Engineering Sustainability 2013: First Call for Papers
Abstracts are now being accepted for the 2013 Engineering Sustainability Conference: "Innovation and the Triple Bottom Line," to be held April 7-9 at the David Lawrence Convention Center. The committee is interested in contributions (papers and posters) in the following areas: green building design and construction, greening the indoor environment; sustainable distributed power for the built environment; sustainable urban drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater infrastructure; innovative energy conservation in the build environment; using principles of sustainability to foster innovation and economic development.
ES12 welcomes submissions from academia, industry, nonprofit organizations, government institutions, and other interested parties. To qualify for acceptance, submit a one-page abstract (200 words maximum) electronically at www.eswp.com/ES2013CFP.php on or before Oct. 26, 2012. The program committee will inform all submitting authors by Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, whether their papers have been accepted. The final paper associated with this conference is a two-page extended abstract (less than 1,500 words).
Other News
Vote for Pulse Motors in Student Film Competition
Cast your vote for a five-minute documentary on Pulse Motors, a start-up company created by CEO and President Micah Toll (ENG '12), in the "Take a Shot at Changing the World" Film Contest. Two area high school students — Adam MacDonald and Nick Blom — shot, edited, and produced a short film on the newly started Pittsburgh company, which designs and produces two-wheeled electric vehicles to ease the common inconveniences of city commuting.
Watch the Pulse Motors video here and cast your vote here by clicking on "Pittsburgh CAPA Pulse Motors." With your online vote, this team of high schoolers could possibly win the grand prize at the "Take a Shot at Changing the World" Film Festival on May 20.
Donors Recognized for Contributing to Pitt 'Green' Initiatives
The University of Pittsburgh has long supported environmental and sustainable causes with its groundbreaking research and educational programs. Pitt is now engaged in a Blue, Gold & Green Campaign to continue to grow its "green" efforts with the generous investments of donors toward the innovative work of faculty and students in building a sustainable future. The Blue, Gold & Green Honor Roll recognizes donors who have demonstrated their philanthropic commitment to "green" initiatives.
'Engineering for Humanity' Course to Be Offered in Fall 2012
A new class is being offered through the Swanson School of Engineering: ENGR 1060, "Engineering for Humanity," taught by Bhavna Sharma, a postdoctoral fellow in the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
The interdisciplinary course will explore the concepts of social entrepreneurship through the the tenets of sustainability: environment, economy, and equity in relationship to product development. The course project will provide an opportunity to develop and design an engineering solution that will address challenges in the context of a developing country. For more information on this Fall 2012 course, contact Sharma at bhs7@pitt.edu.
Pitt Green Fund Sponsors Multiple Sustainability Projects on Campus
With almost a dozen sustainable projects on the docket and a small budget, members of the Green Fund Advisory Board have learned the importance of penny-pinching. More>
Commercial 'Green' Solar Cells May Be Possible, Pitt Researchers say
With grant funding from the National Science Foundation, Pitt researchers are predicting a way to produce solar cells that will offer more flexibility in generating green energy. More>
Freshman Housing Project Filled With Sustainable Features
By Fall 2013, incoming freshmen will have not only a convenient place to live but a sustainable one as well. Pitt trustees have approved a Freshman Housing Project that will house 559 beds and contain an array of sustainable features. More>
Pitt Researchers to Tap Energy Potential of Offshore Wind
With a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Pitt and experts from four other influencial institutions aim to assess what technological advances are necessary to enhance the power delivery capability from offshore to onshore in order to make the economic value proposition more viable. More>
Pitt Committed to All Types of Sustainability Efforts
Whether it's the garbage that is pitched or the computers that are touched, the University is committed to all types of sustainability efforts. More>
Pitt Research Team Finds Ways to Reduce Computing Energy Consumption While Saving Money
Lowering energy consumption associated with computer data storage (specifically, cloud computing) and saving millions of dollars are possible now, thanks to new memory technology, a field that Pitt researchers have been exploring for the past two years through a $1.9 million National Science Foundation grant. More>
Pitt Named One of America's 'Coolest Schools' by Sierra Magazine
In Sierra magazine's September/October issue, Pitt is featured as one of "America's Coolest Schools," coming in as one of the top universities surveyed. Open to all four-year undergraduate colleges and universities in the United States, the magazine's "Coolest Schools" ranking is an index that provides comparative information about campus sustainability. More>
Carrillo Street Steam Plant: One of the Nation's Cleanest University Heating Plants
As one of the biggest steps Pitt has made toward reducing its carbon footprint, the Carrillo Street Steam Plant seems deceptively subtle.
The low-slung building behind Trees Hall on the University's Upper Campus houses six towering, high-efficiency boilders, connected to most of Pitt's and UPMC's buildings in Oakland via a tangle of pipes, tubes, and mammoth water purifiers—a roughly $33 million system that stands as one of the cleanest university heating plants in the United States. More>
Pitt Print Shop Gets Stamp of Approval from Nonprofit that Safeguards Forests
From the Pitt print shop's location in the caverns of the Cathedral of Learning basement, its connection to an idyllic forest is unapparent. But the University's in-house producer of magazines, conference programs, brochures, business cards, and a range of other goods recently committed to help protect those unseen arboreal expanses by officially joining a supply chain that starts with sustainable forestry.
A five-year certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) means that much of the University Marketing Communications (UMC)-run print shop's paper supply and final products fall under the global nonprofit's exhaustive monitoring of certified tree-dependent industries, from the logging site to the final product, in an effort to safeguard forests.
It also means that the University and its customers can finally make Pitt's role in forest preservation known, said Dan Murphy, purchasing administrator for the print shop. More>
Pitt Sustains Steady Beat in Sustainability Initiatives
Pitt leans "green" in many ways.
Some of these efforts—like University-wide participation in the annual RecycleMania competition or the phaseout of Styrofoam plates and cups in the cafeterias—are highly visible.
Others, such as energy-saving and waste-reducing initiatives, are less obvious yet equally crucial to reducing the University's environmental footprint.
An article in the Pitt Chronicle describes some of Pitt's significant—yet unheralded—sustainability initiatives.
Bring Out Your Dead!
Cell phones, batteries, and computers, that is. Pitt recycles your lingering e-waste. Just drop it off.
Rain Garden at The Pete Will Collect Sewer Water, Mitigate Flooding of Sewer System
A project by Pitt students from Engineers for a Sustainable World and Pitt's Free the Planet group will help make the Petersen Events Center lawn a bit less soggy and mitigate the run-off flooding Pittsburgh's sewer system.
The group has selected a northwest corner of The Pete lawn to design and construct a rain garden, which, in addition to its aesthetic appeal, will collect storm water and allow it to naturally seep into the soil. The project is supported by a $5,000 grant from the University's Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation. Pitt Facilities Management will oversee the project while a group in Pitt geology and planetary science professor Dan Bain's lab will find the best verdure match for the soil. SEEDS, a Pittsburgh non-profit, will serve as an advisor.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of June. For more information or to get involved, contact project leader David Palm at dwp12@pitt.edu.
Pitt Researchers Aim for 'Greener' Hospitals With Project to Examine the O.R.
With health care a perennial concern, Pitt researchers will examine yet another facet of the sprawling sector—the environmental impacts of hospitals.
The researchers will focus on the operating room to establish procedures and policies hospitals can adopt to be more environmentally conscious. More>
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Sustainable design and construction are
nothing new at the University of Pittsburgh.
Pitt installed its first campus-wide energy management system in 1975. Thirty years later, the University received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, located on Pittsburgh’s South Side.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Other recently constructed Pitt buildings—ranging from the Biomedical Science Tower 3 (BST3) to the University’s Darragh Street Housing facility—also have followed the latest “green” design and construction standards, such as mandatory occupancy sensors and a minimum of 25 percent recycled content in carpet installations.
Meanwhile, the University community has done its part via initiatives like a campaign, launched in 2003, to encourage students, staff, and faculty to enable the “sleep” function of their computers. Last fall’s Pitt student orientation spotlighted “Shooting for the Top,” a new educational campaign (cosponsored by the University) that highlights green efforts undertaken by Oakland’s big and small institutions.
Mascaro Center
Pitt’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation is a center of excellence in sustainable engineering focusing on the design of sustainable neighborhoods. The center, part of Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering, encourages and nurtures new collaborative projects based on strong and innovative research, translating the fundamental science of sustainability into real products processes. Mascaro research includes projects on greening the built environment, more sustainable use of water, and the design of distributed power systems.