Western Washington University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

The Future of Sustainability Ambassadors: Program Recommendations
As Western Washington University’s Office of Sustainability has transitioned to the Sustainability Engagement Institute in 2021, various programs running through the institute are also making changes. One of these programs is the Sustainability Ambassadors, who conduct student outreach and educational events in the campus’s residence halls. Since COVID-19, the program was put on hold with plans for re-implementation in Fall, 2022. It has faced numerous challenges in achieving successful outreach, which is reflected in its Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) student educators program rating of 1.04 out of 4. Considering current efforts to improve WWU’s STARS ratings, as well as the recent Sustainability Engagement Institute changes and archival of the Sustainability Ambassadors program, it is an ideal time to reimagine and improve the program. This project researches 15 Sustainability Ambassador programs (of various names, commonly Eco-Reps) across the country with highly regarded student educators’ programs based on their STARS ratings. The findings are organized into 22 categories and analyzed based on common elements and notable aspects of the programs. The broad categories for inventory include programming, funding, curriculum, organization and structure, and best practices. A set of recommendations for WWU’s Sustainability Ambassadors to adopt is then offered based on the analysis. The budget recommendations are based on three schools with exceptional programs: Oregon State University, University of Colorado Boulder, and University of Vermont. The next steps for the Sustainability Ambassadors program’s re-implementation and potential barriers are then discussed.

Sustainable Office Certification Report
Western Washington University (WWU) is committed to being a sustainable campus and has taken significant steps to show that commitment. WWU joined 180 university presidents, 125 mayors, nine governors, and almost 1,000 businesses in signing the Grand Coalition Statement on the Paris Agreement (WWU, 2017). In 2017, the school enacted the Sustainability Action Plan as a guiding light for this university's commitment to creating an equitable, vital planet (WWU, 2017). WWU created the Sustainability Office Certification (SOC) program was created to fulfill its pledge and maintain the university's proud history of an institution contributing toward a better world. The SOC enables students, faculty, and staff to take quantifiable steps toward fulfilling Western Washington University's sustainability goals. In addition, the SOC program helps WWU maintain and improve its Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating (STARS). The STARS institution provides a framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance on an international scale and help institutions work in tandem with the UN Sustainable Development goals. The Sustainable Office Certification was first created in 2012, engaging 34 offices in the certification process. It was ready to take on more offices interested in the program, but with COVID-19 and the Sustainability Engagement Institutes' reduction in staff, the SOC scoring tool was put on hold in 2019. In addition, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Western Washington University shifted all operations to online. This online shift made it impossible for the Sustainable Office Certification (SOC) program to operate and caused the program to shut down. Now a SOC research team working within ENVS 471: Campus Sustainability Planning Studio has compiled data through benchmarking, data inventory, interviews, and case studies to assist the SOC in returning to operation. The SOC research team researched five universities: the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, the University at Albany, Northwestern University, and Gonzaga University. The parameters of this study included that the universities would have Gold STARS status and a similar program to the SOC for comparison. In addition, the universities comprising this study were either in Washington State or on the west coast or had a similar student body. There are two primary data sets, with the two universities of University at Albany and Gonzaga University, used as case studies. This project aims to make the SOC checklist easier for offices to implement while also updating the scoring tool and adding new practices. In addition, this project seeks to expand the duties of the Student Ambassador position to oversee the implementation of the SOC checklist to heighten the participation rate. Lastly, and most importantly, this project strives to have the SOC program reinstated for the 2022 fall quarter.

Carbon Farming: Through a Conservation Trust Model
The Kulshan Carbon Trust (KCT) is a task force that is tasked with creating a profitable and equitable approach to carbon sequestration. The overall goal of this project is enabling landowners to sequester carbon on their farms in the form of trees, no-till practices, and the use of biochar. Participating landowners will enter into a contract that assures they will follow these practices for the set amount of years, and in return they will get a carbon credit with a set nominal value. These carbon credits can be turned in for cash or safeguarded while they gain value. The project was tasked with working with the KCT to perform a literature review of other carbon trust groups, create a survey pool, and develop a working survey for landowners. This requires extensive research on how carbon trusts have been deployed nationwide and the project focused specifically on survey implementation. These surveys are meant to gauge a population’s interest on participating in a carbon trust movement in exchange for a carbon credit currency. The project compiled all of the found surveys into a survey pool with hundreds of questions. Final deliverables include: Language to use with landowners, pre-survey materials, an 11-question survey, and a survey pool.

Alternative Sustainable Solutions to Architectural Glazing
Modern construction of buildings often utilizes a large incorporation of glazing to achieve a traditional aesthetic in the built environment. Glazing is the process of installing glass windows onto buildings or structures, whether that be single or double paned windows. While these windows are excellent natural light transmitters, they have multiple drawbacks that reduce the building’s overall energy efficiency. Architectural glass is extremely carbon-intensive from its production, transportation, and maintenance. In addition to the carbon cost in production, glass has a high thermal conductivity, making it a very poor insulator when compared to opaque walls. Therefore, the cost of heating and cooling a building to make up for what is lost through windows is significant. The carbon emissions produced from heating and electricity use are among the highest contributors in the United States. The combination of its carbon-intensive production and high thermal conductivity make modern glass windows a very impractical option in sustainable building. This study aims to minimize the carbon impact of glazing in new construction on the Western Washington University (WWU) campus. In this process, the performance and life cycle cost is measured between architectural glass on campus buildings, and other functional alternatives. Several objectives of this study are to define and understand potential alternatives to glazing, efficiently analyze gathered data to determine the differences in glass variables, and to give insight towards a more sustainable campus through various glazing solutions. By achieving said objectives, this study will determine practical alternatives to the traditional use of glazing in new construction. The research conducted focuses on finding alternative solutions that will lower Intrinsic and extrinsic costs, therefore assisting in further reducing WWU’s carbon footprint.

Energy Conservation in Campus Buildings
The students enrolled in ENRG 461 were assigned buildings (as 4 different teams) on campus for energy assessment as a part of their end of course project. They assessed mechanical and environmental systems in buildings to identify energy conservation opportunities.

Making Western Washington University a Bird-Safe Campus
There have been concerns raised about the number of bird fatalities on Western Washington University’s campus due to untreated windows and light pollution, although the number of bird strikes is unclear. Birds are likely to fly into untreated windows because they reflect nearby vegetation, which makes the windows appear like they’re an extension of the outside environment. Even during times of day when the windows aren’t reflecting greenery, they pose a danger– buildings with windows on both sides look like wide open spaces that can be flown through. Lights can also be hazardous because they attract birds that migrate at night. The frequency of bird strikes and where they occur most isn’t formally recorded by WWU, and there is no existing protocol for grounds staff, gardeners, or facilities management to deal with a dead bird. There are also many casualties that remain unreported due to community members disposing of the birds themselves or unseen casualties. These factors make it difficult to diagnose the problem since there are no concrete numbers– reporting and tracking are necessary. The goal of this project is to reduce these bird strikes on Western’s campus and raise awareness for both native species of birds and the overall ecological health and diversity of the community. This project aims to raise awareness regarding bird fatalities on campus and share how collectively as a community Western can mitigate this issue. It also aims to bring attention to the seemingly small problems that cause large threats to the ecosystem. The fatalities of birds directly affect biodiversity, which can initiate a negative domino effect throughout the ecosystem. Primary prevention leads to more resilient and sustainable environments. In addition to these problems, and the obvious loss in terms of the intrinsic value of a life, these bird strikes also have negative effects on the mental health of staff and students on campus.

Upgrading Heating Systems for a Sustainable Future
Western Washington University’s (WWU) thermal energy needs are being met by an outdated Steam Plant which is both carbon and energy intensive. The Steam Plant is especially inefficient during summer months further costing the University. The Steam Plant releases 2,428 tons of CO2/year into the environment while costing WWU $627,929/year in natural gas consumption (Energy Dashboard, 2020). Upkeep alone costs the university $1.9-2.8 million/year (UMP, 2020). WWU’s current system has an increasing possibility of aging components breaking with no replacement parts as those parts have been discontinued. The combination of this with concerns over decreased efficiency and carbon emissions make now an optimal time for action. Stakeholders are interested in an eventual hot water conversion but are held back by daunting upfront costs compared to long payback periods. WWU is also limited by how potential solutions will interact with its hilly terrain and cold temperatures which prevents easy, copy paste solutions from other universities. Maintaining all building’s constant access to heat further complicates the process. The scale at which implementation will happen also makes immediate system wide conversion difficult to obtain. The due diligence of facilities management has kept the WWU steam plant running from 1946 to present day, but it is overdue for an upgrade with modern systems. This report will outline the amount of energy used by WWU’s heating system and then lay out first steps to move away from it. Since replacing the steam plant is limited by reasons presented above, this project looked at incremental solutions with options to increase clean energy in the future. The initial change to the current system will fit into a long term strategy so that no investments undergone by the university turn into a dead end. Paring systems upgrades with carbon offsets in the form of sequestration on the short to medium time horizon of 15 years will allow WWU to meet its goal of carbon neutrality by 2035.

Food Forest Fungi Farm
Western Washington University has a food insecurity problem among students, an issue that The Outback farm works to combat with donations of the produce it grows. The fresh produce from the Outback is a much appreciated addition to the offerings of the Pop Up Pantry, but there is an opportunity to expand and diversify the Outback’s efforts through mushroom cultivation. Mushrooms are nutritious, becoming a popular meat-substitute, and are a key element of soil health. In the Food Forest, the Outback is striving to create a rich permaculture -- some unused space in this area would be perfect for the introduction of a mushroom cultivation area. This project will serve three purposes: to assist the Outback in its efforts to serve WWU students with provision of nutritious foods,to offer more hand-on learning opportunities for students, and to experiment with new ways to improve the soil and soil-regeneration of the Permaculture Forest. Mushrooms are a unique element of ecosystems. Fungi can play a critical role in decomposing plant matter and balancing the nutrients in soils. Depending on the success of this project, some of the “waste” products (i.e. spent spawn and substrate) could be used as fertilizer to improve the soil and growth systems of the Outback. As the Outback experiments with mushroom cultivation and discovers what works best in their system, students will also be able to learn; It will be a great addition to Mycology classes taught on Western’s campus. Of the many local mushrooms that grow in the PNW, 6 were selected to be the best fit for the early stages of this project based on mushroom growing regions and ease of growing: Oyster, Lions Mane, Shiitake, Wine Caps, Almond Agaricus, and Chicken of the Woods. Mushroom cultivation can be complicated, and is especially hard to control in an outdoor setting, so some mushrooms will be cultivated more easily than others. Starting a 5 year plan with a broad assortment will hopefully help the Outback to discover which mushrooms will best serve all three target purposes outlined above. This report will explore the profiles of each mushroom; what they look like, what they need to grow, how to take care of them, and how to harvest them. Also included is a step-by step process recommendations and a budget. The Outback will be able to stay well within its means for this project and have funding left over for any unexpected or underestimated expenses.

Navigating the Campus Drinking Water Landscape

2012-2014 students inspired Western to eliminate the sale of bottled water on campus (see news story below). This commitment was upheld until spring of 2022. During the 2021-2022 school year, some students voiced concern about a lack of safe drinking water on campus, the negative health impacts of not selling water, and a lack of accessible water. These concerns were related to a perception that there was lead in the water, fears of using traditional water fountains during COVID, students choosing to buy sugary drinks when there is not another option, and the location of water bottle refill stations feeling inconvenient. These students worked with Walton Beverage to pilot the purchase of aluminum bottled water. The intent of this project is to perform research, assemble existing resources, and develop an educational plan such that campus decision-makers are operating with accurate and comprehensive information when making a long-term sales decision after the initial pilot phase.
Interests / Skill Sets:

· Life-cycle assessment

· Education for sustainability

· Sustainable operations

· Systems thinking

Improving Western Washington University’s Wellbeing and Sustainability by Installing Bike Counters

Western Washington University's campus has always made it a point to prioritize sustainability, but considering the commute has been pushed aside. While there are a lot of people who bike to campus, there are still many who don’t because of outside influences such as financial instability, not having the proper resources once they get to campus such as a clothes drying area and fear of feeling unsafe on a bike. Western Washington University was not built to accommodate biking as a primary mode of transport. As the campus grows and new infrastructure gets built, biking is much more considered than in previous years. As biking becomes more and more of a viable option for students, Western Washington University's campus needs to accommodate these changes. In order to create a more sustainable city and campus, we need to encourage the biking community to grow. Based on our field evaluations, it was deduced which locations have the highest volume of bike traffic and the field research started by standing there and counting the bike traffic. This will indicate where to place the bike counters. This will result in having the most accurate data on bike usage within the campus community. Based on this data, the university will determine what other actions could be taken to support the biking community such as bike locks in certain locations, or bike specific paths for safety and efficiency. According to Western Washington University's Sustainable Action Plan, “Western will continue to display its leadership in sustainable transportation by expanding development of its pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure” (p.#61). In order to reduce the University's overall environmental impact, it is important to encourage alternative modes of transportation besides the car.

Digesting Food Waste on Western’s Campus

Western Washington University (WWU) is losing money and encouraging unsustainable habits by allowing their campus food service provider, Aramark, to dispose of WWU’s campus’s food waste. Students pay for their services when instead Western’s campus could turn that food waste into nutrient-rich compost and clean energy. Western can save money by not paying for composting services and make money by selling carbon credits or energy back to the grid. In addition, the campus's greenery would be amplified with the distribution of the nutrient-rich compost from a digester. The food waste diversion team has been doing a feasibility study on the possibility of bringing either an aerobic or anaerobic digester onto our campus to handle food waste more sustainably. This project will address sustainability by creating compost and clean energy that can be used on campus from our food waste. The sustainability action plan looks at ways for WWU’s campus to reduce its carbon footprint and be more self reliant. Bringing a digester on Western's campus would offset its carbon footprint by creating carbon credits, reducing transportation of food waste, and ensuring all food waste is managed properly. The digester team collected a series of case studies including other college campuses, that will guide the university to which option suits our campus the best.

Streamlining Western’s Solid Waste (Spring 2022)
Western currently manages multiple waste streams including recyclable, organic compost and traditional landfill-bound materials. The ability of Western to reduce and recover material from waste streams on campus benefits the environment and reduces overall costs. Currently, the university operates the Associated Students Recycle Center which collects and processes recyclable and organic materials. Facility Management’s custodial teams collect the landfill waste materials during regular rounds. Sanitary Services Company (SSC) provides the solid waste service contract that serves the landfill bound materials. SSC also provides the transport service for organic materials delivery to Green Earth Technologies in Lynden, WA. Given these stakeholders and their individual procedures, the task of this project is deciphering how different departments on campus manage their end of waste management, and where they are not addressing crucial communication points or measurements. Identifying where these missing pieces lie will catalyze a consolidation of processes that further Western’s Sustainability Action Plan.

Streamlining Western’s Solid Waste (Fall 2022)
Western currently manages multiple waste streams including recyclable, organic compost and traditional landfill bound materials. The ability of Western to reduce and recover material from our waste streams benefits the environment and reduces our costs. Currently, the Associated University Students operate the Recycle Center which collects and processes recyclable and organic materials. The Recycle center was founded in 1971 and has been the backbone of waste recovery for the campus for decades. Facility Management’s custodial teams collect the landfill waste materials during their regular rounds as well as transfer recycling materials in some areas. Sanitary Services Company (SSC) provides the solid waste service contract that serves our landfill bound materials. SSC also provides the transport service for our organic materials delivery to Green Earth Technologies in Lynden, WA. There are likely opportunities to divert more organic materials, reduce dumpster sizes and consolidate collection operations among these various solid waste streams. This project will help to identify opportunities across the waste streams so that Western is able to best manage our waste in a coordinated and thoughtful way. This work will be partnered with the Food Waste Diversion group, as the amount and type of organic waste will be part of the logistical considerations for installing a digester on campus.
Interests / Skill Sets:

Data collection and analysis

Program development and operations/process analysis

Zero waste and landfill diversion

Waste recovery

Community engagement and education

Zero Waste Events
The Office of Sustainability used to support staff and student groups around campus to ensure that events were zero waste. This effort was impactful, but never institutionalized. Anecdotal evidence indicates that many events on campus are not zero waste. There is real carbon reduction, cost reduction, and educational potential on this topic. The Sustainability Engagement Institute would like to see every university-sponsored event be zero waste. In order to work toward this goal, we need a guide with step-by-step best practices and a set of recommendations for mechanisms for institutionalizing this practice.
Interests / Skill Sets:

· Zero Waste

· Event Planning

· Sustainable operations

· Systems thinking

Food Waste Diversion: Digesters, Fertilizer and Methane
Western’s Sustainability Action Plan Dining Service section highlights some of the progress that has been made on improving the food, waste, and management of the dining services on campus. Currently, organic waste is collected and transported by the Sanitary Services Company to Green Earth Technology in Lynden, where it is process and composted for consumer use. Objectives 1.,3, 2.1, 2.4, 3.1, 3.2 and Goal 4 in this section describe the work on related areas to food waste management and education. Additionally, the Washington legislature has introduced Senate Bill 5731 that aims to require the active management of food waste. A review of the progress on the goals in the dining section along with the policy trajectory of this functional area will benefit Western’s goals and plans related to the management of organic waste on campus. Having met many of the goals outlined in the SAP, Western would like investigate ways to demonstrate best practices for organic waste management. Western is considering on site processing of organic waste and is currently developing an operational plan and process map to evaluate installing an organic material digester on campus. This is a continuation of the feasibility study completed by a Sustainability Planning Studio group from spring of 2022 and will continue the development processes needed to implement an anaerobic digester process at Western. This work will be partnered with the Streamlining Western’s Solid Waste group, as the amount and type of organic waste will be part of the logistical considerations.
Interests / Skill Sets:

Systems Thinking

Sustainable agriculture and urban farming

Waste stream recovery

Policy and Contracting Implementation

Cross Functional Operations Management

STARS and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Western Washington University (WWU) is one of the nation's leading examples of sustainable learning and practices according to the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and determined by the Sustainable Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). With STARS rating WWU a silver 60.52 score in 2019, the university lacks numerous sustainable endeavors. When WWU underwent its last rating from STARS the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) had been announced three years prior. Although Western was acknowledged for certain sustainable practices when it comes to air and climate usage, coordinating and practicing, and diversity and affordability, the university failed to commit to the UNs global goals for a sustainable future. Western’s current university function and routine according to STARS does not align with the UNSDGs but with the help of students, faculty, and AASHE, Western can incorporate the UNSDGs to pursue a brighter and longer future for the campus and university. Description of Project This project is an assessment of Western’s STARS rating to identify where the university can advance or add sustainable practices by incorporating the UNSDGs. The purpose of this assessment is to get the university committed to incorporating all 17 Sustainable Development Goals on campus, especially in places where sustainable solutions lack, to offer students the tools necessary to critically think and take on long term solutions for growing problems. The primary stakeholder and supporter for this assessment is Grace Wang, the Chair of the Environmental Studies Department at Huxley College of the Environment. Wang has identified this project and proposed solution to be a feasible, productive, and valuable implementation to Western Washington University. Secondary stakeholders include other department and committee chairs (ie Academic Coordinating Committee) along with the university institution itself as they are responsible for deeming this assessment necessary and taking this from an idea to reality. The results of this assessment will be used to better Westerns STARS rating and to provide additional information for the university to see where sustainable practices still need to be met.

Steps to Accessible Farming at WWU
This project’s main focus is to coordinate with the stakeholder, conduct some necessary research and provide new ideas to how the Outback Farm can be more accessible. After compiling the survey responses, our stakeholder Terri Kempton’s and Cori Foster’s inputs; we were able to configure some recommendations that can be implemented. Jon McGough, from the Disability Access Center (DAC), is also helping with the Outback accessibility. While more people are responding to their concerns and hopes for the Outback Farm, everyone can look forward to a wider variety of accessible farming. Past research and implementations have been made by other groups, so these ideas are further proposals to have Accessibility Outback Farm.

WWU Homestay Program
Rental Costs in the City of Bellingham, specifically in the 98225 area code, have risen 35% in the last year, partially due to Bellingham’s unhealthily low rental vacancy rate. In a recent study, the City of Bellingham determined that although we have a very low vacancy rate, the issue was not a lack of bedrooms but actually underoccupancy of single-family homes. In order to remedy this situation as well as make affordable housing more easily accessible to Western students, we would like to explore the idea of developing a program to have students live with community members, alumni and/or retired faculty and staff. Research

Housing policy and issues of housing insecurity

Program development and operations/process analysis

Investing in Our Future: A Plan for Sustainable Investment at Western Washington University

This project aims to use the STARS framework put forth by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) in incentivizing WWU and the WWU Foundation to increase the portion of their portfolio that is invested in sustainable companies and firms. Additionally, we want to improve WWU’s investment disclosure and promote the inclusion of students, faculty, and staff in the decision-making process. If WWU can gain 5 additional points in its Investment and Finances, the University will earn a Gold STARS ranking.

Transitions of Emissions & Social Justice: An Analysis
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Western Washington University has shifted its activities to online formats. This online shift created a new college environment with both benefits and setbacks. Positively, there were reductions in transportation carbon emissions with fewer students, staff, and faculty traveling to campus. With an online format, there is also a possibility for wider inclusion of students who may not have had access to higher education due to physical barriers. In the future, how can Western keep their transportation carbon emissions down and provide access to higher education for non-traditional students who cannot live near or travel to campus when in-person courses are conducted again. Description of Project The focus of this project was to conduct research on Western students’ feelings toward the online class format. Qualitative data from student interviews was gathered to assess their experiences with telecommuting in order to determine recommendations for future class formats. It is important to note that the data collected was from traditional students. In these interviews, questions revolved around interviewee’s thoughts and opinions of online school and how it affected their life. A comprehensive analysis of interviews was constructed and a detailed budget for suggested implementations was presented. Monitoring and evaluation of proposals for later quarters were also outlined.

The New Hybrid Modality: Expanding Learning Options Post COVID-19
Having all classes entirely on campus limits accessibility for low income and disabled students and leads to increased GHG emissions from commuting to campus.This project consists of gathering data and making recommendations with the goal of increasing online learning options at WWU. This is in line with Western’s Sustainability Action Plan, which has goals of social and environmental sustainability. Socially, online learning allows a wider variety of students to attend WWU and therefore increases diversity in the student body. Environmentally, allowing students and faculty to attend and hold classes online will reduce greenhouse gas emissions since they will not have to commute to campus.Surveys of students and faculty were used to collect opinions about online learning, but focused on faculty. Through the faculty survey, information about what instructors like and dislike about online learning was gathered, which helped develop a more comprehensive view of how a new teaching modality would be viewed. Instructors faced some tech issues, along with reduced interaction and human connection. They also reported that their students were having issues with human connection, in addition to burnout and too much screen time. These issues can likely be remedied by providing options such as teaching assistants, tech help, and better internet. In addition, some classes may be partially online, partially in person, which helps with the social aspect. Instructors also reported benefits to online learning that should continue into the future. Being able to work out of their homes was a positive aspect for many. In addition, online classes tend to be more flexible as lectures can be recorded and posted for later viewing or re-watching. Another positive aspect of online learning was the ability to bring in speakers from around the world who would otherwise have to come to Bellingham to speak to a class. Some of these benefits can be carried on in the future through online or hybrid learning modalities. It is recommended that future students take up this project and re-distribute the surveys to get more responses that can help guide the goal of implementing online/hybrid learning. In addition, if more faculty choose to utilize an online/hybrid model, others may follow suit.

Menstrual Equity at Western Washington University
The long-term goal is to establish a free menstrual product resource that features high quality disposable, organic, and reusable products. These will be sourced from a company that values and uses sustainable practices. The project is to ensure accessibility and equity by having a free, and sustainable monthly packet mailed to the home of students who sign up for this program. The desire is for this project to be funded, housed, and overseen with longevity in mind.