Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.45
Liaison Bambi Ingram
Submission Date Feb. 7, 2020
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Alabama at Birmingham
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Julie Price
Sustainability Coordinator
Sustainability
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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:
UAB Environmental Health & Safety purchased a license for Sustainability Indicator Management & Analysis Platform (SIMAP) in the spring of 2019. A full-time student intern, JoAnna Lochamy, is completing the majority of the data collection and analysis to complete UAB's GHG inventory and baseline. JoAnna is a student in the School of Public Health's Environmental Health Sciences.

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:
Senior design for UAB Civil, Design, and Environmental Engineering in spring 2019 included a project to designing a parking deck on a campus site slated for a future parking deck in the UAB Master Plan. The student teams designed and analyzed all facets of the deck, including parking layout, incoming/outgoing traffic, energy load and potential for renewable energy, 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:
A full-time student intern, Mia Murr, completed a semester-long analysis of UAB's comprehensive energy plan. The plan had been developed in 2015 by an external consulting firm and the total cost for all items in the plan exceeded $100 million. Mia worked to prioritize particular buildings with high energy usage per square foot and an order of operations for particular projects within those buildings. Mia's final analysis included a list of projects by building, sorted into projects with less than 1-year return on investment (ROI), less than 3 year ROI, and less than 5 year ROI. Her work will be used by our energy management team for project planning. Mia is a civil engineering student and just graduated. Her first job is working with the consulting firm who designed UAB's comprehensive energy plan!

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:
UAB created the Blazer Kitchen program in 2017 to address issues of food insecurity among faculty, staff, and students at UAB. While the program is managed through UAB's philanthropic program, the Benevolent Fund, the bulk of work and data analysis, including food purchasing, stocking shelves, servicing customers, analyzing participation data, etc is completed by student workers, students engaging in service learning projects, and volunteers. Formal partnerships with the School of Public Health ensure a steady supply of student support aligned with curriculum in food insecurity. The Blazer Kitchen has 2 locations: UAB Medical Towers and UAB Hill Student Center. The locations provide any UAB faculty, staff, or students experiencing financial need and/or food insecurity with perishable and non-perishable food, personal hygiene items, and school supplies. Blazer Kitchen is funded by UAB Financial Affairs and donations made from campus and community organizations/partners.

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:
UAB Sustainability hosts a full-time student intern each year to develop and maintain our Sustainability Asset Map. https://uabgreen.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=a92098561802469693f6b4504bb6718a&extent=-86.8267,33.4912,-86.7831,33.5093 The intern works with The Geospatial Mapping, Analysis, and Data (GeoMAD) Unit, a service unit developed by the UAB Center for the Study of Community Health. GeoMAD has a core staff of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) professionals that specializes in geospatial data management, spatial analysis, cartography, and data visualization. The intern also recruits from GIS classes for assistance with mapping projects and often the class project involves UAB's Sustainablity Asset Map. The GIS intern for 2018-2019 academic year used his work for the Sustainability Asset Map as course credit toward his independently designed major in GIS systems. Through GIS mapping, interns for UAB Sustainability have accurately mapped the more than 4000 trees on campus.

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:
In the summer of 2019, two full-time UAB Sustainability student interns partnership with UAB's Director of Purchasing to analyze the -80 freezer capital equipmetn inventory. UAB's contract with ThermoFisher is nearing expiration and purchasing is considering various models for cold storage procurement. A physical inventory had not been completed in recent memory. The interns have physically recorded over 1,000 freezers across more than 40 campus research buildings. The interns are continuing into the next phase to help Purchasing analyze the age, location, status, etc of freezers across UAB to develop a a maintenance and purchasing strategy going forward. In addition, the student interns are sharing data with UAB's Engineering and Innovative Technology Development (EITD) teams to evaluate the potential for freezer maintenance to be handled internally through EITD. https://www.uab.edu/engineering/eitd/

Transportation 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Transportation?:
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 Transportation:
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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:
A Materials Science and Engineering senior design group in spring 2019 addressed the absence of glass recycling in metro Birmingham. The students were mentored by UAB's Sustainability Project Manager in Planning, Design, and Construction because UAB was nearing opening of UAB's first LEED-certified building that will require standard recycling streams, including glass. The students did a literature and best practices review of glass recycling programs around the country to determine a potential opportunity locally. The students partnered with the City of Birmingham's Public Works department and Dunn Construction to develop a hot mix of "glassphalt" for filling potholes. Waste glass was crushed into cullet and blended with hot asphalt. The City tested the mix in a few potholes around campus. Their project may lead to a new outlet for local glass recycling.

Water 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Water?:
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 Water:
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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?:
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 Diversity & Affordability:
The UAB office of Small Business Inclusion, a program within UAB Facilities, hosts an annual program called Academic Small Business Alliance (ASBA). This program connects an annual cohort of UAB School of Business Students, who are required to complete an internship as part of their degree program, with area small diverse business enterprises (DBEs). Often, these business are trying to get contracts with UAB, ALDOT, and other large organizations in Birmingham. The opportunity engages the students with their business curriculum in real life, as well as the challenges of small DBEs to compete with large firms for a chance to get contracts and grow. 2016 annual report: https://www.flipgorilla.com/p/24850976372424990/show

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:
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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:
UAB participated in the 2017 Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition. From 2015-2017, the UAB team (led by Bambi Ingram at UAB Sustainability and Hessam Taherian at UAB Engineering) of more than 60 students designed, built, transported, and competed. Over the design and construction period, more than 30 local sponsors engaged with the process and provided materials, labor, and expertise for the project. UAB hosted 2 formal events at the house with area business, government, and non-profit participants to inform and educate about renewable energy and UAB's participation in the competition. The house is back on campus and will reopen permanently in October 2019 for tours, residential living/learning opportunities for students, and ongoing research. https://www.uab.edu/sustainability/solardecathlon

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:
UAB Wellness hosts 3 interns per semester to support their strategic planning and programming. Interns evaluate organizational culture/demands/interests, design solutions, liaise with departments, and support communications. Their efforts with UAB Wellness are part of their required curriculum and are directly linked to student learning. https://www.uab.edu/humanresources/home/images/EmployeeWellness/Intern_Request_Form_-_UAB_Employee_Wellness_2016_-_finalNov16.pdf

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)?:
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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.