Wilfrid Laurier University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Wilfrid Laurier Energy Dashboard

Laurier's energy dashboard displays a virtual real-time data of energy consumption for every building, and features competition modules to encourage conservation between buildings. The dashboard also allows users to analyze data for troubleshooting in addition to highlighting our campus green features, providing green tips, weather, and discussion forums.

The Sustainability Council in Residence hosts annual energy competitions, which reduce GHGs and utility bills.

Another example is the Planning to Mitigate Climate Change project. This is a mandatory project that is part of the UU101 course - Perspectives on Sustainability. The project is titled Sustainability Challenge With a WLU Focus and is described as follows:

Using the applicable areas of the province’s Climate Action Plan, your objective is to develop a public service announcement(PSA) that includes recommendations for Laurier on how to best make use of the elements of this Plan as well as with the steps we will need to take on campus to meet its goals. For this, you should consider what the key barriers are to planning for a low‐emissions future and how might they be overcome. What are other Canadian universities doing in this area of sustainability? Why is it important that we as a community work to meet these targets set out by the Province? Who might be our key partners to meet this challenge? To design your message, you will need to think like system analysts, business leaders, engineers, economists, entrepreneurs planners and architects. Can you design a strategy that will turn WLU into a beacon for a carbon‐neutral Canada?

Wilfrid Laurier University Psychology Associate Professor is conducting research on closing the performance gap in high-performance green buildings by cultivating a culture of sustainability:

This five-year project entitled, “Closing the performance gap in high-performance green buildings by cultivating a culture of sustainability,” will be based in evolv1, a LEED Platinum and net positive energy multi-tenant office building. The building, designed and owned by the Cora Group and envisioned in partnership with Sustainable Waterloo Region, is located within David Johnston Research and Technology Park.

Riemer and his partners will create an evidence-based engagement strategy to develop a culture of sustainability in green office buildings that can be successfully transferred to other commercial building projects. He says innovative approaches like this must be part of the strategy to reach the ambitious carbon reduction goals set by the Ontario and Canadian governments.

Another example is the Low ­Impact Design project. This is a mandatory project that is part of the UU101 course - Perspectives on Sustainability. The project is titled Sustainability Challenge With a WLU Focus and is described as follows:

Your objective is to develop a public service announcement (PSA) on how low‐impact/restorative/regenerative design could benefit Laurier and our environment. How can the University’s built environment (i.e., buildings, grounds, and parking lots) be leveraged or altered from a low impact design approach (e.g., increase biodiversity, water quality/conservation, etc.)? What are the design principles that could be followed? Why is this important? How could we positively impact our community/environment? These are the kinds of questions you should address as you consider how to reimagine the university’s relationship with its natural environment. You will have to think like biologists, economists, artists, hydrologists, and building and landscape architects to transform Laurier into a beacon of green design thinking!

Wilfrid Laurier Energy Dashboard

Laurier's energy dashboard virtually displays real-time data of energy consumption for every building, and features competition modules to encourage conservation between buildings. The dashboard also allows users to analyze data for troubleshooting in addition to highlighting our campus green features, providing green tips, weather, and discussion forums.

The Sustainability Council in Residence hosts annual energy competitions, which reduce GHGs and utility bills.

SmartAPPetite is a collaborative project of the Human Environments Analysis Lab that promotes, smarter, healthier eating and strengthens the local food system in Ontario, Canada by using smartphone technology to share and expand local food knowledge. Dr. Sean Doherty, Professor and Chair of Laurier's Department of Geography and Environmental Science is a faculty associate for the SmartAPPetite project.

The primary goal of SmartAPPetite is to expand people’s food literacy in order to nudge them toward smarter food purchasing and eating behaviours, thereby improving their overall diet quality and health. Poor nutrition contributes to several critical health issues (i.e., obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes) and is a leading cause of premature death. Identifying effective interventions which improve dietary behaviours of Canadians is vital to lowering their risks of developing diet-related issues and ultimately reducing the financial burden on our health care system.

A second goal of SmartAPPetite is to make it easier for people to find, buy and prepare local foods, thereby helping to strengthen the local food economy. Buying local, healthy food has the potential to revitalize our local economies by supporting local farmers and food processors and ensuring they receive a fair price for their products, and receive a greater portion of our ‘food dollar.’

GS102 Winter 2015 Labs

The GG102 labs afford you the opportunity to examine, research, reflect, and problem-solve about the world you live in through the lens of geography. Covering hot-button topics such as food, sustainability (water, energy, waste), transportation, student wellness, health and safety, campus commercialization, diversity and equity (accessibility, gender issues, LGBT) you will be encouraged and challenged to broaden your self actualization of the world we live in by applying real-world solutions to local human geographic issues on the WLU campus.

Creating More Sustainable Food Waste System-UU101 Sustainability Challenge with a WLU focus

Your objective is to develop a public service announcement (PSA) to promote ideas about how to move towards a more sustainable food system on campus. What can be done to reduce the ecological impact of the food served on campus while improving affordable access to healthy food options? How can we reduce food and other organic waste, and ensure that organic waste is composted instead of landfilled? How can we reduce waste from non-organic food items like coffee cups? How can we rethink our processes to support the Province of Ontario’s transition to a circular economy, thereby finding positive reuse options for outputs of our food system?

Low ­Impact Design-UU101 Sustainability Challenge with a WLU focus

Your objective is to develop a public service announcement (PSA) on how low‐impact/restorative/regenerative design could benefit Laurier and our environment. How can the University’s built environment (i.e., buildings, grounds, and parking lots) be leveraged or altered from a low impact design approach (e.g., increase biodiversity, water quality/conservation, etc.)? What are the design principles that could be followed? Why is this important? How could we positively impact our community/environment? These are the kinds of questions you should address as you consider how to reimagine the university’s relationship with its natural environment. You will have to think like biologists, economists, artists, hydrologists, and building and landscape architects to transform Laurier into a beacon of green design thinking!

SmartAPPetite is a collaborative project of the Human Environments Analysis Lab that promotes, smarter, healthier eating and strengthens the local food system in Ontario, Canada by using smartphone technology to share and expand local food knowledge. Dr. Sean Doherty, Professor and Chair of Laurier's Department of Geography and Environmental Science is a faculty associate for the SmartAPPetite project.

The primary goal of SmartAPPetite is to expand people’s food literacy in order to nudge them toward smarter food purchasing and eating behaviours, thereby improving their overall diet quality and health. Poor nutrition contributes to several critical health issues (i.e., obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes) and is a leading cause of premature death. Identifying effective interventions which improve dietary behaviours of Canadians is vital to lowering their risks of developing diet-related issues and ultimately reducing the financial burden on our health care system.

A second goal of SmartAPPetite is to make it easier for people to find, buy and prepare local foods, thereby helping to strengthen the local food economy. Buying local, healthy food has the potential to revitalize our local economies by supporting local farmers and food processors and ensuring they receive a fair price for their products, and receive a greater portion of our ‘food dollar.’

GS102 Winter 2015 Labs

The GG102 labs afford you the opportunity to examine, research, reflect, and problem-solve about the world you live in through the lens of geography. Covering hot-button topics such as food, sustainability (water, energy, waste), transportation, student wellness, health and safety, campus commercialization, diversity and equity (accessibility, gender issues, LGBT) you will be encouraged and challenged to broaden your self actualization of the world we live in by applying real-world solutions to local human geographic issues on the WLU campus.

GS102 Winter 2015 Labs

The GG102 labs afford you the opportunity to examine, research, reflect, and problem-solve about the world you live in through the lens of geography. Covering hot-button topics such as food, sustainability (water, energy, waste), transportation, student wellness, health and safety, campus commercialization, diversity and equity (accessibility, gender issues, LGBT) you will be encouraged and challenged to broaden your self actualization of the world we live in by applying real-world solutions to local human geographic issues on the WLU campus.

WLU Transportation Demand Management-UU101 Sustainability Challenge with a WLU focus

Your objective is to design a public service announcement (PSA) to convince more members of the WLU community out of cars and into alternative forms of transit, like buses, trains and bicycles, and to get more people sharing rides when they do have to drive. What key messages can you use to encourage people to reduce their transportation carbon footprint? What alternatives can you present to them? What are the other benefits of using alternate transportation? How can we improve existing partnerships and what other kinds of partners does the university need to work with to make the strategy a reality? For this project you are going to have to think like geographers, transportation planners, psychologists and economists—among other things! Do you have what it takes to wean this campus off its dependence on cars?

GS102 Winter 2015 Labs

The GG102 labs afford you the opportunity to examine, research, reflect, and problem-solve about the world you live in through the lens of geography. Covering hot-button topics such as food, sustainability (water, energy, waste), transportation, student wellness, health and safety, campus commercialization, diversity and equity (accessibility, gender issues, LGBT) you will be encouraged and challenged to broaden your self actualization of the world we live in by applying real-world solutions to local human geographic issues on the WLU campus.

Closing the performance gap in high-performance green buildings by cultivating a culture of sustainability:

This five-year project entitled, “Closing the performance gap in high-performance green buildings by cultivating a culture of sustainability,” will be based in evolv1, a LEED Platinum and net positive energy multi-tenant office building. The building, designed and owned by the Cora Group and envisioned in partnership with Sustainable Waterloo Region, is located within David Johnston Research and Technology Park.

“The building will act as a ‘living laboratory’ to understand how best to engage the inhabitants of sustainable buildings in sustainable practices,” said Riemer. “There are ways to nudge people towards more sustainable habits, such as the physical design of the building, but there is also a social aspect we’re looking at to encourage engagement in all aspects of sustainability.”

Riemer and his partners will create an evidence-based engagement strategy to develop a culture of sustainability in green office buildings that can be successfully transferred to other commercial building projects. He says innovative approaches like this must be part of the strategy to reach the ambitious carbon reduction goals set by the Ontario and Canadian governments.

GS102 Winter 2015 Labs

The GG102 labs afford you the opportunity to examine, research, reflect, and problem-solve about the world you live in through the lens of geography. Covering hot-button topics such as food, sustainability (water, energy, waste), transportation, student wellness, health and safety, campus commercialization, diversity and equity (accessibility, gender issues, LGBT) you will be encouraged and challenged to broaden your self actualization of the world we live in by applying real-world solutions to local human geographic issues on the WLU campus.

Closing the performance gap in high-performance green buildings by cultivating a culture of sustainability

This five-year project entitled, “Closing the performance gap in high-performance green buildings by cultivating a culture of sustainability,” will be based in evolv1, a LEED Platinum and net positive energy multi-tenant office building. The building, designed and owned by the Cora Group and envisioned in partnership with Sustainable Waterloo Region, is located within David Johnston Research and Technology Park.

“The building will act as a ‘living laboratory’ to understand how best to engage the inhabitants of sustainable buildings in sustainable practices,” said Riemer. “There are ways to nudge people towards more sustainable habits, such as the physical design of the building, but there is also a social aspect we’re looking at to encourage engagement in all aspects of sustainability.”

Riemer and his partners will create an evidence-based engagement strategy to develop a culture of sustainability in green office buildings that can be successfully transferred to other commercial building projects. He says innovative approaches like this must be part of the strategy to reach the ambitious carbon reduction goals set by the Ontario and Canadian governments.

Building a Sustainability Culture Among WLU Faculty and Staff-UU101 Sustainability Challenge With a WLU Focus

Your objective is to develop a public service announcement (PSA) to inform the campus community about the limitations of WLU’s sustainability culture and estimate its impacts for the university’s sustainability profile. Then your team must develop goals for cultural change and an action plan to reach those goals and share this with the campus community through the PSA to empower people so that they have the knowledge and tools to change their ways to improve this culture on campus. To design that plan you will need to think like psychologists, sociologists, marketers and system analysts. Can you design a strategy that will help WLU grow a truly sustainable culture amongst the campus community?

SmartAPPetite is a collaborative project of the Human Environments Analysis Lab that promotes, smarter, healthier eating and strengthens the local food system in Ontario, Canada by using smartphone technology to share and expand local food knowledge. Dr. Sean Doherty, Professor and Chair of Laurier's Department of Geography and Environmental Science is a faculty associate for the SmartAPPetite project.

The primary goal of SmartAPPetite is to expand people’s food literacy in order to nudge them toward smarter food purchasing and eating behaviours, thereby improving their overall diet quality and health. Poor nutrition contributes to several critical health issues (i.e., obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes) and is a leading cause of premature death. Identifying effective interventions which improve dietary behaviours of Canadians is vital to lowering their risks of developing diet-related issues and ultimately reducing the financial burden on our health care system.

A second goal of SmartAPPetite is to make it easier for people to find, buy and prepare local foods, thereby helping to strengthen the local food economy. Buying local, healthy food has the potential to revitalize our local economies by supporting local farmers and food processors and ensuring they receive a fair price for their products, and receive a greater portion of our ‘food dollar.’

GS102 Winter 2015 Labs

The GG102 labs afford you the opportunity to examine, research, reflect, and problem-solve about the world you live in through the lens of geography. Covering hot-button topics such as food, sustainability (water, energy, waste), transportation, student wellness, health and safety, campus commercialization, diversity and equity (accessibility, gender issues, LGBT) you will be encouraged and challenged to broaden your self actualization of the world we live in by applying real-world solutions to local human geographic issues on the WLU campus.

Accessibility of Sustainability Features at Laurier-UU101 Sustainability Challenge With a WLU Focus

Your objective is to review current sustainability features and initiatives at Laurier and then decide on one specific feature or initiative for which accessibility may be an issue and could be improved. With this one feature/initiative in mind, develop a public service announcement (PSA) that proposes innovative solutions of how to improve accessibility. What barriers might be present that have been overlooked in design? How can we rethink things to be inclusive of the entire Laurier community? Your team must consider nature of the sustainability feature, any physical changes that may be needed, and the resources that would be required to make the changes, to ensure they are feasible to implement. You will need to think like engineers, sustainability managers, psychologists, and diversity and equity officers.

Sustainability in the Curriculum-UU101 Sustainability Challenge with a WLU focus

Your objective is to develop public service announcement (PSA) for integrating sustainability into academics across Laurier in a meaningful way. Try to also consider how it can be integrated into programs that don’t seem to have a natural alignment with sustainability such as social work or criminology. How can we encourage students in such programs to take sustainability courses or pursue sustainability options? What sorts of changes are needed within academic programs? What kinds of resources or tool kits (e.g., https://www.sulitest.org/en/index.html) can be provided and promoted to faculty to help them integrate sustainability concepts into their courses (see for example: http://lsf-lst.ca/)? What are other universities doing? You are going to have to think like educators, and you will have to get inside the heads of your fellow students—the ones who AREN’T in this class! Do you have the next big idea when it comes to putting sustainability at the heart of university education?