botchwey, an associate professor in the School of City and Regional Planning, and Peter Webster, a professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, will have significant roles, as will Tech’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (better known as CEISMC).
In fact, Botchwey will lead the education component of the project, which includes outreach to K-12 students, college graduate students and Native American communities. Those efforts will include an innovative interdisciplinary summer school at the network’s nine partner schools.
Russell said Tech’s wide-ranging involvement in the project fits in perfectly with the Institute-wide focus in the coming decade on sustainability and community. Officials announced the Serve•Learn•Sustain initiative earlier this year as part of the Institute’s reaccreditation process.
“This fits in extremely well with that, because we are hitting all of those pieces in [the project],” Russell said.
Learn more about the project in the University of Minnesota news release and on the project’s website.
]]>Humes’ book asks readers to not only consider the 102-ton legacy of trash produced by the average American, but also the opportunity for change created by this waste. All first-year students received a copy of Garbology at FASET orientation this summer. The book was selected to connect with Tech’s new Serve-Learn-Sustain initiative, which encourages creating sustainable communities.
“Humes’ visit is an excellent opportunity for those interested in sustainability and Georgia Tech’s Serve-Learn-Sustain initiative to participate in a discussion about how we can develop solutions to the economic and environmental crises produced by America’s addiction to trash,” said Lacy Hodges, academic transition programs manager in the Center for Academic Enrichment.
Humes will give a plenary lecture, followed by a reception and book signing, on Thursday, Oct. 1, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Room 144, Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons. A question and answer session will follow his presentation, giving faculty, students, and staff the chance to talk about consumption, waste, and sustainability. Refreshments will be served and the event is free.
]]>To implement Georgia Tech’s new quality enhancement plan (QEP) for student learning, Serve•Learn•Sustain, Georgia Tech is establishing a new unit within the Office of Undergraduate Education and welcoming its inaugural director.
Beginning August 17, Jennifer Hirsch will join Tech as director of the Sustainable Communities Educational Initiatives Office (SCEIO). The office is part of the Institute’s plan to institutionalize Serve•Learn•Sustain and will be physically co-located with the Center for Academic Enrichment in Clough Commons.
Hirsch is an applied cultural anthropologist specializing in sustainable communities. Based in Chicago, Hirsch has worked at Northwestern University, The Field Museum, and most recently as an independent consultant. Over the past eight years she has focused on bringing together diverse populations, including students, administrators, faculty, policymakers, and community leaders, to build on community assets to address community sustainability challenges. She also has experience in higher education administration, focusing on international and experiential education.
“I couldn’t be more excited about moving to Atlanta and Georgia Tech to launch Serve•Learn•Sustain,” Hirsch said. “This innovative initiative is destined to become a national model for university engagement in sustainability, as an environmental, social, and economic imperative. It is an honor to be involved from the very beginning.”
The search committee for Hirsch’s position included students, administrators, and faculty from all six colleges.
“The committee recognized that Dr. Hirsch’s specialization in community sustainability, asset-based community development, and network building — as well as experience working with communities, municipalities, museums, universities, and business to address sustainability challenges from a socio-technical perspective — made her an ideal candidate for this new role,” said Colin Potts, vice provost for Undergraduate Education. “I am excited to have her joining the Office of Undergraduate Education.”
Serve•Learn•Sustain is Tech’s new QEP, a key component for reaffirmation of accreditation in which a university must develop a long-term plan to support student learning that also reflects the Institute’s mission. Serve•Learn•Sustain will improve undergraduate education by developing academic courses and experiences that combine community engagement with sustainability. Beril Toktay and Ellen Zegura co-authored the QEP and are executive co-directors of Serve•Learn•Sustain.
“I’m very excited about Jennifer’s vision of Serve•Learn•Sustain as an initiative that will not only transform undergraduate education at Georgia Tech, but will have a very strong influence nationally,” said Toktay, professor and Brady Family Chair in the Scheller College of Business.
Ellen Zegura, professor of computer science in the College of Computing, said, “Jenny brings to the position many years of experience in the intersection of community engagement and sustainability working in communities such as Chicago and with universities such as Northwestern. The Georgia Tech effort will benefit greatly from her on-the-ground involvement with projects like those we will develop.”
Hirsch holds a B.A. in American Culture from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Duke University. Her doctoral work examined grassroots network-building across the U.S. South, including Atlanta and the state of Georgia. She also studied abroad at Japan’s Waseda University, and she spent three years working in Japan in government and business.
“One of my first orders of business will be meeting with people across campus and Atlanta to explore how sustainability is related to their disciplines, their work, their lives, and other things they care about,” Hirsch said. “Anyone who would like to grab a cup of coffee should please give me a call!”
]]>Project One, which evolved from Tech’s first-year reading program, strives to help freshmen connect to the campus community through discussions and programming based around a common reading. All of the campus community is invited to join in the reading selection this year.
“With Garbology, students will have the opportunity to work together to see how they can impact sustainability on our campus and beyond,” said Lacy Hodges, Academic Transition Programs Manager in the Center for Academic Enrichment.
Garbology presents the history and statistics behind America’s staggering “garbage addiction” — an average of 102 tons of trash per person — and invites readers to consider not only the waste crisis in the U.S., but also the opportunities this crisis presents for sustainability and community engagement.
All incoming students receive a copy of Garbology in their FASET Orientation materials, and the book will be used in GT 1000, ENGL 1101, and ENGL 1102 classes this fall. In addition to its presence in the first-year curriculum, this year, Project One will support Georgia Tech’s new quality enhancement plan (QEP), Serve•Learn•Sustain, and provide all members of the Georgia Tech community with opportunities to develop innovative solutions to sustainability issues and to create a more sustainable campus community.
“The book will provide students with a broad introduction to some of the important learning outcomes of Serve•Learn•Sustain,” said Steven Girardot, associate vice provost for Undergraduate Education.
There will be a number of events on campus this fall and spring to connect students to Garbology and sustainability on campus, including a campus visit from Edward Humes, the book’s author. Humes will give a plenary talk for Georgia Tech students, faculty, and staff on sustainability on October 1 in Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons.
Learn more about Project One and upcoming Garbology-related events at www.c.gatech.edu/projectone.
]]>The National Water Research Institute (NWRI) named Crittenden, director of the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems and Hightower Chair and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Environmental Technologies, the winner of the 2015 Clarke Prize, citing his contributions to the sustainability of urban water resources.
“I was extremely happy and honored to receive the 2015 Clarke Prize in recognition for our work in water research and to join the ranks of such an outstanding class of former Laureates,” Crittenden said. “I consider the Clarke Prize to be one of the greatest honors that one can receive who conducts water research.”
The award is one of only a handful of worldwide prizes for scholarly and practical achievements in water research, and the International Congress of Distinguished Awards recognizes it as one of the world’s top honors.
“His work in sustainability is particularly bold and innovative, and will change the way we will promote water security, enhance economic development, and alleviate concerns of wars over water,” Joseph B. Hughes said in the NWRI announcement of Crittenden’s award. Hughes is the dean of Drexel University’s College of Engineering and former chair of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Crittenden will receive the award and deliver a keynote lecture in October at the Clarke Prize Conference. He is the first-ever winner from Georgia Tech, though provost and CEE professor Rafael Bras won the prize in 1998 when he was head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
More on the prize and Crittenden’s career from the NWRI (pdf).
]]>Twelve faculty members have been selected to the inaugural class of fellows with the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS). The new group will serve as advisors to BBISS and work to foster the culture and community of sustainability researchers, educators, and students at Georgia Tech. They will also help carry the message of sustainability and the vision, mission, values, and objectives of BBISS. Their selection is for three years with the potential for renewal.
In late August, the fellows will begin mapping out a strategy for future years. The 12 fellows represent all six of Georgia Tech’s colleges, as well as the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
The inaugural BBISS Fellows are:
The program and research institute are named for Brook Byers, a venture capitalist and senior partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, who earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1968 and later an MBA from Stanford University. Byers has helped build more than 110 companies in the life sciences area and is particularly active in biotechnology incubation.
]]>“Knowing that we hit our overall goal well before the end of the Campaign timetable is exciting,” said John F. Brock III, Tech alumnus and Campaign co-chair. “It is an impressive accomplishment for Georgia Tech.”
The Campaign is the largest in the Institute’s history. It is twice the size of the previous campaign, which was twice the size of its predecessor.
“We are very grateful to the Brocks for their tireless energy and commitment in leading the public phase of Campaign Georgia Tech,” said President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. “Reaching the $1.5 billion goal early is a testimony not only to their leadership, but to the ongoing engagement and loyalty of the entire Georgia Tech community. Together, we are pressing forward to accomplish all of our major Campaign goals so that the entire campus may celebrate the success.”
As the Campaign continues, generous donations continue to roll in. The Ray C. Anderson Foundation, named for the alumnus devoted to the idea of sustainability in manufacturing, made a commitment to the Scheller College of Business for $5 million in expendable funds over the next decade, resulting in the naming of Scheller’s Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business. Established in 2013 with seed funding from the Ray C. Anderson Foundation and overseen by Beril Toktay and Howard Connell, the center was originally known as the Center for Business Strategies for Sustainability.
“Ray Anderson championed the business case for sustainability,” said Peterson. “His life’s work to pioneer sustainability in global manufacturing is an inspiration for generations to come. We are honored to continue his legacy through this Center.”
Since its founding, the Center has been active in launching new research and developing coursework in business sustainability for students at all levels — undergraduates, MBAs, Ph.D. students, and executives. To support its mission, it continues to build relationships with an extensive network of businesses, other academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, industry groups, and sustain- ability experts.
Under the leadership of Maryam Alavi, dean and Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Chair in the Scheller College, the new commitment will ensure and expand the Center’s ability to serve as an unparalleled resource as well as a bridge connecting students to research faculty, entrepreneurs, and executives.
Another major goal was hit in May when Mike Anderson, president and CEO of both the Southern Company Charitable Foundation and Georgia Power Foundation, announced a
$5 million gift to establish the Dean’s Chair in the College of Engineering. In announcing the gift, Anderson recognized that Georgia Power and Georgia Tech have been linked for more than 125 years.
“I’m pleased that the most recent commitment from the Southern Company Foundation is directed to what is arguably the largest, most diverse, and finest College of Engineering in the nation, if not the world,” Anderson said.
Gary S. May, dean of the College of Engineering, will be the inaugural holder of the Southern Company Dean’s Chair.
“I cannot thank our friends at Southern Company enough,” May said. “I am honored to be the first dean to hold the Southern Company Dean’s Chair and very much value the partnership we have with Southern Company.”
The gift is structured to provide discretionary funds for the dean to use to continue building on the priorities of the College, which presently include faculty recruitment and retention, graduate student support, student and faculty diversity efforts, and enhancing the student experience on campus.
“Southern Company has created a vital, lasting legacy that provides essential resources for recruiting, retaining, and rewarding student and academic leaders,” May said. “This gift is truly an investment in the future of the College.”
Southern Company has a long history of offering support for Georgia Tech, including funding for Georgia Power Professors, research support for the Carbon-Neutral Energy Solutions Lab and the Strategic Energy Institute, and funds for student scholarships.
Campaign Georgia Tech will continue unabated until Dec. 31 at 11:59 p.m. To learn more, visit www.development.gatech.edu.
]]>Attendees at this year's event — which is themed "Can You Dig It?" — will have the opportunity to visit information booths, and there will be live performances, a farmers market, and free giveaways during the celebration. In the afternoon, there will be a screening of “Can You Dig This” at the Student Center Theater from 2 to 4 p.m. The Festival will conclude with an Earth Day Garden Party on the IC Lawn from 5 to 8 p.m., featuring music, snacks, food trucks, and more information about sustainable living. Live performances will feature Nothin’ But Treble, Julie & the Transit Boys, and Flow-Tech.
Throughout the day, students, faculty, and staff are also invited to participate in the multiple recycling programs taking place:
For more information and a schedule of the Earth Day festival events, visit the Earth Day website. In the event of rain, the Earth Day festival will be held in the Student Center and Skiles Courtyard.
]]>Emory University’s Piedmont Project, which began in 2001, is a faculty development program designed to help educators incorporate sustainability and environmental issues into their courses. This year, Emory invited Georgia Tech faculty to participate in a two-day summer workshop that’s part of the project.
Monica Halka, associate director for the Honors Program, took the opportunity to meet with peers from around the area to discuss how they are addressing sustainable communities in their classrooms. Participants came from disciplines as varied as health sciences, dance, film, or environmental studies.
“We all had different perspectives on sustainability — there are so many ways to think of it — but with a focus on place: the Piedmont,” Halka said, referring to the geographical region that encompasses the Atlanta area.
Part of the two-day workshop discussed making personal connections with community partners to find the right opportunities for university partnerships. Some outside groups may want to work with students but are not aware of some of the challenges, such as trying to fit a project into the timeline of a semester.
“You can’t do this work unless you have personal connections,” Halka said. “You have to find people who want to work with students and, really, who have a project ready to go.”
When these challenges are faced and worked through, though, the partnerships can be extremely rewarding for both sides. Halka teaches an urban forests class that focuses on the role of trees in cities, frequently partnering with Trees Atlanta. One recent project was to conduct a tree survival inventory to help the organization determine which trees grow best in which places in the city. They also have worked with Georgia Tech Facilities Management on a soil study to determine the same thing on campus, and to look at stormwater management.
“Students just love it,” she said. “They feel like they’re doing something real.” Many of Halka’s students have continued to volunteer with partner organizations such as Trees Atlanta, even after they finish their work in the course.
The Piedmont Project also was a chance for university peers to find ways to collaborate with one other. This year, Halka hopes to work with a professor from Georgia Perimeter College who specializes in microbiology and can assist with training students on how to take soil samples in urban environments. In exchange, Halka will introduce the Georgia Perimeter group to Piedmont Park, where she routinely takes classes for field work.
While Georgia Tech has an influence around the globe, Halka emphasized the importance of working with local communities and doing work on and around Tech’s home.
“If you can’t get your own house in order, how can you go out to other places to help?”
In recent years, she’s made a concerted effort to work community involvement into Honors Program courses. Chris Burke, director of community relations for Government and Community Relations, teaches a course focused on public school outreach. Kelly Comfort, associate professor in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, has taught a class that incorporates outreach with Hispanic communities.
The biggest challenge Halka has found in getting more faculty involved is that they are not formally trained on how to do it.
“It’d be nice if it were the culture here to get involved in this work,” she said.
An experimental atomic physicist by trade, Halka transitioned into working in sustainability after coming to Georgia Tech nine years ago. While teaching a class that required students to calculate their carbon footprints, she discovered hers was larger than anyone’s, thanks to the international travel she took several times a year. She began trying to offset her emissions by volunteering with Trees Atlanta, which led to the development of her urban forests course.
“I found that the work I was doing wasn’t benefiting the world,” she said. “Urban forest work is kind of a nascent science, but I hope I’m becoming one of the experts in my old age.”
]]>The Smart Energy Campus Program uses Georgia Tech as a living laboratory and collects data from energy utility systems all over campus. Through collaboration among multiple campus departments, insights from this project will directly impact energy planning and consumption on campus in many ways, with the hope of making Tech’s energy utility systems more efficient.
Smart Energy Campus is a joint sustainability research initiative with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL), and Georgia Tech Facilities Management. Beginning in 2013, the idea behind this project was to see if Georgia Tech researchers could be of use to Facilities by utilizing data analysis as well as modeling and simulation tools to evaluate and optimize different energy systems on Tech’s campus.
“It is extremely exciting to know that our team is supporting some of the most brilliant complex-system designers in the world,” said Mark Demyanek, assistant vice president of Operations and Maintenance within Facilities Management. “Using our built environment as a living laboratory is a concept that is growing in higher ed, and I believe we at Georgia Tech are leading that growth in a thoughtful and responsible way.”
Already, the Smart Energy Campus Program has created software for the Facilities Management Energy Conservation team to use when analyzing utility consumption trends and identifying potential energy efficiency projects. This project is designed to save labor hours, resources, and money by quickly identifying buildings that have unusually high energy usage, and then notifying teams to remedy the problem.
“The Smart Energy Campus Program is trying to take advantage of new modeling tools and large amounts of data to gain deeper insight and predict what can happen in terms of energy utilization on campus,” said Scott Duncan, research engineer in the ASDL.
The Facilities Management team consists of five people who meet with the research team several times per month. The research members on the team have included graduate students, research engineers, and postdoctoral fellows, all of whom serve as another set of eyes to interpret the data and help Facilities see problems in different ways.
“This program is revolutionary in getting access to data,” said Duncan. “If we were doing this program for a community outside of campus, it would be difficult to get access to this much data.”
With so much data, the project continues to grow and the mission evolves. Building a predictive model of campus energy is no easy feat.
“We keep finding things to do and smaller side projects to work on,” said Duncan. Through thermal network and electric grid modeling of campus, researchers will have greater agility and insight to see where energy is not being used efficiently, as well as analyze the effects of energy system technology upgrades.
Through the research effort, areas of improvement will be more visible and enable Facilities to channel resources toward areas of need. The ultimate vision of the research team is a “smart” system that will identify and react to problems and inefficiencies on its own, potentially without human assistance.
“With any luck, one day soon, campuses across the world can use these tools to manage their facilities resources more efficiently,” said Demyanek.
]]>Imagine you had the opportunity to take part in developing affordable products and services for the underserved, deploying community renewable energy or sustainable mobility solutions, supporting a clean water infrastructure, developing local, state and federal environmental policy. In 12 months’ time, Georgia Tech will officially begin the "Serve•Learn•Sustain" program to make this reality. Its central tenet will be service learning and community engagement – this means projects will address a community need and you will serve this need with what you learn here at Tech, in your major.
Students, they write, will have the opportunity to make service contributions based on their disciplinary expertise, bringing renewed meaning to Tech’s motto, “Progress and Service”.
Evidence shows that students with skills in listening to and working with diverse communities are much more valuable to employers than those who have equivalent technical skills but lack awareness of societal context. The ‘doing well by doing good’ perspective you will bring to your jobs will create value to your employers by redefining how your organization engages with communities it serves. In the long term, Georgia Tech will be known for its positive impact on communities near and far.
Serve•Learn•Sustain, which begins in 2016, addresses educational needs clearly voiced by graduates, enhances long-held Georgia Tech values and directly responds to Georgia Tech’s strategic plan.
The full editorial is available on The Technique's website. To stay informed of the progress and opportunities within Serve•Learn•Sustain, visit serve-learn-sustain.gatech.edu/join.
]]>Nominations are sought for individuals or groups who are making a positive environmental impact both on campus and beyond, either through a new initiative or a body of work. The deadline for nominations is Monday, March 10.
Nominees must be students, faculty, staff, alumni, or retirees of Georgia Tech and should demonstrate a positive environmental impact, a commitment to restoring and enhancing the environment, and an ongoing commitment to environmental leadership. Self-nominations are welcome. Individuals or groups are eligible.
Last year’s recipients were the Student Government Association's Sustainability Committee; Carson Meredith, professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; and the Georgia Tech Urban Honeybee Project.
The person or group selected for this year’s awards will be honored at Tech’s annual Earth Day Celebration on Friday, April 17.
To nominate a person or group, download the nomination form and submit via email to gtgreenawards@gmail.com.
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The studio, in partnership with the Ray Anderson Foundation and the Georgia Conservancy, created the vision of a sustainable highway with implications for global influence in highway design and specific plans and design studies for I-85 and the Mission Zero Highway. The project is led by Richard Dagenhart, interim chair of the School of Architecture, along with a team of urban designers from Perkins+Will in Atlanta (Elizabeth Ward, Cassie Branum, Jeff Williams, Kevin Bacon and Ryan Gravel, all Georgia Tech alums who hold dual Master of Architecture and Master of City and Regional Planning degrees).
The project is intended to be a 10-year effort involving the College of Archtitecture and faculty and students from across Georgia Tech. For more information on the Mission Zero corridor project, visit http://www.coa.gatech.edu/sites/coa.gatech.edu/files/images/mzc.pd (33MB pdf). Additional information on the studio and the project can be found on the Georgia Conservancy’s website at http://www.georgiaconservancy.org/blueprints/missionzero.html.
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Using an environmentally friendly approach to rid an area on campus of kudzu, Georgia Tech is hosting several four-legged, wooly friends over the next two weeks to assist in removing — or eating — the rapidly growing weed.
“Deploying sheep to help manage vegetation is a very sustainable and effective solution for keeping kudzu under control,” said Anne Boykin-Smith of Capital Planning and Space Management (CPSM). “The sheep love to eat kudzu. But, unlike goats, sheep are more selective and don’t eat the bark or buds on nearby plants and trees.” Kudzu is also a good source of protein for sheep diets.
Last summer, a collaborative effort began between CPSM and Facilities Management’s Design and Construction team to identify overgrown areas and develop a sustainable solution to the kudzu on campus. Kudzu, originally brought to the U.S. from Japan as an ornamental shrub useful in stopping soil erosion, has become a nuisance in the South due to its invasive nature. It can grow up to a foot per day and quickly take over trees. In the age-old struggle with kudzu, traditional herbicides are often used, but chemical treatments produce toxic runoff and are not always effective. Plus, traditional treatments leave behind dead organic material, which can turn into a fire hazard in times of drought.
“Using sheep is a good closed-loop way to take care of kudzu without using fossil fuel energy,” said Marc Weissburg, professor in the School of Biology and co-director of the Center for Biologically Inspired Design. “It shows we take our institutional commitment to sustainability seriously when we are actually making sustainable choices.”
It generally takes sheep no more than two weeks to defoliate a one-acre area. Like most removal systems, it will take repeated treatments, possibly three, to fully deplete the stored root reserves and kill the persistent kudzu plants. The sheep are scheduled to return to campus in the spring for a second grazing period.
“For now, if you see sheep grazing, please let them be,” Boykin-Smith said. “They have important work to do.”
This year Georgia Tech has been selected once more to participate in the DOE’s Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition, better known as EcoCAR 3. This is the third iteration of the EcoCAR competition and the second time Tech has been selected to participate. The competition invites teams from 14 American public universities and two Canadian universities, all of whom are given a brand new Chevrolet Camaro that they are tasked with redesigning over the next four years to make it more environmentally friendly. The goal is to design a car that runs on alternative fuel, reduces energy consumption, and emits fewer pollutants but maintains the same performance and safety standards of a regular Camaro.
Students began working on Tech’s EcoCAR this fall, but more help is needed. Students from any major or level of study can apply to EcoCAR through the Virtually Integrated Projects (VIP) Program every semester. The VIP Program offers students opportunities to get hands-on work experience with a variety of campus departments or projects, one of which is EcoCAR. The EcoCAR team is currently in need of students with skills in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, chemical engineering, and even communications.
Currently the Georgia Tech EcoCAR team is composed of three graduate students who are all specializing in different engineering fields. Those interested in learning more or wanting to get involved can attend one of EcoCAR's open meetings on Thursdays at 11 a.m. in Room 1440 of the Klaus Advanced Computing Building, or follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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Students, faculty, and staff are invited to join the Earth Day Planning Committee. The committee is made up of about 25 members representing a wide variety of campus departments, student organizations, and majors.
Those interested in joining the Earth Day Planning Committee can attend the next meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 23, from 11 a.m. to noon in room 343 of the Student Center.
Georgia Tech’s 18th Annual Earth Day Celebration will be held Friday, April 17, 2015, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tech Walk and Tech Green.
To learn more about the event and see pictures from previous years, visit earthday.gatech.edu.
If you have questions or need additional information, contact Cindy Jackson at 404-894-2004 or cindy.jackson@facilities.gatech.edu.
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Georgia Institute of Technology is one of 16 universities participating in the Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition, EcoCAR 3. The U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors Company are among the sponsors.
The teams are tasked with developing and implementing an innovative vehicle powertrain that will lower emissions by incorporating alternative fuels. They must keep the Camaro’s body design, retain safety standards and maintain consumer satisfaction with performance and cost.
“It is a great opportunity to develop our own vehicle based on our own innovation,” said Justin Wilbanks, a graduate research assistant in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. “This is real-world experience while we’re still in school. And it’s exciting to know we’re going to work on a Camaro.”
Wilbanks was among a group of undergraduate and graduate students and faculty who worked on Georgia Tech’s application for the competition.
When the fall semester starts later this month, students will begin work on their overall design concept. They will receive a new Camaro during fall 2015 and continue to work on the car through 2018.
Students applied for membership on the team through Georgia Tech’s Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP). The program allows undergraduate and graduate students to work on multidisciplinary projects that can last for years.
Three advisors will work with the team: Tom Fuller, professor in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering; Michael Leamy, associate professor in mechanical engineering; and David Taylor, professor in the School of Electrical of Computer Engineering.
The other 15 competing institutions are: Arizona State University, California State University (Los Angeles), Colorado State University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, McMaster University, Mississippi State University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Tennessee (Knoxville), University of Alabama, University of Washington, University of Waterloo, Virginia Tech, Wayne State University and West Virginia University.
]]>This is one of nature’s great laboratories. Yen and her team of scientists are conducting experiments here that are possible nowhere else. Outfitted in red parkas, they are not here to drill into frozen lakes or fly over thinning ice sheets. They spend what little daylight they have searching for tiny organisms in the frigid waters.
The scientists climb aboard the R/V Lawrence M Gould, a massive research vessel operated by the National Science Foundation (NSF). They cruise past giant icebergs and through rafts of loose ice to Palmer Deep, a location where the water is 2,000 feet (600 meters) deep. From the huge stern A-frame of the ship, they lower plankton nets into the zero-degree Celsius water and haul live animals aboard. In Antarctica, zero degrees Celsius is a pleasant day, but the recent bout of 80-knot wind gusts tells them the austral winter is on its way.
“The weather has been good,” Yen said. “We’ve gone out and have been collecting plankton all around.”
Yen, a professor of biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, is on her second polar plunge. She’s an ecologist with an engineer’s eye. Her team of biologists and engineers haul each day’s catch back to the lab at Palmer Station, which provides no escape from the cold. There, the scientists study plankton swimming motion with video cameras in a room kept at zero degrees Celsius, to mimic the animals’ natural environment.
Plankton are the base of the food chain, but their environment is changing. Around the southern continent, the water temperature is stable at around zero degrees Celsius because of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, easily dissolves in the cold water, acidifying the ocean. The acidifying oceans might be triggering a destructive chain of events underwater that could harm the food web around the world.
That’s why Yen and her team have come here, in search of a tiny organism that could be a canary in the coal mine of climate change.
The Frederick Law Olmsted Symposium assembled six experts in sustainable urban infrastructure to talk about the man and the concepts he created. It was the start of a conversation about who can best advance the ideas of sustainability in our cities and suburbs as the new Olmsted Chair in CEE.
“The speakers were carefully selected to touch on different, but complementary topics related to the research and teaching we envision the chair holder doing,” said Reginald DesRoches, Karen and John Huff School Chair and professor in CEE.
DesRoches and Ellen Dunham-Jones, professor of architecture and urban design in the College of Architecture, are leading the search committee for the new chair holder.
Though the Olmsted chair will be housed in CEE, the position will serve as a link for faculty and research in engineering, economics, and the College of Architecture.
“We strongly believe that the most critical advances occur at the intersection of disciplines,” DesRoches said. “The problems that will be addressed by the Olmsted Chair are at the interface of the built environment, natural systems, and social systems.”
The new Frederick Law Olmsted Chair in CEE is made possible through a gift from Jenny and Mike Messner, a 1976 civil engineering graduate of Georgia Tech. Their vision is that the person selected for the teaching and research position will instill Olmsted’s concern for engineering urban spaces with long-term public benefits in his or her students and academic pursuits.
"It's not yet clear what kind of connections between Architecture and Civil Engineering this professorship will forge, but there are certainly many possibilities having to do with the integration of sustainable and healthy infrastructure, the design of cities, the design of green infrastructure, multi-modal boulevards, and public spaces," Dunham-Jones said.
Monday’s speakers set the stage for the needs in sustainable urban infrastructure and how Olmsted’s legacy could help address them.
“Olmsted’s real genius was in figuring out what was needed to solve a problem and then assembling the people and resources necessary,” said Douglas Allen, professor emeritus in the School of Architecture who opened the symposium. “Along the way, Olmsted attempted to do what any good poet does: he tried to tag poetic language to regular language. So a sewer becomes a parkway.”
That was one of Olmsted’s ideas: a new kind of street that accommodates many modes of travel, “piggybacked onto the concept of a park and a sewer system,” Allen said.
“[Olmsted’s] own education was unorthodox,” said another speaker, Frederick Steiner, dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. “But his singular brilliance and scope of accomplishment is worthy of this [endowed chair].”
Howard Frumkin, dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Washington, said following Olmsted's example means designing the built environment to give people what studies have shown makes them happy: clean air, quiet, short commutes, contact with nature, beauty, and “third places” — areas outside of home and work where people can go to be social and enjoy life.
“Human well-being should serve as the north star on our trek toward sustainability,” he said.
Health is also a piece of that well-being, according to Richard Jackson, chair of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health. He noted that a 20-year-old’s lung function is a good predictor of how long he or she will live. Likewise, the quality of parks in an area can predict how long people in that area will live.
“If you want people to walk, you have to give them a place they want to walk,” Jackson said.
Of course, it requires public investment and political will to change cities’ approaches to streets, parks, and other parts of the urban landscape.
Any bold idea that transforms how cities are using land is bound to be controversial, according to Diane Davis, a Harvard professor of urbanism and development. And since cities are constantly changing, the politics of sustainability is also always shifting. So it comes down to leadership, she said.
“Mayors are key players in transforming the urban landscape,” Davis said in her presentation. "But designers have to help. They need to be able to think like politicians and help the politicians think technically."
Congress for the New Urbanism’s incoming President and CEO Lynn Richards said both designers and politicians need to think in terms of building infrastructure that meets multiple needs. Cities can’t just spend billions of dollars installing pipes to handle storm water. Those projects need to have other benefits for the community as well, she said.
In cities where no land remains to create new green space, maybe that means thinking about using projects to connect existing parks across a region, Richards said, drawing parallels with Olmsted’s linear parks. Maybe it means making our streets places for people rather than just cars, she said, and making our built environment feel more like parks.
Some communities are starting to experiment with those kinds of ideas, turning urban roads back into something resembling the parkways Olmsted created to accommodate all kinds of transportation modes.
The term these days is “complete streets,” which Elizabeth Macdonald defined as providing for multiple forms of movement and gathering while also providing for urban greening.
Macdonald, an associate professor of urban design at the University of California, Berkeley, said it’s possible for more communities to build urban parkways like Olmsted’s.
“No [user] gets everything [they want], but everyone gets a lot,” Macdonald said. Designers don’t have to solve every possible problem, she said, which just leads to designing bad streets.
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Kristen Bailey
Institute Communications
OK, maybe your pocket. Or your purse.
It’s your Android smartphone. And with a quick app download, your phone can help Georgia Tech transportation researchers better understand how people get where they’re going and how much congestion they are facing on their commute (think: speeds on freeways and how you’re driving relative to the flow of traffic).
“When you have that kind of data, you can do anything from traffic operations research to safety research to travel behavior studies,” said Professor Randall Guensler, a transportation systems engineer in the School Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE).
The Commute Warrior App tracks users’ daily commutes without interfering with the rest of their phones’ functions. Participants are also asked to take a few minutes every week or so to fill out a simple form on their phone or online to explain the purpose of some their trips.
“Everything is completely voluntary,” Guensler said. “You don’t have to tell us anything about your trips if you don’t want to.”
The first project Guensler’s app team is focused on involves commuting in the Interstate 85 corridor in a project sponsored by the National Center for Transportation Systems Productivity and Management (NCTSPM). Guensler said they’re trying to get a thousand commuters to install Commute Warrior this summer.
“In this study, we are trying to figure out why some households are taking GRTA Xpress buses and others are not,” he said. “Living in the same areas, same demographic characteristics, what is it about their travel that makes one household more amenable to taking the Xpress buses?”
Guensler said they’re also planning a project through the National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) specifically for Midtown Atlanta and the surrounding areas that is focused on walking, biking and transit use and the energy implications of those modes of transportation for the neighborhood.
But there’s much more this app can do, Guensler said.
“What we really want, ultimately, is to have as many users as we can in Atlanta using [the app] so we can demonstrate how rich the dataset is and all the different research activities it can be used for,” he said.
“It’s astounding what you can do with the data when you have it.”
In addition to traffic studies, future versions of the app will let users print their commute history, help walkers and bike-riders calculate how many calories they’ve burned, track users’ gasoline consumption, and estimate tailpipe emissions.
Currently, the Commute Warrior app is available only in the Google Play Store for Android devices, but Guensler said they’re currently working on a version that will be compatible with the iPhone 5S.
This story originally appeared on the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering's website.
“It’s my passion and my team’s passion,” said Swant, who has a background in architecture and urban planning. Swant’s been at Tech since 1996 and, in his nearly 20 years on campus, he has watched the campus get better and smarter about its sustainability practices.
Engineering News-Record (ENR), a leading construction information source, recently named him one of its 2014 Top 25 Newsmakers for innovations and achievements in the construction industry. ENR selected Swant because of his dedication to sustainability, which he believes should be embedded in everything on campus.
“It’s not about doing the ‘green’ thing, but the right thing for the campus,” he said. “It’s about making sure Georgia Tech continues to exist.”
Even before writing his master’s thesis at the University of California, Los Angeles, on how to get people to take ownership of sustainable practices, Swant has been interested in integrating sustainability into business. Earlier in his career, he planned courthouses, jails and New York City office towers. In his current position, he oversees a varied portfolio that includes capital planning and space management, housing, dining, landscaping, facilities, parking and transportation, information technology, human resources, legal affairs, and other campus services. He aims to “put meaning behind the effort” by organizing and optimizing these areas around campus. Though he pushes a certain sustainable agenda in his business rationale, it’s not a hard sell at Tech.
“I’m fortunate that people here are passionate about it,” he said.
That’s not just true for campus. In the Atlanta community, Swant fosters a partnership with the Midtown Alliance, where he sits on the organization’s executive board. He’s found the local construction community is also supportive of Tech’s goal of cultivating a sustainable enterprise.
“More and more firms are finding it’s just good business,” he said. “We have a lot of great firms in the city that share the agenda, and when they bid on projects, they make the case that they can do it the way we need it done.”
Tech has a special way of building on its campus, outlined in the Georgia Tech Yellow Book, a homegrown document of nearly 500 pages outlining Tech’s design standards.
At times construction may seem an ever-present element of campus. While it can be the cause of temporary inconvenience, it leads to award-winning facilities and campus grounds. In the past five years, Tech has been honored repeatedly by the Princeton Review’s Green Honor Roll, Tree Campus USA, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, and Sierra Magazine for its campus amenities. Specific to buildings, the Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions Laboratory, Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, and North Avenue Apartments have all been the subject of positive external attention for their leading-edge design and renovations. The recognition is nice, but it’s not the focus of Swant’s attention.
“I like to think we’d do the same thing without the incentive of awards,” he said. “The return on investment is worth it in these facilities. The key is being smart about using the available technology.”
Technology employed in a new HVAC system for the Sustainable Education Building will save an estimated 10 percent in annual utilities, or $15,000 per year. An air optimization project at the Global Learning Center is projected to save $88,000 annually. At the Economic Development Building, a ventilation project currently in progress is estimated to reduce energy usage by 28 percent and save $64,000 per year.
Swant thought he might spend five to seven years at Tech, but 18 years later, he’s still here and still excited about the future of campus. The under-construction Engineered Biosystems Building, which will house technologically advanced biological laboratories and research space, is the beginning of a multi-building, multi-phase ecologically-focused district of the campus that will include two additional buildings and an ecocommons. The area will provide green space and reduce stormwater runoff.
Howard Wertheimer, director of Capital Planning and Space Management, has set an ambitious goal of using no potable water for irrigation on campus within five years. Wertheimer, whose department reports to Swant, is grateful to have an advocate and colleague who also believes sustainability should be inherent in Tech’s built environment.
“Steve sees the return on investment outside the spreadsheet,” Wertheimer said. “He looks through a broad lens at long-term investment.”
Aside from the progress being made at the Engineered Biosystems Building, Swant looks forward to the continued integration of Tech into Midtown around Tech Square, as well as revitalizing historical buildings at the core of campus and building a strategy for an enhanced Student Center.
“We want to inspire more innovation and integration, and provide the right amenities and connections between the university and the community,” he said.
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Over the past decade, the research mission of IPST has broadened beyond papermaking to include technologies that produce chemicals, biofuels and new material products from forest raw materials. The new name reflects this broader research scope designed to better serve the global development of new forest-based economies.
According to Institute Director Norman Marsolan, the new RBI will continue to develop value for the paper industry while growing its engagements with new industry partners to create future opportunities.
“As the industry’s needs have changed, so has our approach,” said Marsolan. “Our longstanding commitment to education and research in papermaking carries forward to the expanded area of bioproducts. And, as the Renewable Bioproducts Institute, we will help a broader set of companies create economic opportunity through access to Georgia Tech’s world-class experts in materials science, chemistry and engineering as well as through access to talented engineering graduates familiar with bioproducts technologies and opportunities.”
All interdisciplinary research institutes at Georgia Tech bring together a blend of innovative faculty and staff – spanning colleges, departments and individual labs – to work with interested companies to develop technologies and solutions that create new market opportunities in strategically important areas. Such work can include pairing applied research and economic development support to focus on challenges and opportunities in that market area.
“Georgia Tech is known for its interdisciplinary strength, sustainability leadership and collaboration with business and industry. The Renewable Bioproducts Institute will build on this legacy of excellence as it focuses on research, innovation, partnerships and education,” said Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson.
RBI’s strategic initiatives are rooted in and expand upon nearly 85 years of expertise in pulp- and paper-focused research and will now be concentrated on advancing the use of renewable raw materials in expanding markets such as biochemicals, specialty paper products, food and beverage packaging, biofuels, health and hygiene, pharmaceuticals, automotive, electronics and advanced materials.
To further support the future growth of RBI, Georgia Tech has committed to the following actions:
IPST was created as the Institute of Paper Chemistry (IPC) in 1929 in Appleton, Wisconsin, to support the growing paper industry through education and research. In 1989, IPC began its affiliation with Georgia Tech, where it operated as the Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST) until merging with Georgia Tech in 2003.
Working closely with industry over those years, researchers at IPC/IPST developed the technologies and fundamental scientific understanding that helped make the U.S. paper industry efficient, competitive and profitable. In addition, the faculty of IPST/IPC trained generations of industry leaders, many of whom became CEOs of their companies.
The Renewable Bioproducts Institute benefits from a significant endowment originating with the Institute of Paper Chemistry. That endowment currently supports more than 50 students who advance the research mission of IPST/RBI through their faculty-directed research. The research institute will continue to build on that legacy by working closely with industrial partners to understand the science, build the technology and train future leaders to ultimately create an efficient, competitive and profitable bioproducts industry from forest raw materials. For more information on RBI, please visit www.gatech.edu.
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Beginning Monday, June 2, students may apply to rent a bike for a semester at a time.
"We have students on campus who would love to get to class, run errands, and visit friends in a way that's quick, convenient, and low cost, and biking fits the bill perfectly,” said Lance Lunsway, senior director of PTS. “With the infrastructure improvements we’ve made over the past few years, along with our participation in the forthcoming Campus Bicycle Master Plan, we see a need for more options for biking on campus."
Students can apply online to rent one of 25 bikes on a first-come, first-served basis. Applicants will be notified via email if selected and placed on a wait list if not.
Renters are required to have helmets and bike locks. They may use their own or purchase them through BuzzBike. A signed waiver is also required to participate, and riders are expected to follow all traffic laws while using the bikes — they’ll receive a copy of the Georgia Bike Sense guide with their rental.
PTS has worked with the campus Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee in recent years to add bike racks, sharrows and other infrastructure to make the campus more bike-friendly, helping Tech earn the designation of a Silver level Bicycle Friendly University from the League of American Cyclists.
“We’ve definitely noticed increased interest in biking both in the Georgia Tech community and throughout the city, and we're excited to offer this program to our students,” Lunsway said.
The cost of rental is $35 for spring or fall semesters and $20 for summer, with a $50 deposit to be refunded upon the bike’s return at the end of each semester. Renters are responsible for maintenance beyond basic wear and tear. Application and more information are available online.
]]>Torise Young
Parking and Transportation Services
But at Tech, bicycles are an ever-present mode of transport, not just a recreational vehicle to be hauled out ceremonially once a year.
Tech has catapulted forward in recent years when it comes to campus bike infrastructure.
The campus was recognized in 2012 as a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly University, a designation given by the League of American Cyclists — the same group that sponsors National Bike Month.
“The amount of biking on campus has increased significantly,” said Jason Gregory, senior educational facilities planner in Capital Planning and Space Management (CPSM). “We’re trying to make sure we are building the infrastructure that’s needed and putting it in the right place.”
This spring, CPSM began the process of creating a Campus Bike Master Plan. This is in part thanks to the Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee (BIIC), a group of students, faculty, and staff who focus their attention on improving the cycling experience on campus. The BIIC initially brought up the idea for a master plan.
Meanwhile, professors and students are collaborating on projects such as Cycle Atlanta to make the City of Atlanta a better place to ride.
Read more about the development of Tech's Bike Master Plan and other bike-related campus efforts in this feature story.
]]>Alex Cheu is one of the students organizing Tech Treasure, an initiative that will bring Goodwill trailers to campus to accept donations of unwanted items during move-out.
“We saw the potential for student involvement in finding a place for all the reusable items that get discarded during move-out,” said Cheu, an electrical engineering major. He and three classmates from the Grand Challenges program — Rishabh Ananthan, Jessica Taylor, and Ed Zhu — decided to tackle this challenge and found Goodwill to be an eager partner.
“They want to work more with colleges and are already doing similar programs at other schools,” he said. “We’re able to let students support Goodwill’s mission by helping them stock their stores.”
Perhaps most importantly, the program makes it convenient for students to donate rather than discard their unwanted items. Goodwill trailers will be stationed outside East Campus housing on Techwood Drive from Wednesday, April 30, through Saturday, May 3, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cheu hopes the program can expand to serve additional areas of campus in the future.
Student volunteers will help direct students who are headed to the dumpster with reusable goods to instead take them to a Goodwill employee at one of the trailers. Volunteers have signed agreements that they won’t be handling donations or “dumpster diving,” but simply trying to intercept students who may be throwing away items in good condition.
“We’re trying to do a small part of solving the grand challenge of sustainability in our community,” Cheu said. This effort supports goal three of Tech’s Strategic Plan, which focuses on student innovation, entrepreneurship, and public service.
Specific items volunteers will be looking to divert to Goodwill are couches, futons, televisions, refrigerators, microwaves, computers, and books.
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Alex Cheu
Tech Treasure
For Hyacinth Ide, associate director of landscape services, the award reaffirms that Tech is doing something right.
“It highlights all the things we are doing that otherwise people would not know,” Ide said. “A beautiful tree canopy helps in recruiting students and faculty. Once they see the peaceful environment, they want to come in and know more about what we have [on campus].”
The award, given by the Arbor Day Foundation, is funded by a grant from Toyota.
Ide and his team first heard about the award through a representative from the Forest Service, when she recruited them to apply for the recognition in 2008.
That marked the first year Georgia Tech earned a Tree Campus USA designation. Since then, the school’s commitment to improving its tree collection has continued to climb.
Last year, the landscaping team inventoried the trees on campus using a geographical information system, commonly referred to as GIS. In the end, the total count of trees numbered close to 12,000.
“We can locate any tree on campus, just with a handheld device,” said George Robertson, construction foreman for the landscaping team. “It pinpoints the tree — it’ll tell you what kind it is, how tall — and this shows us which trees we’ve tended recently.”
In order to earn this year’s distinction, Georgia Tech demonstrated excellence in five areas of campus forest management: a tree advisory committee, a campus tree care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for a campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance, and the sponsorship of student service-learning projects.
The last tenet is near and dear to Ide’s heart, especially with regard to the support students showed for the tree program during this year’s Tech Beautification Day. More than 1,000 students participated in the philanthropic landscaping program, which took place Saturday, March 29.
“We’re educating a new generation to be exposed in environmental stewardship,” Ide said. “To see students giving up their Saturdays to plant for the tree program, that’s a beautiful thing.”
]]>Whether you’re hanging out with Captain Planet, or making fresh, organic popcorn, being an Earth Day Volunteer is good for you and for the planet! For details about all of the exciting volunteer opportunities on Earth Day, or to register as a volunteer, visit www.earthday.gatech.edu/volunteers.html.
The goal of Georgia Tech's Earth Day Celebration is to focus attention on the environment and increase people's awareness that GREEN IS GLOBAL! The event is free, open to the public, features over 70 exhibitors and includes eco-friendly giveaways, recycling opportunities, a clothing swap, an office supply exchange, live music, and organic popcorn. This is one of the largest Earth Day celebrations in the southeast. Join us as we celebrate with a purpose!
]]>For more information on these and other Earth Day events, visit www.earthday.gatech.edu.
]]>Nominations are sought for individuals or groups who are making a positive environmental impact both on campus and beyond, either through a new initiative or a body of work. The deadline for nominations is Friday, March 7.
Nominees must be students, faculty, staff, alumni, or retirees of Georgia Tech and should demonstrate a positive environmental impact, a commitment to restoring and enhancing the environment, and an ongoing commitment to environmental leadership. Self-nominations are welcome.
Last year’s recipients were the Circle K organization for the Environmental Initiative Award and Steven Van Ginkel, a research scientist in Civil and Environmental Engineering, for the Environmental Leadership Award. The person or group selected for this year’s awards will be honored at Tech’s annual Earth Day Celebration on Friday, April 18.
To nominate a person or group, download the nomination form and submit via email to Anne Rogers.
]]>The competition, which is in its 12th year, offers graduate students the opportunity to form multidisciplinary teams and engage in a challenging exercise in responsible land use. From over 150 entries, only four finalist teams are chosen. This year, those teams will compete in Nashville, Tennessee, presenting their proposals for redevelopment of the city’s historic Sulphur Dell neighborhood.
“This is a fantastic honor and opportunity for our team,” said Ellen Dunham-Jones, professor, coordinator of the masters in urban design program, and faculty advisor to the team. “This competition is the premier urban design competition of its kind. It’s a terrific learning experience – forcing the designers to think more like developers and vice versa, but it is also extraordinarily competitive. It will push them to be at the top of their game, but will make a lasting impact on their professional lives. It’s great to see the interdisciplinary collaboration – amongst the students as well as all of the faculty, alumni, and local professionals who assisted during the initial two-week phase. We are all 100% behind them.”
Audrey Plummer, team leader on the project, said, “The ULI competition is an intense experience, because we have to produce high-quality work in a very short time frame. Working effectively in an interdisciplinary team is essential to producing a great project. Being a finalist is very exciting and our team is proud to represent Georgia Tech and the College of Architecture.”
The teams will send a representative to do a site visit in March, then will have two weeks to finalize their proposals. The final presentations are slated for April 3 in Nashville.
The ULI Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition is part of the Institute’s ongoing effort to raise interest among young people in creating better communities, improving development patterns, and increasing awareness of the need for multidisciplinary solutions to development and design challenges. Teams must be comprised of students from at least three disciplines, working to devise a comprehensive design and development program for a real, large-scale site full of challenges and opportunities. Submissions must include drawings, site plans, tables, and market-feasible financial data for the designated site.
For more information about the competition and to see the team’s proposal, visit http://uli.org/programs/awards-competitions/hines-student-design-competition/.
]]>Director of Communications
College of Architecture
404-385-0693
]]>“TAPPI is very pleased to announce that Art Ragauskas will receive the 2014 Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal award in recognition of the many important contributions he’s made to the industry as both an educator and as a prominent research scientist,” said Larry N. Montague, president and CEO of TAPPI. “This award recognizes the importance and the impact of his work. He’s been instrumental in training many of the key scientists at work in the industry today while also conducting important research that has advanced our understanding of the science in areas such as his current focus on biofuels and bio-based materials.”
Ragauskas spent the early part of his career at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST) developing innovative technologies for the pulp and paper industry, exploring how to improve the environmental impact of pulping and bleaching. When IPST became part of Tech, he began focusing on biorefining issues, like developing sustainable technologies to convert forest resources to biofuels, biopower as well as bio-based materials and chemicals. Currently Ragauskas is creating ways for the industry to convert woody biomass to nanocellulosic composites, hemicellulose films/foams as well as using the biopolymer lignin to create carbon fibers and green plastics.
“I am honored to receive this award, which I see as a reflection of the vision and passion of the students, research fellows, scientists, faculty, industrial partners and sponsors I’ve had the honor to work with,” said Ragauskas. “Each night as we close the lights in the lab, we look forward to tomorrow and the discoveries we will make that will honor Mr. Nicholson and his passion for finding new value from the forest.”
The Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal was established in 1928 and is granted to those "who have made preeminent scientific and engineering achievements of proven applied benefit to the world’s pulp, paper, board, and forest product industries.” It’s named for former TAPPI President and Gold Medal winner Gunnar W. E. Nicholson and includes a cash honorarium.
Ragauskas is the recipient of the 2014 American Chemical Society Affordable Green Chemistry award. He held the first Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Alternative Energy and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, International Academy of Wood Science and TAPPI. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario and H. B.Sc. from University of Western Ontario.
]]>In this nationwide recycling competition, 88 colleges and universities track collections of recyclable materials during home football game days. At Georgia Tech’s seven home football games this season, tailgaters and fans diverted 13.2 tons of bottles and cans from landfills with the help of more than 100 student volunteers, who provided bags at tailgate sites and took collections from fans entering Bobby Dodd Stadium and also from concessions.
“The Gameday Recycling Program is a true team effort,” said Cindy Jackson, associate director in the Office of Solid Waste Management and Recycling. “We depend on fans, student volunteers, the Athletic Association, and collaborating departments from across campus to make it a success. Georgia Tech’s true school spirit shines through in the way that everyone embraces the program and makes it part of their gameday experience.”
Tech’s Gameday Recycling Program began in 2008 and has helped recycle 112.4 tons of material since its inception. This year’s season high happened during Tech’s Homecoming game against Pittsburgh on Nov. 2, when 31 percent of waste generated by tailgaters was recycled. Season averages were 23 percent for tailgaters, and 5 percent for attendees in Bobby Dodd Stadium.
]]>As many on campus know, Georgia Tech offers a variety of commute options and incentives, including a bus and trolley system around campus, connectivity to the Midtown MARTA station, discounted or free Zipcar and carpool matching systems, and a pre-tax payroll deduction option for monthly MARTA passes.
"We are extremely honored with the PACE award, but our department can't take all the credit,” said Lance Lunsway, senior director for Parking and Transportation Services. “It really is a collaborative community achievement award for Georgia Tech and Midtown Alliance. Without those campus individuals using alternative transportation and without our partner, Midtown Transportation, we wouldn't be successful."
Aside from its motor vehicle options, Tech’s biking infrastructure may have been what put the department over the top as an award candidate. New bike racks and lanes and the Cycle Atlanta app developed by researchers in Civil and Environmental Engineering helped the campus earn recognition as a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Cyclists, a distinction that was cited in the award nomination.
To explore Tech’s various transportation options, visit the Parking and Transportation Services website.
]]>"I'm thrilled at Bruce's appointment to this panel," said Steven French, dean of the College of Architecture. “U.N.-Habitat plays a key role in influencing national policies about urban futures in many countries. Being able to project Georgia Tech expertise into their decisions will undoubtedly have a positive, real impact on cities.”
The expert group consists of planners from member states in the U.N.’s five world regions as well as representatives of key professional associations. Their charge will be to advise UN-Habitat, which is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is a group mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
]]>Director of Communications
College of Architecture
404-385-0693
]]>The centerpiece event of the week, which will take place Oct. 7-11, is a weeklong Commuter Challenge, where students, staff, and faculty can log their miles each day on bike.gatech.edu. Participants will be eligible for random prizes, as well as those given for mileage and days ridden. Campus departments will also have the opportunity to compete for "most miles logged," which will earn them a trophy.
The real objective, though, is to welcome newcomers to the campus bike community.
“Our goal is to encourage everyone to consider bicycling, and if they're already riding, to thank them by offering some great activities and some really exciting prizes," said Johann Weber, chair of the Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee and a graduate student in public policy. "Bicycling is a great way to commute and get across campus, and Bike Week is a way to make it even better."
In addition to the commuter competition, other events throughout the week will include:
Last spring, the BIIC launched an Incident Report Form to encourage cyclists, pedestrians and motorists to report bike-related incidents on campus. The online form allows campus commuters to report incidents that could provide information about areas of campus that need to be addressed for safety and other concerns.
Georgia Tech Bike Week coincides with the month-long Bike to Work Challenge hosted by the Midtown Alliance.
Bike Week partners include the Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee (BIIC), StarterBikes, Students Organizing for Sustainability (SOS), Students for Progressive Transit (SfPT), and GT Cycling Club. For updates throughout the week, visit bike.gatech.edu.
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For three years, Santa Ana, associate director of parking in the Office of Parking and Transportation Services (PTS), has taken the GRTA Xpress bus to work from Newnan.
“It can be faster than driving and is very relaxing,” he said. “Instead of arriving at work stressed or getting home tired, I can read or sleep on my commute, or talk with passengers that work in this area.”
The Xpress bus or MARTA are just two alternative commuting options available. Through a partnership with the Clean Air Campaign and Midtown Alliance, Tech is sweetening the deal for faculty and staff members who embrace the alternatives.
The Georgia Commute Options program offers participants the chance to win $25 gift cards for every month they use a clean commuting option such as biking, walking, car/vanpooling, or taking transit. New participants can earn $3 a day (up to $100) just for switching from driving alone, and carpoolers can earn up to $60 in gas cards each month for 12 months.
As program participants, commuters who are unable to catch their normal ride home due to unexpected events can also receive up to five free guaranteed rides home. More information about the program is available at www.GaCommuteOptions.com.
PTS also offers the following alternative commute resources:
Bras, who is also a professor in both the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, has served as advisor to many government and private institutions, including:
“It is an honor to be named to serve on this committee,” Bras said. “Georgia Tech's motto is Progress and Service. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to live up to that ideal and use my own experiences and the strengths of Georgia Tech — from policy assessments, to science, to technologies — for the good of the nation.”
The Board is charged with providing advice and recommendations to the Secretary on the DOE’s four major mission areas: science, energy, nuclear security, and environmental stewardship. The board reports directly to the Secretary of Energy and its duties are solely advisory.
]]>The Gameday Recycling team kicks off its sixth season with the Yellow Jackets’ home opener against Elon University this weekend, returning with its trademark blue bags for 40,000 tailgaters to use to dispose of their recyclables.
“Now when our volunteers go out to hand out the bags, people are familiar with the program and looking out for us,” said Cindy Jackson, associate director in the Office of Solid Waste Management and Recycling (OSWMR).
The day before every home game, OSWMR staff get to work setting receptacles around the stadium to collect recyclables. On game day, volunteers walk the campus to give tailgaters large blue bags for disposal of plastics, glass and aluminum. Volunteers ask that fans leave their blue bags at their tailgates, where they are later collected and taken for sorting.
Those who participate in using the blue bags are eligible to be highlighted as the Green Tailgater of the Game on the video board in Bobby Dodd Stadium. OSWMR staff look for fans going above and beyond to create a green tailgate experience, paying attention to details such as use of recycled goods, reusable utensils and, of course, blue bag recycling.
“Everyone wants to be on that screen,” Jackson said.
Volunteers also man gates at the stadium itself to collect recyclables that fans have in-hand as they enter. Since the program’s inception, the Gameday Recycling team has diverted 99.2 tons of recyclables from landfills and will surpass the 100-ton mark on Saturday.
“We’re excited to start off our season hitting the 100-ton mark,” Jackson said. "We want recycling to become so ingrained into the athletic experience that it’s part of the tradition.”
Volunteers are needed to hand out blue bags and greet fans at the stadium. As a thank you, they are provided lunch or a voucher for stadium concessions and receive a free T-shirt. Those interested can sign up at www.recycle.gatech.edu/volunteer.
For those tailgating or attending games, simply look for volunteers distributing blue bags and use yours to separate trash from recyclable materials.
]]>The annual competition pits student-built cars from 12 North American universities against one another to test their handling of curves, braking and acceleration, all powered by the sun. The winner is determined by the total number of laps completed during three days of racing.
“I haven't competed before, so I'm really looking forward to watching our car race against other schools,” said Douglas Cox, a mechanical engineering major, Solar Jackets president and one of four drivers of the Endeavour. He and about 35 other students have been building the Endeavour for the past three years. “It'll be great to learn from the other schools as well, as some of them have been building and racing solar cars for years.”
The weeklong competition began Monday with three days of “scrutineering,” where professional engineers assess each car to ensure it meets race regulations pertaining to safety, driver comfort and solar cells, as well as performance tests for turning, braking and handling. Four drivers will rotate during racing to relieve one another from the small interior space.
In recent weeks, an electrical team has been working to finalize airgap settings, which affect speed, as well as implement battery management systems, digital controls, data logging and other communications systems.
The Endeavour is topped with solar panels from Suniva, a spinoff company from Georgia Tech’s University Center of Excellence in Photovoltaics, and SBM Solar. The Endeavour can run for about two hours with no sunlight, but theoretically could run forever if the sun never set.
“We're still testing for how long it takes to charge from empty to full charge, but the hope is that we'll run the car at a low enough speed that will use only as much or slightly more energy than the sun is giving us, which would allow us to race all day without any breaks,” Cox said.
The team completing the fastest single lap is recognized, in addition to the winner, but for Cox, the real prize is “the glory of knowing you’ve raced a car on solar power alone.”
The car’s namesake and number come from the Space Shuttle Endeavour’s STS-49. After the Endeavour completes its races in Austin, it will make its way back to Atlanta and go on display at sponsor companies’ headquarters and on campus at the FASET Opportunities Fair. The Solar Jackets’ next endeavor – pun intended – will be to further optimize their car for future races, as well as begin working on designs for a new lighter and faster car.
Competition activities began Monday, and racing begins Thursday. Follow the team’s progress on Facebook and Twitter.
]]>Kristen Bailey
Institute Communications
With a growing number of cyclists on campus and May being National Bike Month, now is a good time to be reminded of safety measures all cyclists can take to enhance the safety of themselves, those around them and their equipment.
If knowing is half the battle, then knowing the rules of the road is imperative for safe cycling. A few reminders for city cycling:
The Georgia Tech Police Department has seen a significant decline in bicycle theft during the past year. Only 12 bikes were reported stolen, with the majority being from residence halls.
GTPD advises that the best defense is using both a U-lock and cable lock to secure your bike and that thieves are not discriminating when it comes to the choice of bikes.
“Inexpensive bikes are stolen as frequently as expensive bikes,” said Captain Randy Barrone of GTPD’s Crime Prevention Unit.
A few other tips from GTPD:
A bike in good repair is just the start if you want to be safe and comfortable cycling in a variety of situations.
For more information and resources for campus cycling, visit www.bike.gatech.edu.
]]>During the two years since he arrived at Georgia Tech from Phoenix, Ariz., the research engineer in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering has worked with people across the city and country to bring local, sustainable food sources to these so-called food deserts — areas with limited access to fresh, affordable groceries. In April he was honored with the Georgia Tech Earth Day Environmental Leadership Award, a nod to an individual or group that has had a significant, long-term environmental impact on campus.
When he came to Tech in 2011, Van Ginkel took the helm of a net zero water, energy, and nutrient, high intensity, urban aquaponics initiative. His upbringing on a family farm in Iowa, combined with degrees in fisheries and environmental engineering, made the project a perfect fit.
In addition, Van Ginkel has focused on his own Sustainable Aquaponic Systems project, also a net-zero, high intensity urban farming endeavor aimed at helping city dwellers grow their own food. Aquaponics is essentially a high intensity farm that produces both vegetables and fish with the same resources; it lets people become urban farmers by growing their own food in a small space. Systems can be built at any scale and size, with multiple ways to nourish produce and fish. Van Ginkel envisions having an aquaponics system on campus that would use food waste from dining halls, rainwater, and solar energy to grow fresh food to then be consumed in dining halls once again. With other projects such as Students Organizing for Sustainability's West Campus community garden, Ideas to Serve People’s Choice winner Atlanta Harvest, and the GT Urban Honey Bees Project, a growing population of students, faculty and staff are finding ways to source food for campus without leaving Tech’s borders.
"Teach a Man to Fish"
Van Ginkel can teach just about anyone the science of aquaponics. He advises the student group Urban Bios that is driving the campus aquaponics project. He’s working to install a system at Underground Atlanta that could help revive the waning tourist area. Representatives from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport have voiced interest in constructing an aeroponics system, similar to hydroponics, for the airport’s atrium, partly inspired by a garden in Chicago O’Hare International Airport. He has even consulted with students on building a system at their fraternity house.
Outside the perimeter, Van Ginkel is working to bring aquaponics to an industrial park in Buena Vista, Ga., and a fish farm in Sparta, Ga. In his own backyard in Marietta, he constructed a system over the course of a few days for less than $750 that produces several pounds of food each week for his family.
Though he leaves the ultimate vision for a campus aquaponics system to the Urban Bios team, Van Ginkel imagines having something that would show various aspects of sustainable food production — a small system, but one that would also incorporate community involvement on and off campus, modeling the ability of urban farming to not only create a fresh food source, but also jobs and a sense of community in places that may lack all three.
"America would be truly blessed if this kind of healthy food were as accessible as fast food," he said. "Our current food system is controlled by relatively few people. It's unhealthy, it's not democratic, and it may not be resilient. It’s time for a change and, with our economy as it is today, the current time is perfect for this change."
From Fish to Fuel
Van Ginkel’s main role on campus is now devoted to Tech being one of five universities in the nation participating in the Department of Energy-funded Algae Testbed Public-Private Partnership (ATP3). The three-year project will provide data to enhance the productivity of algae as biodiesel. In ponds being installed at a Georgia Tech Research Institute facility off North Avenue, algae will be grown, tested and refined as a biofuel product.
When testing is done and it comes time to dispose of algae, Van Ginkel sees a three-step process: first, nutrients in food waste are used to grow algae; the algae is then fed to rotifers, copepods, and zooplankton; finally, these are fed to fish that can be harvested for human consumption. Guided by the idea that “you are what you eat,” Van Ginkel plans to grow algae high in heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids. In the future, he envisions installations that creat a symbiotic relationship between aquaponic systems and algae-biodiesel farms that enable people to grow both their own food and fuel.
"A lot of people are malnourished in America and around the world, and this is curable if we have the will. It would be great if students and faculty could help design and operate a super efficient system here on campus that can then be replicated worldwide."
Finding sustainable solutions to modern problems remains at the heart of Van Ginkel’s many projects and endeavors. Last fall, while trying to conceive of a cheap insulation material for an energy-efficient ‘earthship’ constructed to grow mushrooms, he happened upon discarded tires in Peachtree Creek. He returned with a group of students and recovered nearly 500 tires from just a few miles of the creek, simultaneously cleaning up the waterway and providing a sustainable material for the project.
Van Ginkel, who raises fish in his home system, takes the “teach a man to fish” mantra to heart. He’ll provide blueprints or talk with anyone who’s interested in taking on urban farming and willingly gives group talks or presentations. If his efforts go as planned, backyard aquaponics, downtown greenhouses, and campus algae ponds are just the beginnings of a more sustainable and self-sufficient society starting here in Atlanta.
]]>Olmsted has served as an inspiration to generations of landscape designers and civil engineers. One of those who has been deeply inspired by Olmsted’s work is Georgia Tech alumnus Michael G. Messner. Messner and his wife Jenny recently established a planned gift that will create the Frederick Law Olmsted Chair in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Messner is a longtime admirer of Olmsted’s work. “My wife Jenny and I, through our family foundation, The Speedwell Foundation, funded a documentary on Olmsted in conjunction with the Redfields to Greenfields research led by the Georgia Tech Research Institute,” said Messner. “The gift is a thank you to Georgia Tech for both a great education and the transformational Redfields to Greenfields research the Institute led.
“A self-trained engineer, Olmsted ensured that engineering projects—such as fresh water for New York City or flood control for Boston—included social benefits as well, especially using green space,” said Messner. “As a result, New York has Central Park and Boston has its Emerald Necklace. Atlanta has the Druid Hills neighborhood, and many other cities are much more livable.”
It is fitting to name an endowed faculty chair in Olmsted’s memory, Messner says, because his works are as important today as they were when they were created.
“Olmsted thought of his efforts as furthering the democratic civilization and improving the urban environment,” said Messner. “His life and work can be a great example to young engineers to help them understand fully what it means to be a true ‘civil’ and ‘environmental’ engineer—it’s about our society and our environment.”
“The Frederick Law Olmsted Chair has tremendous potential, now more than ever,” said Reginald DesRoches, the Karen and John Huff School Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering. “A critical issue we are facing as a nation is the maintenance and rebuilding of our aging infrastructure to ensure the quality of life for future generations of Americans. Our hope is that the holder of the Olmsted Chair will prompt our students and alumni who are engaged in this process to think creatively about how our cities and suburbs can be made more livable in the process of updating our infrastructure. Mike and Jenny Messner are exceptionally thoughtful and civic-minded people who have given us a unique opportunity to imagine and build a better future. We are very grateful.”
(Note: This story was originally published in the Winter 2013 issue of Campaign Quarterly)
]]>Until April 5, members of the campus community may donate used athletic shoes, clothing, E-waste or office supplies for one of the following Earth Day projects:
“At first, they couldn’t understand why I wanted us to examine Northside Drive; they said ‘there’s nothing on it,’” said Dobbins, a professor of practice in the School of City and Regional Planning. “Until they realized that there is.”
Northside is actually a diamond in the rough when it comes to the role it could play in improving transportation and providing development opportunities in Atlanta. The street serves as the west frame of Atlanta’s downtown and midtown core, connecting Cobb County to Atlantic Station, Georgia Tech, the Georgia World Congress Center, the Georgia Dome, the Atlanta University Center, West End and points south.
“Northside should be a grand transit boulevard, a seam between east and west, not the divide that it is,” Dobbins said. “Our goal is to help change that.”
Dobbins became familiar with Northside’s potential while working as commissioner of planning for the City of Atlanta from 1996 to 2002. For the studio, he partnered with Emory McClinton, a board member of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), to develop the studio program.
“A lot is happening in the Northside corridor,” Dobbins said. “The State Road and Tollway Authority’s strategically located site at 17th Street is up for sale without conditions that would serve transit connectivity. Tech is seeking to establish better programs and physical linkages with its westside neighborhoods. The multimodal passenger terminal could be built in the future. A new stadium is in play. Why wouldn’t now be a good time to plan comprehensively?”
So during fall semester, with funding from the GDOT, the city, the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, Midtown Alliance and Tech, city planning and civil engineering students in Dobbins’ studio took on the challenge of creating a plan for Northside Drive.
Some of the recommendations include:
The main purpose of the plan is for Tech to establish an active, lively face on Northside, welcoming the new development and older neighborhoods across the way.
“The plan also provides suggestions on how the city, GDOT, Tech and Coca-Cola can collaborate to achieve shared goals,” Dobbins added.
Before the end of fall semester, the students shared their findings with stakeholders including the GDOT, city, other agencies, neighborhood and other civic leaders, and developers — and the stakeholders listened.
“The unique thing about a student project is that there aren’t the biases that can occur when an interest group initiates the research,” Dobbins said. “So I think leaders are more open to suggestions.”
But, Dobbins also said that people tend to underestimate what students are capable of.
“It has been an interesting reaction,” Dobbins said. “People didn’t think the project would be as useful as it has been in terms of providing information about what can be done.”
Although the studio is finished and the students have moved on, the project is not. Dobbins will now share the plan with the 150 people on his stakeholder list to get feedback.
Regardless of what happens next, the project has already accomplished two of Dobbins’ goals: getting people who are normally suspicious of others’ motives to come together in the same room and communicate, and getting the city to recognize that Northside Drive needs to be formally designated as a transit corridor.
“The ultimate goal would be to have a transportation system serving emerging development patterns based on what the students are proposing,” Dobbins said. “The city and GDOT would use the information in the plan to update their plans and funding priorities accordingly. We’ll just have to see what happens next.”
For more information, contact Dobbins or visit the project website.
]]>“The Institute has gone to great lengths to improve our bike facilities on campus, installing hundreds of new bike racks, safer intersection treatments, and miles of new lanes and sharrows,” said Aaron Fowler, campus transportation planner in Parking & Transportation Services. “But with this allocation of $2.5 million in bike improvements by the City of Atlanta, we get to take a major step in improving our bike connections into campus.”
In Midtown, bike lanes will be added to the 10th Street bridge refurbishment, between Fowler and Williams Streets, and from Piedmont Avenue to Monroe Drive, connecting to the BeltLine Eastside Trail. Lanes will also be added to Hemphill Avenue in Home Park between 10th and 14th Streets. Improvements will be made to bike lanes already present on West Peachtree, running from 10th Street to North Avenue, and Fifth Street, from Williams Street to Piedmont Avenue.
Further southwest, the city’s first bike boulevard will be created near Atlanta University Center on James P. Brawley Drive, from Jefferson Street to Greensferry Avenue. Downtown, improvements will be made to the Peachtree Street corridor, from Pine Street to Peachtree Center Avenue. Other projects will improve connectivity in Inman Park, Castleberry Hill, Grant Park and other eastside areas. Some projects will use cycle tracks instead of bike lanes, providing more separation from motor vehicle traffic than just a painted lane.
According to a 2012 commuter survey conducted by Parking & Transportation Services, 8 percent of the campus community commutes by bike; however, another 24 percent voiced an interest in biking if there were safer, more convenient bike paths available. Some of the slated city projects coincide with items in a proposed Campus Bike Master Plan and work with existing lanes and sharrows on campus.
“These projects will only further our mission in promoting sustainability on campus and will give people the commute alternatives they desire,” said Fowler, who believes this is only the beginning of improved bicycle connectivity for Atlanta in the next few years.
The five City of Atlanta projects closest to campus include:
Each spring, dozens of students on Georgia Tech’s campus compete in the Ideas to SERVE (I2S) Competition, an event for students who have innovative ideas for improving the world. While many of the participants graduate and go on to professional careers elsewhere, others continue pursuing their projects after graduation, hoping to bring them to reality.
Organized by Georgia Tech's Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship, I2S is open to all Georgia Tech students (graduate and undergraduate) and recent alumni. I2S is a competition of ideas where creativity, imagination and technology are applied to solving social issues and sustaining our environment.
Those who would like to compete in the 2013 I2S Competition must submit "intent to compete" forms, executive summaries of their business concepts, and short video pitches by March 26.
The preliminary round of the I2S competition will be a poster showcase on April 5, followed by competition finals and an awards ceremony at a special IMPACT event on April 10. Up to $20,000 in various prize categories will be awarded.
Past Winner Making Headway Via Helicopter
One past I2S team, TOHL (who placed third in 2012), has made headway with its concept to increase efficiency and decrease costs associated with remote fluid transport (see YouTube video). The innovation was first conceived in the wake of the Haiti earthquakes when TOHL’s Apoorva Sinha envisioned a fluid transport system that would cost effectively and efficiently deliver fluids to earthquake victims.
The innovative TOHL system involves un-spooling large rolls of coiled tubing from helicopters. The flying system quickly “builds” a temporary infrastructure system, which is often needed to efficiently deliver water to disaster-stricken areas.
While the idea of dropping infrastructure from a helicopter may seem far-fetched to some, TOHL has already successfully tested the model. After receiving funding from Start-Up Chile in 2012, the team conducted a successful simulation of their system. Working in a mountainous region in rural Chile, the helicopter system installed a one-kilometer pipeline in less than nine minutes, demonstrating the concept’s ability to quickly provide fluids to remote areas in an “on-demand” manner.
After their successful initial test run, the company was featured by several prominent news outlets including Reuters, Forbes, andThe Economist. TOHL has also been successful with its fundraising efforts, attracting multiple donors. In October 2012, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced that TOHL had won StartUp Atlanta's $10,000 Entrepreneur Video Competition. The team also won $35,000 a pitch competition in Chile and a mention from former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
Solar Toilets to Save Lives
Sanivation, another 2012 I2S contestant, developed a concept to help people in developing countries who lack access to basic facilities that treat human waste (a problem that contributes to disease and death).
Since winning the most market-ready prize at I2S, Sanivation has continued to refine its idea for a solar latrine system. The team is working to provide an affordable, environmentally friendly and sustainable way to sanitize human feces without expensive, first-world infrastructure.
To further its efforts, Sanivation has sought support from various international aid organizations. Recently, the team progressed to the final rounds of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” and the USAID Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) Program. The team also presented at the Dry Toilet Conference in Finland and was also selected to present at three other prominent conferences, including the UNC Water and Health Conference.
In addition to fundraising, Sanivation continues to conduct basic operations, installing innovative toilets around the globe – as well as a solar dehydrating toilet at the popular Burning Man Festival.
]]>Since the Game Day Recycling program began in 2008, Georgia Tech has collected 96.9 tons of material — glass, plastic, aluminum, cardboard and more — diverting these recyclables away from the landfill. With one game remaining in the 2012 season, organizers are hoping to reach the 100-ton mark following the Nov. 17 contest against the Duke Blue Devils.
If you are attending the game, take care to use the blue recycling bags or use the recycling containers both outside and inside the stadium. Every bottle and can counts!
Volunteers are still needed for the Nov. 17 game. Go to the Game Day Recycling website for more information and to sign up. You can also connect with Georgia Tech Game Day Recycling on Facebook.
Read about other recycling news in the November issue of The Recycling Buzz (pdf).
]]>Last spring, SOS took its community garden from a nook on East Campus to the new West Campus location. In a few weeks, the group will have its inaugural fall crop.
Stephanie Kehl, vice president of SOS and a second-year chemical engineering major, oversees the garden – equipped with a “green thumb” acquired by watching her dad take up gardening in recent years. She and others who tend the garden hope to provide both food and knowledge to the community.
“People are confused about where their food comes from, but it’s something you should know,” Kehl said, who hopes the Tech community can learn more about their foods’ sources by participating in the garden.
Those who take up tools in the SOS garden will be able to take whatever produce they want, and SOS will donate leftovers to a soup kitchen. Most of the garden’s seeds have been purchased online, thanks to funds from the Student Government Association and Student Foundation, and a few came from the Kehl family garden in Rome, Ga. The garden is tended almost entirely by students, but SOS is looking for more involvement from the entire campus community.
“Faculty and staff have the ability to support the community garden by providing continuity and historical perspective as the garden achieves a longer history on campus,” said Chrissy Spencer, academic professional on the faculty in the School of Biology and a faculty mentor for the garden. Spencer has a personal interest in sustainable and local food production and has taught seminars on current literature around those topics; she currently teaches evolution, ecology and genetics.
“While these inform my own personal motivations, there are lots of reasons why faculty and staff should support and enjoy a community garden on our urban campus, such as the delicious produce to take home and eat.”
SOS participants gather to tend the garden about once a week. It’s home to more than a dozen crops – all grown without chemical fertilizers – giving gardeners an array of take-home options.
“Diversification is more interesting than having just one variety,” Kehl said. She expects most crops to last until at least the first frost of the season. Gardeners recently pulled up radishes and will soon harvest cabbage and spinach.
SOS will host a Fall Festival at the garden on Friday, Nov. 16, giving the community a chance to see what goes on and even plant something of their own. More details will be forthcoming at sos.gatech.edu.
In the future, SOS plans to fence off and add signage to the garden to make it more distinct. SOS also intends to construct a toolshed for supply storage, and members have discussed starting a campus Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program once the garden is more established.
]]>Kristen Bailey
Institute Communications
Once the free app is launched, cyclists tap “Start” to begin recording their ride. When the ride is over, they hit "Save" and add details such as trip purpose and optional comments. Cyclists are able to see a map of their ride, distance travelled and average speed. The route is also uploaded to data servers, where city transportation planners have access to it.
“By looking at cyclists’ origins, destinations and route, City of Atlanta transportation planners will be able to see which roads are avoided and which are popular,” said College of Engineering Assistant Professor Kari Watkins. “The city can use the information to make future decisions about where infrastructure is needed to create bike-friendly routes throughout Atlanta.”
Watkins developed Cycle Atlanta with Christopher Le Dantec, an assistant professor in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
“One of the main reasons people don’t frequently cycle is a lack of safe infrastructure – dedicated bicycle routes, roads with bicycle lanes and other designated bicycle facilities,” said Le Dantec. “The city has a desire to put proper infrastructure in place but needs better information from citizens about where they currently ride and would like to cycle.”
Cycle Atlanta is a joint project among Georgia Tech, the City of Atlanta Department of Planning and Community Development, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition (ABC) and the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). It’s funded through a contribution from ABC and the ARC’s Livable Centers Initiative planning program. Georgia Tech’s GVU Center and the Institute for People and Technology also provided support.
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The Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee (BIIC) crafted events with both current and potential cyclists in mind throughout the week of Oct. 22-26. Additional information for all events can be found at bike.gatech.edu.
All Week
Monday and Wednesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Saturday
Prizes will be distributed throughout the week, including t-shirts, gift cards to local businesses and bike-related gear.
The BIIC has implemented many changes on campus since its formation in 2010, including the recent installation of a special bike intersection connection at 5th and West Peachtree Streets outside the College of Business. The group also manages bike.gatech.edu, an online resource for all things bike-related at Tech.
“Our number one goal is always more cyclists. It saves the university money, and it’s a healthier and more environmental commute,” said Johann Weber, chair of the BIIC. One of this year's goals is to address ongoing challenge and conflict areas around campus, some of which will be discussed at Thursday's Town Hall. The BIIC also hopes to continue progress on constructing a bike master plan and coordinating with surrounding neighborhoods to make Tech more accessible for bike commuters.
]]>Kristen Bailey
Institute Communications
As part of their summer work with the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), Amy Ingles and Denise Smith, civil engineering students, and Johann Weber, a public policy student, were asked to teach high school students participating in Clark Atlanta University’s Summer Transportation Institute how transportation planning works in metro Atlanta.
With Terminus, players are paired off and given a fictitious district within a larger metro area, economic and demographic background on the district, a budget and a stack of cards representing options for transportation infrastructure projects for their district. Options include projects such as road repairs, highway interchanges, light rail lines, buses or multiuse paths.
“Personalities make a big difference, and the kids brought their perceptions of infrastructure with them when they played,” said Weber. He said that one student was dismayed to learn that projects he favored would not be the ones most beneficial for his community. The cost of a project varies depending on the region, as well as how many points it would earn the district in each of three categories: economic, environment and equity.
“People approach it in different ways, but it was really fun and well-received,” Weber said.
The ARC has participated in the Clark Atlanta University program for a number of years, but, this year, wanted to revamp how it presented the topic of transportation planning to students.
“Last year, our senior folks felt they wanted something a little more fun and interactive than in the past,” said Byron Rushing, an ARC bicycle and pedestrian planner who worked with the Tech interns on the project. The idea of Terminus was largely based on the format of the regional roundtable for the TSPLOST vote that took place in July. The referendum may have died at the polls this summer, but its lessons live on in Terminus.
“We liked the idea because it was already kind of a competitive game in real life to come up with the funding list, so we tried to boil that down to be super simple for high schoolers,” Rushing said. Though students didn’t necessarily have to understand all the nuances of every project to play, the game creators did want a realistic outcome. “We tried to put it in enough of a framework that it was logical how the projects worked out. Having [Johann] certainly helped with that, since he could conceive all the different ways projects could work for each district.”
Debriefing with the students after the game, both Rushing and his colleague Nathan Soldat, an ARC senior transit planner, were pleasantly surprised.
“Some of the questions got more technical and were based off the cards from the game; they were not afraid to ask if they didn’t know what a term was,” Soldat said.
The ARC plans to continue using Terminus with high school students through its Mock Atlanta Regional Commission (MARC) program, which is similar to a Model United Nations. “The kids who come are already interested in that field of study, so that group may be even more engaged and informed,” Soldat said.
Terminus is now copyrighted to the ARC, and Weber also submitted it for presentation at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. He has also presented the idea to Georgia Tech faculty who may be able to incorporate it into their curriculum.
“We really just want to expose more people to transportation planning,” Weber said.
]]>Kristen Bailey, Institute Communications
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The Center (abbreviated CeGP), created in partnership with King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), will facilitate research and academic collaborations, personnel exchanges and industry partnerships between the two institutions. KFUPM provided an initial investment of $8 million in funding for research on the Atlanta campus for six years, mirroring a similar effort on KFUPM’s campus in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Associate Professor Ghassan AlRegib in Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering will direct the Center in Atlanta, and Associate Professor and Chair of the KFUPM Department of Electrical Engineering Ali Al-Sheikhi will direct the Center in Dhahran. Research will focus on applying advanced signal processing theories to energy-related signals and systems, with an emphasis on seismic data acquisition, processing, imaging and interpretation.
“We’ll be applying advanced digital signal processing to geo signals such as seismic data, with the goal of reducing the false alarm rate for drilling,” said AlRegib. A primary goal of the research is to improve the accuracy of drilling and reduce its cost; a secondary goal will be to make other overall decisions about drilling, such as how it could be automated or less labor intensive.
“Eventually we’d like to expand into other types of energy, such as smart grid, applying digital signal processing to smart grids, making them more intelligent and collecting more intelligent information,” added AlRegib.
Besides the research focus within the Center, the educational track is of critical importance. The Center will have a number of educational projects with a focus on creating new courses that emphasize innovation and research, as well as student training for the job market.
Other objectives of the collaboration include creating a hub for seismic processing and energy informatics, producing industry standard inventions and technologies, and creating an international industry consortium with a focus on innovative signal processing. Some expected outcomes are new patents, ventures, software packages and textbooks.
The industrial participation in the Center’s operation is another key element where scientists from related industries will be approached to participate in different activities at the Center at both locations.
Groups at both Tech and KFUPM will assist in overseeing operations and providing recommendations to AlRegib and Al-Sheikhi. Tech’s committee is initially composed of AlRegib; Steve McLaughlin, Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; James McClellan, chair of the School’s Digital Signal Processing Technical Interest Group and John and Marilu McCarty Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering; and Larry Jacobs, professor and associate dean of the College of Engineering.
The agreement to create the Center, which was signed in August, comes after two years of visits and collaboration, beginning in 2010 with a joint workshop in Dhahran. In April, Provost Rafael Bras served as a keynote speaker at KFUPM’s 50th anniversary celebrations. In addition, Tech hosts KFUPM exchange students, primarily in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Institute President G. P. “Bud” Peterson recently accepted an offer to serve on KFUPM’s International Advisory Board.
Both schools will continue to host each other’s students, faculty, and researchers and conduct biannual joint workshops.
“The students at KFUPM come from the top one percent of applicants in Saudi Arabia,” said AlRegib. “It’s the leading engineering school in Saudi Arabia and is selective.”
Much like Georgia Tech, KFUPM’s engineering focus is complemented by its focus on science and management. KFUPM is strategically located in proximity to the country’s industrial cities and oilfields.
]]>Using institutional data, each university's commitment to sustainability was evaluated in categories such as education and curriculum; campus operations; and campus planning, administration and engagement. The survey, officially called the Campus Sustainability Data Collector, is the result of the collaborative efforts of four organizations: the Sierra Club, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI), and the Princeton Review.
"Our campus is a lovely live-learn-work-play living laboratory for sustainability," said Marcia Kinstler, sustainability director in Tech's Office of Environmental Stewardship. "Recognition like this helps carry our story to a broader audience."
The 2012 list includes:
The complete ranking, along with stories about the winning schools’ environmental efforts, are online at www.sierraclub.org/coolschools.
]]>A water oak tree on the south end of Tech Green will be removed on Saturday, July 14, after fighting a losing battle against the Asian ambrosia beetle.
Landscaping employees noticed the tree exhibiting signs of distress the first week of June, at which point a certified arborist from the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) was brought in to evaluate its status. On June 26, the ISA reported that the tree had been infested, with no known cure to treat the stubborn insect dwellers.
The female Asian ambrosia beetle infests trees in the spring by boring into them and depositing eggs, leaving a deposit of fungus on which her larvae will feed. The hatched larvae eventually pupate and become adult females that further cultivate the fungus, causing the tree to wilt and die. The beetles can sense a vulnerable tree from nearly a mile away, meaning they could have come from somewhere off campus to inhabit the Tech Green tree.
Trees affected by the beetle’s infestations often exhibit drooping leaves with a reddish or purplish discoloration. In this case, many wilted leaves on the tree exhibit a reddish-brown color.
“We are in the process of having tree specialists come and treat the trees in the area of the infested trees so they will be protected,” said Warren Page, director of facilities operations and maintenance. An additional tree at the corner of Hemphill Avenue and Ferst Drive is also infested. These two trees are the first experiences Facilities has had with mature trees being infested.
Though not the oldest, the tree on Tech Green is one of the older ones on campus. Both it and the one at Hemphill and Ferst will be gone but not forgotten, as new trees will be planted in their place.
“It is our policy to place new young trees around campus when trees have to be removed,” Page said. However, replacement trees will not be planted right away, as the summer season is not ideal for trees to take root.
]]>Kristen Shaw
Communications and Marketing
For more than 10 years, the Office of Facilities Management has been testing low flow water fixtures to reduce the campus’ water consumption. Many of the newer buildings on campus have energy and water efficient bathrooms with automatic faucets and low flow toilets, and now several of the older buildings will be receiving these upgrades as well.
Georgia Tech spends roughly $7,000,000 a year or $19,663 per day for water and sewer services. After several years of drought and cost increases from the City of Atlanta for water and sewer services, Georgia Tech has stepped up its efforts to conserve water and reduce the Institute’s utility costs. GT’s Energy Conservation team recently completed a major urinal replacement project as part of this initiative.
Lenox Utility Contractors, LLC began this project by replacing the 308 urinals with low flow urinals and electronic flush valves. To estimate how much water was saved, Georgia Tech conducted a usage survey during the week and weekends of 10 academic and support buildings on campus. Caleb Morris, a student researcher from the College of Engineering, not only helped install the units (his father, Buddy Morris, owns Lenox Utility Contractors) but he also conducted the usage survey for Facilities by placing infrared occupancy sensors above the urinals.
“After helping install the urinals, I was a great candidate for carrying out the survey because I was already familiar with the project and I believe it is important to promote the benefits of new water conservation technologies,” said Caleb Morris.
The team estimates that on average, the 308 urinals that were part of this project are flushed 2.2 million times annually and by replacing these urinals with low-flow models, the Institute could save up to 5,300 gallons of water and sewer per day. Over an entire year, that is about as much water as all of the pools in the Aquatic Center at the Campus Recreation Center (1.9 million gallons). This could also result in a savings of $54,000 a year in water and sewer costs. With such a short pay-back period and significant expected savings, Georgia Tech hopes to implement other water conservation projects in the future.
In addition to being ranked among the top ten public universities in the U.S., Georgia Tech is also a leader in utilities management and conservation. Georgia Tech is committed to developing an environmentally friendly campus and as such is committed to responsible water use management through the adoption of new water saving technologies and practices.
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For more than 10 years, the Office of Facilities Management has been testing low flow water fixtures to reduce the campus’ water consumption. Many of the newer buildings on campus have energy and water efficient bathrooms with automatic faucets and low flow toilets, and now several of the older buildings will be receiving these upgrades as well.
]]>The winning team, comprised of James Barazesh, Mitchell Blenden, Tyler Folse and Mary Shoemaker, used contacts at British Petroleum (BP) in Houston to have the company alter its building’s lighting schedule by just 30 minutes, accounting for two-thirds of the team’s total CO2 reductions. The other third came from personal asks of friends and family to either not drive to work or telework one day per week.
While this year’s winning team gained much of its savings from its work with BP, most teams found ways to reduce emissions here on campus; the 2008 Carbon Reduction Challenge did so with alterations to the lighting schedule in Bobby Dodd Stadium.
“The cool thing about this challenge is that many of the changes implemented will be permanently changed at Georgia Tech, targeting efficiencies for campus,” said Kim Cobb, associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences who taught the course. “The remarkable thing is the size of the reductions achieved.” An average car in the U.S. emits 11,500 pounds of CO2 per year; the challenge cumulatively saved 200,000 pounds in just over eight weeks — the equivalent of taking 17 cars off the road for one year.
Teams were required to document their savings and provide evidence that the reductions would not have happened without their intervention. The winning team traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to meet with state policymakers and present their findings from the semester.
“Each representative responded differently … but each made a point of addressing the aspects of our interests that converged with theirs,” said Shoemaker, a public policy student.
“This is the first time I can say that I have ever presented the results of a project to congressional officials and legislative aides,” said Folse, a nuclear and radiological engineering major whose experience in the course this semester has him considering a minor in energy systems.
Students taking the course were members of the Georgia Tech Honors Program and came from departments and colleges across campus outside of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Cobb holds the challenge each time she teaches this course, and has seen an expansion from one class to the next in terms of size of reductions; this year’s winning team achieved more reductions than the entire last class combined.
]]>Kim Cobb
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
One of the Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee (BIIC)’s summer projects is to install a rack in the center of campus that provides equipment for cyclists to make quick repairs. The group already received funding from the Student Government Association (SGA) and has purchased the equipment with plans to install on the northwest side of the Skiles Building.
An off-campus project that will enhance the experience of those cycling on campus from east of Tech Square is the planned change at the intersection of Fifth and West Peachtree Streets. Parking and Transportation Services, whose office also happens to be located at that intersection, is coordinating with the Midtown Alliance and Atlanta Bicycle Coalition on construction.
“It’s a very small but novel implementation for the city of Atlanta,” said Johann Weber, chair of the BIIC and a graduate student in public policy. “The volume of cyclists there makes it important even though it’s small.” At present, cyclists headed west on Fifth Street who would like to continue over West Peachtree must take a right, then immediately cross four lanes of traffic and take a left back onto Fifth Street to continue their course. The new intersection will enable a “Copenhagen left” that lets cyclists complete the same turn but in a way that is safer for cyclists, drivers and pedestrians (similar to that seen in this video).
To enhance law enforcement of bicycles across campus, the BIIC worked with the Georgia Tech Police Department during the spring to hold a bicycle safety class for its officers, refreshing them on Georgia bike-related laws.
“Some laws had changed last year, and some officers were not as comfortable as they wanted to be with state laws pertaining to cyclists, particularly with tricky infrastructure you might find on campus,” Weber said. All of the department’s officers took the class, reviewing state cycling laws that are enforced on campus; city ordinances do not apply on campus because GTPD law enforcement powers come from the state.
Looking to the fall, BIIC members are considering what could improve traffic at both Techwood Drive and Fowler Street as they cross Ferst Drive. Long-term, the group plans work with nearby neighborhoods to consider improvements in routes frequently used to and from campus.
“We got a lot of feedback from our Bicycle Friendly University application,” said Weber, referring to the award the committee earned this spring that named the Institute a Silver Bicycle Friendly University. “We're going to dig through that and produce a sort of guiding document for the committee that hopefully translates into the backbone for a master plan for the university.” Parking and Transportation Services also will conduct its next commuter survey this fall, which will give the BIIC new data to work with as it tackles future projects.
]]>Johann Weber
Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee
Accompanying the newly erected Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons is one of 32 on-campus cisterns, devised to reclaim rainwater or air conditioning condensate for irrigation needs. The Clough cistern is one of the largest on any university campus, capturing more than 6,000 gallons of water per day.
In addition to water conservation, the Institute was also applauded for its clean commute program. More than 41 percent of students and employees participate in clean commutes,many of whom use services provided by the Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee (BIIC).
Johann Weber, a public policy graduate student and chair of the BIIC, notes that though he is proud of Tech for these accomplishments, there are still opportunities for growth.
“Our biggest challenge now is better partnering with the local communities to make the area around Tech more walkable and bikeable,” he said. “Having LEED requirements built into our planning practices, actively supporting awareness and education programs as well as student groups, and providing the comprehensive support that they have for walking and bicycling on campus, all integrate together to produce an environment that is increasingly conducive to students living more sustainably.”
Earlier this year, the Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee (BIIC) earned Partner of the Year from the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition for 2011 and was recognized as a Silver Level Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists.
]]>Open to all Georgia Tech students and recent alumni, the I2S competition involves innovative business concepts that could help improve society or preserve the environment. The finals were held on April 4 following a poster showcase on April 2.
Mekong Green Tech includes mechanical engineering majors Chris Quintero and James Baunchalk, environmental engineering major Hannah Kates, and industrial design major Ali Perry. They won $2,000 for first place as well as $250 in the People's Choice category.
Already Making a Difference
While some competing teams are still in the conceptual stages, Mekong Green Tech is already making its business a reality. Its technology helps solve pollution problems related to brick-making techniques in rural Vietnam through the use of simple, low-cost gasifiers. Retrofitting a kiln with this kind of gasifier eliminates air pollutants and offsets up to 300 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
The team explained that instead of using clean-burning furnaces, rural industries tend to rely on burning biomass. "This inefficient combustion produces incredible amounts of air pollution, damaging health, stunting crop growth, and wasting money," according to the Mekong Green Tech Website. "The situation is particularly bad with the brick-making industry. Worldwide CO2 emissions from brick kilns – 180 million tons yearly – are one third of the emissions of the global airline industry."
Collaboration between Georgia Tech engineers and ENTERTEAM, a Vietnamese partner organization, led to the development of a gasifier model built with local materials and expertise. This technology would save operators more than 25 percent in yearly fuel costs and ease pressure from the Vietnamese government, which has cracked down on the rural brick-making industry because of pollution.
Mekong Green Tech, which also won third place in the Georgia Tech Business Plan Competition, is working on a number of pilot installations with the goal of a widespread roll-out later this year. Marc-Antoine Pare, who graduated with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Tech in fall 2010, is already working in Vietnam on the project. "In the Mekong Delta alone, over 10,000 small businesses stand to benefit," the team says.
Other Winners
The second-place winner ($1,500) in I2S was CyborFusion, which has developed a bionic glove that will function as both a myoelectric hand orthotic for those who have a disability and an affordable myoelectric prosthetic for those who have an amputation below the elbow.
Tied for third ($1,000) were Tubing Operations for Humanitarian Logistics (TOHL) and Team Power. TOHL is developing a fluid transportation system that could deliver large quantities of water over significant distances in disaster-hit areas. Team Power, which also won the Liam Rattray Social Courage Award ($500) and Best Video ($250), is developing a power generation/storage system to provide cold storage of vaccines in developing countries.
Hub Atlanta provided two service-package prizes. One worth $1,600 for Most Market-ready went to Sanivation, which aims to improve sanitation in developing countries through the collection and solar-energy treatment of human feces (for future sale as fertilizer). The other service package (worth $1,575) was for Best Idea, and it went to CyborFusion (described above).
Eighteen teams (with a total of 41 participants from multiple Colleges at Tech) competed in the preliminary round, before getting narrowed down to seven in the finals. More than 25 judges were involved in the competition, representing innovative businesses and social enterprises.
A series of workshops leading up to the competition helped students prepare, and they received guidance from business-community mentors. The competition is organized by Georgia Tech's Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship (ILE).
I2S was sponsored by Gray Ghost Ventures, HUB Atlanta, and MaRC Sustainable Design & Manufacturing as well as Tech's ILE, College of Management, and the Tedd Munchak Chair in Entrepreneurship.
]]>“Georgia Tech strives to be a leader in sustainability and environmentally conscious programs,” said Rich Steele, acting executive director of Georgia Tech Auxiliary Services. “Our laundries need new equipment on a regular cycle and we wanted to make sure the improvements included energy efficient equipment.”
The installation of the new equipment in the 15 laundries will begin in May and will be completed and open for operation by August 1.
A price increase will also become effective July 1, with a complete wash cycle at $1.50 (from $1.25) and the 10-minute dryer cycle at $.30 (from $.25). This is the first price increase in seven years. The BuzzCard will remain as the only acceptable form of payment in the laundries.
As more details become available, announcements will be posted on importantstuff.gatech.edu.
]]>“We submitted an extensive application, which was reviewed by the League of American Bicyclists, as well as local judges who are familiar with Tech, Atlanta and peer institutions,” said Johann Weber, a graduate student in public policy who compiled and submitted the application as chair of the Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee (BIIC). “The criteria vary, but are focused on ‘the five E's’ — education, enforcement, engineering, encouragement and evaluation.”
The BIIC convened in January 2011 to tackle large-scale enhancements related to cycling on campus. The group of students and staff has helped make visible cycling improvements to campus in its year and a half of operation, including additional bike lanes and sharrows, as well as working with companies such as viaCycle to grow the campus cycling community.
“Biking not only enhances mobility, but also has positive environmental and health benefits for our campus community,” said Institute President G. P. “Bud” Peterson. “I want to commend our student leadership and members of the Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee that have worked so diligently in making Georgia Tech an official ‘bike friendly’ campus.”
The designation as a Bicycle Friendly University will last four years before Tech must reapply to maintain or improve its status.
“We'll receive a feedback document soon that will tell us specifically what we have done well and where we need to improve,” Weber said. “I think the combination of Starter Bikes, which is student operated and has a history of great work; the new viaCycle bike share program, which is innovative and also operated by [Tech] graduates; and the BIIC, demonstrated that Georgia Tech is a school that supports its students’ efforts to be bike-friendly.”
As for future plans, the BIIC will move forward on the installation of a campus bike repair station, enabling cyclists to make minor repairs free of charge. The group is also working with the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition to improve cycling conditions at the intersection of 5th and West Peachtree Streets; improvements will be made through a $10,000 grant from Bikes Belong.
]]>Johann Weber
Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee
Members of the campus community may donate used athletic shoes, clothing, E-waste, office supplies or books for one of the following Earth Day projects:
ESW-GT earned $2,340 for its proposal for a solar café orkiosk used to raise funds for the chapter; Tech’s chapter chose to focus onbeverages, either hot or chilled.
“This will not only raise money for our group, but willpromote sustainable energy sources and pique the engineering interest ofstudents around campus,” said Zac Hoffman, president of ESW-GT. The group hopesto use the cart on campus during large events, such as football games, andplans to debut it at this year’s Earth Day celebration on Friday, April 20, toshowcase ESW-GT to students and generate excitement about renewable energy.Hoffman said the team is finishing its final design and will soon beginconstruction.
Funding will be used to purchase materials to build the cartand for travel expenses to showcase the final product at the ESW nationalconference this fall. SunEdison will provide on-board solar cells that will beused in beverage preparation.
]]>“We were pretty excited,” said BIIC Chair Johann Weber, a graduate student in public policy. “Georgia Tech and the BIIC jointly won the Partner of the Year award as recognition for what the committee has done, as well as Tech’s efforts through funding and installing facilities, viaCycle and all our program expansion over the course of 2011.” Other nominees for the award included New Belgium Brewery, Sopo Bicycle Co-op, the Metro Atlanta Cycling Club and the Atlanta Falcons.
“We’re very honored to receive such recognition, and we view it as a sign that Georgia Tech has really stepped out from under the shadows to become a leader in supporting bicycling in Atlanta,” Weber said.
The ABC awarded Georgia Tech for its “comprehensive approach to becoming a bicycle friendly university. Combining support from university administration and student involvement on the Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee, Georgia Tech is paving the way in Atlanta.”
Aaron Fowler, campus transportation planner in Parking and Transportation, attributed the award to improvements during the past year in bicycle infrastructure, a partnership with the ABC on a grant to improve the intersection of 5thand West Peachtree Streets, the launch of viaCycle and an ABC partnership with Starter Bikes that enables the sale of refurbished bicycles on campus.
The ABC presented the award at its fifth annual Blinkie Awards, named for the lights used by cyclists to increase their visibility to vehicles, held on Feb. 10 at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market; the award is adorned with its own blinkie.
]]>Kristen Shaw
Communications and Marketing
viaCycle, a startup created by Tech alumni, began testing its program on campus this summer and officially launched its fleet of 10 bicycles in November. The system is the first of its kind in the southeast and is designed to make bikes available for communal use. A viaCycle bike can be locked at any bike rack while the user has it checked out, and then can be returned and checked in at a number of specified racks on campus. Since the launch, viaCycle has doubled its fleet to 20 bicycles, garnered more than 200 users and plans to add an additional 1–2 pick-up and drop-off stations on campus due to demand.
Anyone with a valid BuzzCard can begin using the system by first signing up at gt.viacycle.com, then using a cell phone to unlock any bike not currently in use. Users are not required to have a smart phone, as a text message or phone call unlocks and locks the bicycles.
Jonathan Murphy, a graduate student in aerospace engineering and mechanical chair for Starter Bikes, tested viaCycle during its trial period. Murphy used a bike for a trip to Kroger on Ponce de Leon Avenue, with the whole trip taking him just under an hour.
“I see a lot of people coming to Starter Bikes who could definitely use the system — international students who are only here briefly, or people interested in buying a bike but wanting to try it out first,” Murphy said. “I’m happy to see [viaCycle] here and see the program running.” viaCycle bikes have a wide seat and give the passenger an upright position – one Murphy felt made for a comfortable ride.
viaCycle worked with Georgia Tech Parking and Transportation Services and the City of Atlanta’s Office of Sustainability in preparing for its debut; Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson and Atlanta City Council members Keisha Bottoms and Aaron Watson spoke at the launch event in November.
viaCycle is free to join and, for a limited time, is giving new users $20 in credit when they sign up. The cost of each use is based on the amount of time a bike is checked out. For those new to city cycling, viaCycle provides a number of resources on its website, including safety tips, bike route maps and how to inspect a bike upon checkout.
]]>Kristen Shaw
Communications and Marketing
“Our first priority is to protect existing trees on our construction sites,” said Anne Boykin-Smith, master planner in Capital Planning and Space Management. “But if a tree is unhealthy and should be removed, we want to take care of this during the construction process and plant replacement trees.”
Tree protection and planting is just one of the many topics covered in the Georgia Tech Landscape Master Plan (in Section 6), which provides guidance on a variety of landscaping issues ranging from stonework to recommended plant lists.
If a tree is healthy, a plan is created to ensure that it isn’t harmed during construction. The plan usually includes information such as where the root protection zone is, an area that is defined as a diameter equal to two times the height of the tree. Within this zone, no trenching, parking, construction, storage of materials or soil stockpiling is allowed.
Sometimes due to construction or poor health, trees must be removed.
“For example, several trees needed to be removed as part of the Peters Parking Deck retaining wall replacement project because the trees were not thriving — due to years of drought conditions — and might have fallen once the old wall was removed,” Boykin-Smith said.
Prior to removing any trees, an assessment by a certified arborist is required. According to the master plan, a minimum of three replacement trees is required for trees that must be removed because of disease or danger. Replacement trees may be planted anywhere on campus (with Georgia Tech approval).
Other recent construction projects that required tree removal and replacement include North Avenue streetscape, where 39 trees will be replanted, and the Clough Commons, Transit Hub and Tech Green projects, where 324 were replanted.
As for the new trees that have yet to be replanted, this will occur in the weeks to come, since late fall is the ideal planting season, according to Hyacinth Ide, campus landscape manager.
“Trees don’t actively grow because of the cool weather, so the demand for watering is less, and the chance of the tree survival is better,” Ide said.
For more information, contact Boykin-Smith.
“From our focus on environmentalstewardship in our buildings and grounds to our energy conservation andrecycling programs, Georgia Tech has gained a national reputation for embracingsustainability practices,” said Steve Swant, executive vice president ofadministration and finance. “Our investment in this green revolving fundprogram will help support our continued sustainability efforts.”
Most recently, Georgia Tech wasnamed as one of 16 colleges on the Princeton Review’s Green Honor Roll and has earned Tree Campus USA recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation. Besides using environmentallyfriendly cleaning products, Georgia Tech requires that all vendors providegreen products. During the 2010 season, the Institute’s game day recyclingprogram netted 21 tons of recyclables during six home games.
The Billion Dollar Green Challenge launches publicly on October 11 at theAssociation for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Educationconference in Pittsburgh. With more than 2,500 participants, includingrepresentatives of Georgia Tech, the conference is the largest gathering todate on higher education sustainability.
In advance of the launch, 33 institutions, including Georgia Tech, have alreadyjoined the Challenge’s Founding Circle by committing to invest a cumulativetotal of more than $65 million in green revolving funds. In addition toHarvard, Stanford and ASU, other Founding Circle institutions include Caltech,Dartmouth, George Washington, Middlebury, the University of British Columbiaand Weber State University.
The Challenge is inspired by theexceptional performance of existing green revolving funds, which have a medianannual return on investment of 32 percent, as documented by Greening The BottomLine, a report published by the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
In a competitionhosted by the City of Atlanta and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School,a team of Georgia Tech students earned first prize and a monetary award forproposing a system for electric vehicle adoption in Atlanta.
Undergraduate studentsCorbin Klett, Matt Jacobson, Logan Marett, Kevin Miron and Andrew Vaziri earned$5,000 for their proposal of how to drive demand for 50,000 electric cars on Atlanta’sroads during a two-year period. The students represent both Solar Jackets, GeorgiaTech’s student group dedicated to the design, creation and expansion of solartechnology, and the College of Management's Technology and Management Program.
“Our approachwas to devise creative and unique solutions to electric vehicle adoption,emphasizing ways of reducing the cost to the city government,” said Jacobson. “Westressed branding and education, creating a new ‘EV Brand’ we dubbed ChargeATL,and a website mockup to go along with it.”
The City will use funding received from the Department of Energy to implement ideas generated from the competition, with the goal of the Atlanta area being the first region in the country to have 50,000 electric vehicles on its roads. The Mayor’s office wanted to utilize the creativity of Georgia students to find ways to make the state competitive in this market.
“The Solar Jackets were incredible, coming up with as much as they did on their own,” said Jules Toraya, program manager in the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. “They stood out over the rest because they had answers — answers to tough questions, how to get budgets — and you could tell they had scoped out their ideas and had conviction about them.” Execution of these ideas will begin with an effort to pass electric vehicle-related legislation in the fall.
Four otherteams presented at the competition on Sept. 13, including three from Tech andone from Emory. The groups were chosen from a pool of nearly 30 teamapplications spanning many Georgia universities, including Tech, Emory and theUniversity of Georgia.
“It was anexciting opportunity to be able to tackle a problem the City of Atlanta isfacing and feel like we could have an impact,” said Melissa McCoy, whoparticipated on another Georgia Tech team. “The Solar Jackets team did a trulyamazing job.”
]]>“One of our goals was to ensure that lights in campus common areas weren’t on unless the room was occupied,” said Michael Leasure, assistant director of energy conservation. “But the solution wasn’t as simple as someone flipping a switch, even though the end result involves even less thought than turning off a light switch.”
Sometimes the light switch in the area wasn’t located at the entrance, so people couldn’t easily access it when coming and going. In some older campus buildings, lights were turned off and on by a breaker in a switch panel, so there was no light switch at all, Leasure added.
The solution was to install an automated option that turns lights on if someone enters the area and off whenever an area is vacant for 15 minutes, and keeps emergency exit lighting on at all times.
Facilities also decided to change the light bulbs used in some buildings. Instead of using four T-12 fluorescent bulbs, they are currently upgrading fixtures so they can use two T-8 fluorescent bulbs. This requires gutting the light fixtures, installing new sockets for the bulbs and changing out the electronics that connect to the lights.
“It’s amazing, but when we changed from the T-12 to T-8 bulbs, the light readings were almost identical before and after the change,” Leasure said.
Funding for both the automated lighting systems and fixtures is made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which provided Tech with $2.7 million to improve the energy efficiency of lighting on campus.
About 35 buildings will receive the automated systems and 29 will get the updated fixtures. One stipulation of the ARRA funding was that only buildings located on portions of campus funded by the state were eligible for the improvements, which does not include buildings that house, for example, parking or athletics.
By using the automated lighting systems and new fixtures, Tech should save about $347,000 each year for the next four years. All of the work related to these upgrades should be complete by December.
Questions? Email Leasure.
]]>“By creating and hosting the Clean Energy Speaker Series, Georgia Tech is providing a neutral, open forum where everything from national security and economic development issues related to energy can be discussed,” said Ben Hill, director of the Clean Energy Speaker Series program.
The series, which kicks off on Sept. 28 with a discussion on “Natural Gas: A Clean Energy Alternative,” is meant to provide an objective analysis of the Southeast’s energy and power requirements through 2030 and the role clean energy could play. All talks are free and open to anyone.
The monthly discussions will be held in the Hodges room of the Centergy Building from 12:30 to 2 p.m. The Sept. 28 event will feature Don Haley, vice president of business development for Chevron Natural Gas, and David Wochner, counsel for Sutherland, as the speakers.
Here is more information about future dates and topics (speakers to be announced at a later date):
For more information, contact Hill.
]]>This month's issue features the Game Day Recycling program, which kicks off its fourth season at tonight's home opener against Western Carolina, as well as information about plastic and aluminum recycling, student move-in and upcoming events. Read or download (but please, don't print) the Recycling Buzz (pdf).
]]>The Asia-Pacific EconomicCooperation forum (APEC)is an organization of 21 Pacific-Rim countries, including the U.S., working tofacilitate economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in theAsia-Pacific region. The APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research andEducation (ASPIRE Prize) will honor a scientist who has demonstrated acommitment to excellence in scientific research, cooperated with scientistsfrom other APEC-member economies and contributed to this year’s theme of greengrowth.
TheASPIRE Prize includes $25,000 and travel to the Joint Ministerial Meeting onEnergy and Transportation in San Francisco in September, where Secretary ofEnergy Steven Chu will present the award. Any U.S.citizen is eligible to be nominated for the ASPIRE Prize and must be under theage of 40 as of Dec. 31.
Because APEC is limiting thenumber of nominations from the U.S., the group requests that each universitysubmit one nominee. Dr. Karen Adams in the Georgia Tech Fellowships Officewill convene a committee to select Tech’s nominee.
The campus deadline forapplicants is Monday, July 18, in anticipation of the national submissiondeadline on Sunday, July 24. To be considered, please send a completednomination form (available for download in sidebar), CV and 1-2 letters ofrecommendation to Karen Adamsby Monday, July 18, at noon.
]]>Kristen Shaw
Communications and Marketing
Sanivation was one of 110 companies awarded $40,000 fromStartup Chile, a six-month Chilean government program encouragingentrepreneurial activity in the South American country.
“They’re trying to have a kind of SiliconValley in Santiago,” said Andrew Foote, a 2011 civil and environmentalengineering graduate, GTRI research scientist and member of the Sanivationteam.
Sanivation began as a collaboration among the Georgia TechResearch Institute (GTRI), Georgia Tech Engineers Without Borders (EWB-GT), EmoryUniversity and a Bolivian nonprofit. EWB-GT students have made two trips toBolivia to research and test prototypes of a latrine that kills disease-causingpathogens using solar energy. The waste can then be used for crop fertilization.Sanivation’s research shows that using this type of waste as fertilizer canincrease crop yields by up to 50 percent.
In its current state, Sanivation hastwo proposed products: SanoLatrine and the SunSeat. SanoLatrine is designed forlower-income areas, while the SunSeat is for places with lower infrastructurein place, such as in mountains or parks. Both function on solar technology inplaces where conventional sewage treatment is often not affordable or feasible.
“What’s unique about Chile is that ithas both target markets — it has a lot of parks, between mountains and oceans,”said Foote. “We hope to develop both products there.” Sanivation PresidentChris Quintero, a mechanical engineering major, said that the exactspecifications of the products might change along the way, but that thesanitation focus will remain.
Foote and Quintero will be accompaniedby recent Tech alumni Sean Kolk and Emily Woods, as well as Nick van Vliet, afriend and colleague from Emory. The team hopes to have its planning andresearch fostered by the hub of technology development and entrepreneurship createdby Startup Chile. Quintero had intended to graduate from Tech in December, butwill now postpone that milestone for at least a semester to work on Sanivation.
“I’m stoked about the team we have, andit will be exciting to meet so many other entrepreneurs and ambitious people,”he said.
Meanwhile, students on campus willcontinue to research and work on the project from Atlanta. “The relationshipbetween EWB-GT, GTRI and Sanivation will be integral — there are lots ofways to collaborate there, and we’ll have a support network and a group of Techstudents engaged at home,” Foote said.
This is not the first time the solar sanitation project hasearned recognition recently. At the National Inventors and Innovators Alliance’sOpen Minds competition in March, the group earned runner-up for the People’sChoice award and first place in the event’s video competition. It has alsogarnered interest and attention from global health nonprofits.
“There seems to be a lot of energybehind sanitation now,” Foote said, who mentioned that it was also discussed atthis year’s World Health Organization conference. “We hope to come up with theimplementation plan and generate enthusiasm around Sanivation in Chile, andthen go into the fundraising stage.”
The team departs the second week ofJuly and will post regular updates on its progress at www.sanivation.com.
]]>The basketball practice facility, which opened in October2009, is named for alumnus and donor Steven Zelnak and is used by both theGeorgia Tech men’s and women’s basketball teams. It includes a full-size court,six baskets, weight room, the Robert A. Anclien Strength & ConditioningCenter and a theater.
"LEED certification is one more tool we use to design our buildings and how they fit into the campus master plan execution, along with the Yellow Book design standards and the landscape master plan," said Marcia Kinstler in the Office of Environmental Stewardship. The Georgia Tech Yellow Book is a document unique to the Institute that guides architects and engineers in the process of designing new buildings, building additions, renovations to existing buildings, and utility and transportation infrastructure improvements. Since 2009, all new construction and renovations are built to LEED gold standards.
The Zelnak Center joins the ranks of the Klaus AdvancedComputing Building, the Women’s Softball Complex and the Old Civil EngineeringBuilding as on-campus LEED gold facilities. The College of Management is LEEDsilver certified.
]]>Formed in January, the group plans to improve the quality ofbicycle infrastructure for the Georgia Tech community to make it safer and easierto bike for pleasure, health and commute.
“There hasn’t been one department or group looking at bikeson campus before,” said Gretchen Goldman, committee chair and a graduatestudent in environmental engineering. The formation of the BIIC came afterGoldman met with Student Government Association (SGA) leadership last fallabout making bicycle-related improvements to campus.
In March, the committee received $26,146 from SGA for itsproposal to add bike racks and lanes to several areas of campus. The fundingwill provide additional bike racks in three areas that a Capital Planning and SpaceManagement (CPSM) study showed would help the greatest number of students: theCollege of Management, the Instructional Center and the Ford EnvironmentalScience and Technology building. It will also add bike lanes to Hemphill Avenueand Ferst Drive. Racks have been ordered and plans for the lanes have beendrafted; Goldman is hopeful that both will be in place by the fall semester.
Though cyclists may benefit most directly from new racks andlanes, all of campus can benefit from an enhanced bicycle environment. AaronFowler, alternative transportation coordinator for Parking and Transportationand a member of the BIIC, is tasked with the job of promoting alternativecommute options to a constantly expanding campus.
“We’ve kind of reached a parking limit, but the campus isstill growing — so we’re figuring out how to get new people to campus,” Fowlersaid. A Parking and Transportation survey this year showed that many commuters whodrive alone would be interested in cycling to campus, contingent on continuedimprovements in safe, convenient bike routes and secure bicycle parking. “[Thecommittee’s] got all the major players at the table who have a hand in bikes oncampus, and we want to focus on infrastructure improvements that we can prettymuch install and finalize, with little maintenance,” Fowler said.
In addition to the bike racks and lanes projects, the BIIC createdbike.gatech.edu as a hub for all thingsbike at Tech. It also has hosted cycling classes with the Atlanta BicycleCoalition, participated in Georgia Rides to the Capitol in support of House Bill 101(which passed during the 2011 legislative session), assisted Georgia TechPolice with a bike registration drive and is leading a bike confiscationeffort to free campus racks from abandoned bicycles. For its work, thecommittee earned the 2011 Georgia Tech Environmental Initiative Award, given eachyear at the Earth Day celebration to an individual or group that has had asignificant environmental impact on campus or in the community during the pastyear.
“We wanted to get something done this semester,” Goldmansaid, referring to the spring term. “I knew SGA had trusted us with this moneyand I wanted to prove the value of what we were doing.” Future priorities include creating a campusbicycle master plan, which will include identifying current infrastructure needson campus and exploring funding options for those projects; BIIC members havemet with the Student Alumni Association and the Office of Development to discussfunding for project implementation.
“We have an inventory of where morebike racks are needed throughout campus, so that’s always an option, but we’d liketo do more to improve safety and commutes,” said Fowler. Parking and Transportationnow has sharrowstencils that CPSM intends to incorporate in Fowler Street improvementsduring construction of the McCamish Pavilion.
“There seems to be more excitement than in the past aboutbiking on campus,” said Goldman, who has been at Tech for five years and is surprisedby the positive response across campus. Though Goldman plans to graduate inAugust, the BIIC is brimming with ideas that range from bike boulevards innearby neighborhoods to an Options cycling class to create more confidentcyclists.
“Tech is a microcosm of bikes in Atlanta,” said Fowler. “Ihope this infrastructure connects surrounding neighborhoods to Tech andencourages biking off campus as well.”
]]>“Bicycles are occasionally abandoned on Georgia Tech bikeracks, and prior to now they would stay there indefinitely, gradually gettingstripped down and damaged due to theft, vandalism and weather,” said JonathanMurphy, student member of BIIC. “The purpose of removal is to free up rackspace so that it can be used to actively store bicycles.”
Small, waterproof tags will be affixed to the handlebars ofany bicycle that appears to be abandoned and beyond repair. BIIC’s rule forremoval is that a bike be deemed unrideable due to damage or missing parts.
“We won’t be removing bikes just because they have a flattire, but two flat tires in combination with missing parts and extensive rustindicate that a bicycle has been abandoned,” Murphy said. The intent of theprogram is to remove bicycles whose previous owners have no intention ofremoving the bikes themselves.
The committee will work with Tech’s Department of Housing tostore the confiscated bikes until the start of the fall semester, givingstudents a chance to reclaim any bikes they would like to recover. Allunclaimed bikes will then be donated to the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and usedfor the Georgia Tech Starter Bikes program.
While bicycles in working order will not be removed frombike racks, regardless of how long they have sat untouched, Murphy advised studentsnot to leave bikes unattended for long periods of time. Students leaving campusfor the summer with no alternative storage plans may contact Starter Bikes at starterbikes@atlantabike.org orbring them to the group’s weekly meetings at the Campus Recreation Centerparking deck, each Friday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., to arrange storage. Murphyalso noted that, though Housing provides bicycle storage rooms, they can’t beused for the entire summer, and Housing will also begin removing bicyclesbeginning May 16.
For students who may have left damaged bicycles lingering on bike racks around campus until now, they can work with StarterBikes at the Friday sessions to get their equipment back in working order. Theprogram has tools, spare parts and volunteers that will assist students ingetting their bikes running for free. Starter Bikes emphasizes teachingstudents how to repair their own bikes, but provides the coaching and toolsneeded to help along the way. Murphy also suggested the SoPo Bicycle Co-Op, Intown Bikes and JCS Cycles as good resources for those whocan’t visit Starter Bikes on Friday evenings.
With the goal of making Georgia Tech more bike-friendly andimproving bicycle infrastructure across campus, the Student GovernmentAssociation formed the BIIC in late 2010. The committee received the Georgia TechEnvironmental Initiative Award at this year’s Earth Day celebration in April.
]]>James Sapp
GT Housing
“Our office is honored to have been thought of so highly by the students that they would support our initiatives monetarily,” said Cindy Jackson, manager of campus recycling. “I will be working closely with the Student Alumni Association to develop plans on how the money will be used to expand the recycling program here at Georgia Tech.”
Membership in SAA requires an annual donation of $10, with $5 going to Tech’s unrestricted annual fund, Roll Call, through the Student Foundation, and the other $5 going toward the SAA Gift to Tech. The Gift to Tech is a monetary award that supports a project selected by students that enhances campus and makes an impact on the entire Tech community. In support of SAA’s efforts, the Georgia Tech Alumni Association matched the first 1,000 $10 donations.
SAA leadership chose five campus projects for students to vote on this year including campus recycling, campus safety efforts, the Alumni Association’s Living History program, a commemorative bench at the G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons and funding support to underwrite the tradition of handing out Rat Caps at Freshman Convocation.
Students were invited to vote for where they would like to see the money used for this year’s gift. Between the time voting opened in August and closed in March, students cast more than 2,075 votes. After spring break, the top three choices were voted on by SAA members.
The gift was presented to the Office of Solid Waste Management and Recycling on April 19 in the BioTech Courtyard. SAA members also made a formal announcement of the gift at Earth Day on April 22. Along with other SAA awards, Jackson and her staff will receive a banner signed by SAA members to celebrate and commemorate the first-annual SAA Gift to Tech at the Up with the White and Gold Awards on April 28.
]]>The Georgia Tech/Emorycenter, named the Southeastern Center for Air Pollution and Epidemiology (SCAPE),will characterize ambient air pollution mixtures and determine their specific rolein human health risks, using new measurement and modeling approaches. Theoverall goal of the center is to contribute to improved management of airquality for the benefit of human health in the United States.
Air quality engineers andscientists from Georgia Tech will develop and apply detailed measurements andnew modeling techniques to identify and track atmospheric contaminants andmixtures of these contaminants suspected of having adverse health effects.
Researchers at Emory’sRollins School of Public Health will analyze data linking air quality withhealth endpoints in children and adults, including birth outcomes, asthma andcardiac illness.
Together, researchers willcharacterize pollution mixtures based on mechanism of action and sources ofpollutants in studies ranging from micro-scale assessments to comparisons ofcities across the nation. A particular focus will bestudying the health effects of mixtures of pollutants in the atmosphere towhich people are realistically exposed.
The center will be co-directedby Armistead (Ted) Russell, Georgia Power Distinguished Professor in the School of Civiland Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech, and Paige Tolbert, professorand chair of environmental health at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health.
“This center is theculmination of a ten-year collaboration between Emory and Georgia Tech on airpollution research,” says Russell. “By coalescing into a center, we can takethis work to a new level – the integrated and trans-disciplinary research willlead to more effective methods for protecting the public from the harmfuleffects of air pollution.”
Researchersin the new center will work on four interrelated projects.
Project 1:The SCAPE team will develop and deploy new instrumentation to measure oxidantsand other pollutants suspected of causing adverse health effects. The projectwill focus on how these pollutants are generated, transformed and distributed,and will characterize ambient air pollution for the three health studies.
Project 2:As commuting times and congestion increase, there is growing concern about the healtheffects of traffic emissions. Emory and Georgia Tech researchers will conductan intensive study of commuters in the metro Atlanta area to examine exposureto complex particulate mixtures during auto commuting and mechanisms of acutecardiorespiratory outcomes. The study will be among the first to measureseveral highly sensitive, non-invasive biomarkers of oxidative stress inrelation to air pollution exposure.
Project 3:This project will focus on consequences of early-life exposures on the healthof children. Researchers will study two birth cohorts to assess whether airpollution mixtures during pregnancy increase risk for preterm delivery orreduced birth weight, whether children born prematurely are more sensitive toambient air pollution, and whether air pollution exposures in the first year oflife put children at greater risk of developing asthma.
Project 4:Researchers will study air quality and acute health outcomes in five U.S.cities. The goal is to understand how differences in the mix of air pollutants,weather, population susceptibility and other factors explain differences in theassociation between air pollution and cardiac and respiratory illness acrossthe cities. The results will clarify the combined impact of these factors onacute cardiorespiratory morbidity across the United States.
“Using novel approaches to characterize airquality and exciting new ways to assess health endpoints, we hope to make majorbreakthroughs in understanding health effects of ambient air pollution,” saysTolbert. “Specifically, we anticipate that we’ll achieve insights into what aspectsof the air pollution mixture are most harmful and how the pollutants acttogether, information that can be directly used to target control measures tomost effectively protect the public’s health.”
The center will focus on important scientific questions remaining in air research, says Paul Anastas, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development.
“These centers arecritical to understanding how to improve air quality and protect Americans’health from complex mixtures of air pollutants,” Anastas says.
]]>HollyKorschun, Emory Health Science News, hkorsch@emory.edu,404-727-3990
]]>Tree Campus USA is a national program that honors colleges and universities and their leaders for promoting healthy management of their campus forests and for engaging the community in environmental stewardship.
“By encouraging its students to plant trees and participate in service that will help the environment, Georgia Tech is making a positive impact on its community that will last for decades,” said John Rosenow, chief executive and founder of the Arbor Day Foundation. “One goal of the Tree Campus USA program is to help create healthier communities for its citizens through the planting of trees, and the city of Atlanta will certainly benefit from Georgia Tech’s commitment to Tree Campus USA.”
To maintain its Tree Campus USA designation, Georgia Tech met the five core standards of tree care and community engagement. Last November, the Arbor Day Foundation selected Georgia Tech as one of six universities to receive a recognition gift of 75 new trees.
]]>“I think the visibility of Game Day Recycling really took off this year,” said Cindy Jackson, who has directed the program since 2008. “We provided each of our volunteers with bright green T-shirts and continued to refine the process for how we collect recyclable materials. We also initiated some food waste composting within the stadium.”
The total represents a 9 percent increase from the previous year. Overall, the program recycled 19 percent of the waste generated during the fall’s six home games.
“The Athletic Department in particular has been very supportive, combing the stadium bleachers for recyclables before cleaning crews come in,” Jackson said. “Together with some of our other initiatives, we reduced the amount of trash produced within the stadium by 44 percent this season.
“A program like this wouldn’t be possible without the assistance of staff from many departments across campus or the enthusiasm of our dedicated game day volunteers,” she added. “It is a privilege to work with so many who see the value of Game Day Recycling and are willing to devote their time and energy to make it happen.”
]]>The grantwas established to honor the individual or company submitting a sustainabilitycase study judged as the most innovative and best-executed foodservicesustainability project of the year. Georgia Tech Dining Services, operatedby Sodexo, was selected for the recognition from among numerous entrantsnationwide including K-12 schools, restaurants, healthcare facilities and otherhigher education institutions.
Georgia Tech’s multifaceted approach to sustainabilityincludes energy- and water-saving initiatives, intensive composting andrecycling programs and the introduction of more local and organic produce. Overthe next five years, these sustainability programs are projected to generate acost saving of $807,200.
According to Dori Martin, district marketing manager forGeorgia Tech Dining Services, their goal is to achieve a 26 percentenergy-usage reduction and zero-waste goals by August 2015.
]]>
The award was one of 14 grants for fiscal year 2010 to pursue transformative, fundamental research in two areas of great national need: storing energy from renewable sources; and engineering sustainable buildings.
"These awards are significant in the extent to which the research teams are multidisciplinary," said lead EFRI program officer Richard Fragaszy. "Engineers, architects and physical and social scientists are pooling their expertise to conduct the basic research needed to design and construct future homes and offices that will greatly reduce reliance on fossil fuels and demand for potable water, while improving the health and productivity of their occupants.
EFRI, established by the NSF Directorate for Engineering in 2007, seeks high-risk interdisciplinary research that has the potential to transform engineering and other fields. The grants demonstrate the EFRI goal to inspire and enable researchers to expand the limits of our knowledge.
]]>404-385-2156
]]>"We’re very appreciative of the Arbor Day Foundation for selecting our application,” said Hyacinth Ide, Facilities landscape manager. “The trees that have been selected will not only offer shade for our students, but also provide some beautiful fall foliage for all to enjoy.”
For each of the past three years, Tech has been awarded the Tree Campus USA distinction, a program begun by the Arbor Day Foundation in 2008 to recognize colleges and universities that practice sound campus forestry. In order to earn the distinction, schools are required to meet five core standards of tree care and community engagement.
In meeting these standards, Georgia Tech developed a comprehensive tree care plan, a document that provides precise instructions regarding species selection, site preparation, planting and maintenance. To care for a campus with more than 7,000 trees, the plan also creates a Campus Tree Advisory Committee for ongoing oversight and evaluation.
The goal defined by Tech’s Landscape Master Plan is a landscape that will help Georgia Tech increase the campus tree canopy to a minimum of 55 percent and increase campus woodlands coverage to 22 percent.
“When my friends and I walk through campus, we want to feel like we are actually on a campus and that we can relax between classes in some shaded area,” said Tara Bryant, an undergraduate student in the School of Public Policy. “I feel like Tech's trees really set us apart from the urban atmosphere so that we can actually enjoy that green campus feel.”
“There’s no better way to celebrate the achievements of Tree Campus USA than to plant trees with students,” said John Rosenow, chief executive and founder of the Arbor Day Foundation. “By encouraging students to get involved with conservation efforts on campus, Georgia Tech is helping the next generation of tree planters see first-hand that a landscape can be transformed and a community improved by the simple act of giving back to the earth.”
]]>The Institute garnered an overall grade of "A-" on the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card, also known as the Green Report Card. The Sustainable Endowments Institute issues the annual report to measure sustainability initiatives at colleges and universities.
More than 330 national colleges and universities are graded in nine categories, ranging from Climate Change & Energy, Green Building and Food & Recycling to Administration, Investment Priorities and Student Involvement. In eight of the nine categories, Tech earned an "A" grade, added with a "C" in Shareholder Engagement.
Schools with an average grade of "A-" or better across all categories are recognized as Overall College Sustainability Leaders. Across the country, 52 institutions earned this distinction; for the region, only the University of Georgia, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Furman University were awarded top-tier status. Seven schools received an A — the highest grade given.
]]>GeorgiaTech received UCR’s first River Sustainability Award for the university’ssignificant investment in and leadership on behalf of water and energyefficiency as exemplified by campus sustainability programs.
"Georgia Tech is not only committed to providing a sustainable environmentfor our campus community; we are dedicated to global leadership in education,research and service in sustainability and resilient urbaninfrastructure," said Georgia Tech President G. P. "Bud" Peterson. "We areextremely honored by this recognition, and we will continue to partner withUpper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper to protect our environment and conserve ournatural resources."
UpperChattahoochee Riverkeeper is a 4,700-member, nonprofit organization whosemission is to protect and preserve the Chattahoochee River and the river systemfor the people, fish and wildlife that depend upon it. The Chattahoochee, one of the most threatenedrivers in the nation, is the primary source of drinking water for metroAtlanta.
]]>This year more than 700 schools, the most in the magazine’s history, submitted environmental information that was scored on a scale of 60 (the lowest possible score) to 99 (the highest possible score). Georgia Tech and the other honor roll schools scored a 99.
Georgia Tech has 21 endowed chairs and more than 100 classes that include sustainability components. Tech also requires all vendors to provide green products.
Since 2007 the Princeton Review, in conjunction with the nonprofit organization ecoAmerica, survey grades colleges and universities on three main criteria: whether students have a quality of life that is healthy and sustainable; how well the school is preparing its students for employment and citizenship in a world defined by environmental challenges; and the institution's overall commitment to environmental issues. The survey also posts questions in 10 areas, such as recycling, energy use, food, buildings, academic offerings, and action plans and goals concerning carbon emission reduction.
]]>The Green Cleaning program was implemented in 2003. A grass roots effort aimed at providing an environmental preferred method to cleaning American Schools. Green cleaning is defined as “cleaning that protects health without harming the environment.”
Georgia Tech’s program has received both local and national recognition. The Healthy School Campaign awarded Georgia Tech the 2007 Green Cleaning Award and Georgia Tech Building Services was named to the Princeton Review’s Sustainability Honor Roll in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Out of nearly 700 institutions evaluated on sustainability efforts, Georgia Tech was in the top 15.
]]>In May, the Georgia Tech Integrated Food Chain Center (IFC)launched as an international research hub focused on designing, analyzing andimproving the food chain for cold and perishable products.
The center – established by Georgia Tech’s Supply Chain& Logistics Institute and Memphis-based Sterling Solutions LLC – isenvisioned as collaboration between academia, government and industry.
The goal: assure that growers, processors, retailers andlogistics providers can deliver quality perishables via greater efficiencythroughout the supply chain.
“Supply chain research to date has focused very little on food chains comparedto the extensive efforts spent on supply chains for other products,” said IFCExecutive Director Don Ratliff, noting the lack of attention the cold chain haspreviously received. “Because food is both perishable and is consumed by people,there are fundamentally different integration issues and challenges to beresolved to keep the food safe and control waste.”
The time, though, is ripe.
Consumer interest in food safety and practices has neverbeen stronger. Retailers and wholesalers desire the same assurances, along withconsistent product safety and quality management systems that maximize saleswhile minimizing waste.
With the U.S. being the biggest importer and exporter ofperishable food goods, it was vital to focus energies on the complex system of coldchain shipping and receiving that currently exists and refine it for anevolving society and economy.
Specifically, there are three current trends that will forcemore attention on and resources to integrating food chains:
“There’s not much visibility back up the food chain, even inthe best of circumstances,” said IFC Director of Research John Bartholdi. “Whatwe are really focusing on is knowing the history of food and when we receiveit. If we can have much better estimations of shelf life, then we can move theproduct more efficiently through the supply chain here.”
Less waste, more efficient replenishment and better productquality is the end result.
Georgia Tech’s IFC will be housed in the Supply Chain & LogisticsInstitute at the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. For more information, visit http://ifc.scl.gatech.edu.
]]>"Post-consumer recycled content has come a long way," said Bill Georgia, production planner for PCS, adding that the new supply very nearly approximates virgin pulp in that it has a smooth, consistent look and feel.
Georgia said the impetus for the change came about through conversations with several campus clients. So when it came time to restock the PCS paper supply, Georgia shopped around. As it turned out, 100 percent post-consumer waste content was less expensive than his previous purchase of 30 percent recycled content.
Though the savings are modest, they do represent an extension of Georgia Tech’s commitment to sustainable practices, particularly in an area that represents the highest percentage of institutional recycling. In 2009, for example, office paper represented 31 percent — or 281.6 tons — of Tech’s recycled materials. In 2008, the Institute received national recognition from the American Forest and Paper Association for the quality of its paper recycling program.
"This is a great step for Georgia Tech," said Cindy Jackson, manager of Recycling Services. "It also sends a strong message to those who still contend that recycled paper is of inferior quality and won’t work in a copier or printer. Frankly, that is a myth."
With environmental concerns on everyone's mind, PCS also intends to offer clients the option of noting the paper is 100 percent recycled content in agate type.
"We'll have a prepared statement for those departments who want to include it," Georgia said.
]]>The research was a joint collaboration between Baratunde Cola, assistant professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, and an international team of researchers from the U.S., Australia, China, India and the Philippines.
Cola, director of Georgia Tech’s NanoEngineered Systems and Transport Research Group (NEST), described the study as a breakthrough in efficiently harvesting electrical energy from various sources of exhaust or wasted heat.
"Our NEST Lab was fortunate to team with Dr. Ray Baughman's NanoTech Institute at UT Dallas and Dr. Gordon Wallace's Intelligent Polymer Research Institute in Wollongong, Australia, in the final year of a long collaboration that solved key technical problems,” he said. “We brought fresh eyes, as well as our knowledge and experience with heat transfer engineering from the nanoscale to the scale of practical devices to the problem, which provided a key missing link. The team will together work to enable additional breakthroughs that are required for this technology to reach its full commercial potential."
Efficiently harvesting the thermal energy currently wasted in industrial plants or along pipelines could also create local sources of clean energy that in turn could be used to lower costs and shrink an organization’s energy footprint.
The new thermocells use nanotube electrodes that provide a threefold increase in energy conversion efficiency over conventional electrodes.
One of the demonstrated thermocells looks just like the button cell batteries used in watches, calculators and other small electronics. One key difference, however, is that these new thermocells can continuously generate electricity, instead of running down like a battery. The research netted other thermocells, as well, including electrolyte-filled, textile-separated nanotube sheets that can be wrapped around pipes carrying hot waste streams from manufacturing or electrical power plants. The temperature difference between the pipe and its surroundings produces an electrochemical potential difference between the carbon nanotube sheets, which thermocells utilize to generate electricity.
The research team estimates that multi-walled carbon nanotubes in large thermocells could eventually produce power at a cost of about $2.76 per watt from freely available waste energy, compared with a cost of $4.31 per watt for solar cells, which can only be used when the sun is shining. On a smaller scale, button cell-sized thermocells could be used to power sensors or electronic circuits.
The new thermocells take advantage of the exceptional electronic, mechanical, thermal and chemical properties of carbon nanotubes. The nanotubes’ giant surface area and unique electronic structure afforded by their small diameter and nearly one-dimensional structure offer high current densities, which enhance the output of electrical power and the efficiency of energy harvesting.
"Georgians have worked with state support, and in partnership with initiatives such as the Strategic Energy Institute at Georgia Tech, to realize significant gains in renewable energy production,” Cola said. “But to become a leading energy state, we must increasingly explore new ways to extract and utilize all forms of energy. Harvesting waste heat as electricity is one direction our NEST Lab takes with international partners to help provide increased renewable energy options for Georgia and the world."
This research was sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, The Welch Foundation and the Australian Research Council.
Cola recently received the 2009 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award for his work on solar energy conversion. As director of the NEST Lab, his research focuses on realizing the benefits of nanoscience in applications related to waste thermal energy harvesting, solar energy conversion, and thermal management of electronics and energy systems.
]]>
Don’t be discouraged – the “Please Keep off the Grass” signs are coming down soon, and there are still plenty of ideal locations for a game of Frisbee, sunbathing, reading and soaking up good conversation and sunlight with friends.
Couch Park
Formerly known as the Burger Bowl, this space re-opened on Friday, March 23, just in time for students returning from Spring Break. Though officially owned by the City of Atlanta, Georgia Tech Facilities maintains the area and the Campus Recreation Center (CRC) handles its space management and reservations.
“Couch Park is first and foremost for use by the student body and is not open to anyone else with exception to other schools during official games and matches,” said Jonathan Hart, assistant director of Facilities for the CRC. He continues to promote recreation and encourages students to use the field whenever available. Many students may not realize the grass on both sides of the sidewalk is available for play; Hart advises students to maximize use so multiple groups can occupy the fields simultaneously without disruption.
A new hybrid grass has been planted on the field called TifSport, which is highly durable grass used for athletics, similar to turf. The new grass makes Couch Park one of the few areas on campus that can endure heavy sports, such as rugby and soccer. Golf clubs, though, are still prohibited.
Reservations can be made on the CRC website, and schedules will be posted on the centrally located message board. Beside the message board, a new flagpole has also been installed. The thirty-foot-tall flagpole centered on the field contains a siren in case of a thunderstorm and will display a flag to identify availability at all times, instructing students that “Red Means No, Green Means Go.”
For full rules and regulations of usage for Couch Park, please contact Jonathan Hart.
Harrison Lawn
Harrison Lawn is located on Cherry Street, where the infamous steam engine is located, adjacent to Harrison Square. This area also contains fescue grass: not great for a game of rugby, but ideal for studying or eating lunch. Harrison Lawn is currently open for use.
Tech Lawn
Tech Lawn, also known as “Flagpole,” is the grassy area in front of Tech Tower. Tech Lawn is reserved for large-scale Institute events planned by the Alumni Association, such as Ramblin’ On for graduating students. No student group is allowed to reserve the space or use the field for sporting activities that may harm the landscape. Though restricted, Tech Lawn welcomes students to take a break on East Campus by sitting on the lawn, pulling out a good book to read or hanging out with a few friends. This space is scheduled to reopen in early May.
Fifth Street Bridge
The green spaces located on both ends of the bridge leading up to Technology Square are commonly used for sunbathing, tailgating during football season, Homecoming and Greek Week events, and the Flicks on Fifth summer movie series sponsored by the Student Center Programs Council. This area does not support sporting activities, unless it requires little weight and traction, such as cornhole. The area is currently closed due to sodding, but is scheduled to reopen April 15.
Skiles Triangle Lawn
Skiles Triangle Lawn, as its name reflects, is the triangular-shaped area, surrounded on its three sides by the Student Center, Tech Walk and Skiles Classroom Building. This area is also still restricted until the grass is completely rooted. The grass in this triangle is fescue, so it cannot withstand heavy traffic. However, it is open to students for picnicking or studying outside. Skiles Triangle Lawn is expected to be open in June.
Tech Green
Formerly known as Yellow Jacket Park, Tech Green is the area near the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons that is surrounded by the four sidewalks that compose Tech Walk (formerly known as Skiles Walkway). Though the Clough Commons opened for the fall 2011 semester, the grass remained under contract and is not completely developed. The grass used on the newly renovated space, called zoysia, not only repels weeds, but also is less prone to insect and fungus damage and helps maintain sustainable irrigation and sewage during rainy seasons. The grass has not fully rooted yet, but the space is likely to be open by August.
]]>Jonathan Hart
Assistant Director of Campus Recreation - Facilities and Operations
Campus Recreation Center
Hyacinth Ide
Associate Director - Land Services and Vehicle Management
Facilities
Beverly Peace
Campus Space Manager
Capital Planning & Space Management
Moinul Islam is a 2nd year Ph.D. student in the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech whose doctoral research interest is in humanitarian logistics. He graduated in 2003 from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Below, he writes about his research focus in ISyE and the factors that motivate him.
What can be better than creating solutions that impact the lives of people who are in vulnerable situations across the globe? For me, I can't think of any better way to spend my time. I have always known my passion in life was for doing work that has the potential to make a difference, and that, in large part, is what motivated me to go for my Ph.D. in ISyE at Georgia Tech. When I joined the program, I was not completely sure what I wanted to do. But when I learned about the research in humanitarian logistics, I knew I found the perfect domain to unleash my inner interest to be able to make a positive difference in this world.
I started my professional career as a lecturer in the industrial engineering department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, my alma mater. When I was promoted to faculty, I realized my interest in the practical implementation of best practices/theories that we talk about in school. So, I left my faculty position and joined a multinational Fast Moving Consumer Goods (also called Consumer Packaged Goods) company, working in the operations department at different capacities. Over the years, my desire to make a tangible difference eventually lead me to Georgia Tech, and it continues to motivate me as I work in humanitarian logistics in ISyE.
Coming from Bangladesh, a natural disaster-prone country in southern Asia, I have seen human suffering at a very close range. My personal experience with this motivates my research in humanitarian logistics and supply chain strategy in an effort to make non-governmental organization (NGO) operations more efficient.
This summer, under the direction of my advisors Professors John Vande Vate and Julie Swann, I was able to work with World Vision (one of the leading NGOs focused on improving the lives of children in vulnerable societies) in their supply chain transformation project. I worked in Ghana and Zambia (the pilot countries for West Africa and South African region) along with the project team. My work was part of the team's effort to design a high performance supply chain across the entire organization. I focused mainly on business process mapping and re-designing related to procurement and payment processes.
I worked with the supply chain team in Zambia to help streamline its procurement process, ensuring on time delivery to projects in 39 areas around the country. As a result, the Zambian team at World Vision generated a savings of $47,000 over three months (May-07 to July-07) which is a very significant dollar figure at the national level of operations.
My work at World Vision gave me great insight into the operating environment of NGOs at the field level, which will be very valuable in terms of my research. It was helpful for me to compare the opportunities and challenges that face the domain of humanitarian logistics to those of the corporate world. I also learned about important regional considerations during my stay in two countries, in two different regions of Africa. The differences in local settings can vary tremendously based on geographical locations. Based on my experience in southern Asia, my own preconceived ideas about the social and economic settings of developing countries proved grossly misconstrued in Africa. Basically, models which might be very effective in one setting can prove ineffective in another.
Personally, I gained exposure and appreciation of these cultural and social aspects, as well as their inherent differences in different parts of the world. Even though it's sometimes hard to see these kinds of softer issues in operational models, they have a tremendous influence. As I continue my research in humanitarian logistics, the field continues to motivate me. I enjoy using IE tools to generate a healthy bottom-line for business organizations that share my goal: to create a substantial difference in the lives of individuals who need it most.
]]>Now in its 13th year, the annual Sustainable Move-In/Move-Out Program represents a positive and successful collaboration among several Georgia Tech departments and student organizations and has a significant impact on waste reduction and recycling. A total of 30,578 pounds of materials were diverted through the Sustainable Move-In/Move-Out Program in 2009.
Georgia Tech houses 8,600 students in 41 residence halls. Each spring when students move out of their dorms, and again in the fall when they move in, there is a surge in waste generation. In the spring, students discard clothes, bedding, household goods, food and paper, and in the fall they discard their moving boxes. The Georgia Tech Office of Solid Waste
Management & Recycling has developed a program to divert these materials from the landfill.
Move-in gives freshman students and their families an important first impression of
Georgia Tech, and the programs and services the campus offers. By making the cardboard
and polystyrene foam recycling visible and convenient (with 31 recycling sites across campus
residential areas!), the OSWM&R introduces new students to Georgia Tech's recycling
program and encourages them to participate in recycling on campus from day one.
During spring Move-out, students are given the opportunity to discard unwanted items without
contributing to the waste in landfills. Convenient sites are set up where commonly discarded
items (such as paper, non-perishable food, clothing and household goods) are collected for
recycling and reuse, and are donated to several local non-profit organizations such as the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
Program Coordinator, Georgia Tech Office of Solid Waste Management and Recycling
]]>The 2015 competition will be held this spring in a senior studio that teaches students LEED principles along with a focus on sustainability and environmental issues. Students will work as teams to upcycle an early 20th-century single-story attached commercial building in downtown Atlanta for Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery, an artist-run non-profit.
“Thanks to the generosity of Ms. Epsten, our senior students will have the opportunity to gain experience working on a project with such a strong focus on sustainable issues,” said Sabir Khan, associate professor of architecture and the faculty lead for the studio. “This project does not start with a blank slate, students must work with what’s there to revitalize a structure with a past, and hopefully, with a strong future.”
The competition will be judged by both faculty and members of the Epsten Group, and the winners will receive cash prizes.
Dagmar B. Epsten, FAIA, LEED Fellow, CxA, is the founder and president/CEO of Epsten Group, an Atlanta-based architectural and engineering firm providing services for high-performance buildings since 1991. As the first LEED Fellow in Georgia, Ms. Epsten is a nationally and internationally recognized pioneer in sustainable design and services that optimize building performance. Ms. Epsten, M. Arch ’84, serves on Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture Executive Advisory Board.
About the Epsten Group
Ms. Epsten’s firm, Epsten Group, is well known for architectural and building consulting services with a focus on optimizing the long-term performance of the built environment. The firm has an international reach and has provided LEED certification reviews for over 7,000 projects in 50 countries. In addition to architectural and interior design services, the firm offers commissioning, green building and LEED consulting, energy modeling and optimization, building and product certifications, building envelope consulting, retro-commissioning and facility assessments, roofing and waterproofing, and energy auditing services. Epsten Group has worked on a number of Georgia Tech buildings and is proud to offer career opportunities to Georgia Tech graduates.
Located in Atlanta’s historic Old Fourth Ward, Epsten Group’s main office recently achieved the first Double LEED Platinum certification in the world, with both a major renovation under LEED v2009 and with operations and maintenance under the latest LEED version 4. The firm is currently providing architectural design and LEED services for a new event facility at Zoo Atlanta reusing the former Cyclorama building. In Atlanta, Epsten Group’s portfolio also includes the office towers at Atlantic Station, the Coca-Cola Company’s Workplace 2020, the new Porsche Cars of North America headquarters and Georgia Tech’s Technology Square.
]]>Director of Communications
College of Architecture
]]>Hosted by the Energy Club, the Expo will take place April 2–3 at the Student Center, bringing students and others in the energy community together to focus on the scientific, policy, and business elements surrounding the greater issue of energy. The two-day event includes sessions on topics such as legal and regulatory framework, entrepreneurship and access to capital in the energy field, and new technologies.
“The Expo is really geared toward inspiring students at Tech to get into the energy field and show them that there is a lot going on here and in Atlanta,” said Zach Archambault, an electrical engineering major and Expo organizer. “But more than that, we want to show them that they can get involved right now.”
The event began last year as a showcase and has grown to include panel discussions, guest speakers, and presentations. It’s open to the campus community and students from any area of study.
The Expo begins Thursday, April 2, at 4:30 p.m. with a screening of Cape Spin, a documentary about the political struggle and future of wind power, followed by a related debate and reception. Friday will be a full day of panel sessions on energy-related topics and will culminate in a research showcase, where Tech researchers, local organizations, and national companies will share their work on the green roof of the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons. Attendees are welcome to come and go during the day’s events.
“We want to show that Atlanta is riding the line of being at the forefront of energy innovation in the U.S. and it’s a good place to stay if you want to get involved in this field,” said Kavin Manickaraj, a graduate student in mechanical engineering and member of the Energy Club. “We’re already a huge leader in the Southeast, and we can make Georgia Tech the hub of energy innovation.”
The Expo fits into the Energy Club’s larger goal of creating leaders who will be able to join the workforce better prepared to handle energy-related issues.
“We want green energy companies to know they can come to Georgia Tech to recruit well-informed students,” Manickaraj said.
Expo tickets are $7 for general attendance and $25 for full student attendance, which includes lunch and drinks on Friday. Full attendance for others is $107. Register at www.energyexpo.gatech.edu/register.
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Using only the instructions recorded by the author in hiswork, “Walden,” the class and numerous other students raised the cabin’s wallsand rafters this past Saturday on the lawn in front of the College of ArchitectureBuilding. What began as a seminaron the writings of Thoreau became a search for meaning beyond the analysis ofwords on a page.
“We are searching for a greater understanding of Thoreau’sexperience at Walden and of knowledge embodied in practices and processes,”said Honors Program student and builder Victor Lesniewski. “There is a case to be made for gaininga perspective on the world—an additional context for meaning—through materialpractices. It means understandingthat there is knowledge and intellect that cannot be represented through agraph, a lecture, or a college classroom. It is a tacit knowledge that can onlybe achieved through an interaction with the materiality of a tree, a tool, theworld.”
Students only used tools that would have been available toThoreau to recreate the famed cabin. No nail guns, power saws, or pressure-treated two-by-fours—students usedfelling axes, broadaxes, crosscut saws, adzes, chisels, augers and bores, chalklines, squares, froes, and mallets. They also relied on Thoreau’s sparse instructions to guide them throughthe building process.
“For all his prolixity regarding his house, Thoreauprovides little detail about the actual construction,” said Crawford. “All we know is that he went to thewoods in late March 1845, felled a number of white pines with his borrowed axe,squared them—probably with a borrowed broadaxe—and constructed a 10-foot by15-foot by 8-foot timber-frame with six-by-six beams joined by mortise-and-tenonjoints.”
Beginning in October, students began felling yellow pinetrees from a farm near Monticello and squaring them by hand, no smallundertaking considering each log weighed hundreds of pounds. Each mortise-and-tenon joint thatconnects the beams took anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours to complete,and the house has more than 20 joints. The cabin’s beams require little storage space, stacking neatly togetherin what could be considered an early version of flat-packing.
“Thoreau didn’t detail how much labor it took to build acabin like this,” Lesniewski said. “In trying to figure out how he built this, we are gaining an experiencesimilar to Thoreau’s.” Alsoinforming the experience, Lesniewski added, were conversations prior toconstruction. “We have conducted interviews with Thoreau scholars, timberframers, and latter day Thoreaus to continue adding depth to our understanding,”he said.
The result of the class’s innovative approach to researchyielded a new insight about the author. “Many people see Henry David Thoreau as an anti-social crank who choseto spend his time alone, counting ants or measuring the ice at Walden Pond,”Crawford said. “While there is some truth in that perspective, the studentshave also learned how many of his activities demanded community, particularlythe raising of his house.
“Thoreau spent many a long day squaring up large timbers,pausing occasionally to talk with the casual passerby. But he also needed thehelp of a good number of friends and townspeople to raise the frame, anactivity that requires team-work, patience, and good spirits, and is usuallyaccompanied by music, feasting, and all around good times.” Crawford observed this sense ofcommunity first-hand.
Many students who were not enrolled in the class joinedthe self-dubbed Thoreau Housing Collective, their interest piqued by theever-present crew of flannel shirt-clad Honors Program students working infront of the Architecture Building. Often spending their weekends and afternoons with Crawford working onthe cabin, more than 20 students from a wide range of colleges and majorsdonated thousands of hours to the project. Many of them now find themselves with a new appreciation forthe craftsmanship and skills required to build a timber-framed house. “I had never even hammered before this,now I love it,” said Honors Program student Sarah Mudrinich.
Students will hold a March 16 poster presentation of theproject during the Undergraduate Research Spring Symposium in the StudentCenter Ballroom, and a student video about the project is in production. The Thoreau Housing Collective also hasdocumented its experience at www.thoreauhouse.org, which includesmovies, pictures, journals, interviews, and research.
The cabin will be displayed on campus for anindefinite amount of time. Whilethe ultimate fate of the structure is uncertain, the legacy of the project isalready making an impact across the country. High school students in Cincinnati used a Skype connectionto hear a lecture about the project and learn more about Thoreau. Plans for additional Skype lecturesaround the country may be on the horizon. In addition, Lesniewski plans to present a summary of the experience tothe American Literature Association in the coming months.
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]]>The competition, which is in its 13th year, offers graduate students the opportunity to collaboratively produce a compelling urban design proposal and rigorous financial pro forma. The 2015 competition challenged teams to propose a comprehensive design and development program for parts of the Tulane/Gravier and Iberville neighborhoods in downtown New Orleans.
“Honorable mention is a remarkable achievement given the caliber of the teams,” said Ellen Dunham-Jones, professor and coordinator of the MSUD at Georgia Tech and faculty advisor to the team. “The ULI competition has become very highly regarded and gets more competitive every year. I’m thrilled that this year continues Georgia Tech’s winning track record of earning top placements. It’s an intense two-week commitment on the students’ part. But it’s also a terrific opportunity for them to put on the hat of a developer and get as creative about costing, phasing, and finance strategies as about public spaces and building types. AiLien’s team did a great job integrating their design vision and implementation strategies – and it showed!”
The Georgia Tech team proposal Down the Line was cited by the jury for “its phasing scheme, thoughtful relocation of the RV park, general space layout and visual legibility.” There were four finalists and eight honorable mentions selected out of a pool of 120 teams from 60 universities in the U.S. and Canada.
"One of the best aspects of ULI is collaborating on an interdisciplinary team,” said AiLien Vuong, team leader and dual M.Arch/MCRP student. “While it can be challenging, it's entirely representative of the dynamic all of us will encounter in our own professions.”
MCRP student Elizabeth Vason added, "The ULI Hines competition is a two week blast of craziness, but we all brought our different talents to the table and came up with a development proposal we are proud of. I'm so glad the judges appreciated our hard work."
The Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition is part of ULI’s ongoing effort to raise interest among young people in creating better communities, improving development patterns, and increasing awareness of the need for multidisciplinary solutions to development and design challenges. Teams must be comprised of students from at least three disciplines, working to devise a comprehensive design and development program for a real, large-scale site full of challenges and opportunities. Submissions must include drawings, site plans, tables, and market-feasible financial data for the designated site.
For more information about the competition and to see the complete list of winners, visit the Urban Land Institute website.
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The students in CEE 4803 — a course called Environmental Technology in the Developing World — have spent the semester preparing for the 10-day trip. They’ll be evaluating different methods for testing air and water quality but will have to do so outside the comfort of their usual lab and equipment.
“It’s a really powerful and humbling experience to encounter your own limits and the limits of what is possible under certain constraints,” said Joe Brown, assistant professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, who teaches the course.
So far this semester, the class has worked to determine what kind of equipment they will use, how they will take samples, where to send them, and how to be as prepared as possible. About six days of the trip will be spent gathering data to analyze back in Atlanta, but an equally important goal is for students to learn how the technical aspects of their work relate to cultural, social, and economic aspects of the community where they are working.
Rebecca Yoo, a third-year civil engineering major pursuing minors in Spanish and Global Engineering Leadership Development, found the class a perfect fit for her range of interests. In high school she found herself wanting to pursue development work but wasn’t sure how until she came to Georgia Tech and learned about civil engineering.
“I was interested in communities that didn’t have the same basic needs met that I had grown up with,” she said. “I wanted to work with people, so I thought I would end up doing liberal arts, but decided to try engineering.”
Though she has traveled internationally for mission trips and to study abroad, this will be her first trip doing engineering in another country.
“It surprises students to find that they can make a difference with their work,” Brown said. “It can be a life-changing or career-changing experience for them. It changes their perspective on engineering and shows how they can contribute to the world.”
Enrolling in the class is a selective process. Brown looks for students with international interest or experience and dedication to the subject matter. The Joe S. Mundy Global Learning Endowment, designated for international learning experiences for Civil and Environmental Engineering students, provides full funding for the students’ travel.
The group of 10 undergraduates, two graduate student teaching assistants, and Brown will work with Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz. Brown hopes this trip is the beginning of other long-term opportunities for research and collaboration with the university. The group will also meet with U.S. Embassy staff during the trip.
As the class prepared for the trip this semester, they consistently revisited one question: What are we trying to do?
“One of the most valuable things I’ve learned is that we are aren’t going there to provide for people who are lesser than we are,” Yoo said. “These communities are people, with their own values and ways of communicating. We’re there to do research that hopefully will help, but we want to get rid of the doctor/patient relationship idea that we are there to save people. We want to learn about their culture, their perspective, and learn to collaborate with their communities.”
Brown came to Tech last year from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Europe’s largest public health school. His research focuses on international development at the intersection of public health and engineering, particularly in the areas of water and sanitation in underprivileged communities. He looks at microbial and infectious diseases whose exposure is due largely to a lack of infrastructure, and how new technology or the adaptation of technology can prevent exposure.
Though the work has serious implications, Brown takes a lighthearted approach.
“I like to say that excreta is my bread and butter,” he said.
Brown did work in Bolivia as a graduate student, but hasn’t been back since 2006. He’s excited to return and for his students to see the country and its culture.
“Usually when we come into class, Dr. Brown starts out showing us something like a video or a picture of llamas,” Yoo said.
The group will continue to post updates on its work online at www.facebook.com/brownwatergroup and www.twitter.com/BrownResearchGT.
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The initiative known as Serve•Learn•Sustain is Tech’s newest Quality Enhancement Plan, an essential component for reaffirmation of accreditation where a university must develop a long-term plan of action that tangibly supports student learning and reflects the institute’s mission.
Building upon Tech’s traditional disciplinary excellence, Serve•Learn•Sustain will improve undergraduate education by developing academic courses and experiences that combine community involvement with sustainability. By focusing on global challenges in critical areas of energy, environment, water resources, food security, and global health, students will have the opportunity to make service contributions based on their disciplinary expertise, bringing renewed meaning to Tech’s motto, “Progress and Service.”
To increase broad exposure, Tech will begin to blend sustainability and community engagement content into its curriculum. Upperclassmen who opt to delve more deeply into the topics will have additional structured learning experiences to choose from, to complement their academic program. Over time, Tech graduates will not only have a deep understanding of the environmental, social, and cultural impact of their profession, but also be capable of effectively addressing community-level sustainability challenges in their professional and civic lives.
A kickoff event on March 3 will feature a brief formal presentation and informal discussion on the new initiative. All students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend.
Serve•Learn•Sustain formally begins in 2016. Learn more about the plan and provide feedback at serve-learn-sustain.gatech.edu.
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Ellen Zegura
Professor of Computer Science, College of Computing
ewz@cc.gatech.edu
Examples of research topics that could merit an award include:
* Best practices for a specific type of campus
sustainability initiative
* Costs and benefits of campus sustainability efforts
* Relationships between campus sustainability and other
indicators such as number and/or quality of applicants
for admission, alumni donations, number and/or quality
of job applicants, campus employee satisfaction, etc.
* Case studies of campus sustainability programs
* A comparative evaluation of different approaches to
campus sustainability
* An assessment of the effectiveness of strategies used
to foster sustainability on campus
Applicants may submit as many papers as they wish. AASHE will post selected submissions on its website.
Any undergraduate or graduate student currently enrolled at a US or Canadian institution of higher education who has written a paper on campus sustainability is eligible for this award. Groups of students who have written papers on campus sustainability are also eligible for this award.
To apply for the Award for Student Research on Campus Sustainability please email your paper, a brief abstract (100-250 words), and a short bio to awards@aashe.org by August 1, 2008. By submitting a paper, applicants grant AASHE permission to post it publicly on AASHE's website. Please do not submit papers that include information that cannot be shared publicly.
Applicants will receive notice of the award decisions in August. The award will be presented in November at AASHE 2008 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
]]>Cindy Jackson, the Recycling Program manager, said the purpose of the student move-out collection is to "divert
]]>Started by the World Wildlife Fund in 2007, the Earth Hour initiative seeks participants from across the globe to turn off their lights and other electrical appliances on March 28 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.
]]>The clothing swap lets students, faculty, and staff donate clothes they no longer want or need and shop the closets of others in the Tech community. Donations are being accepted now through April 2, and the swap will take place at the Earth Day celebration. Any clothes left at the end of the event will be donated to local charitable organizations.
Volunteers are also needed to make the day a success. Volunteers can specify an area where they would like to help or can be assigned where they are needed. Learn more and sign up here.
Clothes can be dropped off at several locations on campus, including Burdell’s, the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, Howey Physics Building, Coon Building, Graduate Living Center, Whitaker Building, and Ferst Center for the Arts. (View a map of all dropoff locations.)
Georgia Tech’s Earth Day celebration will take place Friday, April 17. Learn more at www.earthday.gatech.edu.
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Institutions are graded in nine categories, ranging from Climate Change & Energy, Green Building and Food & Recycling to Administration, Investment Priorities and Shareholder Engagement. Tech, maintaining its role as a Campus Sustainability Leader, earned an "A" grade in seven of the nine categories. Last year, the Institute scored a "B" in the Climate Change & Energy and Transportation categories. The Institute again scored an "F" in both Endowment Transparency and Shareholder Engagement.
In 2007, Institute administration created the Office of Environmental Stewardship and named Marcia Kinstler director of sustainability. For the last two years, she has worked to aggregate and compile all data regarding sustainability efforts across academics, research and operations at Tech. Due in part to her office's efforts in reporting, Tech rose from an overall "C" grade in 2008 to a "B" grade last year.
"We knew Georgia Tech was a leader in many areas of sustainability, and many people across campus were doing extraordinary things, but we weren't able to articulate our leadership," Kinstler said. "It is only when we tell the whole story that people realize Tech has a stronger, deeper and broader sustainability program than many others who are more recognized and written about."
More than 330 schools were judged in nine categories, which in turn were equally weighed on a 4.0 grading scale. The highest grade earned by the 26 schools judged as Overall College Sustainability Leaders is an "A-". Comparing peer schools, Stanford University scored an "A-" overall, University of Michigan—Ann Arbor scored a "B+", and Emory University and the California Institute of Technology scored a "B".
]]>Prior to his death in January at age 59, the Tech alumnus expressed a desire to have a tree on campus named in his memory. Although Edwards died before he could select his tree for naming, his daughter -- a specialist in the U.S. Army -- came to campus and found the perfect tree, very close to the area where she had tailgated with her father years before.
The story of Edwards and his daughter has inspired the Office of Development, in partnership with Tech's Capital Planning and Space Management Department, to initiate a commemorative tree planting program as part of the Campus Beautification Program. This new effort will allow individuals or groups to fund the planting of a tree to honor, celebrate, commemorate, or memorialize living or deceased alumni, family members, or friends connected with the Institute, or to commemorate a special event.
To permanently acknowledge those who have been recognized through the program, a bench will be placed near all commemorative trees, with the option of a personalized plaque. Donors will be provided with a list of tree and bench types, as well as planting locations, from which to select. The final decision will be made by Capital Planning and Space Management. A one-time gift of $10,000 is required to fund a commemorative tree and bench, ensuring the ongoing maintenance of both.
"Our Landscape Master Plan provides guidelines for tree replacement and increasing our campus canopy," says Anne Boykin-Smith, master planner in Capital Planning and Space Management. "One main objective is to enlarge the tree canopy coverage of our campus to a minimum of 55 percent. (In 2004 it was 15 percent to 18 percent.) Every year, old trees are removed due to disease, drought, or storm damage. The Campus Beautification Program is one important way that we can replace lost trees and enhance the character of Georgia Tech by providing shade and seasonal color."
Boykin-Smith said that the "List of Acceptable Trees for the Georgia Tech Campus," contained in the Landscape Master Plan, will be used for tree selection. She said that oak, hickory, ginkgo, and ash trees are slow-growing varieties that live for hundreds of years and will be planted to replace the aging canopy. These will be augmented by other ornamental trees that mature faster and are shorter-lived, providing shade, spring flowers, and a more immediate canopy.
In addition, Boykin-Smith is initiating an effort to develop a "Proposed Campus Commemorative Tree and Bench Plan" that will serve as a guide for identifying potential locations for new trees and benches.
"We hope the plan helps to promote this extraordinary program and recognize donors and their loved ones," she said.
]]>Interface Inc. founder and Tech alumnus Ray Anderson realized in 1994 that he wanted his companies to become environmentally sustainable. This initiative expanded beyond just Interface Inc., and was given both name and form late last year with Mission Zero, an online platform for companies and individuals to learn from and assist others in the effort.
"Anyone anywhere can participate [through the online component], which is so exciting to us because it is the community, not Interface, who will determine where this will go," said InterfaceFLOR Senior Vice President of Marketing Joyce LaVelle. The Web site offers news, interactive education, social networking, peer-to-peer interaction and partnerships with key corporate, educational and industry representatives, she says. Members can join groups, post news stories and blogs, pose questions on sustainability and give advice on best practices.
In this early phase, LaVelle says efforts are concentrated on expansion-spreading the word and attracting new members. In time, community members will share best practices and spark new innovations. "I don't think it's overly ambitious to say we expect that the more minds who gather and share their knowledge through this online community, the more we and the planet will benefit," LaVelle said. "We sought out thought leaders who will contribute valuable information to the site and be able to recruit their own stakeholders to become members who will build and sustain the community."
Anderson solicited Tech to be a Mission Zero founding partner since the Institute's goals of leadership in environmental sustainability echo his own. "Georgia Tech will certainly enrich the community through its knowledge base and technology innovations," LaVelle said. "And this will happen at every level, from the Institute's leading researchers to its students, faculty and staff."
College of Management Professor Terry Blum was the initial point of contact for Mission Zero, an opportunity, she says, the Institute "seized."
"Mission Zero provides an open system for communicating about the interdisciplinary space of sustainability," Blum said. "Because of Georgia Tech's early leadership in sustainability, we were given the opportunity to be a founding participant in the Mission Zero Community. We build on the legacy of [our] alumni, including Ray Anderson of Interface and Brook Byers of Kleiner Perkins, the research programs and innovations of our faculty, research scientists, staff and our awesome students. Leadership in social and environmental sustainability is integrated into our defining of the technological university of the 21st century. Our participation provides the power to create the world in which we want to live."
To join, visit Green Buzz, Tech's environmental sustainability Web site, and click the Join Mission Zero button.
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The criteria for the rating cover three broad areas: 1) whether the school's students have a campus quality of life that is healthy and sustainable, 2) how well the school is preparing students for employment and citizenship in a world defined by environmental challenges, and 3) the school's overall commitment to environmental issues. The institutional survey included questions on everything from energy use, recycling, food, buildings and transportation to academic offerings (availability of environmental studies degrees and courses) and action plans and goals concerning greenhouse gas emission reductions.
More than 534 schools were given a green ranking; the other ten schools receiving the top ranking are Arizona State University (Tempe campus), Bates College, Binghamton University, College of the Atlantic, Emory University, Harvard College, University of New Hampshire, University of Oregon, University of Washington and Yale University.
Georgia Tech emphasizes sustainability throughout its campus with 21 endowed chairs and 23 research centers that include significant sustainability components. The Institute has also set a goal that every student take at least one of more than the 100 courses with a sustainability emphasis.
Georgia Tech has several institutional environmental sustainability programs that embrace green cleaning, solid waste recycling, drought-tolerant vegetation and storm water capture and reuse. The Institute received the 2008 American Forest & Paper Association College and University Recycling Award as well as the 2007-2008 Green Cleaning Award presented by American School & University Magazine. The Institute is also implementing a Sustainable Food Project encouraging environmentally responsible dining habits, like trayless dining to conserve water.
Georgia Tech highlights many of its green initiatives on its Green Buzz Web site.
]]>Today's awards were presented during the industry's 131st Annual Paper Week, where it was also announced that a record 56 percent of the paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling in 2007.
"The program that Georgia Tech has created on its campus is an outstanding example of the on-going commitment millions of Americans have made to paper recycling," said AF&PA President and CEO Donna Harman. "It will take innovative and creative programs such as this one to reach the new 60 percent recovery goal set by the industry for 2012."
Since the recycling program began at Georgia Tech in 1996, recycling has been successfully integrated into virtually all components of campus life. Last year, the school recovered more than 376 tons of paper products for recycling.
"It's wonderful to be honored for the work we are doing, and the positive impact we have on campus life," said Cindy Jackson, manager of the school's Office of Solid Waste Management and Recycling. "We provide the necessary means to implement our programs, including established collection sites and regular pick-ups for paper recycling, but our ultimate success comes from the active participation of everyone on campus."
For additional information and other 2008 AF&PA Recycling Award winners, the paper industry's new recovery goal, historical recovery data, and background materials and resources, please visit www.paperrecycles.org
About AF&PA
AF&PA is the national trade association of the forest, paper, and wood products industry. AF&PA represents companies and related associations that engage in or represent the manufacture of pulp, paper, paperboard, and wood products. The forest products industry accounts for approximately 6 percent of the total U.S. manufacturing output, employs more than one million people, and ranks among the top 10 manufacturing employers in 42 states with an estimated payroll exceeding $50 billion. Visit AF&PA online at www.afandpa.org.
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