Santa Clara University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

ENVS 95/195 Sustainable Living Undergraduate Research Project: Dunne Hall Solar Water Heater: Students and staff completed a research project to install a solar water heater on a residence hall to use solar energy instead of natural gas to heat the building's water systems. The students conducted research on the emissions savings and cost/ROI of the project, and presented their findings to a committee for project funding. Funding was approved in the 2016-17 academic year.

Students at SCU participated in the inaugural Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Tiny House Competition. Ten teams from California universities competed to build a self-sustaining house between 100 - 400 square feet. The SCU project team was composed of undergraduate students and faculty from the School of Engineering, the School of Business, and the College of Arts and Sciences.

At the Tiny House Showcase in October 2016, the SCU house was named the champion design, winning two of the four main categories (energy and communications) and six of the twenty sub-categories (day lighting, integrated lighting, interior design, best kitchen, best program, and best tour).

ENVS 95/195 Sustainable Living Undergraduate Research Project: Motion/Ambient Light Sensors in Classrooms: In this project, students built upon previous research to create a substantial plan to install motion and ambient light sensors in classrooms in the most active academic buildings on campus. Their research showed that most classrooms are over-lit, and on average, half a building's classroom lights are left on overnight. Sensors were installed in all classrooms in Kenna Hall and Lucas Hall in early 2017.

ENVS 95/195 Sustainable Living Undergraduate Research Project: Eco-Tray and Dishware Return: Students worked in their residence hall to promote the usage of the reusable eco-trays provided by the dining hall. The students used an information campaign and weekly drop-off location to engage their peers and show the benefits of using a reusable to-go container.

ENVS 95/195 Sustainable Living Undergraduate Research Project: New Neighborhood Unit Landscaping: Students conducted an analysis and survey of the landscape design of the University-owned off-campus housing units. They proposed to the Housing Office several alternatives to the current grass lawns that were more drought-friendly. These options included artificial turf, California native tall grasses, and a combination of mulch and plants.

COMM 120A: Environmental Communication: A student group in COMM 120 worked with the SCU Center for Sustainability and Transportation Office to conduct a survey and generate a recommendations report based on the survey results. The goal of the survey was to provide the relevant parties statistical information that could point to solutions to reduce single occupancy vehicles at Santa Clara, which in turn would reduce the campus' carbon emissions. The students collected responses from 863 SCU undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and faculty to gauge interest in transportation alternatives to the traditional single-occupancy vehicle commute.

ENVS 95/195 Sustainable Living Undergraduate Research Project: Composting in the University Villas: Students conducted research on the waste habits of the residents in the University Villas, a university-operated upperclassmen apartment complex. These apartments are equipped with full-scale kitchens, thus the residents produce a large amount of compostable waste, yet there was no comprehensive composting option available. Based on the research, these students worked with the Campus Sustainability Investment Fund and University Housing to have two-gallon compost pails added to each unit starting in Fall 2016.

ENVS 23: Intro to Earth Systems Sciences: Students in the class explored how earth systems interact and the implications of these interactions in a political, socio-economic, and environmental context. In the lab section of this course, students measured samples from the University's recycled water system as a way to track water quality over time. This class is offered every quarter, so these measurements are recorded on a regular basis.

ENVS 95/195 Sustainable Living Undergraduate Research: Tackling Climate Change Through Laundry: The goal of this project was to educate students on the benefits of washing their clothes with cold water as well as incentivize them to use cold water through machine changes and discounts. The team conducted a 3-week test in the Campisi residence hall, with the help of the Housing Department. They temporarily reduced the price of 4 clothes washers for which the hot water had been turned off. Results from the project showed that by charging a quarter less for cold water laundry and educating the users about its benefits, more than half of the students in Campisi used cold water to do their laundry during the time tested.

COMM 107A: Intercultural Communication: In this class, students studied the differences in communication strategies across cultures and the nature of intercultural relationships. For the final project of this class, students wrote a paper regarding an intercultural communication interaction they experienced on campus (i.e. knowing friends in an intercultural romantic relationship) and collaborated with another student in the class to produce a short film on their respective paper topics. Additionally, all students participated in off-campus volunteering programs that included ESL (English as a Second Language) tutoring, citizenship exam preparation assistance, and working with senior citizens.

Students and faculty can submit sustainability project ides to the Campus Sustainability Investment Fund (CSIF) to have their ideas assessed for feasibility and receive project funding. Submitted projects must have the goal of reducing the campus' carbon emissions in at least one of the following categories: water consumption, energy usage, waste production, and transportation emissions. Smaller funding amounts may also be approved for projects designed to grow the culture of sustainability at SCU. In its inaugural year, the CSIF funded five projects, including four projects submitted by students via the ENVS 95/195 class, Sustainable Living Undergraduate Research Project.

ENVS 131: Environmental Education: Students in this class learn the theories and methods of educating students in topics of the environment and sustainability, with the target audience of K-12 students. As part of this class, students must participate in weekly engagements with students from schools in the community surrounding SCU. One of the weekly engagement opportunities is with the BUG (Bronco Urban Gardens) initiative at SCU's Forge Garden. SCU students at The Forge assist with a garden-based program that engages children connected to Homesafe, a transitional housing facility for families affected by domestic violence located a couple blocks away from the garden.

ENGL 2A: Writing about Sustainability: All Santa Clara students are required to take a course introducing critical thinking and writing skills. Each ENGL 2A course has a different theme and course title, one of which is Writing about Sustainability. Students in this class conducted a quarter-long observation project for a location of their choosing on campus. Each week, students observed the same location for a minimum of 15 minutes and used the photos and notes they took to consider any changes that may have occurred over the quarter. Students wrote a paper and presented their findings to the class. Many students commented how much they enjoyed slowing down to observe their location. Some felt they had made a deeper connection to the campus and wanted to make sure they appreciated all their surroundings after this experience.