Carnegie Mellon University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

A collaborative student and staff initiative, Partners Allied in Civic Engagement (PACE) envisions and implements strategies and programming to increase civic engagement at Carnegie Mellon. PACE coordinates direct service and philanthropic opportunities, organizes programming and annual events, and develops a network of student leaders committed to civic engagement.

Housing Sustainability Assistants (HSAs) are residents of CMU housing who advocate for sustainable living in their residential communities through education and programming.

SUCCEED (Summer Center for Climate, Energy, and Environmental Decision Making) was founded in 2011 by Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Climate and Energy Decision Making. SUCCEED includes two programs: a free 5-day summer program for rising 10th and 11th graders and a 2-day workshop for teachers. The program is run by PhD students and uses the campus and its resources to expand participants' understanding of energy, the environment, and how those relate to climate change.

The Breathemobile, a program run out of CMU’s Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies (CAPS), is packed with scientific instrumentation that provides real-time analysis of local air quality in Allegheny County and beyond. This produces insights into how pollution travels from point sources and through neighborhoods. These data are used by faculty and students for their research and learning, providing real-world insights into campus and regional air quality.

CMU's Center for Building Performance & Diagnostics (CBPD), a pre-fabricated structure installed on the roof of Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall, was created to be and has successfully served as a lived-in and living laboratory for the School of Architecture and the extended campus community since 1997. Ongoing indoor air quality and thermal comfort studies; the testing and performance assessment of high-performance/low impact building conditioning technology such concentrating solar technology support absorption cooling, radiant cooling with desiccant dehumidification, and underfloor air systems; the development of phone-based controls for lighting, shading devices and ventilation; and the evaluation of a host of other occupant-focused sustainable building strategies are constantly occurring here. In addition, faculty and graduate students housed within the Center have developed several diagnostic devices and user interfaces to assess and communicate building performance information to occupants both on and off campus. Students from around the world who attend Carnegie Mellon and register for courses taught by CBPD faculty benefit from the ongoing research conducted there, from the opportunity to conduct individual research projects and to evaluate the application of research findings in CBPD to the development and operation of buildings else on campus, elsewhere within the US, and within their home countries. https://soa.cmu.edu/cbpd/

The Center for Building Performance & Diagnostics (CPBD) uses OSIsoft's Pi server and software to aggregate, analyze and display energy consumption data for CBPD and for many other campus buildings. Students who work with the data or take courses where these data are used gain valuable insights into building energy consumption drivers and patterns, and ways to reduce total energy and demand profiles.

CMU's Facility Management Services department often provide students and faculty with an increasing array of data from campus buildings, including detailed operational profiles of mechanical equipment (e.g., individual AHUs) in newer buildings. This supports exploration of current building/equipment performance as a part of coursework and research.

The first-year writing course, Writing About Public Problems, asks students to write a proposal to remedy a perceived problem. Many students choose to write about campus-issues. Recently, proposals have focused on proposing solutions related to carryout containers used by campus dining locations. Students learned about challenges related to food waste collection, which informed the ideas and solutions they proposed. Some students turned their proposals into action and are collaborating with dining staff to develop improved signage for waste collection bins.

Transportation Club exposes CMU students to transportation-related classes and research opportunities, educates students about employment opportunities in the transportation industry, and provides opportunities to meet industry leaders through programming events, conferences, and networking.

The capstone experience for Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) undergraduates consists of problem-solving project courses to synthesize technology-policy issues with social science analysis. In the EPP Projects Course, students experience working on unstructured, real-world problems that, for proper treatment, require teamwork and contributions from diverse disciplines. This course often uses campus and Pittsburgh as the focus of its topic. In Spring 2019 the course was titled "Moving toward a no-carbon economy". This course looked at the policy recommendations in the “Green New Deal” (GND), including its focus on the transportation sector. This project investigated the GND goals, and the technological, economic, and social changes that will be needed to achieve them. The course specifically asked the question -- How will electric vehicles provide both energy storage and transportation services?

The first-year writing course, Writing About Public Problems, asks students to write a proposal to remedy a perceived problem. Many students choose to write about campus-issues. Recently, proposals have focused on proposing solutions related to waste reduction and collection on CMU's campus. Students learned about the challenges and processes for campus waste collection and used this real-world information to inform the ideas and solutions they proposed.

Our campus has 51,515 sq ft of green roofs, engineered terrains, dry wells, pervious pavement, a retention pond, and bio-swales to manage storm water. Some of these projects were designed and built by students and include monitoring equipment available for students to use for research and scholarship.

The Green Practices Committee (GPC) works with faculty, staff, and students to coordinate, plan, and carry out green practices on campus. The GPC uses an annual goals-based approach to its efforts. Staff, faculty, and students help coordinate goal teams and participate in the planning around successful project implementation.

The capstone experience for Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) undergraduates consists of problem-solving project courses to synthesize technology-policy issues with social science analysis. In the EPP Projects Course, students experience working on unstructured, real-world problems that, for proper treatment, require teamwork and contributions from diverse disciplines. This course often uses campus and Pittsburgh as the focus of its topic. In Fall 2018, this course was titled "Sustainability at Carnegie Mellon: A Path Forward". The project developed an appropriate notion of sustainability for Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), generated the needed metrics and data to track progress toward sustainability, and made useful policy recommendations for ensuring that CMU achieves its sustainability goals.

The Center Fellowship program cultivates skills in undergraduate students, also known as Fellows, with a passion and commitment to identity work as it relates to socially and historically minoritized populations. Through this passion, Fellows will work to advance social justice and the mission of the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion across the university. The Fellowship will equip Fellows with leadership frameworks, social supports, and community connections to further enhance their leadership capabilities. Through reflection, facilitated dialogue, and collaboration, the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion will cultivate Fellows as campus leaders committed to a student experience rooted in inclusion and equity.

CMU's Center for Building Performance & Diagnostics (CBPD), a pre-fabricated structure installed on the roof of Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall, was created to be and has successfully served as a lived-in and living laboratory for the School of Architecture and the extended campus community since 1997. Ongoing indoor air quality and thermal comfort studies; the testing and performance assessment of high-performance/low impact building conditioning technology such concentrating solar technology support absorption cooling, radiant cooling with desiccant dehumidification, and underfloor air systems; the development of phone-based controls for lighting, shading devices and ventilation; and the evaluation of a host of other occupant-focused sustainable building strategies are constantly occurring here. In addition, faculty and graduate students housed within the Center have developed several diagnostic devices and user interfaces to assess and communicate building performance information to occupants both on and off campus. Students from around the world who attend Carnegie Mellon and register for courses taught by CBPD faculty benefit from the ongoing research conducted there, from the opportunity to conduct individual research projects and to evaluate the application of research findings in CBPD to the development and operation of buildings else on campus, elsewhere within the US, and within their home countries. https://soa.cmu.edu/cbpd/

A primary focus of research within the CBPD, mentioned above, is occupant health and wellbeing. One of the well-recogized researchers in this field, Vivian Loftness, FAIA, teaches and does ongoing research on workplace health and productivity. https://soa.cmu.edu/news-archive/2018/4/5/vivian-loftness-receives-nesea-2018-professional-leadership-award Students who take her classes and/or participate in her research gain substantial insight into the value of occupant health and wellbeing as a essential aspect of building performance.

Peer Health Advocates (PHAs) are a group of students engaged in health education at University Health Services. They host campus events and develop content aimed at improving the well-being of all students.