University of California, Davis
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

As a part of Student Housing and Dining Services sustainability internship program, students complete a project of their choice with support of sustainability professional staff to grow sustainability initiatives and programs in the residence halls and dining commons. Some example projects include: conducting soil testing at the Resident Garden @ Segundo to engage with residents and provide suggestions for maintaining soil health at the garden, and researching case studies on costs/benefits for single-use vs reusables.

Office of Sustainability students and fellows have developed content for campus engagement and education on sustainability topics such as waste and climate. This content has been used for social media and electronic newsletter purposes. These students also tabled at public events at the campus Farmer’s Market and created materials and activities for those events (e.g. educational games and interactive posters to survey knowledge about campus sustainability resources).

UC Davis has a campus located in the city of Davis. The city has long championed environmental stewardship; one of the efforts undertaken by citizens in partnership with the city government is Cool Davis. In their own words, "Cool Davis is an active network of residents, community organizations, businesses and community institutions committed to implementing the City of Davis’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. Our Mission is to inspire our community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to a changing climate, and improve the quality of life for all". Cool Davis works with staff, faculty and students at UC Davis, and Cool Davis even has a page on their site dedicated to the role of UC Davis students in the organization. Students have been involved from the start of the organization, and have taken on active roles in a variety of ways, including research projects in their classes, citizen action, and helping connect students to this community effort.

In spring 2019, the Sustainable Environmental Design major’s capstone class considered how to advance the sustainability of Village Homes, Davis’ famous 1970s eco-neighborhood. Students analyzed the 70-acre community, held a workshop with residents, and prepared detailed proposals, which they presented to the homeowners’ board.

http://www.cooldavis.org/about/introduction/
http://www.cooldavis.org/projects/ucd-make-davis-cool

The Office of Sustainability employs student assistants to produce the campus' annual greenhouse gas emissions inventories. Students have worked on each inventory since UC Davis started inventorying GHG emissions in 2006. The work requires skilled, detailed analytical work and has been a post-college career path for some of the students who have worked on the inventories.

The Office of Sustainability has mentored several student teams for project-based learning classes in Physics, Engineering, and Environmental Science and Policy. The teams have analyzed airline travel emissions and radiative forcing; battery storage; and the potential for ocean wave energy capture.

The Office of Sustainability also mentors several Carbon Neutrality Initiative Fellows who create their own projects for the academic year. Projects have ranged from organizing a volunteer event for tree plantings, to preparing a syllabus and teaching a student-led English at UC Davis titled “Discourses of Climate Change and Sustainability in the Humanities”.

UC Davis is the first UC campus to measure its nitrogen footprint. The SEEDS student group partners with academic mentors and Office of Sustainability student staff to produce this annual environmental metric. The campus reports the amount of reactive nitrogen released to the environment both on campus and in production and waste streams for food, utilities, and transportation sectors.

The Green Buildings Team, within Facilities Management: Energy & Engineering, promotes sustainable operations on the UC Davis campus through the pursuit of green building certifications for existing buildings. Green Building Interns are involved in the full certification process, which involves interpreting campus policy, performing calculations, conducting audits, and collecting data from building occupants and campus databases. The team has certified 8 campus buildings under LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance and Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) In-Use. 2013 – present.

Post construction documentation related to stormwater measures: Students with the Design and Construction Management - Inspector Student Assistant Program worked on posting design changes to construction documents and assist the campus effort to include post-construction storm water measures in landscape design. 2014 – present.

Indoor air flow analysis: Owners and engineers are faced with the challenge of providing airflow systems that deliver the greatest opportunity for energy savings, but still incorporating safety and comfort features. Designers and engineers are seeing the importance of choosing the correct airflow control system for their buildings, whether they are in the midst of designing a new facility or renovating older buildings. Students working with the UC Davis Design and Construction Management team measured air flow on-site at Vet Med 3A Teaching Facilities. Students used a large flow meter that measured airflow by measuring the static pressure, and velocity pressure; to help determine the level of performance and how it compares to a more typical building in the same climate, with the same occupancies. May 2017.

Lighting surveys of classrooms: Students with the UC Davis Design and Construction Management - Inspector Student Assistant Program conducted building classroom surveys of existing lighting conditions in an effort to compile data for the Smart Lighting Initiative energy savings project on the Davis campus. 2015-2017.

Water usage monitoring, Students working with a Design and Construction Management team installed Water Meters at the Vet Med Building and monitored water usage data. 2017.

https://facilities.ucdavis.edu/energy-engineering/green-buildings

https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/dvm/teaching-facilities

Energy Internships, Facilities Energy & Engineering offers both graduate and undergraduate internships to students interested in engaging in energy-related work on campus. These paid internships give students the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with energy engineers, project managers and data scientists developing and implementing real projects on campus to save energy and improve operations in campus facilities, 2012-present

Student projects, Facilities Energy & Engineering has sponsored numerous projects for the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Senior Design class, where student groups design and build solutions for clients. In 2019 they sponsored a project to develop a mobile demonstration air handling unit for education and testing, and in 2018 they sponsored a project to develop a thermal imaging drone for energy auditing. 2018, 2019

Course: A Path To Zero Net Energy, This year-round initiative is built around a 10-week course taught by the UC Davis Program for International Energy Technologies in collaboration with UC Davis Facilities Energy & Engineering to educate and engage students in issues of energy use, demand, energy efficiency, renewable energy and climate neutrality as well as their associated technical, economic, social and political challenges. Through lectures, field trips, and a hands-on project, students become familiar with the concepts behind zero net energy buildings and communities, and the associated climate and economic issues. Graduate and undergraduate students of various fields of study may enroll in the course. 2013 - present

https://facilities.ucdavis.edu/energy-engineering

https://facilities.ucdavis.edu/energy-engineering/student-involvement

https://moorepants.github.io/eme185/

https://piet.ucdavis.edu/courses/zne/

The Student Farm is an integral part of the Sustainable Agriculture major. This certified organic farm was started by students more than 40 years ago, and runs a popular CSA, sells produce at the on-campus farmers market, and sells to the on-campus ASUCD Coffeehouse (a student-operated restaurant, doing over $5 million in sales annually) and to Dining Services (which operates the three campus dining commons). While there are a staff farm manager and a faculty advisor, the Student Farm is another of the many student-operated services and businesses on campus.

UC Davis Coffee House: A group of students participated in developing a grant proposal to start an aeroponic garden intended to supply local produce to an on-campus food operation and the student food pantry.

A dietetic intern as part of her program requirements developed a pop-up meal in the Dining Commons featuring seasonal vegetables harvested from the UC Davis Student Farm. The intern developed educational materials to accompany the pop-up event, providing information to students about the benefits of choosing local and seasonal produce.

A student group advocating for plant-based eating worked with Student Housing and Dining Services Chefs to test a pop-up meal featuring all plant-based ingredients. This menu item received positive feedback from dining guests and was incorporated into the regular menu cycle.

The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden’s Learning by Leading program uses campus landscapes and community engagement expertise as resources for 120+ students to apply classroom learning in real-world settings from nature education to environmental restoration.

The UC Davis Arboretum has helped create the Edible Landscape Internship on campus, with the express purpose of involving student interns in the co-creation and co-management of various edible landscapes around campus. In addition, the Wild Campus student group is working with Arboretum staff on various habitat projects.

UC Davis Student Farm: Students tested minimum-till farming in two beds of the Student Farm, an organic mixed vegetables operation, and then applied the practice to all 9 acres after its success. UC Davis Student Farm is certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) with 21.5 acres in certification growing a wide diversity of both annual and perennial crops. There are also plantings of flowers and herbs that help support beneficial insect populations on the farm.

https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/learning-by-leading

UC Davis Coffee House: A student gathered and analyzed sustainable food and beverage spend for a retail food operation on campus, which helped inform more sustainable procurement decisions for the operation.

UC Davis Campus Travel Survey: A graduate student from the Institute of Transportation Studies conducts the UC Davis Campus Travel Survey every year. The main purpose of the survey is to collect annual data on how the UC Davis community travels to campus, including mode choice, vehicle occupancy, distances traveled, and carbon emissions. The travel survey results have been used to assess awareness and utilization of campus transportation services and estimate demand for new services designed to promote sustainable commuting at UC Davis. Annual

BikEmpower Program: The BikEmpower program takes a holistic approach to educating one portion of the UC Davis student population on the financial and ecological sustainability of riding a bicycle as one’s primary form of transportation. Students apply to the program and, if accepted, are granted a bicycle in disrepair that had been abandoned, impounded, and gone unclaimed on the UC Davis campus. The students learn how to repair and maintain the bikes and then take them home as their own so they can live the ideal while carrying the (cost-saving) knowledge that they can nearly any issue with their bikes. Annual

Freshman Seminar, "Davis Likes Bikes": Asst. Prof. Jeremy Mason teaches the Freshman Seminar "Davis Likes Bikes" using bicycles that have been impounded and unclaimed on the UC Davis campus. In the class, students investigate the engineering of bicycles, learn about the requirements for different components, and relate these requirements to the materials of which they are made. This will be done within the context of the engineering discipline, and include an introduction to the principles behind scientific inquiry, forming a hypothesis, and experimental testing. (Pass/Not Pass; 1 Unit). Contact: Jeremy Mason. Annual

https://its.ucdavis.edu/campus-travel-surveys/

https://undocumented.ucdavis.edu/resources/bikempower

https://mse.engineering.ucdavis.edu/people/jeremy-mason

Freedge Project: The student group Strategies for Ecology, Education, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) partnered with the Freedge project, an international program that promotes the installation of community fridges to share food and ideas at the neighborhood level, to develop research about community fridges around the world. They researched location, best management practices, and food waste prevention. Davis SEEDS is a chapter of the National SEEDS organization, a program run through the Ecological Society of America (ESA) that encourages undergraduate involvement in ecology. A TGIF grant helped place one Freedge on the UC Davis campus.

The Office of Sustainability conducts several waste audits each year to make recommendations on improving waste diversion rates. In some cases, additional research on behaviors and beliefs may be included to further assist with advancing sustainability efforts in waste. For example, student employees conducted a 24-hour waste audit of Mrak Hall in September 2018. In addition to the waste data collected, students then surveyed building occupants about waste diversion in Mrak Hall. Based on these combined findings, a student-generated report made several building-specific recommendations and changes which are still in effect today.

Office of Sustainability students annually gather and analyze data from various sources to calculate a campuswide diversion rate on waste, which is then reported to the UC Office of the President for inclusion in the annual sustainability report.

The Student Housing and Dining Services Zero Waste Coordinators received a TGIF grant to pilot a disposable glove recycling program in the Cuarto DC. The Coordinators ordered Terracycle Glove Recycling boxes, created glove recycling signage, set up collection boxes, added side bins to all the waste stations, trained dining staff, and coordinated the return of the full boxes. They were able to recycle approximately 6500 gloves equaling 86 pounds, filling a total of four Terracycle Glove Boxes within a few weeks’ time.

A Resident Advisor submitted and was awarded a grant to create and develop student-generated posters encouraging proper waste sorting, with a focus on inclusive and creative sustainability messaging. A waste audit in the residence hall before and after the posters were hung showed an increase in proper waste sorting.

Ammonium Recovery: Using the campus Wastewater Treatment Plant, a campus researcher from Civil & Environmental Engineering is working with engineering students on ammonium recovery from urine and anaerobic bio-digester digestate. The project has positive sustainable impact to the campus, i.e., switching to waterless urinals to reduce potable water use for flushing, treatment of digestate for lower carbon footprint. 2014 – 2020.

Fertilizers Project: Using the campus Wastewater Treatment Plant, engineering students under the guidance of campus researcher conducts pilot test of using the fertilizers produced from ammonium recovery to grow food crops in hydroponic experiments. 2018 – 2020.

Civil & Environmental Engineering Senior Design Project - Design of New Ultraviolet Disinfection System for UC Davis Wastewater Treatment Plant: The student design teams developed a preliminary design for a new UV system. The design was required to comply with all relevant state and federal design standards for Title 22 recycled water. Students prepared a preliminary life-cycle cost estimate for the proposed system. Through the design project, students learned about wastewater treatment standards for recycled water, and how recycled water is a resource that can help reduce potable water demands. 2019.

In spring 2019, the Sustainable Environmental Design major’s capstone class considered how to advance the sustainability of Village Homes, Davis’ famous 1970s eco-neighborhood. Students analyzed the 70-acre community, held a workshop with residents, and prepared detailed proposals, which they presented to the homeowners’ board.

Formed in 2016 by Kevin Robert Perry, the California Student Leadership in Green Infrastructure (SLGI) is a group of inter-disciplinary students who utilize Tactical Green Infrastructure to design, build, research, and advocate for simple and cost-effective stormwater management projects on the UC Davis campus and surrounding California communities. The group of students works with Kevin Robert Perry, a design professional and lecturer within the UC Davis Landscape Architecture department to identify, design, and construct expedited green infrastructure demonstration projects. This highly interactive design and implementation process often enlists the effort of volunteer personnel, repurposes or procures local donated construction materials, identifies potential project funding sources, and helps educate the general public on the basic principles of green infrastructure. The SLGI group has completed several built green infrastructure retrofits on the UC Davis campus and is currently working with the Davis Senior High School in retrofitting a courtyard as an interactive rain garden landscape. SLGI members also aim to connect with other students and professionals who have a passion for designing and building aesthetic and functional green spaces. The mission for the SLGI group is to provide hands-on experience for students through building real projects, and to educate the public about green infrastructure by implementation of these projects. Years Conducted: 2016-present.

Social Sciences and Humanities Building Rain Garden: In 2017, the UC Davis Student Leadership in Green Infrastructure (SLGI) group completed its second successful green infrastructure retrofit on campus, this time collaborating with UC Davis Arboretum’s Learning by Leading program. Located on the south side of the Social Sciences and Humanities Building, the team led by Kevin Robert Perry's Tactical Green Infrastructure methodology, transformed a former triangular-shaped lawn area into a functional rain garden space actively capturing stormwater runoff from one of the building’s roof downspouts and adjacent sidewalk areas. The rain garden's recessed landscaped area captures stormwater runoff, allows water to filter through the garden plants and soil, creates beneficial insect and pollinator habitat, and helps recharge the groundwater supply. This retrofit project features a curvilinear rain garden that is defined by a metal edge restraint retaining the soil grade surrounding the site’s existing tree. A new pervious paver pathway crossing the triangle area responds to the predominate pedestrian traffic flow of the site where before people would trample through worn grass. Years Conducted: 2016-2017.

Young Hall Rain Garden: Young Hall currently directs its roof runoff from exterior downspouts towards multiple courtyard spaces surrounding the building. The project site was previously an overgrown and forgotten landscaped space. The Young Hall Rain Garden now captures several thousand square feet of impervious area runoff from the rooftop and conveys this water away from the building foundation into a formal rain garden. Kevin Robert Perry and the California Student Leadership in Green Infrastructure students utilized the Tactical Green Infrastructure methodology to completely transform this existing underutilized space into a high-performance green infrastructure demonstration project. The defining features of design are a series of acute angles that transect the site. These angles are formed with both hardscape/landscape materials and grade change that match the bold angles of the Young Hall courtyard railings. To accentuate this bold angular form, a 15' long wooden “stormwater runnel” directs downspout water towards the rain garden where it can cascade into the new rain garden. The Young Hall Rain Garden features low-water succulents, pollinator plants, and a small paved area with a relocated memorial bench for seating. This project took approximately four months to construct and cost less than $5,000 to create. As the third California Student Leadership in Green Infrastructure retrofit project at the UC Davis campus, the Young Hall Rain Garden demonstrates that simple, cost-effective design, can be also be visually intriguing. Years Conducted: 2018-2019.

URLs of projects:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7l79kud4tvedewn/LAM-September%202019-Tactical%20GI.pdf?dl=0 https://www.urbanraindesign.com/slgi

https://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/rain-rain-dont-go-away/

https://www.urbanraindesign.com/social-sciences-rain-garden

https://www.urbanraindesign.com/young-hall-rain-garden

UC Davis Student Farm: Students piloted the production of lemongrass in the Student Farm and then grew out a bed for sales to Dining Services, increasing the cultural diversity of food crops grown by the Student Farm.

Food Access Map, Development of the Food Access Map began with a community assessment. An electronic survey was sent to assess the student, staff and faculty needs when accessing food on campus. This data was used to determine what kinds of information should be available on the Food Access Map. Focus groups were conducted with students to determine the organization, look and feel, and the most strategic way to market the resource. The Food Access Map helps individuals find food and food resources on campus and in Davis that meet the needs of the campus community. A feedback survey is administered by Health Education and Promotion student volunteers. The map is most frequently used to find microwaves and free food resources, such as The Pantry and Fruit and Veggie Up!, on campus. FY 19.

Her thesis exhibition explored the experience of undocumented, DACAmented, AB540 students, DREAMers, and friends and family of undocumented people, who face a variety challenges emotionally, politically, socially, and financially in their daily lives as a result of current immigration policy. The portable exhibit was shown at three popular locations on campus, the Memorial Union quad, the Silo, and the LGBTQIA Center in the Student Community Center.

Emma collaborated with students from S.P.E.A.K. (Scholars Promoting Educational Awareness and Knowledge), a student organization that supports undocumented students in the campus community. Students from S.P.E.A.K. were members of Emma's exhibition advisory board and they helped her collect materials from undocumented students for her exhibit. The exhibit acknowledged the experiences of undocumented students and raised awareness of the their struggles.

arts.ucdavis.edu/event/filed-away-undocumented-experience

UC Davis MBA Student participated in the Universitas 21/PwC Innovation Challenge, and receives PwC Academy faculty coaching sessions tailored to his career focus: social entrepreneurship and impact investing.

AASHE 2019 Award: Pathways to carbon-neutral energy systems. UC Davis graduate student Steven Wiryadinata worked on a study to analyze the costs associated with three different options for UC Davis to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025.

https://globalaffairs.ucdavis.edu/news/global-aggies-mba-change-maker-u21-challenge

https://www.aashe.org/news/aashe-announces-2019-sustainability-award-winners/

UC Davis Farmers Market: The UC Davis Farmers Market was attempted in 2003 by a student group from the Associated Students of UC Davis (ASUCD). Their focus was to improve the health of the students, and they reached out to the Davis Farmers Market (DFM) about bringing a market onto campus as a strategy to meet their vision. DFM worked with ASUCD, and all the corresponding campus departments that would have to be involved with bringing a Farmers Market onto campus. Students researched and sketched out a cost analysis, and prepared a proposal for consideration. The end result was that ASUCD could not afford to host the event and the market could not afford to pay the costs, so the proposal was not carried out. In 2006, the Community Book Project was “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”. The book project theme lent strength to a different model that included a designated campus liaison – ASUCD Coffee House. Campus sponsors were recruited to pay for the costs of bringing the event on campus. This model remains today with two students supervising the market seasons, Fall Quarter and Spring Quarter and five departments providing sponsorship. We are the first UC campus to bring a Farmers Market onsite with the goal being to bring local, seasonal food and education around such to the students while supporting local farmers. In addition to the costs associated with the market, vouchers for distribution to students are covered by the sponsoring departments. FY 18, FY 19.

Diabetes Prevention Program: The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) was implemented to help prevent UC Davis staff, students and faculty from developing type 2 diabetes, while also promoting weight loss over a six-month period. The program used a hybrid model, similar to one successfully piloted at East Carolina University, and was offered through weekly meetings, alternating in-person with online sessions delivered on the Facebook group page. The DPP goal was 3 -5% weight loss at six months and 5 -7% at twelve months, as this level of weight loss has been shown to contribute to a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58%. An MPH student completed her practicum project after developing and teaching the curriculum for the first pilot. Now, clinical nutrition students are selected for a year-long internship that allows them to become lifestyle coaches. FY 19.

Walking Paths: Marked walking paths and a corresponding map were created at UC Davis and UC Davis Health campuses. Five paths were installed at UC Davis and two paths were installed at UC Davis Health. This initiative was accompanied with an educational campaign to educate students, staff, and faculty about the importance of walking using various social media platforms. Walking Loop markers continue to be monitored and replaced due to high foot traffic. Feedback survey invitations are posted along walking routes. Participants who complete the survey are eligible to win a prize in quarterly drawings. Students from Health Education and Promotion work on the maintenance and survey data. FY 19.

Nourish: Nourish, a point-of-purchase food labeling project, can be found in vending machines and campus eateries across UC Davis. In partnership with Canteen vending, vending machines located within the Health Sciences District, inside Mrak, Olson and residence halls contain 50% or more Nourish-labeled snacks. UC Davis Health will develop patient meals to meet Nourish guidelines. Students at Health Education and Promotion maintain this program and an MPH student is working on expanding this to all UC Davis Health eateries and patient meals. FY 19.

Healthy Catering - Healthy Meeting and Event Guidelines: A collaborative effort between Healthy UC Davis and dining services at Davis and Sacramento campuses. Its main goal is to develop healthy catering menus at affordable rates for departments and programs to access. An MPH Student is working on this as her practicum project, including re-work of the Healthy Meeting Guide that includes focus on sustainability in all sections. FY 18, FY 19.

Healthy Aggies: Student group that hosts nutrition and food activities across campus promoting nutrition as part of overall wellness. Healthy Aggies educators provide education and food demonstrations at the UC Davis Farmers Market every fall and spring quarter. Each event integrates elements of leading a sustainable lifestyle. FY 18, FY 19.

Maintain Don't Gain, Healthy Holiday Challenge Email Campaigns: Educational/awareness campaigns that are researched and created by clinical nutrition students for the Staff and Faculty Health and Wellbeing Program. Each campaign theme integrates sustainability. Fiscal years 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Breathe Free Tracker: In partnership with CSU San Marcos, UC Davis is piloting a tobacco use tracking tool called the Breathe Free tracker. This online tool aims to collect real-time data about tobacco waste and use trends around campus, including e-cigarettes, vapes and JUULs. This information will be used to gather feedback on Hotspots, which are areas with a high concentration of tobacco waste/use and provides an indicator of where policy non-compliance is occurring. Students use this information to inform locations to conduct environmental scans, which are tobacco waste cleanup assessments. Users are also able to comment on areas that are not troublesome – this will highlight areas of campus that are clean. The goal of this research is to address the critical problem of engaging the campus community with its Smoke and Tobacco Free policy while creating a culture which supports and engages with the policy. The long-term objective of this research is to strengthen compliance with college Smoke and Tobacco Free policies and reduce environmental tobacco waste. Students conduct outreach to promote the tool. A focus group was conducted and students developed an abstract for APHA based on our findings and intentions with the tool. Fiscal year 2019-20.

Environmental Scans: Student volunteers conduct environmental scans in which they target known “hot spots” on campus that have been highlighted feedback from the campus community as well as results from the Breathe Free tracker. Students go to a "hot spot" location on "day 1" and pick up and count all cigarette butts in the area. They go back 48 hours later ("day 2”) and count again. This gives a more reliable data point compared to a campus-wide butt pick up as we can determine how many cigarettes were smoked in a certain location within 24 hours. Fiscal years 2014-15 through present.

URLs:

https://healthy.ucdavis.edu/food-nutrition/farmers-market

https://safetyservices.ucdavis.edu/article/could-i-have-prediabetes

https://healthy.ucdavis.edu/food-nutrition/foodmap

https://healthy.ucdavis.edu/physical-activity/walk

https://healthy.ucdavis.edu/food-nutrition/nourish

https://safetyservices.ucdavis.edu/article/healthy-meeting-and-event-guide

https://healthyaggies.com/what-we-do/

https://safetyservices.ucdavis.edu/article/healthy-holiday-challenge

https://healthy.ucdavis.edu/smoke-tobacco-free/breathefree-tracker

https://healthy.ucdavis.edu/smoke-tobacco-free/breathefree-tracker/environmental-scans

Chinyi Lydia Kao, student employee in the UC Davis Office of Sustainability, assisted and led a team (Kelli O’Day, Kiana Lee, Vindyani Jayasinghe) in compiling this credit response.