Cloud 37: Lessons from LEED
Last week, one of my colleagues exclaimed that she was on Cloud 9, or rather, Cloud 37. She’s not come down since.
Over the last several years, Rice has undertaken an ambitious $1 billion construction program, and the bulk of these facilities are now open. We’re in celebration mode. Almost all of our new buildings will [...]
Inspiration From Afar
In this era of budget cutting, I’m regularly hearing from my fellow campus sustainability professionals that they’ve had to reduce or eliminate their travel. I’m no exception. The challenge then is to find opportunities to be inspired by the great thinkers and practitioners of the sustainability arena without actually leaving our campuses, for it’s often [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Over-design
Would you wash your hands with a fire hose?
Over the last few weeks I’ve been thinking about a significant source of energy waste, one that burdens utility budgets, frustrates maintenance personnel, and ultimately leads to building occupants who are either too hot or too cold, but never just right. This pernicious source of energy waste [...]
Drop the Tray! (Trayless Dining: A Green Strategy for Lean Times)
In this turbulent economy, I don’t think I can name a single college or university that is not cutting costs. These next few years will be lean(er) times in higher education. However, one lesson that is clearly emerging is that campus sustainability efforts are not being treated as a luxury. In fact, many campus [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 4 so far )The Day of Energy Policy
Today was perhaps the biggest day ever for energy policy at Rice University. Famed Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens presented his vision for weaning the United States off of foreign oil to a packed auditorium on the Rice campus in the energy capital of the world, Houston. The thrust of the Pickens Plan features a [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Post-Storm Lessons in Energy Planning (The Hurricane Ike Edition, Part 2)
Today marks the one month anniversary of Hurricane Ike. In Houston, the tree canopy is noticeably thinner, tarps still cover many roofs, and certain city services have been suspended to enable workers to focus on debris collection. However, life for most in this city is returning to normal. Galveston is another story altogether. To paraphrase [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Questioning Assumptions
There are times when we stumble into our lessons.
A few years ago, when I was first getting my feet wet as a campus sustainability professional, I was unexpectedly called upon in the middle of a design meeting for a new building and asked to lead a conversation about energy efficiency. As my mind began to [...]
Oil on the Brain
Summer is a time for vacations and reading lists. Certainly if you live in a hot and humid climate as I do (Houston), the thought of not escaping at least for a few days with a pile of books to a place with cool breezes would be soul-crushing. This summer, one of the stops on [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 5 so far )An Hour Well Spent
Our new fiscal year at Rice began on July 1, and with it, a new reality of energy prices that have blown a multi-million dollar hole in our budget. Like many of you I’m sure, we’re now drafting a campus energy policy, we’re identifying and implementing various energy conservation measures, and we’re preparing a set [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Putting Recycling in Perspective (A Perspective on Recycling)
I spend a lot of time in the classroom. Often when I’m making my first appearance in front of a particular class, I will begin by asking the students to “grade” Rice’s sustainability efforts. After I’ve tallied the votes for the various letter grades, I will then ask for comments for why people voted [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )« Previous Entries
