Our choices at all levels - individual, community, corporate and
government - affect nature. And they affect us.
David Suzuki, Canadian Science Broadcaster and Environmental Activist
Johns Hopkins University has undertaken many steps to make the University more sustainable and environmentally responsible. Listed below are seven areas in which the University and the Sustainability Initiative strive to fulfill their vision of a sustainable campus. Academics
Dining Services
Energy
Green Building
Resource Management & Recycling
Transportation
Water
Academics He who knows what sweets and virtues are in the ground, the waters, the plants, the heavens, and how to come at these enchantments, is the rich and royal man.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Essayist, Philosopher and Poet The primary role of a university is to educate and prepare students to succeed in the world professionally and socially. For today's student that is a world facing tremendous environmental challenges requiring thoughtful consideration and innovative solutions. Therefore it is essential that students, as future business leaders, scientists, teachers, policy makers and citizens, are provided with a foundation in environmental education and the opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge to real world problems. This is particularly important considering the environmental industry was one of the five fastest growing industries in 2008 [1]. The Green Building sector alone was worth $12 million in 2007, while in 1997 its worth was negligible [2]. At Johns Hopkins University, courses with a focus on sustainability and environmental issues are offered in almost every discipline each semester, including Introduction to Sustainability offered for the first time in Spring 2009. In these courses students learn about the interaction between cycles and processes of the natural world and human systems. They are confronted with real world problems and challenged to develop creative solutions. In Spring 2009, the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering Senior Design class designed a rainwater catchment and distribution system for a butterfly garden at Baltimore Gas and Electric's (BGE) Spring Garden facility that will be implemented in spring 2010. This system will help BGE attain LEED certification for their facility. At a Green Idea Generator brainstorming event on the Homewood campus, students presented the idea to use waste vegetable oil (WVO) from the Homewood dining facilities in the Wyman Park Complex power plant. The WVO project is scheduled to begin in fall 2009. In addition to courses offered, an interdisciplinary major and minor in Global Environmental Change and Sustainability will begin in fall 2009. The Bloomberg School of Public Health also offers a Masters in Public Health concentration on Global Sustainability and Health. Dining Services How we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is used.
Wendell Berry, American Farmer and Writer Sustainable dining means not only serving food that is grown locally, but responsible, in season when available, with minimal packaging and lower on the food chain. Today's industrial farming system bears little resemblance to the bucolic images of agriculture's past. Conventional farming is primarily concerned with efficiency and standardization which has led to vast fields of mono crops, relying heavily on chemical fertilizers and pesticides derived from fossil fuels. Sustainable farming is responsible and restorative embracing the earth's natural cycles and systems to preserve biodiversity, maintain health soils and groundwater with little to no chemical input which is better for our bodies and the environment. The industrial system has also increased the distance that food in the US travels, averaging 1,500 miles from farm to plate. By supporting locally grown, sustainable agriculture the environmental effects of transportation can be decreased while the local economy and livelihood of farm communities is preserved [3]. Offering menu options that are lower on the food chain and limiting waste will lower the climate impact of dining services as well. The higher a meal is in the food chain, the more energy it takes to create the equivalent caloric content. Meat production is responsible for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions from vast deforestation and chemical fertilizers for growing animal feed which release carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide to enteric fermentation (burps) from cows and large manure pits that release methane [4]. Tremendous amounts of energy go into food production yet in 1995 approximately 96 billion pounds of food was wasted in the US wasting those resources used to produce the food and emitting needless greenhouse gases [5]. Dining Services at Johns Hopkins University places a high priority on sustainability. The Homewood campus instituted a Responsible Dining Program that continuously evaluates their services to make their purchasing and dining operations more sustainable. Recent initiatives include purchasing only local, antibiotic and hormone free milk, eliminating trays from the freshman dining hall to reduce water and energy consumption and wasted food, and installing water and energy saving appliances in all of their dining facilities. Dining Services has also collaborated with the Sustainability Initiative, the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Education and Wellness to launch the Know Your FoodPrint campaign which raises awareness about the connection between our food choices and the environment. The dining facility at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health supports the Meatless Monday campaign by offering and promoting vegetarian options every Monday. Energy Humans build their societies around consumption of fossil water long buried in the earth, and these societies, being based on temporary resources, face the problem of being temporary themselves.
Charles Bowden, American Author The Department of Energy reports that 85% of all US energy comes from non-renewable fossil fuels, coal, oil, natural gas [6]. In the US electricity sector, coal represents 46% of the fuel mix but because coal has such a high carbon content it contributes 86% of the greenhouse gases emissions from the power generation sector [7]. This is concerning when you consider that electricity makes up a significant portion of a university's total energy use. In the case of Johns Hopkins University, electricity represents 49% of the total energy use but accounts for 75% of the University's carbon footprint. This is of course an environmental concern but also an economic one. According to the Energy Information Administration, 72% of energy expenditures for education buildings are for electricity [8]. By investing in energy efficiency universities make themselves more economically viable while reducing their carbon footprint and combating global climate change. Identifying regionally appropriate renewable sources of energy is another important action. Knowing the energy sources for your institution and where the greenhouse gases resulting from your campus operations are coming from is the critical first step in reducing them. Johns Hopkins University completed its first university-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory in fall 2007 and continues to track emissions from all of the academic divisions every fiscal year. The University continues to upgrade equipment, lighting, and appliances for energy efficiency benefits. All of the JHU campuses are upgrading their fluorescent lighting from T-12s to T-8s, and more recently the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health upgraded to "Super T-8s", reducing their overall lighting load by over 40% and their greenhouse gas emissions by 890 metric tons annually. Energy retrofits in certain buildings at the Homewood campus have resulted in energy gains of over 50%. As part of the President's Task Force on Climate Change, an analysis of existing and future carbon reduction opportunities was performed to identify short and long term strategies for JHU. Based on the wedge analysis, a combination of energy efficiency technologies, the installation of Combined Heat and Power systems, behavior change initiatives, and shifting to renewable sources of power, the University projects a 51% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. Green Building A different world cannot be built by indifferent people.
Dr. Peter Marshall, Scottish Preacher The Commission for Environmental Cooperation reported that US buildings consume 65% of the country's electricity, 12% of its drinkable water, and 40% of all raw materials [9]. Therefore, by making green building more mainstream, the US has the potential to greatly decrease its environmental impact. Green building generally addresses seven categories: - Energy Efficiency and renewable energy
- Water efficiency
- Waste reduction
- Sustainable building
- Toxic reduction
- Indoor air quality
- Smart growth and sustainable development
Green building considers the entire life cycle of the building process from demolition to materials used. According to the California Integrated Waste Management Board, 22% of their state's waste stream results from construction and demolition debris [10]. Traditional building materials are often unsustainable and harmful to our health. For instance, household wall paints contain volatile organic compound (VOC) and carpeting releases formaldehyde gas as it ages, as well as harboring dirt, dust and bacteria that create indoor air pollution problems. The Johns Hopkins University incorporates green building features in its new construction and renovation efforts, with special attention to measures that improve energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality, and work environment (such as increasing natural daylighting and reducing VOCs). From an energy perspective, the University typically designs for high efficiency in new construction and renovations, and has an energy engineer on retainer to evaluate our energy systems and perform ongoing commissioning. The University has four LEED certified buildings with eight undergoing the certification process. Hopkins also is currently renovating Gilman Hall, one of the Homewood campus' oldest and most visible buildings, which is anticipated to earn LEED Silver and plans to renovate two additional buildings with LEED certification in the near future one of which will be a Sustainability House. Resource Management & Recycling There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.
G.K. Chesterton, English Writer The amount of resources on the planet is finite so we must be wise in our use of them, reducing how much we consume, making responsible purchases, and reusing and recycling everything we can. Everyone has heard of the three R's - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle - but the first two all too often are overlooked. Recycling is very important; however, the best way to responsibly use our resources is to reduce our level of consumption. A plastic bag that was never made doesn't need to be recycled and considering 4 to 5 trillion plastic bags were produced globally in 2002 we really need to focus on the first R [11]. Reusing items and purchasing products that have reused or recycled content is another way to be a responsible consumer. Colleges and universities spend over $300 billion in products and services earning them tremendous purchasing power and with great power comes great responsibility [12]. For every ton of 30% recycled content paper used instead of paper made from virgin wood fiber 7 trees, 5 million BTUs of energy, 632 lbs of CO2, and 2,526 gallons of water are saved [13]. Recycling is a given these days not only from an environmental perspective -landfilled waste generates methane a greenhouse gas 21 times as potent as CO2 and incineration releases toxic chemicals into the air such as mercury and lead- but also from an economic one. Universities can actually make money from recycling by diverting materials from solid waste disposal and selling them to a recycling hauler. Johns Hopkins University has taken an active stance in reducing waste and promoting recycling on all of its campuses. Between 2007 and 2008, the University increased the percentage of 30% post consumer recycled content paper purchases by 51%. All of the Homewood campus' bathroom paper products are made with at least 50% post consumer recycled content with most at 100%. The Hopkins recycling program continues to expand at an impressive rate across every division and campus, including the collection of e-waste. To encourage increased recycling participation rates, each year Hopkins students, faculty and staff compete against colleges and universities across the country in a recycling competition known as Recyclemania. In 2008, Hopkins finished fourth out of the ten participating Maryland schools and 33rd out of the 140 competitors nationwide. Hopkins also earned first place honors in the state cardboard, mixed paper, and "gorilla prize" categories. Earth Day always inspires green action and Hopkins is no exception. On the Homewood campus, the Students for Environmental Action (SEA) host an event called Dump on the Quad, where students collect trash from campus residence halls and pile it on the freshman quad to separate recyclable material. Dump on the Quad is designed to both salvage material such as paper, cardboard, plastic and glass, while also raising awareness among the student body with a visual display of the amount of generated waste that should be recycled. The School of Medicine's Leadership Initiative for the Environment (LIFE) group also contributes to the annual holiday by hosting a massive Earth Day event, providing green community education and tips and an opportunity to drop off recyclables for raffled prizes. The East Baltimore campus also hosts a Green Procurement Expo held every spring to showcase green products and services. Transportation Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.
Steven Wright, American Comedian In 2007, the transportation sector contributed 33% of the US's total greenhouse gas emissions and almost 60% of which were from personal vehicle travel [14]. Per passenger mile about .97 lbs of CO2 are released by air travel, .34 lbs by bus and .22 lbs by train (averages vary based on occupancy) [15]. In comparison, a vehicle with a fuel efficiency of 21.5 mpg and a single occupant emits about 1.2 lbs of CO2 per passenger mile and when that vehicle is an SUV the emissions rise to 1.6 lbs of CO2 [16]. In 2003, the average Marylander spends 30.2 minutes commuting 15 miles to work making Maryland the state with the second longest commute time in the United States [17]. By encouraging the expansion and use of environmentally friendly methods of transportation such as bus, train, carpool, walking and biking the environmental impact of transportation will decrease. Johns Hopkins University has been active in promoting alternatives to single occupancy commuting. JHU sponsors Bike to Work Day every year and offers incentives for bike commuters such as use of the recreation centers' shower facilities. JHU also maintains a shuttle system, run on a blend of diesel, connecting Hopkins faculty, staff and students among the Baltimore campuses. The shuttle stops at Baltimore's Penn Station to pick up commuters who arrive by train. The East Baltimore campus has a metro station stop conveniently locates in the lower level of the Johns Hopkins Hospital which is widely used by the JHU community thanks to a pre tax deduction program for mass transit passes. In spring 2008, Johns Hopkins launched a carpool matching program to assist Hopkins commuters find carpool partners. Additionally, there are ten hybrid vehicles available through the Zipcar Car Sharing program. Car sharing reduces the need for car ownership which translates to reduced demand for parking on campus, less congestion and less pollution. Zipcars are available to faculty, staff, students and the Greater Homewood Community. Water We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.
Thomas Fuller, English Preacher and Historian The Earth contains an enormous amount of water but the vast majority of it is unavailable for human consumption and finite, only about .007%. Yet our demand for water continues to grow as if the supply were endless. Between 1950 and 2000, the US population nearly doubled; however, in that same time period public demand for water more than tripled [18]. Much of this consumption results from our demand for products and services that require incredible amounts of water and are more luxury than necessity. Water consumption is of great concern not only because of its limited availability but because of the substantial amounts of energy required to treat, transport, heat and cool it. The US public water systems use enough electricity to power 5 million homes for an entire year [19]. This leads to a dangerous cycle where increased water use leads to increased electricity use, resulting in greater greenhouse gas emissions. The resulting changes in climate alter precipitation patterns, meaning dryer areas need more water to compensate for lack of precipitation and losses from increased evaporation. This is already occurring in the United States where the EPA claims at least 36 states are anticipating local, regional, or statewide water shortages by 2013 [20]. Johns Hopkins carefully tracks its water consumption and prioritizes conservation. In 2004, the Homewood campus completed an irrigation retrofit, complete with high tech monitoring systems, saving over 8 million gallons of water annually. Hopkins is currently experimenting with waterless and low flow urinals, low flow showerheads, dual flush toilets and other water conservation devices. Because Johns Hopkins is located in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the University has taken a number of aggressive measures to reduce storm water runoff, including the addition of storm water bio swales, a rainwater capture system for reuse in cage washing in laboratories at the medical campus, and an underground parking garage that replaced an impervious asphalt parking lot with Maryland's largest green roof.
1. EDUGREE
2. Forbes, 2007
3. The Aldo Leopold Center
4. UN Food and Agriculture Organization
5. USDA Economic Research Service
6. US Department of Energy (DOE)
7. DOE Energy Information Administration
8. DOE Energy Information Administration
9. Commission for Environmental Cooperation
10. California Integrated Waste Management Board
11. World Watch Institute
12. Center for a New American Dream
13. Environmental Defense Fund
14. Environmental Protection Agency
15 & 16. Sightline
17. US Census
18. Environmental Protection Agency
19. Water Authority of Western Nassau County
20. Environmental Protection Agency
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