What’s Green at Penn State
by Laura Piraino

What an exciting time to be engaged in environmental activities at Penn State!  The interdisciplinary initiatives to “green” campus, community, and curriculum are unprecedented this year. We are proactively responding to the call made by Al Gore and others to seriously address our environmental challenges, and provide the research, education, and programming that will help us prepare for the post-fossil-fuel economy. With so much activity underway across colleges, campuses, and units, this PSU-Green Listserv will give us another tool to let the virtual community know how We Are Greening Penn State.     
Here's an overview:

TheBiomass Energy Center, housed in the College of Agricultural Sciences' Environment and Natural Resources Institute, is an interdisciplinary effort to advance the understanding of renewable resources such as corn, switchgrass, trees, and manure to produce energy. According to Tom Richard, Director of the Center and an associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, “biomass energy can provide a significant part of our heat, power, and transportation fuel needs.  But the benefits vary with different conversion technologies, the types of crops, and how they are grown.  Penn State is working to develop and demonstrate sustainable bioenergy systems along the entire value chain from ‘fields to wheels’.”

Penn State Cooperative Extension has recently adopted an initiative to expand their outreach to include energy education, to help Pennsylvania consumers, farmers, and businesses prepare for electricity deregulation here in the Commonwealth. With a state-wide education network already in place, Extension Educators can deliver programming that helps participants reduce their energy consumption and save money. “In Pennsylvania, energy is an opportunity as well as a challenge.   It’s important that Pennsylvania take advantage of development of alternative energy sources as well as using energy as efficiently as possible.  The economy of the Commonwealth depends on how well we address this opportunity.”  

This effort would complement the energy auditing consulting services that PennTAP, the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program at Penn State, already offers to state business and industry. PennTAP Director, Wayne Figurelle, explains: “To be competitive, and in some cases to survive, businesses need to become more energy efficient. Our Energy Efficiency Program offers industry grade, unbiased energy efficiency assessments that offer real business solutions to energy usage.”

Responding to the residential-scale challenges associated with energy use, Penn State will once again compete in the Solar Decathlon, an international competition challenging university students to design and build a home that is powered exclusively by the sun. Following our promising success placing 4th with our first entry, the Morningstar (www.solar.psu.edu) at the 2007 competition, we anticipate rising to the occasion again. Faculty Director, Prof. Jeffrey Brownson (Energy & Mineral Engineering) explains: “The primary goal of the 2009 home, the Natural Fusion, is to produce cost-effective, building-integrated photovoltaics, which are building materials like roofing tile or windows that contain photovoltaic solar panels that have the ability to generate electricity from the sun. The project will be interdisciplinary and involve support and participation from the College of Earth & Minerals Sciences, the College of Engineering, the College of Arts and Architecture, and the Center for Sustainability.”

The Morningstar home will return to the University Park Campus, and be reconstructed during the spring semester at the Visitor’s Center across from Beaver Stadium.   Participants in Morningstar fundraising programs will have the opportunity to learn about green building, renewable energy, and energy efficiency topics. The facility will be relocated once again in 2009 to the Center for Sustainability site on Porter Road, for future research and outreach education programming. “Solar tailgating” will likely be a seasonal program favorite among alumni, in addition to K-12, professional development, and student programs offered at the site. “Our efforts have shown that we can design and build beautiful homes that actually produce more energy than they consume, including the recharging of an electric car," said engineering faculty member Andy Lau, Associate Director of the Center. "Through our outreach we hope to show Pennsylvanians how they too can use renewable energy in their homes and businesses.”

Conferences and Institutes is teaming up with the Office of Physical Plant to examine ways to "green" conference events on campus, and will pilot this initiative beginning with an Outreach Scholarship Conference in the fall of 2008. Some of the goals of the project are to reduce energy use during the event, use compostable materials and reusable signage,  and offer more ecologically-friendly food choices for participants. Janet Patterson, a Senior Conference Planner who is leading this initiative explains: "We are looking to set a new standard for conferences on campus, and use these events to improve our own performance, but also educate attendees about everyday decisions we can all make to help reduce our carbon footprint."

For several years, OPP has been demonstrating national leadership in green campus design and facilities management. These efforts include programs like Trash to Treasure, which is one of the nation’s largest campus recycling events, and a composting program which utilizes kitchen scraps in the campus dining halls and eateries. This year, the new law school building will be another addition to University Park’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified green buildings.

Among the many green events organized on campus, Penn State's Focus the Nation event brought together some of university’s world-renowned climate-change experts with interdisciplinary faculty to raise awareness and a better understanding of the climate change crisis and options for change.  William Easterling, Professor of Geography, new Dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and a Coordinating Lead Author of the recent IPCC report, was among the speakers at the event on January 31 in the HUB Auditorium, part of a nation-wide series of over 1,400 Focus the Nation events. The event was well attended and a huge success.

This is a very small sampling of what’s green at University Park. Please submit your news and passion for green to the new Green-PSU website at www.green.psu.edu, and together we will build an inspiring Web portal to all that’s green at Penn State!
Thank you.
Laura Piraino