Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 57.78
Liaison Julia Carlow
Submission Date May 6, 2021
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

American University of Sharjah
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Air & Climate 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Air & Climate?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Air & Climate:
AUS Sustainability had provided extensive data to a student who is doing a GHG study of AUS as his capstone.

Buildings  

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Buildings?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Buildings:
An Architect professor is working with his senior studio class to redesign one of the female resident halls. They will look at enhancing the sustainability of the building and standardizing more sustainable components into the building, such as recycling bins, etc.

Energy 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Energy?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Energy:
Every term the ENV 100: Principles of Environmental Science class request the electricity usage for the entire campus for their group research project. We also meet with each group of students to answer questions about energy usage on campus and any facilities projects that are targeting reductions in energy usage. We have worked with a cost benefit analysis class and multiple Engineering classes to provide the University's energy usage for class projects. We have also worked with a professor to provide the metering data, and usage patterns on campus to look at testing smart meters with the local electricity authority.

Food & Dining 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Food & Dining?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Food & Dining:
The AUS Sustainability EcoReps conducted study of the take away waste created on campus and developed a proposal to incorporate reusable containers at the main cafeteria. They submitted their proposal for a national competition and won third prize which included prize money, that will be used to pilot their proposal.

Grounds 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Grounds?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Grounds:
Students conducted a biodiversity study of flora and fauna on campus and are developing signage to identify tree species for the Sustainable Campus Initiative and as part of their ENV 150: Introduction to Environmental Sustainability class.

Purchasing 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Purchasing?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Purchasing:
The ECO 310: Cost Benefit Analysis requested data on a number of campus purchases, including paper consumption, installation of light sensors, expansion of solar water heaters into faculty housing, etc.

Transportation 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Transportation?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Transportation:
We have shared the campus fleet make up and the contracted bus routes and frequency as well as the annual campus wide sustainability survey data on commuting to calculate the GHG emissions created by the staff/faculty and students commuting to campus.

Waste 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Waste?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Waste:
AUS students conduct a Waste Audit every year for various different buildings on campus in conjunction with Dr. Knutson's & Dr. Samara's classes. They compare waste amounts and segregation success year over year. Additionally, a design practicum class designed a new campus recycling campaign materials including a "Game On" campaign, bins labels, brochure, and a video.

Water 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Water?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Water:
Students utilized the water consumption from AUS utility bills for faculty housing and student resident halls to study if it would be beneficial to install individual meters, to allow the AUS to charge for water usage. This was done for a senior design project.

Coordination & Planning 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Coordination & Planning?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Coordination & Planning:
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Diversity & Affordability 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Diversity & Affordability?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Diversity & Affordability:
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Investment & Finance 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Investment & Finance?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Investment & Finance:
---

Public Engagement 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Public Engagement?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Public Engagement:
Students developed a waste segregation survey and video targeting the University cleaning staff and the household help living and working on campus to educate them in seven different languages about what is recyclable and how to properly dispose of waste in the housing and on campus.

Wellbeing & Work 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Wellbeing & Work:
MCM: 220 - Intermediate Digital Media Design Class worked with AUS Sustainability to design materials for our weekly Farmer's Market. The researched the health benefits of eating fresh produce and developed a marketing campaign with logos, posters, stickers, media campaign materials promoting the benefits of the farmers' market. The groups presented their final projects to the staff and one groups' materials were chosen for use the following year to market the market.

Other Impact Areas 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to other areas (e.g. arts & culture or technology)?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to other areas:
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Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.