Luther College
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

ENVS 485 students in Spring 2016 researched sustainability in study abroad as a way to reduce GHG emissions associated with Luther J-term courses. They measured emissions from air travel associated with these courses and worked with the Center for Global Learning to investigate and propose ways to reduce emissions associated with study abroad experiences.

Students did an extensive, room by room lighting survey in partnership with the Center for Sustainable Communities and Facilities in Summer 2015. Students walked through campus to identify opportunities for daylighting and to take inventory of the lighting that exists in different spaces across campus with the goal of identifying lighting scheduling and efficiency opportunities. This was done as part of a professional feasibility study.

The Sustainability House tracked solar PV production against electricity consumption on a daily basis and set goals as a house to reduce consumption through behavior change. Students also helped develop mock-ups for graphs that they thought would be helpful in displaying energy data to campus and determined the best places for these to go on the website.

Environmental Philosophy students in Spring 2015 developed educational materials for posting in the cafeteria and across campus to raise awareness about alternative proteins as a way to reduce meat consumption and the associated environmental impact.

Students in several biology courses do research projects related to sustainability of the Luther College campus. Biology 250, Restoration and Conservation Biology, does campus projects that focus on invasive species and ecological restoration projects every spring. Each fall the students in Bio 365, Ecology, do research projects designed to better understand the campus grounds and how to improve the ecological integrity of Luther’s natural areas.

Students in ENVS 239, Sustainable Food Systems, researched college food purchasing and barriers to buying local.

Students worked to collect data for the bicycle friendly university assessment and also created a new ridesharing Facebook group as a way to promote car-pooling. By virtue of recognizing the college’s gaps in transportation support and initiatives, the students created videos on bike safety and assisted with the creation of a campus bike policy.

Students explored the possibility of entirely eliminating disposable cups in all campus cafés as a way to reduce cup waste. They explored the feasibility of offering ceramic mugs or moving away from the $.75 discount for using a reusable mug towards a “landfill fee,” with the goal of connecting consumers more deeply with their actions and associated waste.

Various groups of students have researched ways to reduce water bottles on campus. One group pushed for a water bottle ban and another took the more positive, “back to the tap” approach. Additionally, students are researching water runoff and contamination issues as part of local watershed projects.

Students were responsible for developing ideas to feed into the 2016-2018 campus operations goals through the Center for Sustainable Communities. Specifically, they worked directly with the Energy and Waste Fellow to assist with setting zero waste goals.

Environmental Philosophy students in Fall 2014 did extensive work on sustainable investments for the Luther College endowment. This was presented to the investment committee of the Board of Regents in February 2015.

Students in the ENVS senior seminar in Spring 2015 worked directly with local communities to look at community energy planning and presented their findings within each of their respective communities.

Students explored the feasibility of having a farmers market on central campus as a way to better connect Luther employees with fresh, health, local food. This ended up not being a desirable option for area farmers who prefer the downtown location.