Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 61.37
Liaison Suzanne Davis
Submission Date Oct. 26, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Queensland
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Campus Engagement

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement:
A final year Bachelor of International Tourism and Event Management student designed, managed and recruited other students to assist in running key events for UQ Sustainability Week. The events and initiatives foster and optimise student engagement in sustainability on campus. (2019)

Public Engagement 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Public Engagement?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Public Engagement:
A 3rd year Bachelor of Electrical Engineering/Bachelor of Humanities dual degree student undertook site inspections, completed quality reviews and prepared documentation during the construction phase of UQ's Warwick Solar Farm. (2019)

Grade 4, 5 and 6 students from Freestone State School, visited the UQ Warwick Solar Farm with their teacher and Principal during the final stages of construction. UQ's Solar Farm enables the University to be 100% renewable.'

The students are beginning a module in their Science class, looking at power and electricity. The visit allowed them to see some of these concepts in the real
world and on a large scale! (2019)

Air & Climate 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Air & Climate?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Air & Climate:
A 4th year Bachelor of Environmental Management/Bachelor of Business Management dual degree student compiled UQ's historical environmental data, developed a database and designed a dashboard which analyses and displays environmental compliance data. The dashboard is available to UQ staff for viewing and analysing data. This project has established a single repository and interface for environmental air and climate data capture, assessment, analysis and reporting. (2019)

Buildings  

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Buildings?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Buildings:
UQ's Global Change Institute Building and the Advanced Engineering Building (AEB) are examples of living buildings on campus. Both are used within the curriculum for learning and assessment tasks. AEB in particular, which houses engineering students, provides live data on the building which students from multiple engineering courses use in learning and assessment. The buildings are used as case studies for curriculum assessment across multiple Faculties.
https://gci.uq.edu.au/visit-gcis-living-building
https://www.eait.uq.edu.au/aeb (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)

Energy 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Energy?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Energy:
A final year Bachelor of Electrical Engineering student worked on the integration of energy metering & sensor data from across the campus for highly specialised building management energy control which is outside the existing Building Management System. This involved taking energy load measurements and performing computer intensive optimisation and forecasting on these to make energy management control decisions. This is being applied to demand-response initiatives including turning off/on non-essential loads across the campus (e.g. fountains, lighting, computers) and applying 'economy' modes to relax space humidity or temperature set points to reduce the building energy load. (2018, 2019)

Food & Dining 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Food & Dining?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Food & Dining:
A student-staff partnership project was undertaken where a 3rd year Bachelor of Humanities student assessed the understanding of sustainable food and current best practice then developed a survey for campus vendors to analyse the availability of sustainable food options on campus. The project also included identifying educational opportunities for student customers and dining staff campus. (2019)

Grounds 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Grounds?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Grounds:
Students re-vegetated 1.5 hectares with over 12,000 native seedlings in a three stage project. The project has provided native wildlife habitats and enhanced biodiversity while providing a safe corridor for birds and other species to safely access the UQ Lakes area. The plantings prevent riverbank erosion and improve water quality. (2015, 2016, 2017)

Purchasing 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Purchasing?:
No

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Purchasing:
---

Transportation 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Transportation?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Transportation:
A team of students, under the School of Chemical Engineering, participated in the UQ Transport Study which collected data on the movements of commuters on various transport modes to, from and around campus. The Study included the analysis of commuter flow, peaks and infrastructure to provide an insight into existing commuter habits and provide recommendations for future services, infrastructure planning and to increase the use of sustainable transport modes. (2018)

Waste 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Waste?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Waste:
A final year Bachelor of Environmental Management student coordinated a team of students worked to co-develop and implement the UQ Unwrapped program, promoting a plastic free campus. Students then assisted in the education, promotion and implementation of the program on campus. (2019, 2020)

Water 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Water?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Water:
Civil Engineering students undertaking a Masters degree used the UQ Lakes systems as the case study for their Urban Hydrology course for semester 1. Details on the course profile is online
https://course-profiles.uq.edu.au/student_section_loader/section_1/96654

First year Geography students learn water quality measurement techniques as part of the practical work in their undergraduate studies. Students use the UQ Lakes system to become familiar with water quality measurement instruments in their coursework. (2018, 2019, 2020)

Coordination & Planning 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning:
A final year Higher Degree by Research student (research area in Rehabilitation, with a completed Undergraduate Bachelor of Speech Therapy) assisted in the design and then led workshops to engage with students and staff to develop the UQ Sustainability Strategy.
Another student analysed the data collected from the workshops to identify the areas of sustainability that are a priority for the UQ community for the next decade. (2019)

Diversity & Affordability 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability?:
No

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability:
---

Investment & Finance 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance?:
No

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance:
---

Wellbeing & Work 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
No

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work:
---

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s living laboratory program is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

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.