University of Colorado Colorado Springs
IN-2: Innovation 2

In order to educate future sustainability leaders we must bridge the academic operational divide by connecting student coursework with funding to address real campus sustainability projects. We must begin to teach “Applied Sustainability.” Increasingly some of our courses are tying their curriculum to actual funding opportunities. The UCCS Green Action Fund (GAF) is supplied by a five dollar per semester fee and directed by students. Classes including Sustainable Me, Sustainability Capstone, Changing Places, and others are connecting curricula with opportunities for projects. These projects involve students in many learning opportunities including grant proposal, budgeting, utility rebates, project management, evaluating products and life cycle analysis, communication, and education. To date, students from several different classes have completed showerhead, aerator, toilet, and lighting retrofits in housing, and completed pilot studies on air dryers, all funded by GAF. Mechanical Engineering students are developing a charging station for cell phones using a stationary bicycle. This model of linking academic coursework with designated funding enables more meaningful experiences for students and provides economic benefits to the university that might not otherwise take place.

There have been a number of successful outcomes over the last three years. Over 200 toilets with 3.5 gallons per flush were exchanged with 1.28 gpf in student housing. The same number of showerheads were replaced with high efficiency models. Vanity lights in housing were changed from incandescent to compact fluorescent. Several additions were made to the campus garden that provides food to dining services, include high tunnels, a vegetable washing station, and a vermicomposting system. Students from one class decided to invest in infrastructure/racks for long boards to encourage alternative transportation.