Sustainability Press

Thanks to expansion and improvement of their campus-wide composting program, the Harvard Law School community recovered the MOST COMPOST EVER in the month of March 2012. 

The elaborate set-up for recovering food scraps at the new Wasserstein Caspersen Clinical Center, as well as paper towels from Gropius dormitory rest rooms, yielded almost 10 tons of clean organic refuse which was picked up by our collection vendor, Save That Stuff, and composted at Brickends Farm in Hamilton, MA.

Special thanks go to the entire HLS Facilities Team working on WCC, especially Mark Nystrom, John Holleran, John Arciprete, Gene O’Connor, Russell Keyes, Becky Andreasson, Matt McConnell and Tony Castro; the FMO Custodial team led by Joao Amado; and Evan Eppler and staff at Restaurant Associates. 

Last but not least, Kate Cosgrove of the Office for Sustainability has done the best job on campus creating, publishing and posting clear, concise and attractive guidelines for the recycling, composting and trash stations in every classroom, office and lounge in the stunning and well-used facility. 

As Bridget Sweet of Environmental Health and Safety said, “HLS’s recycling signs are clear enough for my pre-school aged kids to understand.”

Harvard is now Terracycling more than ever before!

More than half of U.S. product packaging –37 million tons – is discarded in landfills or burned rather than recycled, and packaging comprises nearly one-third of all U.S. landfill waste (US EPA).  Terracycle is an innovative waste reduction solution that encourages producer responsibility for their packaging, and recycles or upcycles packaging and other hard-to-recycle or previously non-recyclable items. Terracycle partners with producers who sponsor specific “brigades” – like chip bags or writing instruments - whereby waste can be collected and re- or up-cycled. Further, Terracycle incentivizes participation by rewarding “points” for items collected that can then be used to support nonprofit organizations of our choice.

Harvard has recently expanded single-brigade programs located at several individual sites on campus into a multi-brigade Terracycle program being piloted at Harvard Law School.  We hope to scale the program to become University-wide in the near future.  Harvard community members can now drop off many kinds of waste in bins located throughout the University. Collection of Terracycle items in managed through a partnership between the Office for Sustainability and Harvard Recycling and assisted by the LABBB program (http://www.labbb.com/). The “points” Harvard earns for the waste we collect are donated back to this program.  

While the total volume of waste collected through Harvard’s Terracycle program is small compared to the total amount we generate, recycle, and compost, Terracycle participates in a new model of voluntary producer responsibility for their environmental impacts.  This producer responsibility lies in contrast to the traditional model in which costs for landfilling packaging after a product is consumed are externalized by product manufacturers – and internalized by taxpayers. Rob Gogan, Harvard’s Recycling & Waste Manager, weighs in on why Terracycle matters:

“What I like most about this program is that it involves the producers and TerraCycle has managed to get them to take on some of the responsibility for the next phase in the life of these materials and not pass the cost of disposal/recycling on to consumers.”

Get involved today by collecting the waste below and bringing it to the Law School’s Wasserstein Caspersen Clinical building. Find bins on the first floor of the Caspersen Student Center under the ramp leading up to the café in and at the ITS helpdesk in the basement. 

Harvard’s Brigades (we hope to expand further as Terracycle’s wait list for other brigades opens up – check the Law School Green Team site frequently for an up-to-date list of all brigades):

• Oral care: Any brand toothpaste tubes, toothpaste caps, tooth brushes, floss containers.
• Personal care and beauty packaging: Any brand lipstick cases, mascara tubes, eye shadow cases, shampoo bottles, conditioner bottles, bronzer cases, foundation packaging, body wash containers, soap tubes, soap dispensers, lotion dispensers, shaving foam tubes (no cans), powder cases, lotion bottles, chap stick tubes, lotion tubes, face soap dispensers, face soap tubes, face lotion bottles, face lotion jars, eyeliner cases, eyeliner pencils, eyeshadow tubes, concealer tubes, concealer sticks, lip liner pencils, hand lotion tubes, hair gel tubes, hair paste jars.
• Energy bar wrappers: Any brand foil lined energy bar wrappers, foil lined granola bar wrappers, foil lined meal replacement bar wrappers, foil lined protein bar wrappers, foil lined diet bar wrappers. Clif SHOT wrappers, Clif Twisted Fruit Wrappers, Clif Roks Wrappers, Clif Bloks Wrappers, Clif Gels Wrappers.
• Elmer’s Glue products: Elmer's glue sticks, Elmer's glue bottles, and Elmer's glue tops.
• Tape products: Any brand plastic tape dispensers, plastic tape cores.
• Cheese packaging: Any brand string cheeses packages, individual singles wrappers, singles packages, shredded cheeses packages, grated cheese containers, creamed cheese packaging, cottage cheese tubs, all cheese wrappers.
• Drink pouches: Any Brand aluminum drink pouches, plastic drink pouches.
• Bear Naked packaging: Bear Naked granola bags, Bear Naked trail mix bags, Bear Naked Granola cookie boxes.
• Cookie Packaging: Any brand Cookie Wrappers, Cookie Bags, Individual Cookie Bags, Inner Plastic Trays.
• Chip Bags: Any brand chip bags, tortilla chip bags, pretzel bags, pita chip bags, bagel chip bags, soy crisp bags, salty snack bags.
• Writing Instruments: Any brand pens, pen caps, mechanical pencils, markers, marker caps, highlighters, highlighter caps, permanent markers, permanent markers caps.
• Cleaner Packaging: pumps, triggers, pouches, and flexible cleaner product packaging.

Want a Terracycle bin for your office? Contact sustainability@lists.law.harvard.edu to learn more, or with any questions.  

Ever noticed a draft coming from your windows on cold winter days? If so, weatherproofing your windows is an extremely low-cost way to improve the comfort and energy efficiency of your space.

Dorm residents at Harvard Law School’s North Hall sometimes noticed cold spots near their windows on chilly days. Though it is a LEED Gold-CI building, that doesn't mean there isn't room for energy efficiency improvement!  Our Green Living Representatives knew that leaky windows not only let cold air in, but they let our conditioned air out, resulting in significant energy losses. So, HLS weatherproofed all 117 of North Hall's windows with one-sided sticky foam tape that creates a tight seal when windows are closed to prevent air from escaping, while still allowing the windows to open and shut.

The result? A more comfortable space for our dorm residents, and energy savings for HLS. This project is expected to save $1006 each year and 4 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, achieving a 2.15 year discounted payback and 55.6% internal rate of return including the cost of labor and materials.  HLS estimated these cost and GHG savings using the Harvard Green Building Resource Life Cycle Costing Tool, an open resource that helps project managers analyze life cycle costing for energy conservation measures.

Want to identify similar do-it-yourself cost and energy saving projects for your own home or office building? Check out Energy Star for home assessment tools and do-it-yourself guides.

This winter, many Harvard Law School departments transitioned into new offices in the Wasserstein Caspersen Clinical building. During the moves, HLS was committed to re-using furniture they no longer needed.  They hosted a furniture freecycle at the Harvard Recycling warehouse in Allston, MA, attended by over 75 Law School students, faculty and staff.

Rob Gogan, Harvard’s Supervisor of FMO Recycling and Solid Waste Removal, wrote in to tell us about the results:

“HLS sent Harvard Recycling about 12 tons of furniture for reuse.  At the request of the Law School, we held all furniture in the warehouse until two scheduled Furniture FreeCycles, which were open only to members of the HLS community.  After that time, we opened up the goods to local charities and needy individuals. 

On the two Furniture FreeCycle dates, we gave away nearly 1,000 pieces of furniture and equipment to over 75 members of the Law School community.  Visitors picked up chairs, tables, desks, file cabinets, coat racks, sofas, upholstered chairs, coffee tables, computer work stations, and office supplies.  After the event, there was enough left over to send 200 stacking chairs to the Lawrence Historical Society (thanks to Dick Purinton, Harvard Class of 1951, for linking us up); student desks to the City Sprouts school gardening program, desks and file cabinets to the Boston Area Youth Organizing Project; chairs, file cabinets and tables for Sports Legacy Foundation, 20 chairs to Our Lady's Church, and another 100 chairs to the Honduras Reconstruction Project.

Harvard Recycling works with the Cambridge and Allston faculties of the University to send surplus furniture, supplies and equipment to best and highest end use.  We open to members of the Harvard community by appointment Thursday afternoon and to the general public on a first-come, first served basis every Thursday at 11 AM at 175 N. Harvard Street in Allston.  If you or an organization of which you know is looking for surplus items free for the hauling, please email rob_gogan@harvard.edu with an inventory of what you need and we will let you know when and if it becomes available.  We have helped over 200 organizations and we distribute over $2,500,000 worth of surplus goods each year.”

While Harvard Law School students, faculty and staff enjoyed the holiday break, their thermostats and electronic devices took a break, too.  During winter break, the HLS community saved energy by turning off their electronics and setting back their thermostats before leaving their offices and dorm rooms.

For the third straight year, the Facilities and custodial team surveyed campus offices to measure participation in these holiday energy shutdowns and setbacks and the results were impressive: 98% of offices turned off electronics and 74% set back thermostats.
 
See how your building performed:

% Offices who turned off Electronics:

Gannett – 90%
Griswold – 100%
Langdell – 98%
Areeda – 90%
Lewis – 98%
Hauser – 100%
23 Everett – 100%
125 Mt Auburn – 100%
WCC – 100%

% Offices who turned back Thermostats:

Gannett – 85%
Griswold – 49%
Langdell – 88%
Areeda – 83%
Lewis – 51%
Hauser – 58%
23 Everett – 93%
125 Mt Auburn – 96%
WCC – 89%

If our community continues to take these simple steps to save energy before each break and long weekend, HLS will save over 12 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents each year – equivalent to almost 30 barrels of oil.

The simple actions you and your peers take really add up! Save energy – during long breaks, and every night and weekend – by taking these steps when you leave the office:

• Turn off all office electronics (computers, printers, copiers, water coolers, microwaves etc.)
• Switch off power strips and unplug large appliances not in power strips
• Set back thermostats – find tips for using your thermostat on the Harvard Law School Energy and Facilities webpage
• Close all windows

Case Study: HLS Room Scheduling Integrated With Building Management Systems

The Challenge: Transition away from the manual input of event information into the HLS Siemens Building Management (BMS) software to a new process that automates the temperature controls for rooms based on actual usage. The manual input process was time intensive for staff and prone to error due to last minute scheduling changes.

The Solution: Decrease the use of HVAC in buildings with Siemens Controls by managing HVAC based on actual room usage. The solution was essentially a simple query of the HLS event scheduling system (dates, start time, end time, and room number) for the upcoming 72 hours which was ingested into the Siemens internal system. The program was designed so that rooms reach pre-determined set points by the beginning of each event. The set points are aligned with the HLS Temperature Policy.

Environmental Benefits:

• Decrease in energy use resulting annual savings of over $33,000.
• Decrease in annual greenhouse gas emissions of over 31 MTCDE.

On November 2, 2011, the Green Living Program and Environmental Law Society collaborated to bring together over fifty community members for pizza, a screening of Carbon Nation and a discussion with two of Harvard Law School’s environmental law faculty members, Professor Richard Lazarus and Professor John Leshy.

Carbon Nation documents Americans from all walks of life working towards a lower-carbon future. In discussion after the film, students and professors applauded the film’s optimism, stating this positive attitude is integral to creating a social movement around promoting a green economy.

The Harvard Law School Green Living Representatives saw an opportunity to save time and resources by cutting down on the paper junk mail they and their peers receive. They came up with these tips for reducing junk mail. Use them and take back your time!

Did you know…

• On average, Americans spend 8 months opening junk mail in the course of their lives.
• According to the U.S. Postal Service, U.S. companies sent 35 billion pieces of direct postal mail in 1980, 64 billion pieces in 1990, 90 billion pieces in 2000, and 100 billion pieces in 2005. That’s more than 300 pieces of bulk mail for every man, woman, and child!
• Each year, more than 100 million trees’ worth of bulk mail arrive in American mailboxes—that’s the equivalent of deforesting the entire Rocky Mountain National Park every four months. The production and disposal of direct mail consumes more energy than 3 million cars.

Reduce your Paper Junk Mail!

One easy way to save trees and energy is by getting off mailing lists and preventing unsolicited mail from coming to you. Here’s a step-by-step guide for reducing unwanted mail:

1.  Cut the Credit Card Offers
The main consumer credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, maintain mailing lists that are often used by credit card and insurance companies to send out junk mail. The good news is that you can call a single number to get your name and address removed from the mailing lists circulated by all three agencies (as well as that of a fourth company, Innovis).
1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) / www.optoutprescreen.com
The number—which connects you to a recorded message—works 24 hours a day. When you use the website or number, you will be prompted to give your full name, address, telephone number, and social security number. (People often ask about the necessity of giving their social security number. The credit bureaus already have access to these numbers and claim that they ask for them here to confirm the requests). You may select to have your name removed for 5 years (can be done online or via phone), or to have your name removed permanently which requires following up by sending in a printed form.

2. Prevent Marketers from Passing Your Name Around
Any time you order a product by mail, enter a contest, subscribe to a magazine, send in a warranty card, or otherwise give your name and address to a company or organization, you may be placed on a mailing list. The company or organization may then rent, sell, or trade the list with your name on it. To limit your exposure, write "Please do not rent or sell my name" or "No mailing lists" next to your name. (Also consider not sending in the warranty card for a new product--it's usually not required.)

3. Ask Companies to Stop Sending Catalogs
If you receive unwanted catalogs or other mail from specific sources, call the (often toll-free) customer service number of the organization or business. Request that your name be removed from their mailing list. Other options are to make your request via e-mail from the company's website, or via letter or postcard. Since the mailing label will help the company identify how you are listed in its files, have the label handy when you call, or tape it to the postcard if you make a written request. Sign and date your request.

4. Opt-Out of Junk Mail
There are several online services you can use to remove your name from catalog and credit card lists and other databases:
41pounds.org can help you eliminate 80–95 percent of junk mailings by contacting dozens of direct marketers on your behalf. The one-time fee of $41 covers every adult in your household for five years, and more than a third of this fee is donated to the environmental or community organization of your choice.
 

• Catalog Choice offers two options: a free service that sends opt-out requests for individual companies that are already marketing to you, and a premium "unlisting" service that, for an annual donation of $20 or more, is designed to remove your name from data brokers who sell your contact information to marketers.
• You can register online with the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Mail Preference Service to remove your name from national mailing lists.
• Contact Publishers Clearinghouse (by phone at 800.645.9242 or by e-mail: privacychoices@pchmail.com) and Readers Digest (by phone at 800.310.6261) to be removed from sweepstakes lists.
• Contact CoxTarget to stop receiving Val-Pak coupons.

For one week, all HLS Dorms competed to REDUCE THEIR JUICE, and Shaw led by Green Living Rep Katy Yang emerged victorious, reducing electricity consumption 6.4% and saving 144 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity and winning a dorm dinner from Spice restaurant. Taking action to reduce electricity use in dorms is an important part of Harvard Law School’s commitment to reducing our carbon footprint, because dorms are a large consumer of energy. In the course of an academic year (from September to May), HLS dorm residents used over 1,000,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, which produced about 380 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (MTCDE).  This is about 2000 kWh and .75 MTCDE a person!

During the awareness-building and active reduction competition, dorms competed against each other to reduce electricity consumption off of a baseline taken the previous week. HLS dorms have competed in an annual electricity competition since 2008, but this year was the first year that all dorms reduced their net energy consumption. The HLS apartments located at 1637 Mass. Ave, 3 Mellen St, 5 Mellen St were also included in the competition for the first time. Throughout the competition, Green Living representatives in each dorm helped their residents learn about and implement energy conservation opportunities, including study breaks lit by hand-crank powered LED lanterns! 

The average electricity consumption reduction achieved across all dorms was 3.1%, or a total of 738 kWh saved, which is equivalent to a .51 metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalents (MTCDE). If these savings were maintained for 1 year, the Harvard Law dormitories would save 38376 kWh, which is equivalent to 26.5 MTCDE – like taking 5.2 passenger vehicles off the road for a year, and a $5,000 savings in utility costs.

In the dorms or in your home apartment, there are many steps you can take to conserve energy. Try these tips and watch the savings add up!

• Turn off your lights. Open your blinds and use natural light during the day.  If you still haven’t swapped your regular incandescent bulb for an energy-efficient CFL (lasts 6x longer, uses 75% less energy) let me know and we can arrange a swap.  Use “task lighting,” like a desk lamp, instead of lighting up your whole room.
• Shut down your computers at night and enable automatic power management. This is a one-time settings adjustment, and once you do it, you don't have to think about it anymore.  See the Office for Sustainability website for how to set Windows and Macs to save energy.
• Reduce phantom power draw: Unplug chargers, and use power strips!!!!! (It’s best to plug everything into a power strip except your alarm clock, so that it can be switched off without turning off the clock.) Don’t leave your chargers for laptops/cell phones plugged in…they continue to use electricity even when they’re “off”!
• Use drying racks instead of dryers. This is gentler on your clothes and helps stop them from falling apart or pilling.
• Try and shave just one minute off your use of appliances, like a hair dryer. 
• Clean out the fridge! They operate more efficiently when the air is allowed to circulate. Also, it will make your neighbors happy to have clean and spacious fridges. Consider raising the temperature setpoint in fridges/freezers if it’s not necessary to keep items at the coldest temperature.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Save energy AND get some exercise!

Keeping with the green theme of the new Wasserstein-Caspersen-Clinical building, the new student computer lab is has installed solar keyboards and long-life battery mice.  Logitech wireless K750 solar keyboards and Logitech wireless M705 mice, with up to a 3 year battery life, are part of the new computer setups in the student lab.  The solar keyboards don’t require any batteries and work with just the light given off by the ceiling lights.  No sun required!  Come by and check it out.  The lab can be found in WCC B020.

On Wednesday, May 16^th, join CommuterChoice at their annual Bicycle Appreciation Breakfast.  Employees are encouraged to ride their bicycles to work and, along the way, stop by Au Bon Pain at Holyoke Center between 7:30 – 9:30a.m.  Simply present your helmet and receive a complimentary breakfast and bike tune-up.  Raffle prizes & giveaways including a membership for Hubway, Metro-Boston’s public bike share system, will also be up for grabs.

During the week, you can also join Team Harvard for the 2012 MassCommuter Challenge.  Select “Harvard University” from the Employer/Institution dropdown menu and then log all of your bicycle trips including commuting to/from work, running errands and attending social activities.  You can help Harvard win this friendly competition among Massachusetts businesses, institutions and municipalities. The First 50 Harvard registrants will win a Bike Week T-shirt which can be picked up at the breakfast!

Also, register for the first of this summer’s Bike Friday’s on May 18^th.  It’s a rolling celebration capping off Massachusetts Bay State Bike Week with a convoy ride to Boston City Hall Plaza.  Participants will enjoy breakfast and a thank-you party!

Finally, sign up for a CommuterChoice Safe Cycling Class - Thursday May 17^th at 9AM and 12PM.  This two hour class orients Harvard faculty and staff to urban cycling and goes over rules of the road, bike and helmet fitting, and repair and maintenance techniques.  For more information please contact CommuterChoice.  If you can’t make a class during bike week, sessions will be held on the third Thursday of every month through October.

Thank you for helping CommuterChoice, in collaboration with MassDOT,  MassBike and MassRIDES, promote biking as a safe, healthy, environmentally-friendly, fast and fun way to travel. 

Happy Cycling!

The Commuter Choice Team

The 2011-2012 academic year saw an exemplary crop of independent projects completed by the Resource Efficiency Program reps. Projects covered topics from educating on tangible topics like reducing and reusing to cultivating a green mentality in students through connecting sustainability to individuals’ interests and values.

Annie Deangelo ’12 developed a training for Freshman Outdoor Program (FOP) leaders  to teach freshman why the Leave No Trace concept is as important in their campus living as it is in the wilderness. 

In order to provide digestible information about the science behind sustainability, Natalie Jacewicz and Isabella Weschler ’13 launched a blog entitled “There’s a Hole in My Ozone and Other Awkward Problems.” Natalie and Isabella post articles, infographics, cartoons, and commentaries on a variety of issues.

Parijat Samant ’13 and Kristen Wraith ’14 developed an interactive display activity called “Why Sustainability Matters” to engage people on how sustainability issues directly correlate to their interests and values.

With the vision of offering an instant immersion in the environmental scene at Harvard for freshmen, Rebecca Cohen ’12 and Sachi Oshima ’13 planned a Through the Gates trip for the incoming class of 2016 to the Harvard Forest.  The trip will be co-led by several environmental groups, including REP and the Environmental Action Committee.

In fall 2010, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine took a major step toward environmental stewardship. The School replaced the aging dark roof on the Main Building with 13,363 square feet of white single-ply thermoplastic PVC membrane. What this means is that this new roof, which boasts a 20-year warranty and an Energy Star rating for reflectivity, will reduce the building’s air conditioning needs and thereby cut the School’s energy bills. Energy Star–qualified roof products reflect more of the sun’s rays than do regular roofs, lowering roof surface temperatures and decreasing the amount of heat transferred into a building—and thus reducing the amount of air conditioning needed. And by absorbing less heat overall, the new roof reduces the amount of heat that is radiated upward into the atmosphere, which helps to cool the urban climate.

During the replacement, the roofers removed all of the existing roofing down to the concrete structural deck. They then installed highly energy-efficient insulation, which tripled the overall insulating value of the roof. Finally, the installation of the membrane roof used almost no solvent-based glues, primers, or other adhesives. Further environmental benefits were realized with local production: the plant at which the sheet was manufactured is located in Canton, Mass.

(Cross-posted on USGBC blog)

Harvard University recently achieved an important green building milestone: our 75th LEED certification, representing over 2.4 million square feet of our campus in LEED New Construction, Commercial Interiors, Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance and Homes systems.

We have estimated that over 11,000 people on campus work, learn or live in a LEED Certified project. Our focus on building and operating greener buildings has demonstrated that supporting the environment and public health ultimately supports our research and teaching mission by conserving resources, increasing efficiency and reducing costs. For example, our newest LEED Platinum lab building saves operational costs by using greywater for toilet flushing and by reducing air flow change rates during unoccupied periods with the use of occupancy sensors. Because of this, the building is estimated to consume 11 percent less electricity and 51 percent less steam annually.

How did our community reach this exciting green building milestone? There were two key strategies that helped us in getting this far. First, we focused on the bigger picture, creating university-wide Green Building Standards to integrate energy efficiency and conservation into every construction project. Second, we developed a strong internal service model comprised of experts who know Harvard’s building and culture better than anyone else.

Harvard’s Green Building Standards are one of our clearest commitments to sustainability for our built environment. The Standards, adopted in 2009, go well beyond LEED to help ensure greenhouse gas impact, energy use and ongoing operational costs are part of the decision-making process during design and construction. LEED certification is just one piece of these Standards. Two reasons we use the LEED rating system are the opportunity for third-party verification and accountability for defining green building, and because the documentation aids in knowledge management to help promote continual improvement and institutionalize green building practices.

One of our key goals is to create replicable models for how large institutions and organizations can engage their entire community to implement innovative and economically-viable solutions. Harvard’s Green Building Standards seek to institutionalize green building practices for capital projects on campus by focusing on process-oriented requirements.

Multiple stakeholders across campus, as well as external design teams, have contributed to this exciting green building milestone. Harvard’s Green Building Services help the schools and units design, building and operate efficiently. GBS services include oversight of the Green Building Standards and LEED certification administration, among many other services.

The GBS team works in close collaboration with the Energy & Facilities department, as well as the campus-wide Office for Sustainability to ensure buildings are operated as efficiently as possible. We also focus on sharing best practices in part by posting case studies for every LEED project.

We are also in the process of forming Harvard’s USGBC Students group to further involve students in green building and LEED projects on campus – this benefits both the campus and students, as we are able to apply student research to capital projects and to help students develop skills to take with them when they graduate and become leaders in various sectors around the world. One key USGBC initiate that we’re looking forward to participating in through USGBC Students is the Green Apple Day of Service on September 29.

Harvard Yard Child Care Center and the Oxford Street Daycare Cooperative, located in Harvard’s Vanserg and Shannon buildings, have achieved LEED-CI v2.0 Gold certification for their recent renovations.  These are the first LEED certified child care projects at Harvard. 

The Vanserg/Shannon renovation was an opportunity to reconfigure spaces to meet programmatic requirements and national standards for child care facilities while increasing energy efficiency and improving indoor air quality. Much of the success of the project can be attributed to early involvement and engagement from a wide range of stakeholders with a strong commitment to green building process and principles - with a particular focus on providing healthy indoor air quality for the project’s little occupants.  LEED Gold certification was a primary project goal from the onset of the design.

According to Sarah Bennett-Astesano, Assistant Director of Harvard’s Office of Work/Life, “LEED certified buildings are a perfect fit for child care, since children’s needs and environmental concerns overlap.  We want healthy surroundings – no toxins in the materials used, for example – and we want long-term sustainability for our kids. Plus, low-flow toilets provide daily teachable moments!”

For more information, including the project’s LEED scorecard, see the Vanserg/Shannon case study on the Harvard Green Building Resource.

Don't let good items go to waste!

As if final exams and papers were not stressful enough, most undergraduates have to spend the first part of May packing up their rooms before the end of year move out. In the rush to get everything done, a lot of clothes, books, furniture and appliances that could be reused get thrown in the trash. Avoid that tragic fate for your stuff! Find someone else who can use it, or if you can't, Harvard Recycling has made it easy for you to donate your unwanted stuff to a good cause.

• Find a Good Home for Your Stuff: Sell or give away your reusable items on your House list or on CrimsonList.

• Donate Your Stuff to Charity: Harvard Recycling provides donation stations across campus that allow you to donate reusable items you don’t need. Donated items are sold to support Harvard Habitat for Humanity!

Donation Station Locations:

• Adams - H entry basement and Clav recycling room
• Cabot- Briggs basement
• Currier- Dining Hall
• Dunster- G entryway
• Eliot- E entryway
• Kirkland- Outside B-entryway
• Leverett- Outside building manager’s office
• Lowell- Outside M-entryway
• Mather- Behind Tower
• Pfoho- Basements of Holmes, Comstock, Wolbach and Jordan.
• Quincy- C entryway and under the Qube.
• Winthrop- H Entryway.
• Freshmen- Basements of Canaday, Greenough, Hollis, Hurlbut, Matthews, Stoughton, Straus, Thayer, Weld and Wigglesworth.

Not an undergraduate, but still a Harvard University Housing resident?

Then we have donation opportunities for you! From approximately mid May through the end of July,  Harvard University Housing will have designated areas for residents to donate unwanted furniture. Please check with your Property Management Office for details or email greenhousing@harvard.edu. 

(NOTE: This guide originally appeared on our Facebook page with photos. To view all 9 tips with photos click here)

What tips and tricks has Harvard learned in developing intra-office recycling competitions to help drive improvements in recycling rates? In 2012, the FAS Green Program and Office for Sustainability partnered with Harvard employees at 1414 Massachusetts Ave. to launch a floor-by-floor recycling competition that would be a fun, engaging way to increase recycling rates.

Based on that experience, FAS Green Program Senior Coordinator Brandon Geller gives you these nine tips for creating a successful recycling competition in your office:

1. USE A BUILDING WASTE AUDIT TO ESTABLISH A BASELINE: In order to measure results, a waste audit of the building was performed before the competition happened and after. Here, student intern Emma Framson’15 sorts a random sampling of the building’s trash into what could have been recycled and what was definitely trash. Before the competition, 33% of the building’s trash by weight could have been recycled, but it decreased to 17% afterwards.
2. USE INDIVIDUAL OFFICE AUDITS AS AN EDUCATION TOOL: While we contemplated the idea of holding our audits of individual recycling bins after work hours, we found it was important to be able to talk to people about why an item is recyclable or not. Here, student intern Lila Strominger’13 explains why a wrapper is trash to Managing Director of IT, Bob Wittstein.
3. USE LETTER GRADES TO DRIVE IMPROVEMENT:  People can quickly relate to and understand letter grades. Use them to evaluate a bin or a set of bins. We found that employees will really be proud of their good grades, and eager to fix lower grades. Here, Steve Burns of HUIT is pleasantly surprised to be receiving an “A-” after having his bins audited.
4. ENCOURAGE COMPETITION: Encouraging excited staff to post their good grades publically and build on the competitive nature and serve as a frequent reminder to others that they should recycle. Here, Bob Wittstein posts his second “A” on his door.
5. CREATIVITY DRIVES SUCCESS: Encourage eco citizens to come up with creative ways to remind their coworkers about the competition. Here, Marva Bernard-Saunders has decorated the trash can at Research Administration Services to remind her coworkers to think before they throw.
6. CREATE A FORUM FOR ANSWERING QUESTIONS: At Human Resources, Audrey Harmon taped common items to their correct bin, and instituted an “I don’t know” basket. Thoughtful individuals would place confusing items in the basket, and Audrey would email the FAS Green Program to get clarification and then post the item on the correct bin.
7. REGULARLY POST PROGRESS: Each floor had a centrally located display board where their grades were tabulated and all the grades for the competition could be seen.
8. RECYLCEABLE-OF-THE-WEEK: Each board also featured a recyclable of the week, which changed every Monday. Often times, the recyclable would be something that was frequently found in the trash of the whole building. Yogurt cups were a frequent offender at the beginning of the competition, but their presence in trash cans dropped significantly during the competition.
9. CELEBRATE SUCCESS AND HAVE FUN! Creating a fun trophy and holding a small celebration for the winning office not only helps recognize some of the folks who worked very hard, but gives offices an incentive to strive to be winners, especially if the contest is held annually. Student Intern Emma Framson made a trophy out of recycled aluminum cans, and we gave the trophy to the winning floor, Human Resources!

Harvard University’s 46 Blackstone Street building has won the prestigious 2012 Innovation in Green Design Award in the Green Building category given by the Massachusetts Chapter of the US Green Building Council. 

The building, home to Harvard’s Campus Services group, is one of only five in the world to have achieved two Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certifications; New Construction in 2007 and Existing Building Operations and Maintenance in 2012.  Through a series of creative improvements to the original design and ongoing attention to conservation efforts, Blackstone is now outperforming the energy model by 17% and has achieved a 36% energy reduction since the building was first occupied almost six years ago. 

“This award is great reflection of the team effort that has been focused on making Blackstone a high performing building as well as a great place to work”, said Jeffrey Smith, the director of Harvard’s Facilities Maintenance Operations Department within Campus Services.

For five years now, the Innovation in Green Design Award has provided a view into the groundbreaking work done in Massachusetts to advance sustainability in the building industry. Hosted by the Massachusetts Chapter of the USGBC since 2008, the annual event connects the local green building community and recognizes innovation in the green building field throughout the state. The award recognizes Massachusetts based projects, products, and programs that are innovative, replicable, and have significant impact in Massachusetts.

To read the USGBC MA press release click here.

Thanks to expansion and improvement of their campus-wide composting program, the Harvard Law School community recovered the MOST COMPOST EVER in the month of March 2012. 

The elaborate set-up for recovering food scraps at the new Wasserstein Caspersen Clinical Center, as well as paper towels from Gropius dormitory rest rooms, yielded almost 10 tons of clean organic refuse which was picked up by our collection vendor, Save That Stuff, and composted at Brickends Farm in Hamilton, MA.

Special thanks go to the entire HLS Facilities Team working on WCC, especially Mark Nystrom, John Holleran, John Arciprete, Gene O’Connor, Russell Keyes, Becky Andreasson, Matt McConnell and Tony Castro; the FMO Custodial team led by Joao Amado; and Evan Eppler and staff at Restaurant Associates. 

Last but not least, Kate Cosgrove of the Office for Sustainability has done the best job on campus creating, publishing and posting clear, concise and attractive guidelines for the recycling, composting and trash stations in every classroom, office and lounge in the stunning and well-used facility. 

As Bridget Sweet of Environmental Health and Safety said, “HLS’s recycling signs are clear enough for my pre-school aged kids to understand.”