State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Each year, and most recently in Spring 2022 led by Dr. Paul Crovella, students in CME 404 - Applied Structures - design, build, and deliver pedestrian bridges for the College and surrounding communities using sustainable construction materials, like wood. Most recently, students built bridges for ESF’s Newcomb and Warrensburg Campuses in New York's Adirondack Mountain region. These connect the College grounds to nearby hiking trails and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s camp housed at ESF’s Pack Memorial Forest. Previously, visitors would have to drive to access these areas, but now are accessible by foot thanks to these bridges crossing a stream that divided the areas.

The Office of Sustainability hires several undergraduate and graduate student interns during each year. Many assigned projects focus on campus engagement. For example, in 2020 the interns at the time developed much of the web and outreach content for the Flow Real (reusable menstrual products) program, which resulted in a high level of campus engagement and program success. The program is still operational in 2023 and student clubs assist in campus engagement.

In Spring 2021, led by Dr. Sam Quinn, students from EFB 796, Special Topics in Conservation Biology worked with property owners around Skaneateles Lake to transition portions of their lawns to meadow to support native species and pollinators and improve runoff control and filtration before entering the lake, minimized yard maintenance costs and efforts while minimizing potential for residual pollution and accidental spills from land maintenance equipment and treatments (fuels, fertilizers, etc.). By participating in this course, students contributed to advancing ESF’s public outreach by applying conservation techniques learned in their previous coursework at the College that benefitted pollinators, protected water quality, and reduced costs for landowners.

The weather station at ESF's Adirondack Ecological Center (Newcomb Campus) is extensively used by researchers and classes. The data gathered at this station is publicly available and has been used by dozens of researchers around the world since its installation in the 1930s. This station represents an essential tool for others to learn about ESF and the College's range of environmental research and academics. Previous research helped solve the acid rain crisis in the US, and the tracking of mercury in the environment led to implication of fossil fuel emissions in the US Midwest. Recent examples of related research includes:

- Beier, C., J. Mills, P. McHale, C. T. Driscoll, and M. J. Mitchell. 2021. "Long‐term ecosystem monitoring at Huntington Forest: Integrating hydrology, biogeochemistry and climatic controls on watershed processes" (Hydrological Processes 35).

Many classes at ESF and at other universities have used the data in class activities and case studies on an ongoing basis. Examples of these courses include:

- ESF: EFB 584/684, Winter Mammalian Ecology
- McGill University: Fisheries and Wildlife
- Rutgers University: Winter Field Ecology

ESF students at the Newcomb Campus also regularly visit the weather station in the field to learn how the equipment operates and is maintained, an opportunity that is unique and would not be learned in a typical classroom.

ESF also has active weather stations at the Syracuse campus atop Walters Hall, and at the Ranger School campus in Wanakena, NY.

Each year, and most recently in Fall 2022 led by Dr. Paul Crovella, students in CME 305/505 - Sustainable Energy Systems for Buildings - performed solar energy site evaluations of campus locations and in the surrounding community. Students also perform an analysis of the solar energy production of the photovoltaic systems (PV, solar panels) located on Walters Hall and Baker Laboratory at ESF’s Syracuse campus. The students use the buildings surrounding the campus to propose net zero energy retrofits and determine energy conservation measures to select size-appropriate renewable energy supplies on site.

In Spring 2021, led by Dr. Josh Cousins, students in EST 427 Environmental and Energy Auditing performed an exterior lighting audit of ESF's Syracuse Campus. During this audit, students identified areas on campus that could be retrofitted with LED bulbs, calculated energy conservation, and cost savings from these changes. The results of this audit indicated that campus energy use could be reduced by more than 42,000 kWh per year. The cost of the retrofit was estimated at $4,270, the project would yield cost savings to the campus after 5 years.

View report at
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RCDkI7o8Ljsuqc7YUshtG3IGa_ocG_pC/view?usp=sharing

Working with student organizations, such as Green Campus Initiative and SustainabiliTEAM, the Office of Sustainability leads periodic waste audits and characterizations (the most recent being in April 2023). A large focus has been on food waste from the Trailhead Cafe in the Gateway Center. These hand's-on audits help provide data on wasted food, including the types of food disposed. This data is helping to inform new educational (behavior change) strategies, how to better controlling unsustainable external sources of food (caterers), and developing enhanced sustainable menu options. [See more about this in the Waste section below.]

The College's WELL Building Initiative, which involves students and applied student learning, has also focused on a better understanding of sustainable food, with the goal to advance more sustainable options. This is also tied to the College's commitment to Break Free from Single Use Plastics, which largely result from food packaging.

In Fall 2021, led by Dr. Gretchen Messer, students in LSA 333 - Plants Materials - were introduced to the identification, site requirements, natural and cultural history, community ecology, and landscape value of native and exotic woody and herbaceous plant materials typical of landscape architectural practice. The course includes field identification of plants by walks of the campus grounds, and trips to local gardens, arboreta, and natural areas to demonstrate the use of plants in designed and ecological settings.

Throughout the Summer and Fall of 2021, Student Sustainability Coordinators (student assistant positions) developed and implemented a Green Purchasing Guide for use by campus members. The Guide includes office, janitorial, food service, facilities supplies, electronics, and apparel commonly used on campus. All products included in the Guide comply with New York State green purchasing standards (GreenNY) and/or feature a 3rd-party environmental certification (Green Seal, UL EcoLogo, etc.) In the process of developing the guide, the students analyzed the College's purchasing trends to identify which products were most commonly used (and disposed) on campus (pre-COVID). This data allowed the students to utilize the ESF campus as a living lab to determine which GreenNY compliant products we needed to reduce the environmental impacts of the materials procured by the College.

In the process of creating the Guide, the students learned about and were able to demonstrate understanding of sustainable materials, environmental policy, and communication techniques. Students also gained a deep understanding of the GreenNY Purchasing Specifications, that all NY State agencies (including ESF) are required to comply with. By gaining this knowledge, students were set to become leaders in sustainable purchasing in the state. Since the launch of this Guide, multiple SUNY campuses and other NY State Agencies have contacted the students to learn from them the process in making the guide and its implementation at the College, so they may develop a similar initiative at their institution.

While this project was not a formal component of of a course or thesis report, this unique opportunity provided the students with comprehensive and professionally-translatable knowledge about sustainable purchasing and sustainable materials management in NY state. Students have demonstrated their deep knowledge through the meetings and presentations given to staff at other SUNY campuses and NYS Agencies. Although the Green Purchasing Guide is not in the form of a typical report or presentation, this document demonstrates how ESF is a leader in sustainability and allowed students to directly learn from the College's operations to improve sustainable purchasing on campus.

ESF Green Purchasing Guide
https://www.esf.edu/sustainability/projects/documents/esf_gpg_ed-3_final_ua.pdf

GreenNY Purchasing Specifications
https://ogs.ny.gov/greenny/approved-greenny-specifications

In Fall 2022, ESF’s EcoReps performed a waste audit of Centennial Hall (dormitory) following student move-in. During this audit, the EcoReps sorted materials in the trash and recycling dumpsters to identify mis-sorted items and determine ways to improve communication about what does and does not belong in each bin. By performing this waste audit, the EcoReps got to see first hand how materials on campus are sorted and were then able to share with other students tips to improve their composting and recycling.
Audit results: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch5BiQvOJv8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Since the move-in audit, the EcoReps performed an additional recycling audit in September that was open to all ESF students. Key takeaways from this audit include:
- Paper and plastic take-out coffee cups (e.g. Starbucks) are not recyclable, in Onondaga County (NY), but belong in the trash
- Plastic bottles (juice containers, etc.) should be emptied before recycling
- Emptied and rinsed milk and juice cartons belong in the recycling bin
- Receipt labels on compostable materials from ESF’s Trailhead Cafe are not compostable and should be removed prior to composting
Audit results: https://www.instagram.com/p/CkeI4fouHlG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

See the EcoReps in action: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CioF9PGDMZ0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

SustainabiliTEAM and the Office of Sustainability also conducts monthly trash or recycling audits during the academic year (the most recent being April 2023). Results are publicly posted on a whiteboard located near the Trailhead Café.
Results on the whiteboard: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rGAnLo7rgJHg1i5A7z3QYmZS9T5EBz9M/view?usp=sharing

All campus waste audits include gathering and sorting the materials, weighing the total amount of waste and contamination, and calculating the contamination rate. While although these audits are performed outside of courses and research activities, by gathering this data they utilize the campus as a living lab. By allowing the entire campus the option to participate in these audits, students and staff learn directly from the College's operations about campus waste management, waste sorting behaviors and perceptions, and waste sorting communication. After learning which materials were most commonly mis-sorted and the contamination rate, this information is then used by the College to develop strategies to improve materials sorting, reduce contamination, and improve the diversion rate (recycling and composting).

In 2015, ESF made a major commitment to invest in and install the Lucid building management system in its buildings at its main campus in Syracuse. Lucid is now Atrius. Since that time, the Atrius system has been used to manage building systems and track energy and water use and other sustainability indicators. The College's Sustainable Construction Management academic program routinely engages with the Atrius system and uses its data to contribute to an understanding of building-level water use.

Additionally, students in this program examine Baker Lab and other College buildings in the context of LEED O&M certification, including water features such as rainwater management, indoor water use reduction, building level water metering, outdoor water use reduction, and others.

Each year, and most recently in Fall 2022, led by Dr. Jill Weiss, students in EST 550 - Environmental Impact Assessment - perform NY State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) impact assessments for the hypothetical reconstruction of a campus building elsewhere on campus or in Syracuse. The location is determined based on ecological, social, and economic constraints addressed in the assessment. Throughout the course, students learn about the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the adjoining procedure for federal environmental impact statements (EIS). For this reconstruction project, students studied the original EIS of the building and toured the building and its grounds. By understanding the building construction and operations, students propose plans and identify coordinating stakeholders to mediate and prevent environmental and societal harm as a result of the building’s construction.

Each year, and most recently in Fall 2022, led by Dr. Paul Hai, students in EST 404 - Using Past Experience to Inform Future Management: Synthesizing the Adirondack Park - synthesize their experiences and course content learned during the “Sustaining the Adirondack Park” residential semester at ESF’s Newcomb campus in the Adirondacks, to produce a comprehensive management plan for a portion of the natural area.

In Spring 2022, led by professors Stew Diemont, Don Leopold, Sam Quinn, Josh Drew, and Mike Schummer, students in EFB 414 - Senior Synthesis in Conservation Biology, integrate knowledge obtained from previous courses in biology, management, and policy, into a plan that supports wise use of conservation of biological diversity with respect to a specific topic in the discipline.

Each year, Dr. Lemir Teron leads students of EST 415: Environmental Justice on a walk-through of an environmental justice community that borders ESF’s Syracuse campus. During this experience, students learn and observe the income, race, and environmental health disparities of this community in stark contrast to the “University Hill" area, where ESF is located. The community is separated from University Hill by an interstate (I81) and is directly impacted by the noise and air pollution generated by the interstate, due to the close proximity of the infrastructure. Students in the class learn and propose ways to prevent and mitigate the environmental injustices this community faces, in general and specifically as related to the campuses that comprise the University Hill (ESF, Syracuse University, and SUNY Upstate Medical University).

An ESF Landscape Architecture student has helped design a new building that would serve as the entry/focal point for access to the Syracuse campus from the west. This is also tied to the eventual elimination of I81. Core to the design is creating new accessibility to members of Syracuse's marginalized communities in Syracuse's urban core just to the west of ESF's campus.

In Spring 2022 and for many years, led by Dr. John Wagner, students in FOR 333/533 - Natural Resources Managerial Economics - performed an energy audit of a campus building. The students must use various financial metrics (net present value, benefit cost ratios, breakeven analysis, and others) to examine the financial viability of various proposed energy conservation measures given the context of the academic building's purpose. Copies of student reports, presentations, and data analysis are then shared with the College's energy management lead and College leadership.