2016-2017

UW-Solar is a student-led organization working with architecture firm Perkins+Will to install building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and rooftop photovoltaics (PV) on the new Life Sciences Building of the University of Washington Seattle campus. The intended installation will serve both as an ancillary source of electrical power and a heat gain control measure on the building envelope. The BIPV panels will also be highly visible and showcase UW as a steward in sustainable construction. The rooftop PV will generate substantial clean energy and reduce the building's carbon footprint.

Cycle Pack is a bicycle library program that encourages bicycle ridership by providing long term bicycle rentals to UW students. Unlike bike share, which provide short term bicycle rentals between two hubs, and regular bike rentals, which facilitate daily or weekend use, a long term rental gives users an experience of bicycle ownership and the ability to commute by bicycle. The experience of ownership teaches users about the various ways a bicycle can fit into one’s everyday life as well as the responsibility that stems from maintaining and preventing bicycle theft.

This project proposes the production of molded biodegradable pots to replace agricultural and horticultural plastic pots on campus. These pots will be made using switchgrass and brewer’s spent grain, both of which are readily available to the Paper and Bioproducts Center located in the basement of Bloedel Hall; a floor layout of this lab can be found attached to this proposal in Figure 2. The Paper and Bioresource Center focuses on conversion of raw bio-materials into pulp, paper, products, and fuels; making it a synergistic fit for this new sustainable molding technology.

In 2013, a proposal to build an outdoor "sustainable learning space" for Environmental Studies (Program on the Environment) students on the north lawn of Wallace Hall was born out of the tragic loss of Tikvah Weiner, then PoE Administrator, to breast cancer. At the end of her life, Tikvah spoke to the PoE community about her desire to see this area used for the benefit of students, as a demonstration of sustainable practices; a place where experiential learning extended out of the classroom and into the adjacent green space.

Can't make it in to the bike shop? Now, the bike shop can make it to you. The Mobile Maintenance Trailer allows the student mechanics at the ASUW Bike Shop to traverse this majestic campus with all the tools necessary to provide safety-check and quick tune-up services for any UW cyclists they encounter, free of charge. Everything a rusty bicycle could ever want, including an assortment of professional shop tools and an array of greases, degreasers, and lubricants, will be kept conveniently in a Surly long-bed trailer.

Radical Public Health UW is hosting an evening of discussion and consciousness-raising about the root causes and myriad dangers of the global climate change crisis. In the current political context, local and global, it is more important than ever before to have honest, unapologetic discussions about this growing emergency.

The University of Washington has over 161 acres of turf grass.  Grounds maintenance, at the University applies a custom, slow release chemical fertilizer (F-6 Wil-Grow Wil-Cote Custom-CFM 25-0-5) for all turf applications. Chemical fertilizers can be detrimental to the environment and to the long term health of soils. With global warming at the forefront of scientific research, it is imperative that alternative, environmentally friendly lawn care systems are implemented. Revising the fertilizer plan for the lawns is a potentially important step for grounds management to undertake.

The Green Greek Representative Energy Challenge is a challenge designed to make the Greek community more energy efficient, which will make it more desirable to people who choose housing based on sustainability. Through this challenge, we seek to educate men and women in the Greek community about making sustainable choices that will save them and their chapters money while also helping improve the environment.

The teaching apiary at the UW Farm contains 10-12 hives of honey bees and is used by students to learn basic beekeeping skills and also to perform experiments in bee biology. The bee course has been taught Summer A+B terms since 2011. Support for the program derives from student fees, covering course-specific activities, and an account funded by donations and fund raising, which covers maintenance of the hives and equipment acquisition. Researchers from departments as varied as Chemistry and Psychology have used the hives as education and research subjects in past years.

The UW Night Market has been an event held in Red Square every year since 2001. It is one of the Taiwanese Student Association’s signature events and easily the largest in scale in terms of people. The event recreates traditional night markets in Taiwan and is centered around food. Last year, we had 24 total vendors. Every year, this event creates large amounts of waste that isn’t properly disposed of by guests; this year, we plan to create a recycling plan that alleviates this issue.