A sustainable legacy

Recently, Portland State’s profile for sustainability projects on campus has been the subject of much discussion across campus. This week, the Vanguard is taking a closer look at what sustainability has meant to PSU in the past, present and future.

Even among expert faculty, sustainability at Portland State is often a nebulous topic.

However, sustainability’s influence–whether nebulous or not–is present across campus, from the newly-renovated Shattuck Hall receiving a Gold LEED certification in environmental standards, to the organic food and recycling efforts at Food for Thought Cafe, a student-run restaurant in the Smith Memorial Student Union.

But while sustainability has become a popular word at PSU, with green goals like energy reduction and increased recycling, there is more to the definition of the word, according to Jennifer Allen, the interim director of PSU’s Center for Sustainable Processes and Practices.

“Sustainability is not just about environmental impacts,” Allen said. “It’s about taking an approach which is more integrated, recognizing social, economic and environmental [spheres].”

A good example of sustainability on campus is the PSU Recycles! mugs sold on campus. Using a reusable mug cuts down on waste generated from paper coffee cups, which cannot be recycled because of an inner plastic coating that keeps liquid from seeping through, according to the PSU Recycles! Web site.

Aside from generating less trash, reusable mugs promote green practices and generate profit for the university, satisfying the social and economic sustainable criteria.

“It’s taking into account impacts of any project on different parts of society,” said Allen about sustainability. “It’s about meeting people’s needs.”

The university’s focus on sustainable programs started small, originating from the creation of a lone graduate certificate for sustainability, said Roy Koch, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs.

However, the university has always had a commitment to the subject, he said.

Portland State’s recent $25 million gift for sustainability projects from the Miller Foundation is only raising the university’s profile, Koch said.

“Sustainability was identified as an area where we have a whole lot of strength in faculty expertise,” Koch said. “The idea is if we do what we do better, then our profile will nationally follow as being much higher than it was before.”

Sustainability has had a “project focus” in the past, said Noelle Studer-Spevack, sustainability coordinator in the Office of Facilities and Planning.

Renovation-based projects such as Shattuck Hall and Epler Hall, the first mixed-use building in Portland to receive LEED Silver certification, are only part of sustainability’s ubiquitous presence on campus.

Research and curriculum are just as important, Allen said.

“We have between 60 and 70 faculty that have been working on sustainability research for quite a while,” Allen said.

One example Allen gave was engineering and economic faculty monitoring the green roof of the Broadway Housing Building to study the effects of the roof’s water retention system on the energy efficiency of the building.

“We want to get to that again in the future,” Studer-Spevack said. “But right now we need to put together a program that people can participate in.”

Aside from graduate certificates, Portland State undergrads can also learn about sustainability in a Freshman Inquiry devoted to the subject, something that Studer-Spevack said she expects to continue, with new classes like a Freshman inquiry class devoted to energy literacy and efficiency.

The students would check the energy levels of appliances and other energy-producing machine uses. “So you know what your personal contribution to climate change is,” she said.

Studer-Spevack also said she will be working on the newly-formed sustainability advisory council, which has already met three times to discuss possible areas of focus for the $25 million grant.

Students interested in giving their own opinions on how the money should be spent can participate in an open forum with the PSU Sustainability Office on Oct. 13.For more information, visit sustainability.pdx.edu, or the PSU ecowiki at ecowkiki.pdx.edu.