Iowa State University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Iowa State Students have had several opportunities to facilitate positive sustainable impact on campus engagement, including:

The Office of Sustainability hires two Campus and Community Engagement Interns each year. Interns complete event publicity, planning, recruiting and implementation, as well as evaluation and reflection, for campus sustainability and Live Green! events including Campus Sustainability Month Celebration, Sustainapalooza, and Earth Day) to educate, engage and empower students with sustainability resources and connections on campus and in the community.

Each year, the Social Media intern hired by the Office of Sustainability is responsible for maintaining an active social media presence to ensure student and community awareness of events and initiatives taking place at Iowa State and in the surrounding community. The intern develops and oversees a monthly awareness and engagement campaign, involving all of the social media platforms for the Live Green! Initiative, and tracks performance.

The Marketing and Communications intern in the Office of Sustainability puts together seven monthly newsletters with a new theme each month. The newsletter includes articles about sustainable events at Iowa State, in-depth information on specific projects related to sustainability, and detailed information about volunteer opportunities in the community. The newsletter focuses on three main principles: educate, engage and empower. Readership statistics are monitored and opportunities for increased engagement are analyzed and applied.

Iowa State Students have had several opportunities to facilitate positive sustainable impact on public engagement, including:

The Office of Sustainability hires two Campus and Community Engagement Interns each year. Interns complete event publicity, planning, recruiting and implementation, as well as evaluation and reflection, for campus sustainability and Live Green! events including Campus Sustainability Month Celebration, Sustainapalooza, and Earth Day) to educate, engage and empower students with sustainability resources and connections on campus and in the community.

Each year, the Social Media intern hired by the Office of Sustainability is responsible for maintaining an active social media presence to ensure student and community awareness of events and initiatives taking place at Iowa State and in the surrounding community. The intern develops and oversees a monthly awareness and engagement campaign, involving all of the social media platforms for the Live Green! Initiative, and tracks performance.

The Marketing and Communications intern in the Office of Sustainability puts together seven monthly newsletters with a new theme each month. The newsletter includes articles about sustainable events at Iowa State, in-depth information on specific projects related to sustainability, and detailed information about volunteer opportunities in the community. The newsletter focuses on three main principles: educate, engage and empower. Readership statistics are monitored and opportunities for increased engagement are analyzed and applied.

Each year, two ISU students are hired by the City of Ames as Smart Business Challenge Interns who act as a liaison and resource to businesses participating in the Challenge. offers Ames businesses to be recognized for their commitment to and accomplishment in multiple sustainability operational areas (including but not limited to energy efficiency, water conservation, waste diversion, and transportation). These students support Challenge participants in collecting data, completing the Challenge certification checklist, researching opportunities to expand and enhance sustainability efforts in operations and services, identifying resources, and connecting with other Challenge participants.

People in Ecosystems Watershed Integration (PEWI) is an innovative game-based learning app based on playing land-use “What if '' scenarios. Starting out as a spreadsheet application for a class exercise, it has since expanded into an interdisciplinary team initiative, involving faculty and students. On screen, PEWI has developed into a simulated 6,000-acre watershed where players can test the impacts of land-use decisions and solutions. Behind the graphical display, the app draws on a deep background of data, coding and modeling that keeps expanding to include new information and decision pathways to deliver ever-more robust and realistic outcomes with each year’s team. The game has found its way into curricula all over the country and the world.

Students in the undergraduate Building Technology Sequence (ARCH 345, 346, 347, 348, 445) utilize campus buildings as a basis for case studies and hands-on exercises involving building, HVAC and visual/thermal operational performance.

Iowa State Students have had several opportunities to facilitate positive sustainable impact on buildings, including:

In 2021, a team of Iowa State students participated (and won second place) in the ELECTRI International/NECA Electrical Contracting Innovation Challenge (ECIC). Teams are responsible for creating a technical analysis and proposal of a local business and showing the potential energy efficiency upgrades and the feasibility for the facility to reach a net-zero energy status. Teams must create a detailed plan to engage their local NECA contractors for assistance, and the final proposal should include design considerations specific to their customer’s needs.

Students in the Environmental Modeling course use the College of Design building as a case study to assess the energy consumption of the building using state of the art simulation tools and assess potential retrofit strategies and their capacity to reduce the building’s energy consumption and improve thermal and visual comfort as well as indoor air quality.

Students in the undergraduate Building Technology Sequence (ARCH 345, 346, 347, 348, 445) often use campus buildings as case studies for building performance, HVAC and visual/thermal performance hands-on exercises.

Iowa State Students have had several opportunities to facilitate positive sustainable impact on energy, including:

The Sustainability Committee of Student Government worked with Facilities Planning and Management and the Department of Residence to put on an Earth Month Kill-A-Watt Challenge: a competition among all of the on-campus residence halls to determine which one could reduce its energy consumption the most. Information on energy reduction was made available at the end of each week, and the residence hall that had the greatest reduction was announced.

Students in Environmental Modeling use the College of Design building as the model for assessing the energy consumption of the building using state of the art simulation tools and assess potential retrofit strategies, and their capacity, to reduce the building’s energy consumption and improve thermal and visual comfort as well as indoor air quality.

Iowa State University Utility and Planning Services collaborated with College of Engineering Senior Design courses to provide real life application perspectives on sustainable energy design projects. The latest collaboration entailed the development and design of a campus thermal storage “sand battery”. The “sand battery” would absorb thermal heat supplied by renewable electricity to produce high-pressure steam, reducing steam boiler natural gas consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. The 9-month project entailed monthly meetings with students to provide context of campus energy needs, costs, property needs, and campus infrastructure needed to support the “sand battery” operation. The course concluded with a recommendation to the Dean of Engineering, asking the project’s research and refinement continue within the next Senior Design class until realization of “sand battery” occurs.

Iowa State Students have had several opportunities to facilitate positive sustainable impact on food & dining, including:

Engineers for a Sustainable World, student organization, established a composting project in Frederiksen Court (student apartment housing) in the fall of 2020. Through this project, student residents are able to request a free collection bucket and empty their collected food waste into designated community bins that are then taken to the ISU Compost Facility. The group collaborated with the Department of Residence, Frederiksen Court Council (student leadership), Facilities Planning and Management, and ISU Dining to provide a collection option and beneficial use opportunity for student apartment food waste. As well as fulfilling a need, this project informs process improvement and advises future expansion opportunities for other student apartment housing.

The Food Committee, an ongoing partnership between students and ISU Dining team members, offers the opportunity for students to engage and learn about education and awareness opportunities and provide opinions or suggestions related to mockups education and awareness campaigns related to a number of business considerations including venue renovations, new venue openings and menu item development and release. Students also meet with food stores/buyers, to learn about supply and demand.

Growing Together Iowa Project annually brings together community master gardeners, community food pantries, ISU faculty and graduate students to organize the planting and harvesting of community gardens - as well as ensuring food safety, offering nutrition education and evaluating impact - to build and enhance food security and food systems.

A dietetic intern working with ISU Dining, measured daily food waste generated in ISU Dining locations across campus and reported on type of food, reason for discard and estimated lost revenue. Awareness building with staff and development of a marketing campaign and proposal to onboard a cloud-based tracking system for food waste quantity and trends, were among the resulting deliverables.

Iowa State Students have had several opportunities to facilitate positive sustainable impact on grounds, including:

Students taking Horticulture 444 (Landscape Construction Management) reused old brick pavers to restore a walkway and sidewalk outside of the Enrollment Services Center, in collaboration with Facilities Planning and Management. The students applied what they learned in their lectures to a real-world, hands-on experience – seeing the project through from demolition of the old steps to the restoration of the new ones. Nearly 95% of the pavers were able to be reused.

Students in Landscape Architecture 222 (Introduced Plants of the Midwest) use the campus landscape for identification, observation, and study of plants introduced to cultivation in the Midwest region. Studies include understanding plant cultural requirements, including adaptations to climate changes, solar exposure, and soil conditions.

Through collaboration with ISU Extension and Outreach and Facilities Planning and Management, students from Landscape Architecture 478 (Topical Studies in Landscape Architecture), Horticulture 342 (Landscape Plant Installation, Establishment, and Management), planned, designed, presented for critique, sourced materials and planted a pollinator garden, repurposing a non-functioning rain garden site. The project was part of a 10-county pollinator garden outreach project through ISU Extension and Outreach, that further engaged students with projects throughout the state.

Students in Horticulture 342 (Landscape Plant Installation, Establishment, and Management) learn how to plan species selection and planting location and technique, through installing campus trees, as part of their studies.

Animal Ecology students, in collaboration with Facilities Planning and Management, completed species inventories for trees, animals, and birds populating one of the university-managed woodland areas, and developed a phased approach of management techniques focused on increasing wildlife diversification.

To assist the Heritage Tree Program, a horticulture graduate student assisted in the collection of seedlings from a historic sycamore tree on campus and raising seedlings in a campus greenhouse until ready for planting. The seeds yielded around 100 sturdy, 2-foot-tall sycamore seedlings, preserving the genetic heritage of the original tree, for campus and community plantings.

Iowa State Students have had several opportunities to facilitate positive sustainable impact on purchasing, including:

The Food Committee, an ongoing partnership between students and ISU Dining team members, offers the opportunity for students to engage and learn about education and awareness opportunities and provide feedback. This extends to preferences related to purchasing decisions specifically related to drinks, brands, etc. and includes students as a focus group toward final purchasing decisions.

Students in TSM 444 (Facility Planning), in collaboration with Facilities Planning and Management, ISU Purchasing and Animal Research Farms, developed an efficient layout for a new cardboard processing facility that would turn waste cardboard into a finished bale of small strips to be used for animal bedding. Identifying the most efficient layout of the building and “best fit” equipment used were key components of the final report’s recommendations.

Four teams of students in Technology Systems Management 415 and 416 were tasked with designing a new facility for ISU Transportation Services to accommodate electric vehicles and other vehicles of the future. Proposed designs accounted for additional functionality and efficiency considerations, as well, including office space, improved parking lot flow, storage, and accessibility.

Iowa State Students have had several opportunities to facilitate positive sustainable impact on waste, including:

The Director of Sustainability (and the Sustainability Committee) of Student Government, in collaboration with Facilities Planning and Management, assisted in the implementation of a paper towel pilot project. Specifically, students were involved in designing informational signage as part of building wayfinding signage, as well as “on the bin”.

The Sustainability Committee of Student Government, in collaboration with the University Library and Facilities Planning and Management, researched recycling impact and ease of recycling toward determining increased need and effective placement, identifying funding sources and securing funding for additional recycling bins.

Through a partnership with Facilities Planning and Management, students in IND 402 (Design for Social Impact) researched, prototyped, tested and developed final product applications for waste Plexiglass barriers that had initially been erected as COVID precaution. Upcycled products included: desk organizers, class rings, and portable tables.

A graduate student in mechanical engineering and administrative business, in partnership with the Iowa State University Cyclone Football Varsity Marching Band, designed and produced 3D-printed clamps to hold band members’ phones, offering paperless sheet music. Prior to the development of the clamp, the band was using paper sheet music and drill sheets, ~20 songs per game, is composed of around 20 songs.

Engineers for a Sustainable World, student organization, established a composting project in Frederiksen Court (student apartment housing) in the fall of 2020. Through this project, student residents are able to request a free collection bucket and empty their collected food waste into designated community bins that are then taken to the ISU Compost Facility. The group collaborated with the Department of Residence, Frederiksen Court Council (student leadership), Facilities Planning and Management, and ISU Dining to provide a collection option and beneficial use opportunity for student apartment food waste. As well as fulfilling a need, this project informs process improvement and advises future expansion opportunities for other student apartment housing.

Recyclables for Music club members, composed of students from materials science and engineering, and music and theatre, developed a prototype processing and extrusion system aimed at transforming disposable water bottles into musical instruments. Along with the prototype, students analyzed efficiency in collection opportunities, as well as education and awareness campaigns related to consumption and responsible disposal.

Members of the Student Government Sustainability Committee’s Waste Subcommittee developed a proposal for turning t-shirts returned by ISU Dining student employees into reusable bags - achieving a reduction in the need for disposable plastic bags consumed and disposed of, as well as offering a unique diversion opportunity for a unique waste stream. thrown out and ensure that old ISU Dining t-shirts are reused.

Students in TSM 444 (Facility Planning), in collaboration with Facilities Planning and Management, ISU Purchasing and Animal Research Farms, developed an efficient layout for a new cardboard processing facility that would turn waste cardboard into a finished bale of small strips to be used for animal bedding. Resulting in 100% reuse options for campus waste cardboard.

Iowa State Students have had several opportunities to facilitate positive sustainable impact on water, including:

Student members of Engineers for a Sustainable World developed a campus master plan involving a green infrastructure system as part of the EPA RainWorks Challenge. This system takes into consideration the accumulation of stormwater on buildings, in parking lots, and on grass fields. In the design of the solution, the team was able to include permeable pavement, green roofs, soil aeration, and a vertical garden.

People in Ecosystems Watershed Integration (PEWI) is an innovative game-based learning app based on playing land-use "What if" scenarios. Starting out as a spreadsheet application for a class exercise, it has since expanded into an interdisciplinary team initiative, involving faculty and students. On screen, PEWI has developed into a simulated 6,000-acre watershed where players can test the impacts of land-use decisions and solutions. Behind the graphical display, the app draws on a deep background of data, coding and modeling that keeps expanding to include new information and decision pathways to deliver ever-more robust and realistic outcomes with each year’s team. The game has found its way into curricula all over the country and the world.

Iowa State Students have had several opportunities to facilitate positive sustainable impact on coordination & planning, including:

One intern is hired by the Office of Sustainability every three years to assist in collecting and organizing data for the STARS submission. Responsibilities include gathering information and data related to Iowa State University sustainability performance, establishing and maintaining correspondence with campus departments, organizations, and leadership, and maintaining detailed records of the collected data and correspondence to ensure reliability and representation for the final submission. The intern assists the Director of Sustainability in organizing and facilitating informational and progress status meetings and connections throughout the internship.

The Sustainability Committee of Student Government meets on a weekly basis to discuss campus sustainability projects and implementation. Throughout the year, the committee works on implementing sustainability initiatives in collaboration with other university stakeholders, including composting initiatives, reducing plastic consumption, increasing the number & visibility of recycling bins and education campaigns.. The committee also reviews applications for the Green Initiatives Fund, which provides student organizations financial support to implement sustainability-focused projects and initiatives.

In spring 2021, the Consortium for Cultivating Human And Naturally reGenerative Enterprises, or C-CHANGE, a sustainability-oriented effort funded by an Iowa State University Presidential Interdisciplinary Research Initiative grant, initiated a project to examine whether Iowa State University is meeting students' expectations and needs around sustainability. The Sustainability in Curriculum-Change (SiC-CHANGE) project's goal is to better understand students' perspectives on how sustainability is currently being approached at Iowa State University (ISU) and how well the curriculum and extracurricular activities address the various social, economic, and ecological dimensions of sustainability. The core SiC-CHANGE project team composed one ISU faculty member, a postdoctoral scholar, a graduate student, and three undergraduate students, supported by other faculty and students at various times during the course of the project.

The Tracing Race Initiative is an ongoing effort to encourage, support and facilitate digital scholarship that reveals the under-documented history of accomplishment and experience of people of color, and engage with the history of race, inequality, racism, and student, faculty and staff activism at Iowa State University. This initiative provides space and support for faculty and student research that elevates primary source materials in teaching, learning and research and allow for creative remixing and cultural expression of the faculty and student body through these materials and expand the narrative of campus collective history. The project involves disciplines of english, historic preservation and applied linguistics and technology within a team of faculty and students. In fall 2021, the project team collaborated with students and faculty in the Community and Regional planning class - Documenting the Historic Built Environment and the Greenlee School of Journalism class - Advanced Photojournalism and The Digital Newsroom, completed and collected photographs, videos, and interviews using Esri StoryMaps to highlight personal stories of international students, explorations of local renaming efforts, and reflections on spaces both on and off-campus that provide a sense of belonging for students, faculty, and staff of color.

The Changing the Gap book club aims to help immigrant parents communicate with their second-generation children. Two children’s books centered on Korean American children using Korean and English languages were created as deliverables. The project, a collaboration of the Ames Korean School, Story County Extension and Outreach, and the College of Human Sciences, included a graduate student team member who assisted with the translation of project materials and survey data from the parents from Korean to English and English to Korean to ensure that the information was being conveyed accurately and the intended meaning was being retained after translation.

Iowa State Students have had several opportunities to facilitate positive sustainable impact on wellbeing and work, including:

Four students involved in the undergraduate research program worked with an industrial engineering professor to plan and execute mass vaccination clinics in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 4,800 doses (including primary and secondary doses) were administered during these clinics.

With considerations of COVID-19 precautions and the need for study areas, a mechanical engineering student combined the design knowledge (from engineering courses) with the fabrication skills (from working as a student lab technician) to create portable personal desks, to be used in outdoor settings.

Students in TSM 444 (Facility Planning), in collaboration with Facilities Planning and Management, ISU Purchasing and Animal Research Farms, developed an efficient layout for a new cardboard processing facility that would turn waste cardboard into a finished bale of small strips to be used for animal bedding. Identifying the most efficient layout of the building and “best fit” equipment used were key components of the final report’s recommendations. The report also looked at the amount of time it would take to create one bale of shredded cardboard in order to maximize efficiency while simultaneously minimizing cost. The students also conducted a risk and safety analysis for each of the potential layouts they designed to determine which scenario was the safest for employees.

During the 2019 academic year, a senior industrial design class collaborated with the ISU Police Department to examine the issues officers face with their uniforms, gear and vehicles – and what designers can do to help solve those problems. This was a unique opportunity for both students and officers to work with one another toward creating and sustaining change through a relationship not typically thought of on a university campus. Law enforcement is a prime market for product development, allowing designers to tackle designs that have remained unchanged for years, in spite of ever-changing demands of an officer’s job. Students gathered data to better inform their designs by experiencing police gear firsthand. While wearing full gear, the students completed an abbreviated version of police training: running up stairs, performing CPR, applying a tourniquet, kicking down doors, dragging a 150-pound test dummy, handcuffing the dummy and identifying suspects.
During the course, the students designed a wide range of police gear, including:
• Load-bearing vest: Designed to take weight off an officer’s duty belt while giving a nonmilitaristic aesthetic
• Tactical search gloves: Ideal for searching and pat-downs, as well as having puncture resistance and dexterity
• Duty pants: Allows police officers to keep their duty belt on while using the restroom
• Radio microphone body camera: A body camera and radio mic connected through a power cord that can be attached to mounts on the uniform’s chest.
With designs completed, prototypes were the focus for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year. A new group of students undertook this, focusing on new and similar areas for improvement of police gear. Not only did students complete creative and functional designs that could impact law enforcement nationwide and worldwide, they built relationships extending well beyond the classroom setting, seeing a different side of law enforcement and breaking out of their comfort zones. In addition, police officers, in turn, were offered a different perspective of the students they are charged to protect and serve. This innovative approach and project will pave the way for future studies and partnerships at Iowa State University and beyond. As well as sharing their work with the ISU Police Department, this unique application of industrial design was presented at the Architecture, Media, Politics and Society Parade Conference at Florida State University in January. Students were joined by an ISU PD Officer to present their work at ISU Day at the Capitol in February.