To achieve our goals, Columbia must bring together different parts of the University community to collaborate in new and efficient ways. In recent weeks, one such collaboration has garnered special attention, first from The New York Times and now from the National Science Foundation (NSF): Columbia's green roofs and their research stations. The green roof initiative brings together diverse expertise from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Center for Climate Systems Research, as well as Columbia's Office of Environmental Stewardship and Facilities, which manages University buildings. The NSF has awarded Columbia a grant to further understand and improve green roof technologies for potential use in cities around the world. We congratulate this outstanding interdisciplinary team of faculty, administrators and students who are helping us become, as the Times recently put it, "green-minded Columbia."

I would like to elaborate on this important initiative and highlight other activities designed to fulfill the University's environmental stewardship responsibilities.

Robert Kasdin

Senior Executive Vice President

National Science Foundation Grant to Further Columbia's Work on Green Roofs

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Columbia $476,000 to continue work in developing green roof technologies in urban environments. The grant will help the Columbia team improve the scientific understanding and optimization of green roof functionality. The lead investigators are Patricia Culligan, professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics, Stuart Gaffin, associate research scientist, Center for Climate Systems Research and NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and Wade McGillis, Lamont-Doherty Research Scientist and professor of earth and environmental engineering. The Office of Environmental Stewardship contributed substantial support to the University's successful NSF application. The grant will fund development of the Columbia University Green Roof Consortium, a collaborative effort among these schools, centers and institutes, as well as the Earth Institute's Urban Design Lab and Barnard College.

Municipal governments around the world are providing incentives to adopt green roofs, which aid in collecting rainwater and preventing sewer system overflow. Other potential benefits of green roofs include their ability to cool urban environments, better insulate buildings, trap air-borne particulates and capture carbon dioxide. But the technique can also present special challenges on existing buildings that predominate in major urban centers, which can most benefit from the reduction of the "urban heat island" effect. So far Columbia has seven green roofs, two of which are also research stations. The consortium provides a key academic integration with private and commercial green roof activities in New York City and will provide others with new insights about best practices in this essential environmental technology.

New York Times Editorial Page Goes "Up on the Roof"

On June 6, The New York Times editorial board member Francis Clines penned a bylined Sunday Times editorial taking note of Columbia's expanding network of green roofs on University buildings. "From the 15th floor you can see all manner of Manhattan eccentricities on the street below," Clines wrote. "But how did the humdrum rooftop of a nearby apartment house suddenly become covered with a blanket of suburban grass? ‘No, not grass-you don't want grass,' explains Stuart Gaffin, a research scientist tracked down at Columbia University who turns out to be the city's rooftop Johnny Appleseed." 

Gaffin is an associate research scientist at Columbia's Center for Climate Systems Research, who explained to Clines the multiple environmental benefits of green roofs, which integrate the natural cooling, insulating and water-retention properties of soil and vegetation into city buildings:  "They sop up and vaporize rainwater before it can jam the city sewage treatment plants; they cut summer heat that can exceed 170 degrees on a roof. No mowing required. ‘They're nature's geniuses at staying cool,' Mr. Gaffin says, while stepping across the resilient mat of sedum plants flourishing high over West 112th Street."

Columbia University Medical Center Undertakes Broad Recycling Program

New and expanded recycling initiatives are further integrating sustainability into the daily operation of Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) thanks to the efforts of associate vice president of Facilities Amador Centeno and his team. All office buildings now feature recycling receptacles for bottles, cans and paper. Many campus buildings also include recycling receptacles for the disposal of items such as batteries, cell phones, Styrofoam shipping boxes and consumer products (paper, cardboard, metal, glass and plastic). Other items, such as computer equipment, lamps and toner cartridges, can be picked up by CUMC Facilities Operations when employees complete an online service request. If there are damaged, leaking or bulging batteries, they can also be picked up by completing an electronic waste pick-up request on CUMC's Environmental Health & Safety website. In residence halls, the CUMC EcoReps were instrumental in working with Facilities to implement recycling.

In addition to the collection and recycling of medical materials such as thermometers, foil X-ray packaging and film processing equipment, which contain mercury, lead and other metals, a CUMC supplier is now exchanging mercury-based blood pressure gauges for non-mercury gauges for free. The exchange is the result of a collaboration among the College of Physicians and Surgeons' Office of Curricular Affairs, the College of Dental Medicine, the Department of Anesthesiology, and Environmental Health & Safety. New ‘multi-use sharps' containers, for biomedical waste, are also now available in the Hammer Health Sciences Center, replacing approximately 4,500 single-use containers previously used each year.

CUMC Begins Green Cleaning Program and Cuts Transportation Emissions

Columbia University Medical Center has officially switched to Green Seal products, which include plant-based contents, for cleaning research and residential buildings. The Green Seal system is a third-party verification program with a rigorous application process that ensures cleaning products have minimal impact on the environment. The Green Seal is recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council for its benefits to indoor air quality, especially important in a healthcare environment.

At the same time, Public Safety at CUMC is doing its part to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Although most public safety officers now walk or use Trek bikes rather than drive during their day tours, the Department of Public Safety has replaced its fleet of gas-powered vehicles on the medical campus with three Ford Escape Hybrid SUVs for campus patrol, student transportation, call responses, and campus personnel and student escorting.

Columbia Puts Finishing Touches on New Green Alumni Center

The renovation of Columbia's new Alumni Center has been a thoroughly green endeavor, from the design and structural elements of the building to the day-to-day consciousness of its staff, who have adopted green practices for their new home. The nine-floor center is located at 622 W. 113^th St., formerly McVickar Hall. It features zoned heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems that constantly pipe outside air into the building.  Its lighting system is designed to save 35 percent in energy consumption by using occupancy sensors that monitor motion and body temperature, and daylight harvesting that adjusts interior lights according to the amount of natural light coming through the building's large windows. A water filtration system in each of the building's four pantries eliminates the use of bottled water, and there are dual-flush, water-conserving toilets in each restroom. From the beginning of the project, the Alumni Center was registered with the United States Green Building Council, pursuing LEED-Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certification. It is one of several LEED-registered building projects on the Morningside campus.

University Apartment Housing Supers Get Green Building Training

A group of 14 of Columbia's residential superintendents from both Morningside and CUMC campuses are learning state-of-the-art best practices in energy efficiency as part of an initiative funded and sponsored by the Building Service Employees Union, Local 32B-J. The initiative, still in its pilot phase, is designed to reduce emissions, conserve energy and lower operating costs in buildings around the city. The training, which consists of five full-day sessions held at Columbia in June and July, will eventually be offered to other superintendents, resident managers and handypersons at Columbia and throughout New York City.

Environmental Science and Policy Students Collaborate with Major Environmental Organizations

Students in the Master's in Public Administration program in Environmental Science and Policy at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) marked the end of the spring semester with presentations of their final briefings for the course Workshop in Applied Policy Analysis, in which students work with clients to address challenges in different areas of environmental policy. This semester's clients were the Wildlife Conservation Society, New York City Housing Authority, Gateway National Recreation Area of the National Park Service, National Audubon Society, Earth Action and Alliance for Renewable Energy. The projects took on such issues as retrofitting older New York City apartment buildings for energy efficiency, reducing the carbon footprint of a national organization, and compiling and reporting on the implications of environmental policy for a national recreation area. Other SIPA workshop students developed recommendations for the World Bank on integrating climate change adaptation considerations into review processes, and for the U.N. Environmental Program on identifying environmental impacts of civil unrest and poverty in countries such as Haiti.

Columbia and Turner Host BIM/Sustainable Construction Conference

On June 16, Columbia and Turner Construction hosted an informational seminar at the School of International and Public Affairs to educate minority, women-owned and local (MWL) businesses on building information modeling (BIM). The goal of the seminar was to help prepare MWL firms to accept new and potentially advantageous business opportunities, such as BIM. BIM is a highly accurate, three-dimensional digital representation of a building used for design decision making. BIM helps companies and organizations save money and time, and decreases the number of design errors. Its use within the University community not only draws upon the latest innovations in the engineering and construction world, but gives MWL businesses the advantage of starting from a more sustainable foundation.

Geochemistry Building Wins More Awards

Columbia'sGary C. Comer Geochemistry Building-the University's first LEED building-on the Lamont Campus in Palisades, N.Y., has won two more awards for its design. The building received a Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture for a New Building (one of only two projects recognized in this category) by the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) and the American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture for Education (AIA-CAE). SCUP and the AIA-CAE also cited the project in the 2009 Excellence in Planning and Excellence in Architecture Awards program. The building also garnered an Award for Design in the 2009 Sustainable Design Awards, sponsored by the Boston Society of Architects Committee on the Environment and the American Institute of Architects. The biennial award is co-sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Committee on the Environment of the AIA New York Chapter. Its purpose is to recognize projects that systematically integrate several aspects of sustainability and, as a result, make a substantial impact on the environment.  In February, the building was named Lab of the Year by Research & Development magazine, and in June it was given an Outstanding Research Project Award by the Greater New York Construction User Council.

Faculty House Green Makeover Nearly Complete

This past year's renovation of Faculty House-located at 400 W. 117^th St. and designed by McKim, Mead and White in the original campus plan-is almost finished. Faculty House has served for decades as a social and intellectual gathering place for the University community.  The facility will reopen this September, completely retrofitted inside to support 21st-century technology with four floors of dining, meeting and event space. The project has employed the latest methods in sustainable construction to faithfully restore the classic building to its 1920s glory. Faculty House is registered as a LEED building project with the U.S. Green Building Council.

Energy-efficient and water-conserving utilities, appliances, fixtures and insulation are being added to the building.  Interiors will feature recycled, low-emission materials and finishes, as well as many locally sourced materials. Low-flow plumbing fixtures are being installed throughout the building along with mechanical systems to optimize energy use. Nearly 75 percent of the materials from the structure are being refurbished, repurposed, recycled or donated during the renovation. The project also will seek LEED innovation points, for its donation of former kitchen equipment to a cooking school in Central America and a Green Education Program that will post information and give guided tours explaining the green features of the building and its operations. Further advancing its sustainability goals, the Faculty House culinary staff is developing new menus featuring organic and local foods. There will be more details to come when Faculty House officially reopens in September. Additional information can be found at facultyhouse.columbia.edu.

Columbia Wins Energy New York Award

Executive vice president of Columbia University Facilities Joseph A. Ienuso accepted the leadership award on behalf of the University at this year's Energy New York Awards, organized by the New York Energy Consumers Council and presented on April 28.  The awards honor organizations and/or individuals who demonstrate exceptional qualities of vision, innovation and leadership in strengthening the energy reliability and economic competitiveness of New York.  A significant number of the campus sustainability initiatives that Columbia has taken on to conserve energy, build green and reduce greenhouse gas emissions-many of which have been highlighted in these e-newsletters-involve leadership, partnership or implementation across the University. Congratulations to all of the students, faculty and staff whose collective efforts are essential to our building a culture of environmental quality on campus.

Facilities Service Center Contact Information

Please remember to report problems such as leaks, heating/cooling issues or opened windows or doors that cannot be closed to the Facilities Services Center at (212) 854-2222 on the Morningside Heights campus. Those on the CUMC campus should call (212) 305-HELP (3457). Similar problems on the Lamont-Doherty campus can be called in to Building and Grounds at (845) 365-8600.

Don't Forget to Share Your News and Ideas

Help expand your own efforts to help Columbia become more sustainable. Please e-mail Nilda Mesa, assistant vice president of Environmental Stewardship, with your ideas at environment@columbia.edu.

And please share news updates about what you and your office are doing to support a sustainable Columbia to Clare Oh in the Office of Communications and Public Affairs at clare.oh@columbia.edu.