| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 46.81 |
| Liaison | Stephanie Del Rosario |
| Submission Date | Sept. 11, 2015 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
California State University, Fullerton
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.80 / 4.00 |
John
Bock Professor / Director Anthropology / Center for Sustainablity |
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Is the institution utilizing the campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in the following areas?:
| Yes or No | |
| Air & Climate | Yes |
| Buildings | Yes |
| Dining Services/Food | No |
| Energy | Yes |
| Grounds | Yes |
| Purchasing | No |
| Transportation | No |
| Waste | Yes |
| Water | Yes |
| Coordination, Planning & Governance | No |
| Diversity & Affordability | No |
| Health, Wellbeing & Work | No |
| Investment | No |
| Public Engagement | Yes |
| Other | No |
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Air & Climate and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
The ENST/CHEM 492 course places a significant portion on the air and climate issues on campus, especially pertaining to the GHG inventory and the campus provisional Climate Action Plan (CAP).
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Buildings and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
ENST/CHEM 492 is a multidisciplinary immersion course that utilizes the built environment to educate and prepare students to become green building leaders and sustainability-focused citizens. Through the course, students assess the performance of existing facilities on campus and chose one building where they will facilitate the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED EB:O&M) process with the goal of certifying the facility. At the close of the semester the students are prepared to sit for the LEED EB:O&M professional credential exam.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Dining Services/Food and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
N/A
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Energy and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
The ENST/CHEM 492 course places a significant portion of the course on energy audit and recommendations for energy efficiency strategies and retrofit projects.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Grounds and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
The Fullerton Arboretum irrigation redevelopment project is on the campus grounds, and will address issues related to campus landscaping irrigation strategies and habitat issues.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Purchasing and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
N/A
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Transportation and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
N/A
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Waste and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
The ENST/CHEM 492 course and Ecology Center projects place a significant portion on waste audits and recommendations for new systems and infrastructure.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Water and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
The Fullerton Arboretum’s irrigation system was designed and installed in the 1970s. As such, the major components that are original have exceeded their service life and many of the components rebuilt from other cannibalized parts. The system has also grown over the years and because of this there are now 5 separate controllers spread out throughout the property that control the entire system. The controllers also do not communicate with one another or to a centrally monitored system. This causes problems when there are breaks in the water lines or when water is not needed (rainy days) among other problems.
Our desire is to go to a “2 Wire System” controlled from one central controller thereby eliminating the 5 dumb controllers and centralizing all 95 valves into a web based controller that uses daily evapotranspiration values provided by NOAA to adjust daily watering needs. We will also be replacing all valves to in hopes of greatly reducing leaky valves and replacing all sprinkler head nozzles to eliminate fogging or atomizing of the irrigation water as it leaves the sprinkler head. This will ensure that all water being sprayed out of the sprinkler head will not be blown away or evaporated before it reaches its intended target.
The Fullerton Arboretum goal is to have a 20% savings in water used in the garden for the first year the system is up and running.
The Arboretum needs a plan on how to implement this system to achieve the stated goal. Existing valves, controllers and heads need to be mapped out. Then, a plan will be developed on how to best connect the central controller to all the valves (what route should the 2 wire take). On the face of it this sounds like a simple task, but on a 26- acre plot we are talking about several thousand feet differences. The Arboretum will also need to assign watering values to each collection (desert collection, redwood collection, etc.) for the evapotranspiration value to have meaning.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Coordination, Planning & Governance and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
N/A
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Diversity & Affordability and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
N/A
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Health, Wellbeing & Work and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
N/A
None
A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Investment and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
N/A
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Public Engagement and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
The Ecology Center, in San Juan Capistrano, is an exciting educational center, that engages individuals, families, and students in fun, hands-on activities that teach practical, environmental solutions at the household and community level. The Ecology Center seeks to bring all members of the community together in a solutions-based educational setting to inspire and create a healthy and abundant future for all of Southern California.
Conducting a sustainability audit of our headquarters:
As a leading environmental non-profit in Orange County we are interested in making sure we are walking our talk and this is something we haven't been able to tackle yet. We thought the group of 9 could divide into sub-teams if that makes sense to carry out the following project:
Audit of our current practices around the following office practices i.e.:
-Paperless - truly
-Waste
-Materials and practices - ink cartridges
-Packaging
-Electricity usage
-Research and write proposal & budget for suggested improvements:
-Carbon offsets - plants
-True recycling program - process
Recommendations for new purchasing practices for office supplies
Execute:
We would work with the team(s) on a budget and depending on the scale of the improvements, have them install the changes (i.e. colored waste bins or the like)
A side project of this is to consider how we can use these improvements to educate the public:
The students would research our current branding and messaging from the website and grounds' signage and propose signage to install with the retrofit to highlight and call attention to our office culture actions in a way that is consistent with our brand.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory in Other areas and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
N/A
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The website URL where information about the institution’s campus as a living laboratory program or projects is available:
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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.