Sustainability and the Built Environment

Please join Harvard faculty, students, and alumni for a hands-on exploration of Harvard’s work with respect to sustainability and the built environment, hosted by the Graduate School of Design. This is an opportunity to foster new connections among faculty, to identify curriculum and research opportunities for students and to explore ways academic research can help the University and community adapt to climate change.


The primary goals are to  1) share what faculty are doing in sustainability, particularly with respect to buildings, campuses, cities, and landscapes; and 2) learn how Harvard might be a test bed for research and teaching related to energy and climate impacts on infrastructure.


This pointed and interactive program involves a short plenary, three breakouts led faculty, and closing synthesis of the workshop. The full agenda ishere.

Details:  April 10, 2012, 2:00 – 5:00 pm (followed by reception); The Graduate School of Design, 48 Quincy St. room 112.

Please respond to this short invitation letting us know your plans.

Sincerely,

Heather Henriksen, Director, Harvard Office for Sustainability
Prof. Richard A Peiser, GSD
Prof. Jack Spengler, HSPH
Prof. Christoph Reinhart, MIT
Prof. John Macomber, HBS

The faculty organizers of this program wish to acknowledge the vital assistance, both intellectual and financial, of:

Harvard University Center for the Environment
Harvard Office for Sustainability
and the Real Estate Academic Initiative

Harvard USGBC Chapter Event - Tour of 46 Blackstone Feb 29th

The Harvard Student USGBC Chapter is hosting it's first event, a tour of the double LEED Platinum certified 46 Blackstone building. The tour is being conducted by Kevin Bright of Harvard Green Building Services. It will be a good opportunity to learn more about LEED and green buildings.

The tour will be held on Wednesday February 29 at noon, and will last about an hour.  The group will meet in the courtyard of 46 Blackstone Street.   

Please RSVP for the event at the following link: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDkwSXR0b180VzlVSkliVXdRSnVmWWc6MA

The following is background information on the project:  

http://green.harvard.edu/harvard-building-goes-double-leed-platinum

Harvard University has announced a second LEED Platinum certification for its Campus Services building. The university initially achieved its first LEED Platinum certification with the building in 2007 in the New Construction category. Now, the building has earned a second Platinum nod in the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (EBOM) category and has outperformed the energy reduction predictions developed during the original renovation.  The double platinum distinction is the first in both New England and the Ivy League, and only the fifth worldwide.

Design Opportunity: Harvard Community Garden Projects

T H E    H A R V A R D    

C O M M U N I T Y  G A R D E N

invites design students to collaborate on upcoming installations slated for Spring of 2011. This is an opportunity to make a measurable impact on the Harvard community and see the dynamic process of collaborative design! Projects to be designed and implemented for the spring are: [1] an earthen oven made from locally-sourced sustainable materials, [2] a small greenhouse, and [3] entry signage and gate. Please come to our first design meeting to learn all about the garden and your potential role in making it great for next season. We hope to see you there!

November 16 @ 6 pm

Rm 318 at the GSD

 Check out our website and blog: www.garden.harvard.edu

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/HarvardCommunityGarden, 
or the Crimson article from Harvestfest 2010

Questions? Contact Cassie Bosco [cbosco@gsd.harvard.edu]

Harvard's Green Campus Initiative

Last evening, Dan, Connie, and myself attended a meeting for the Council of Student Sustainability Leaders (CSSL) hosted by the Harvard Office for Sustainability. There we learned about Harvard's green building goals as a way of meeting the university's 2016 carbon reduction goal. You can find information on Harvard's Green Building Standards and case studies of LEED certified buildings on campus at the following link:

http://green.harvard.edu/theresource/

What are your thoughts on Harvard's progress/current initiatives around green building?

HARVARD THINKS GREEN

http://green.harvard.edu/thinksgreen


Great upcoming event! It will feature 6 of Harvard’s leading environmental faculty presenting their big green ideas for 10 minutes each, including Professor Christoph Reinhart from the GSD and leading faculty from FAS, HMS, HBS, and HLS.
http://green.harvard.edu/thinksgreen

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=239210092803509

SENSE AND SUSTAINABILITY

A member of the Council for Student Sustainability Leaders through Harvard Office for Sustainability runs a great podcast worth checking out. Here's some info from Jisung:


PREVIOUS AND UPCOMING EPISODES OF NOTE:
· Jeffrey Sachs on "The Price of Civilization" (coming soon)

· Jagdish Bhagwati on Globalization, International Trade, and Climate Mitigation Frameworks (Episode 21)

· Garikai Nyaruwata on The Role of Private Equity in African Development (Episode 19)

· Mike Gerrard on Environmental Law and Climate Change (Episode 6)

· Bryan Norton on Philosophical Bases of Sustainability: A Pragmatist Approach (Episode 17)

· Shahid Naeem on Valuing Biodiversity (Episode 2)

· David Keith on Geo-Engineering Solutions and Climate Hyperbole (Episode 14)


GETTING INVOLVED
We are currently looking to fill a number of Executive Board positions for our organization, including Chief Development Officer (whose primary role will be grant-writing and fundraising) and Regional Outreach Directors for Harvard and MIT. In addition, we are looking to recruit a few full-time bloggers for our parallel blog (http://www.senseandsustainability.net/category/blog/).


If you are interested in any of the above positions, or getting involved in another way, please email me at jisungpark@fas.harvard.edu. Of course, suggestions for episode topics and future guests for the program are always welcome!


http://www.senseandsustainability.net/