Sustainability and Climate Change: A Conceptual Framework

The Coppin State University seeks to promote environmental awareness and engage the entire university community in enhancing sustainability. Sustainable environmental practices are an integral part of the University's academic, operational and institutional policies and practices. Listed below are initiatives designed advance sustainable environmental policies and practices.

• To increase awareness of climate change and sustainability issues, the Department of Natural Sciences launched a Sustainability Lecture Series in February 2009. For the inaugural lecture, Dr. Erle C. Ellis from UMBC's Department of Geography and Environmental System presented information on the history of land use, anthropogenic carbon emissions, and strategies for managing land to reduce atmospheric carbon.
• CSU has implemented several projects to nurture sustainability champions among faculty and students campus-wide. The Green Coppin Coalition, a coalition founded by faculty and students, has placed into action different activities to create awareness of the current climate crisis and global warming among the University and the surrounding community.
• This summer, Dr. Mintesinot Jiru, Assistant Professor, Natural Sciences, is working with students majoring in biology and chemistry to study the impact of coal burning on ecosystem sustainability and human health. The students are sampling soil from three coal-fired generating stations in Maryland and will analyze the bio-chemistry of the soil and conduct an analysis using various plants to understand the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the food supply. This study is a part of the university's effort to educate students about the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on an urban environment and to increase awareness of climate change issues.

• CSU implemented eco-security measures and purchased battery-powered, zero-gas emission T-3 personal mobility vehicles. These police transport vehicles have three wheels, are extremely maneuverable, and run on electricity.
• For the first time ever, CSU competed against nearly 400 other colleges and universities in a national recycling competition known as Recyclemania. Over a three month period, CSU recycled over 3 tons of paper. This means that through our collective efforts, the campus been able to save the equivalent of 51 mature trees.
• We have also engaged in other environmentally conscious practices, including installing new, energy efficient heating and cooling systems and motion sensor lighting systems in our new facilities; installing in the Partlett Longworth Moore Library "green tile" which contains natural rock and recycled glass; and installing new energy efficient air handlers and a new motion sensor lighting system when we upgrade the library's utilities.
• New Physical Education Complex (PEC) project (Fall 2009) is designed and constructed to track LEED certification. There is a recycling program in place on the construction site and most of the correspondence is done electronically in lieu of using paper.
• CSU worked with HP engineers to design a customized personal computer (PC) that optimizes CSU's needs and is Energy Star compliant, Category B, with 85% efficient power supply. This configuration will save CSU $40 per PC per year in power consumption (about a total of $45,000 per year). At no extra cost to CSU, HP agreed to bundles of 8 desktops together for a 'green' shipping and handling.

• The University has completed its first greenhouse gas emissions inventory to determine CSU's carbon footprint and emissions trajectory. This analysis is a key part of the University's commitment to the ACUPCC initiative (see www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org). Over the next year, the University's Sustainability Taskforce will use the results of this inventory to develop a climate action plan.