University at Buffalo
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

As a public research institution, our model of sustainability focuses on finding solutions to global challenges through research, educating individuals about these challenges, setting the bar high for sustainability in our own operations, and sharing our experiences and partnering with the external community. Through an integrated and collaborative approach, UB has become a leader in sustainability in higher education and was recently ranked within the top 50 green colleges and universities in the nation. Our commitment spans over 35 years—from the origins of the environmental movement at Love Canal to the innovative operational measures we take that continue to save the university millions of dollars a year. We strive to evolve, build resilience and minimize our environmental footprint on the future as most potently illustrated by our aggressive commitment to become climate neutral by 2030.

Cultivating the next generation of sustainability leaders through teaching and research
Providing exceptional teaching and innovative research is at the heart of what we do. With over 1/3 of our 30,000 student body in more than 330 sustainability courses, infusing sustainability across our curriculum has become integral to fostering the next generation of leaders who are equipped to address global challenges. In 2013, The Sustainability Academy was established as one of UB’s innovative living/learning communities allowing students to deepen their academic understanding of sustainability, pursue sustainability initiatives in their own lives, engage with university wide sustainability efforts, and connect with opportunities to positively impact the greater Buffalo community through internships and service learning. The sustainability academy facilitates student involvement in collaborative problem solving, addressing some of the most vexing problems of our day.

Building on a long history of environmental research, UB recently launched RENEW (Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water)—an ambitious, university-wide, interdisciplinary research institute that focuses on the most difficult and complex environmental issues, as well as the social and economic issues with which they are intertwined. One of the most expansive initiatives launched in recent years by the university, RENEW will harness the expertise of more than 100 faculty across the university, with the goal of hiring 20 more outstanding faculty with expertise in such areas as aquatic ecology, pollution law, behavioral economics, environmental planning, community health and energy/environmental systems. The institute’s interdisciplinary focus has already seen the launch of four diverse “seed” projects that explore the development of cost-effective desalination processes, the potential for great lakes offshore wind energy, tracking emerging sources of water pollution, and examining how the demand for renewable energy is affecting farmland.

In 2007, UB demonstrated exemplary leadership by setting the bar high in our own operations when President Simpson signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. A subsequent Climate Action Plan, created in 2009 under the direction of UB’s Environmental Stewardship Committee, provides a roadmap for identifying and implementing opportunities to reduce our environmental impacts while continuing to grow, ultimately striving to be climate neutral by 2030. Over the first few years of implementation the university has witnessed a 9.4% reduction in its energy use index (as measured by NYPA) and is moving forward with a host of carbon reduction strategies.

Our early commitment to green construction and sustainable design laid the foundation for five new LEED Gold buildings—all opening within one year of another. William R. Greiner Hall opened as SUNY’s first LEED Gold residence hall and continues to demonstrate the potential for student living to be highly-efficient, well-designed and inspirational places to live, work, and play.

Monitoring our building performance and resource use is an important part of our ongoing sustainable operations strategy. As part of a NYPA project, over 210 power meters have been installed at UB. The new internet based “smart” power meters allow UB to closely observe and manipulate power consumption within each building. To reinforce this commitment and further engage the university community, the UB Sustainability Dashboard was launched last year and provides real-time energy, water, steam and natural gas usage in an online, interactive platform.

In addition, the University has been a leader in purchasing renewable energy at a rate of 35% of its total consumption. This action has garnered it top national recognition by the Environmental Protection Agency as the 11th largest green power user among U.S. colleges and universities for the past several years. These activities are woven around the University’s continuing emphasis to reduce energy usage where possible in its buildings and grounds through greater energy control and the deployment of rapidly changing technologies. As one of many examples, in 2014 an energy conservation project was completed in a student dorm that reduced electrical usage by 997,838 kwh/year and 1,145MMBtu of natural gas.

Last year, UB also initiated an innovative first-of-its kind bike share program that provides GPS-enabled bikes (powered by a solar panel on the bike) that can be located and borrowed using your smartphone. This coupled with policies that encourage car-pooling, provide charging stations for electric vehicles, and promote a culture of biking and walking have helped us move toward more sustainable transportation options for our students, faculty, staff and visitors who travel to UB’s three campuses and throughout the community each day.

While reducing our carbon footprint is essential, the university is also firmly committed to activities that move it away from creating waste on our campuses. In 2014 A Zero Waste Task Force was convened to focus on the problem. Recommendations from the task force included; forming a permanent Zero Waste Council, completing a University waste stream analysis, developing a comprehensive recyclers list for more complex commodities and increasing recycling and composting at sporting and special events. The University is continuing to build on its existing programs for recycling (over 1.5M pounds a year) and reuse through programs such as RecycleMania, an increasingly robust program for recycling textiles, electronics recycling, personal records shredding events, an aggressive composting initiative that eliminates 100% of pre and post consumer waste in our dining halls and a very successful pilot program at UB Stadium in 2014 that eliminated nearly all game day waste.

We appreciate the importance of experiential learning and strive to support our students as they explore ways to weave sustainability and environmental stewardship into their everyday lives. Last year, UB students completed 42,455 hours of sustainability related service in our region and beyond by participating in programs like the Louisiana Bayou Alternative Winter Break trip and an innovative environmental internship program with 100 environmental organizations throughout Western New York.

We strongly believe our work doesn’t stop at the campus borders. The university works in partnership with sustainability-centered community organizations to help bolster the sustainability conversation in Western New York and we appreciate the importance of supporting a strong and resilient Buffalo-Niagara. UB has provided key community leadership (recently earning the 2014 Best Collaboration Award by USGBC) to create, implement and provide ongoing strong leadership and collaboration to the Western New York Environmental Alliance (an umbrella group that strengthens the work of our region’s environmental community) and the Sustainable Business Roundtable (the region’s green business group). We also believe in the power of sharing our success (and failures) and thus have developed a dynamic sustainability communications portal that provides a one stop shop for “all things sustainability” and provides a jumping off point for our social media vehicles and the monthly UB Sustainability News.

UB benefits from an equally engaged and civic-minded faculty and professional staff. Each year the Professional Staff Senate brings together 30 local and national businesses and community groups to host the UB Sustainable Living Fair, which engages students, faculty and staff with ways to lead greener lives both at work and at home. Faculty, like Joe Gardella, are finding creative ways to take their environmental expertise right into Buffalo neighborhoods, working with students and residents to test for environmental contaminants in homes, playgrounds and backyards. The dynamic, sustainably- focused regional planning effort, One Region Forward, demonstrates the incredible outcomes that can be achieved when we leverage our human capital both on and off campus. The initiative, which was coordinated by UB’s Regional Institute in conjunction with partner organizations, engaged more than 5,000 citizens and 700 organizations through innovative capacity building programs over a three year period.

The University at Buffalo’s 750-kilowatt Solar Strand, brought to life by world-renowned artist Walter Hood, reflects a transformative vision that moves beyond obtaining carbon neutrality and reducing our footprint. It welcomes students, faculty staff and community members to UB’s campus through a connected and cultural natural landscape, designed to be one of the most publicly accessible energy sites in the world. Like higher education, the strand is multidimensional; merging teaching, learning, art, research, sustainability and community engagement into a complex and powerful resource that will be a model for future development.

As the most accessible solar landscape in the world, which has generated 24 million kwh to date, the Solar Strand was recently listed on the 2014 Wall Street Journal Best of Architecture list. It has been actively promoted as a learning destination and social venue and played host to the 2013 Buffalo Niagara Earth Day celebration, UB’s Bring Your Child to Work Day workshop, Leadership Niagara and many others. We are currently partnering with Verizon to create an interactive, free-choice mobile app which will serve as a self-guided tours for visitors to the strand.

At 140 feet wide and 1,250 feet long, the array’s 3,200 American-made panels will prevent 400 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere annually.
Looking ahead: Creating a culture of integrated sustainability thinking
While we are proud of the road we’ve travelled, we want to build on our history of environmental stewardship and recognize that sustainability is not a goal to achieve, but rather a strategy for creating a better future. As we evolve our model of sustainability we’re focused on embedding a culture of sustainable thinking and practice deep into all aspects of day-to-day activities and long-term ambitions.

Building on success of the Environmental Stewardship Committee, we’re in the process of creating a cross-cutting university wide Sustainability Congress that is led by a committed Stewardship Council. As part of this process we’re building off the UB Climate Action Plan and creating a new sustainability strategy and plan that incorporates best practice from our national peers through the Sustainability, Tracking Assessment Rating System (STARS).

As an institution of higher education, we are greatly appreciative of the opportunity we have to demonstrate ongoing sustainability leadership through our mission of educating the next generation, finding new solutions through our research and partnering with our community and our region. We strive to evolve and adapt, all the while sharing our stories of success and challenges in an effort to encourage others as they endeavor on their own sustainability journey’s. We believe sustainability is inherently collaborative and are inspired by the efforts of others both locally and globally as we collectively work toward creating a better future through sustainability.

For additional stories, news clippings and other supporting documentation please visit: www.buffalo.edu/sustainability.

In November 2007, the Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) was created to direct UB’s efforts toward fulfilling our commitment of achieving climate neutrality and ensuring that UB is moving toward sustainability.

Since then, the ESC created, submitted and began implementation of a Climate Action Plan aimed at reducing UB’s net carbon emissions to zero by 2030.

The Environmental Stewardship Committee was constructed according to one basic principle: that individuals representing units of the university with the budget authority and operational capacity to implement a climate action plan should be intimately involved in creating, managing and monitoring the plan.

Building on the success of the Environmental Stewardship Committee, in early 2015 the university reconstituted the ESC to better embed sustainable thinking, practices and decision-making throughout the university via an integrated sustainability strategy. The new university wide Stewardship Committee reports to the president and is co-chaired by Robert Shibley, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, and Ryan McPherson, chief sustainability officer. The committee conssists of key campus leaders and leverages four new subcommittees focusing on research, teaching, operations and engagement (the ESC was primarily focused on operations). The subcommittees, which are tasked with developing goals, priorities and focus areas for UB’s broader sustainability plan, are chaired by:

Research – Amit Goyal, director of RENEW (Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water) and the Empire Innovation Professor in the departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Physics.

Teaching – Andrew M. Stott, dean of undergraduate education and professor of English.

Operations – Kelly Hayes McAlonie, interim associate vice provost and director of UB’s Capital Planning Group.

Engagement – Domenic “Dom” Licata, instructional support technician and instructor in the Department of Art, and incoming chair of the Professional Staff Senate.

In addition, the Stewardship committee also holds multiple Sustainability Congresses throughout the year to garner greater stakeholder engagement from across the campus.

See more at: http://www.buffalo.edu/sustainability/about/news-and-events/latest-news.host.html/content/shared/www/sustainability/articles/news-articles/new-sustainability-strategy-to-be-introduced-at-first-annual-sum.detail.html#sthash.CxUSzNoK.dpuf

Stewardship Committee:
Robert Shibley, Dean of Architecture and Planning & Campus Architect (Co-Chair)
Ryan McPherson, Chief Sustainability Officer (Co-Chair)
Christopher Atkinson, Graduate Student Association President
Laura Barnum, Associate Vice President for Resource Planning
Don Erb, Director of Sustainable Operations Intergration
Philip Glick, Chair of Faculty Senate
Amit Goyal, Director of RENEW (Research Chair)
Kelly Hayes-McAlonie, Interim Associate Vice Provost Capital Planning Group
Teresa Miller, Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion
Erin Moscati, Environmental Educator
Minahil Khan, Undergraduate Student Association President
Jessica Kozlowski-Russell, Sustainability Engagement Coordinator
Domenic J. Licata, Chair of Professional Staff Senate (Engagement Chair)
Tonga Pham, Associate VP, Facilities
Barbara Ricotta, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs
Ed Schneider, Executive Director University at Buffalo Foundation
Andrew Stott, Dean of Undergraduate Education (Teaching Chair)

Operations Subcommittee
Kelly Hayes-McAlonie, Interim Associate Vice Provost Capital Planning Group (Interim Chair)
Jeff Brady, Executive Director of Campus Dining & Shops
Ray Dannenhoffer, Associate Dean for Support Services, SMBS
Christopher Donacik, Property Manager University Facilities-Operations
Allen Greene, Deputy Director of Athletics
Saira Hasnain, Director of Enterprise Infrastructure Services, CIT
Justin Imiola, Director of SA Environment
Ken Kern, Associate Director, Campus Living Sustainability
Ronald Place, Jr, Director of Real Estate and Property Management
Capital Planning Group
Joseph Raab, Environmental Health and Safety Officer
Kevin Thompson, Director of Facilities Planning & Design
Daniel Vivian, Assistant Vice President of Procurement Services
Maria Wallace, Director of Parking and Transportation Services
AKX
Representative TBD

Engineers for a Sustainable World representative TBD

Engagement Subcommittee
Domenic J. Licata, Chair of Professional Staff Senate (Chair)
Hadar Borden, Administrative Director of Undergraduate Academies
Hillary Chiarella, Undergraduate Student, UB Sustainability SA
Andrea Costantino, Director of Administrative Services, Campus Living
Phyllis Floro, Director of Student Activities, Student Life
Sara Goodman, Incubator & Directed Energy Administrator Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach
Krista Hanypsiak, Administrative Director, Honors College
Elizabeth Hladczuk, Student Life
Justin Imiola, Environmental Network President
Janiece Jankowski, Chair of PSS Sustainability Committee
Laura Mangan, Director of Civic Engagement and Public Policy
Andy Olewnik, Director, Experiential Network Program, School of Engineering
Thomas Tiberi, Director of Student Life
Chloe Wasteneys, Engineers for a Sustainable World Vice President

Research Subcommittee (all are faculty)
Amit Goyal, Director of RENEW (Chair)
Diana Aga, Analytical & Environmental Chemistry
Sara Behdad, Engineering
Ling Bian, Geography
Jason Briner, Geology
Martin Casstevens, STOR Program
Jessica Castner, Nursing
Ning Dai, Environmental Engineering
Chris Lowry, Geology
Lina Mu, Epidemiology & Environmental Health
Jim Olson, Pharmacology & Toxicology
Jessica Owley, Law School
Abani Patra, Center for Geohazards
Nicholas Rajkovich, Architecture
Mark Swihart, CBE
Jennifer Zirnheld, Energy Systems Institute

Teaching Subcommittee (all our faculty)
Andrew Stott, Dean of Undergraduate Education (Teaching Chair)
Martha Bohm, Architecture
Mary Alice Coffroth, Geology
Alexa Dimick, Learning and Instruction
Sandy Geffner, Environmental Studies
Trina Hamilton, Geography
Daniel Hess, Urban & Regional Planning
Jim Jensen, Environmental Engineering
Sam Magavern, Law
Sara Metcalf, Geography
Kelley Mosher, President, AKX
Chris Renschler, Geography
Stephanie Rothenberg, Art
Ken Shockley, Philosophy
Andy Stott, Undergraduate Education
Paul Vanouse, Art
Noemi Waight, Learning & Instruction

UB's sustainability model focuses on finding solutions to global challenges through research, creating sustainability literate citizens through our teaching, setting the bar high in our operations, and partnering with the external community. We strive to evolve, build resilience, and minimize our environmental footprint as illustrated by our aggressive commitment to become climate neutral by 2030.

The mission of UB Sustainability (UB's sustainability office) is to connect people across the university with the information, innovation, and tools to create a better future for UB and our community through sustainability.

Ryan A. McPherson, Chief Sustainability Officer
In September of 2011, Mr. McPherson was named the University at Buffalo’s first Chief Sustainability Officer. In his role as the CSO, Ryan connects people across the university with information, innovation, and tools to reduce UB’s footprint on the future and enhance quality of life by improving environmental stewardship, increasing economic efficiency and augmenting cultural values and awareness. He specifically works closely with university partners and employs an integrated campus-wide strategy that leverages the university’s operations, curriculum, external engagement and research to further UB’s sustainability efforts.

Prior to taking on this new role, Ryan was the Associate Vice President for Government & Community Relations where he successfully led a multi-year New York State effort that resulted in the enactment of the most comprehensive higher education legislation in a generation. Before leading the university’s advocacy efforts, Mr. McPherson was the Chief of Staff for the External Affairs Division and was responsible for day-to-day operational leadership.

In addition, he also played a pivotal role in creating the President’s Environmental Stewardship Committee, the university's Climate Action Plan and driving a university wide approach to sustainability as well as establishing the Western New York Sustainable Business Roundtable and currently chairs the Western New York Environmental Alliance. Previous to joining UB, Ryan worked in Washington, DC and New Hampshire advocating for greater environmental protection and democratic participation.

Mr. McPherson received his B.A. in political science from the University of New Hampshire and graduated magna cum laude from the University at Buffalo Law School with a concentration in environmental law.

Don L. Erb, Director of Sustainable Operations Integration
In August of 2014 Don Erb joined UB’s sustainability team after 22 years of service as the Director of Residential Facilities at the University at Buffalo. Don has a proven track record of innovation and effectiveness in the construction and sustainable operation of UB’s housing facilities. Don works with all University Departments to assist them in reaching UB’s operational sustainability goals that are embedded in our Climate Action Plan, Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 88 and our march towards zero waste. He will specifically work in the areas of transportation, energy conservation and efficiency, materials management, natural resource conservation, and the built environment.

Jess Kozlowski Russell, Sustainability Engagement Coordinator
Jess joins us from Glasgow Caledonian University (Scotland, UK) where she was working on environmental initiatives as part of the Caledonian Environment Centre. As sustainability engagement coordinator Jess works with students, faculty and staff on a range of initiatives and programs to embed sustainable thinking and practices across the university. She also works to facilitate the development of the next generation of sustainability leaders and is interested in elevating the conversation around sustainability to be inclusive, inspiring, and fun!

Erin Moscati, Sustainability Education Manager
Erin works to minimize UB’s materials consumption and increase the amount of waste diverted. She also creates and implements educational programs to help the campus community engage in sustainability initiatives and transform UB’s operations. Erin coordinates UB’s participation in RecycleMania and chairs UB’s Recycling committee which unifies people and departments across campus in waste reduction efforts. Erin is also launching a new engagement program which will teach faculty and staff how to serve as environmental advocates within their departments.