1

The Role of Going Green in The University of South Florida

A comprehensive review of USF’s sustainability practices.

By:

Yasmin BakhtyariDanielle Christy

Meaghan Cichowski Kaytlin Smyth

Tatianna Sobers

Prepared for Dr. Francis Tobienne, Jr. ENC 3250 Professional Writing Online

Submitted November 20, 2013.

2

Table of Contents

SUMMARY.............................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................4

DISCUSSION.........................................................................................................................................4

Environmental Concerns................................................................................................................4

Description of a green college........................................................................................................5

The beginning of USF’s change......................................................................................................5

Social Effects.....................................................................................................................................7

USF Student Movement..................................................................................................................8

Social projects...................................................................................................................8

Programs/ Competitions....................................................................................................9

USF renewable resource projects and energy efficiency projects...................................................9

Energy Efficiency.............................................................................................................11

CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................12

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................15

WORKS CITED....................................................................................................................................19

TABLES AND FIGURES.....................................................................................................................21

GLOSSARY..........................................................................................................................................22

3

SUMMARY

The students at USF consider themselves “citizen-scholar activists”, and are proud of the

work that has been done to create a more sustainable campus both in Tampa and St. Petersburg

through policy, classes, technological advancements, and a culture of awareness promoted in the

student body. The students of USF are taking an active role in green living, which include

forming the environmental awareness groups, holding demonstrations on campus, and generally

creating awareness in the world they find themselves in. USF also is the host to many expos and

jobs fairs based on going green, and in 2010 they launched the nation’s first School of Global

Sustainability.

Through the office of sustainability, USF has continued to update its Campus Master Plan

since 1995. Though the purpose of this plan was to embrace Smart Growth, a major concept in

sustainability which promoted ideas such as using parking lots as development sites, awareness

of off-campus light pollution. With its numerous provisions, USF has managed to save

approximately 10 million dollars over the past ten years by making simple changes such as

utilizing the Greenlights replacement program and reducing electrical consumption by 3 percent.

Our team is dedicated to spreading the word about the USF green initiative

taking place in the university system. With research we have uncovered that the students at USF

are proud of the work that has been done to create a more sustainable campus across all of its

branches.

Through policy in the classroom, social projects and competitions, and scientific

advancements, we will outline everything from the beginning of change forward.

4

INTRODUCTION

“Going Green” has been and will

continue to be one of the most noble acts

one can make. As a unity, the University of

South Florida has managed to do just that.

Recognized for their efforts in conserving

energy, recycling, creating awareness,etc.,

USF has been mentioned in numerous

reviews such as the elite “Princeton

Review’s Green Honor Roll”, chosen among

22 schools from hundreds. Although it is

natural for a school to strive for such

recognition, the students of USF have fully

contributed their time by forming

organizations, becoming members of

national groups, participating in

competitions, and creating awareness for

many more than just the USF student and

staff spectrum. Through research and

studies, students have come to realize that

this degrading environment will in no such

way blossom if the people living within it

fail to consider the consequences. Through

pollution, waste, lack of conserving, etc.,

prices rise as well as degradation. USF sets a

prime example of how not only universities

but all members of the community should

participate in these noble acts which not

only benefit the environment, but also

creates a feeling of self-fulfillment.

DISCUSSION

Environmental Concerns

Dialogue about environmental

degradation has its roots long before, but in

American History, post-WWII conversations

began to touch on the need to change how

things worked with a top-down approach. If

institutions were unaware of the issues

facing the country, how were the people not

involved at high levels of government or

education supposed to live in a more

sustainable fashion?

The issues defined by the green

movement don’t just focus on putting trash

in the proper receptacle, but lay out health

concerns that are inclusive in the longevity

5

of practices put in place now that will affect

future generations. Air, land, water pollution

are not only harmful the plants and animals

around us, but come full circle to harm

people.

Description of a green college

The Princeton Review is an all

inclusive list of the colleges available to

students hoping to find the perfect fit. In

2010 their partnership with the U. S. Green

Building Council (USGBC) and their subset

Leadership in Energy & Environmental

Design (LEED) led to the guidelines they

use to determine the environmental impact a

university leaves. Below we have included

the criteria focused in on for this project in

table 1, divided into four related categories.

At the launch for the School of

Global Sustainability, Professor Lonnie

Thompson of the Earth Sciences Department

at Ohio State University gave three options

for moving forward in a Green world;

1. Prevention (reduce the current

pace of environmental changes).

2. Adaptation (reduce the impacts on

human activities).

3. Suffering (accept the adversity of

impacts ahead).

From here we started our research into what

this means to the University of South

Florida.

The beginning of USF’s change

When the University of South

Florida began its green movement in 2010, it

was started in the sobering light of recent

disasters potentially and arguably sparked

from human influences. Hurricanes,

tsunamis, melting glaciers all played a part,

but the real idea behind the movement was

action. It became obvious what the

university wished for, to at the very least not

lead to suffering, and at the most to aid in

the prevention aspect, by spreading the word

6

that they are privileged to as a research

university.

Figure 1. Factors looked at by Princeton Green Review in making an assessment about a school’s environmental awareness.

Organizational Practices Sustainability Practices Education Renewability

The school employs a dedicated full-time (or full-time equivalent) sustainability officer.

The percentage of food expenditures that goes

toward local, organic or otherwise environmentally

preferable food.

The school has an environmental studies

major, minor or concentration

The percentage of the school's energy

consumption that is derived from renewable

resources

The school has a formal committee with

participation from students that is devoted to advancing sustainability

on campus.

The school has a formal plan to mitigate its

greenhouse gas emissions

The school's students graduate from programs

that include sustainability as a required learning outcome or include

multiple sustainability learning outcomes.

Buildings that were constructed or underwent major renovations in the

past three years are LEED certified.

The school offers mass transit programs, bike sharing, car sharing, carpool plans, local

housing, telecommuting, etc.

The school’s overall waste diversion rate.

In 2010, the main campus of USF

started their going green efforts when the

student housing began a recycling program

by trading in Styrofoam to go containers

which do not degrade naturally in landfills, to

reusable take home boxes that students are

rewarded for cutting down significantly on

waste.

In 2011, the Board of Governors

voted for the approval of a Student Green

Energy Fund that charges $1.00 per credit

hour that would help fund different projects

across the campus to make the campuses

more energy efficient and save money in the

years to come for the University.

The construction of nearly half of the

buildings on the university’s campuses were

globally and sustainably conscious. By

constructing the buildings at higher stories,

lending a less crowded campus and creating

7

what they call an “open space network”. The

open landscape enabled the university to

plant over 2,000 trees in the past 15 years.

The university was also fairly cautious when

remodelling the landscape. By barricading

the canopy to prevent parking underneath,

USF was able compact the soil and prevent

rainwater from reaching the roots of the

newly planted trees and native plants. Also,

USF made it a priority to commit to full

xeric and natural plant materials to ensure

that they are drought-tolerant.

Recently in 2012, USF has placed

solar panels on the Marshall center in

Tampa with the help of the “Student Green

Energy Fund”(SGEF), which will bring

energy back into the student center and

essentially save money for the university as

well as the students. In 2012, the SGEF has

also funded many other projects across the

campuses dealing with lighting, desktop

computers, lighting in parking garages,

water fountains, and HVAC units in

buildings across campus. With all the

projects, events, and other efforts USF is

taking in the going green trend thus far, USF

still continues to find new ways to help the

environment and events to hold to get the

students involved.

Social Effects

There are many different social

effects that go along with the “going green”

trend, and with each new aspect, it gives

back to the environment and saves money in

the long run. It also brings all different

groups of people and businesses together to

all work for the same cause and make the

earth a cleaner more energy efficient place

to live. Everyone could do little things to

help out like changing their light bulbs in

their homes to energy efficient bulb, using

reusable water bottles, eating healthier,

recycling more, as well as the bigger efforts

to help with the trend such as buying eco-

friendly cars and building more energy

8

efficient buildings and schools across the

country.

Businesses are now joining the trend

on going green by adding energy efficient

light bulbs, using less paper, motion

sensitive offices and meeting rooms as well

as other little things around the office

buildings. Restaurants are getting their

produce from local farms to using better

materials for take home boxes, just like USF

with their take home boxes. Businesses and

restaurants use events to get their employees

involved with giving back to the earth like

cleaning up highways once a month and

planting trees. Hotels are also joining the

trend with other businesses by having the

same technologies as the office buildings

have with the motion sensitive rooms.

USF Student MovementSocial projects

The most important part of creating

a culture of sustainable living is the students

themselves, as they are the ones who will

keep the ideas going in the future. Students

have created blogs, as we found in “Viva La

Green” dedicating time to the proper use and

dispersal of water on campus by writing

letters, creating petitions, and most

importantly spreading social awareness.

There are some eighteen environmental

student groups, including Emerging Green

Builders, Engineers for a Sustainable World,

and the Student Sustainability Initiative.

Students also successfully lobbied for the

university to charge a $1.00 per credit hour

“green fee” to support the purchase of

renewable energy.

In efforts to obtain more information

on how the student body assists on ensuring

that the University of South Florida upholds

their progressing efforts to stay green, an

interview was conducted with students in

The Green Living and Learning community

(LLC) who live in Maple B at the Tampa

campus. Under the supervision of Sarah

Weisensee, head of the Living and Learning

9

community, the students provided

information on their efforts to contribute to

the green campus initiative. The Green LLC

community conducts green projects with the

help of faculty members that are open to

their peers and peers such as creating

vertical hydroponic gardens, growing

organic plants with the aid of decomposing

organic materials.

Programs/ Competitions

USF hosts the annual Campus and

Community Sustainability Conference

where participants share best practices for

Florida’s sustainable future. The USF

Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) were

named regional champions for the third time

in five years with a project to help two local

businesses transition to more sustainable

business practices. Also team of USF

students and their faculty advisor received a

competitive Phase II Grant from the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency as part of

the EPA’s prestigious People, Prosperity,

and Planet (P3) Competition. The USF team

was one of six selected nationally to receive

the annual award.

USF along with other Florida

universities and universities across the

nation in 2010 took part in a 10 week

national competition called RecycleMania.

In that same year, USF took 226 out of 267

schools in the Grand Champion category

and was 25 in waste per person on campus.

In the past few years since 2010, USF have

fallen and climbed between the different

categories that Recyclemania has for the

competition in the rankings

(Recyclemaniacs.org).

USF renewable resource projects and energy efficiency projects

All the Universities within Florida

that research and construct different going

green projects are affiliated with the Florida

Energy Systems Consortium (FESC). In a

10

recent study listed on the FESC website by

the Energy Information Administration

Florida is shown to consume 90% of

its energy in the electrical form, which is

40% more than the U.S. average (Figure 1,

EIA).

Figure 2. Electricity use in kwhours and U.S. dollars

It is no wonder that according to the

FESC the need for solar energy products

within the “Sunshine State” ranks at the 11th

place for the nation (FESC). Therefore the

harnessing of solar energy as a renewable

resource have become the prominent types

of projects at USF, especially for the Tampa

campus. So how does one harness the

energy from the sun? The FESC states that

this can be done through a technology called

Photovoltaics (PV) cells which absorbs light

from the sun and converts it into electrical

energy which can be stored in a solar

thermal collector. Families who have had

these systems installed in their homes have

saved 90% in their energy usage (FESC).

USF has been given a grant by the FESC to

build an on-campus solar power plant which

will allow students to directly study how

solar energy works and lead to the overall

goal of learning how to generate and store

solar energy efficiently (Temple).

The research behind this is granted to

USF through the U.S. Department of Energy

11

and is headed by Dr.Goswami. Recently

USF researchers have developed phase

change material, salt balls, which are able to

store the sun’s heat energy for long periods

of time so steam electricity can be generated

even after the sun sets (Penn, Temple).

Stefanokos, the director of CERC, says

being able to harness and store solar energy

will allow for energy usage to become five

times cheaper (Temple). There are two other

major projects that CERC continues to work

on and those are: Nanoscale antennas and

ultraviolet sunlight as a source of

sterilization. The technology behind

nanoscale antennas can be used to convert

solar energy to electrical energy. Ultraviolet

sunlight can be used to clean air and water

through a patented process called the

Goswami cycle. Some accomplishments

listed on the CERC website related to this

area of study are as follows: Developing the

first 20,000 watt solar powered charger for

electric vehicles, and increasing by 15.8%

the efficiency of solar energy cells using

cadmium telleride (CERC).

Energy Efficiency

In addition to cultivating renewable

resources other campuses also contribute to

the theme of improving upon campus energy

efficiencies through cutting-edge

technology. For example, the USF Sarasota

Manatee (USFSM) campus recently added a

new central energy chiller plant, which was

completed in 2011, to save some energy

costs for the campus. USFSM wants to keep

the trend up and find new ways that the

campus can continue its efforts along with

the USF Tampa and St. Pete campuses. By

adding this new chiller plant, the campus

energy savings have gone down 25% and

could possibly save the campus more

throughout the years (USF Sarasota). As

mentioned previously, a USF project placed

solar panels on the Marshall Student Center

in the end of April 2012. The solar panels

help reduce energy consumption and save

12

money in the future (Basinger). Many

Florida universities have placed solar panels

around their campuses, but USF has the

most placed around the Tampa campus.

Campuses also uses high efficiency

fluorescent lights in all the classrooms as

well as using LED lighting as cost saving

items around the campus (“USF Sarasota”)

CONCLUSION

As mentioned many times, USF has

managed to successfully create awareness

for the fellow community members. While

they have participated in many projects,

creative ideas, competitions, etc., the

University of South Florida has created a

new way of living for the students.

In a world that seems to care little

about the actions that plague the

environment, it feels good to know that there

are academic minds taking the ideas

promoting sustainability and green living

and making them a part of the lives of those

who would have no exposure to this

information. It is time for the world to care

about what happens when things go

unnoticed. An informed decision about how

an individual wants to impact the world can

come from the inside, but an informed

decision is one that will never go unnoticed.

A university dedicated to the change

it wishes to see has helped shine a new light

on what it means to be a eco-conscious

institution. The commitment to becoming a

sustainable and green friendly university is

one that, while not easy, will be a great

impact for generations to come, setting the

bar for the ecologically conscious new

generations. Through its success, USF has

managed to make many positive changes.

But, the process should not end. There are

still many areas in which USF can continue

on with their growth in Going Green.

Implementing inner-school activities

would be ideal. While participating in

several competitions, USF should also create

13

competitions within the campuses which

encourage all students to participate in this

movement.

To begin, prizes are ideal! Although

it may seem shallow to offer an exchange

for participation, it is clear that these

incentives are quite brilliant in order to

create awareness. For example, USF should

create a new system where students can

recycle any text books at the book store, and

in return they can receive store credit. Not

only will this help the environment, but it

will also cut down costs for the students.

Books are quite expensive, so for those who

would like to purchase a used book, this

would be much cheaper. And, for those who

recycle their used books by contributing

them to the book store, they too can save by

lessoning their future expenses through

gained credit.

Another excellent way to encourage

school members to join in on the fun would

be to enforce recycling of all school

materials; things such as desks, computers,

dry erase markers, etc. While professors

may not be too thrilled about the idea, it

would cut costs significantly and will also

benefit the environment. The idea of going

green is not only to satisfy pockets and bank

accounts, but also to help the environment

we live in. Ideally, recycling materials

prevents waste as a whole.

A final suggestion would be to

continue with but also improve the use of

electronic materials. The use of paper has

been extremely lessoned, but it would be the

ultimate solution to completely cut out any

paper use for classes aside from exams.

Most textbooks have online access, teachers

can also provide online power points, and all

handouts can be sent to students via canvas

or blackboard.

Indeed, Going Green has been an

excellent change throughout the USF

campuses, but even the smallest of changes

14

can make a difference. By implementing

these ideas and many more, USF will

continue to blossom as both an environment

and cost-friendly school.

A dedication to preservation, to the

science of durability of the environment, of

ecology and a general atmosphere of green

living is the key to continuity of the world

we are comfortable with. We feel that the

little changes are the ones that can make the

greatest impact, and with the help of

the ever-informed and concerned students

the world will be around as we know if for a

long time.

Since 2010, USF has managed to

excel in the field of Green Awareness. It is

evident that making these changes have not

only created a better environment, but also

created healthier living for community

members.

Green makes you feel good. As

Clifford Schorer stated, “If you do

something with your life that benefits others,

it gives you a great personal reward.”

(Blackman, 2009)

15

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blackman, Stacy. Five Good Reasons for Going Green. CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 21 Apr. 2009.

Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-31040573/five-good-reasons-for-going-green/.>

This source is excellent in providing the many reasons people participate in going green. The site gives reasons mostly related to the economic well being and the monetary improvements for any organization. Not only is this source realistic, but it gives readers a better idea as to why a specific organization may be suddenly active in a “going green” movement.

Cash, J. Usf one of nation's top green colleges. University of South Florida News. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://news.usf.edu/article/templates/?a=2295>

This article is about how USF became one of the Nation’s Top Green Colleges in the Princeton Review. It is a reliable source because it states all the ways that USF got this ranking, about how it launched the nation’s first school of sustainability and what activities and projects the students are doing to help the campus become a green campus. This source is also reliable because it came straight from USF’s website. The article gives information on the Princeton Review and how the schools were chosen for the ranking and the U.S. Building Green Council. Although the article is from 2010, I feel as if it will help us with the white paper project.

EIA. Household Energy Use in Florida: A closer look at residential energy consumption. EIA.gov. 2009. PDF. 19 Nov. 2013. Retrieved from <http://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/reports/2009/state_briefs/pdf/fl.pdf.> 1-2.

This document was located through the FESC website. EIA stands for the U.S. Energy Information Administration and it is a government funded website. Since

16

this is a source monitored by the United States government it has a great deal of credibility. The particular document being looked at from this site is a report on the usage of energy in the South Atlantic region of the U.S. The source seems objective and simply provides a mark for comparing how going green has impacted energy usage.

Florida Energy Systems Consortium (FESC). Florida Energy Systems Consortium.2008. FESC. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. < http://www.floridaenergy.ufl.edu/?page_id=4.>

This site is affiliated with many schools and organizations adding to its credibility. This source which expands on all the efforts Florida makes as a whole to improve its environmental status. Here there is many facts on Florida’s energy usage and even projects statewide. Also this site serves as a common place for many of the colleges within Florida to share what specific projects they are working on.

Francesca, Basinger. Solar panels, other pro-environment projects funded by USF Green Energy Fund. Web. 2 Apr. 2012. <http://digitalbullpen.com/2012/04/02/green-energy-fund/>

This article is about the pro-environmental projects that USF is funding but the USF Green Energy Fund. It states where the solar panels are in USF and other top Florida universities and what each university uses the solar panels for. This article is reliable because it came from the Digital Bullpen, which is the online news source for USF’s College of Mass Communications.

McDonald, Richard Keirs, "Towards regenerative development: A methodology foruniversity campuses to become more sustainable, with a focus on the Universityof South Florida". Web. 2008. Graduate School Theses and Dissertations.<http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1390&context=etd>

This completely inclusive master’s thesis not only unites ecology and sustainability as its topic, but it uses the University of South Florida as a case study in comparison to other communities and scholarly institutions.

Miller, D. Reduce, Reuse, RecycleMania . Retrieved from USF News. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. http://news.usf.edu/article/templates/?a=2266

This site gives a detailed description of USF’s efforts in finding the many ways to improve their recycling habits. In early 2010, USF entered the “Waste Minimization” contest in RecycleMania. As there is detailed description of what RecycleMania is, it seems that the source itself is very credible. Considering this is posted on the USF site and also offers the quotes and comments of those who are a part of this movement. Because it is affiliated with the USF site itself, this article comes from firsthand experience of those whom our paper is truly about.

Miller, D. USF Residence Hall Goes Green . USF News. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.<http://news.usf.edu/article/templates/?a=2996>

17

This source displays the importance of going green by portraying the efforts that the student residents have taken upon themselves. The article is listed on the USF website which makes this not only reliable, but also most beneficial for creating a White Paper on the topic. This site focuses primarily on the residents at the Maple B Residence Hall at USF. These students have managed to find an even better way to prevent waste and instead create a new form of recycling. The residents have ventured into the world of “composting”. Composting is the decomposition of organic materials into a rich soil that can be used to fertilize plants and gardens.

Penn, I. "USF professor Yogi Goswami captures solar energy using salt balls". Tampa Bay Times. 2013, Tampa Bay Times. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.<http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/usf-professor-yogi-goswami-captures-solar-energy-using-salt-balls/2151626>

This source comes from the Tampa Bay Times a locally run and prestigious newspaper. The article contains an interview with the assistant director of CERC, Dr. Goswami. In this article Goswami explains the technology behind the solar power plant that is being put into place on the USF tampa campus.

"Recyclemania." Recyclemania. N.p., 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <http://recyclemaniacs.org/>.

This reliable source is the site of all of the results in Recyclemania throughout the years. Information and numbers gathered from the tournament and used in this white paper project was derived from this site.

Sustainability Programs and Initiatives at USF and around the World. Patel School of Global Sustainability RSS. University of South Florida, 3013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013.

On the Patel School of Global Sustainability website, it has several of the projects set in stone for them to reach their goals. Some of the projects they are working on are The New Space Race, Biodiesel Bull Runner, Climate Action Plan, the Waxman-Markey Bill, and a student office for sustainability and awareness. After thoroughly researching the climate action plan, there are strategizing how to reduce carbon dioxide emission. Also they are exercising how to enhance the efficiency of the energy produced on campus. They are also focusing on how to increase fuel efficiency as well. This source is great for finding out the how and ways in which they plan on executing their goals.

Temple, Liisa. Solar Power Plant Coming to USF. USF News: University of South Florida. 2011, USF. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://news.usf.edu/article/templates/default.aspx?a=3044&template=print-article.htm.>

This source comes from the University of South Florida itself. It is an internal article on the efforts of USF’s CERC foundation to continue and instill its

18

research into the USF campus of Tampa. In this article both the Director and assistant director of CERC explain the benefits a solar polar plant will have on the environment.

Upadhyay, Naimish S. Green local governments in Florida: An analysis ofsustainability and green building policies(2009). Graduate School Theses and Dissertations. <http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/61>

Explaining sustainability in with regards to Florida systems, it helps unite the physics of community “nodes” of idea spreading and what that has to do with the impact of education on going green now and in the future.

USF One of Nation's Top Green Colleges Genshaft, Judy. “The New SPACE RACE: Global Sustainability 2010 American Council on Education”. Presidency; ProQuest LLC. pg. 22-24,26.

This article exemplifies the University of South Florida’s efforts in global sustainability. President Genshaft explicates some of the opportunities that the university acted on by constructing sustainable practices, technologies, and systems to correct the destruction done to the environment. Genshaft continued by speaking of the University of South Florida’s School of Global Sustainability and their making focus on creating systems such as energy, health, food, and transportation to permit the health of the planet and its inhabitants to remain healthy and thriving.

USF Sarasota-Manatee goes "green" with new Central Energy Chiller Plant. USFSM News. 2013, USFSM. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://usfsm.edu/blog/usf-sarasota-manatee-goes-green-with-new-central-energy-chiller-plant/.>

This is an article from the news blog of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus. In this article there is a description of the USFSM campus’ efforts to reduce its electrical usage through the implementation of a plant chiller. This source is reliable because it comes directly from USF.

Welcome to CERC A Message from the Co-Directors. Clean Energy Research Center. The University of South Florida. 2013. Retrieved from <http://cerc.eng.usf.edu>. 28 Oct.

2013

This site is all about USF’s efforts and technological efforts into going green. It has research, publications, and different courses that are offered for students to take. This source is reliable because it is a research center based in USF. The publications that are listed on the site are editorials and energy reports starting back in 2006. CERC stands for Clean Energy Research Center. Also, this source exemplifies the USF’s department of clean energy research. The website is funded by USF and details the technological advances USF has made in its many projects

19

for finding new and improved methods for creating renewable sources of energy. The source is reliable for this projects since it is directly linked to USF and its going green projects. It seems this website is not the most current for USF’s technological advances but it does give a foundational knowledge of its more exclusive achievements. The research on this website paints USF in a favorable light as is to be expected since it is funded by the college. The author of the website is ambiguous but the director of the CERC foundation is Elias Stefanakos.

WORKS CITED

Basinger, Francesca. "Solar Panels, Other Pro-environment Projects Funded by USF Green Energy Fund." The Digital Bullpen. USF School of Mass Communications, 2 Apr. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

Blackman, Stacy. "Five Good Reasons for Going Green." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 21 Apr. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

Cash, Jacqui. "USF One of Nation's Top Green Colleges." University of South Florida News. University of South Florida, 5 May 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.

"Florida Energy Facts." Florida Energy Systems Consortium. FESC, 13 Nov. 2008. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

Green Energy Fund http://digitalbullpen.com/2012/04/02/greenPrincetonReview. (n.d.). Green honor roll. Retrieved fromhttp://www.princetonreview.com/greenhonorroll.aspx

McDonald, Richard Keirs, "Towards regenerative development: A methodology for university campuses to become more sustainable, with a focus on the University of South Florida". University of South Florida Graduate School Theses and Dissertations. Web. 2008.

20

Miller, Daylina. "Reduce, Reuse, RecycleMania." University of South Florida News. University of South Florida, 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.

Miller, Daylina. "USF Residence Hall Goes Green." University of South Florida News. University of South Florida, 30 Nov. 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.

Penn, Ivan. "USF Professor Yogi Goswami Captures Solar Energy Using Salt Balls." Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Bay Times, 8 Nov. 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

"Rectenna." Clean Energy Research Center. University of South Florida, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

Temple, Liisa. (2011). Solar Power Plant Coming to USF. USF News: University of SouthFlorida. Retrieved rom:http://news.usf.edu/article/templates/default.aspx?a=3044&template=printarticle.htm.

USF Sarasota-Manatee goes “green” with new Central Energy Chiller Plant. (2013). Retrievedfrom USF:

http://usfsm.edu/usfsarasotamanateegoesgreenwithnewcentralenergychillerplant/USGBC. (2013). About usgbc. Retrieved from http://www.usgbc.org/about

USF Students Earn EPA Sustainability Award. (2009). USF News: University of South Florida.Retrieved from: http://news.usf.edu/article/templates/default.aspx?a=1382&template=printarticle.htm.

21

TABLES AND FIGURES

Page 6 Figure 1. Factors looked at by Princeton Green Review in making an assessment about a school’s environmental awareness.

Page 11Figure 2. Electricity use in kwhours and U.S. dollars

22

GLOSSARY

Cadmium – a bluish-white malleable ductile toxic divalent metallic element used especially in batteries, pigments, and protective plating.

Cells – A single unit in a device for converting radiant energy into electrical energy of for varying the intensity of an electrical current in accordance with radiation

Decomposing - To separate into constituent parts or elements or into simpler compounds

Degradation – Decline to a low, destitute, or demoralized state

Energy – A fundamental entity of nature that is transferred between parts of a system in the production of physical change within the system and usually regarded as the capacity for doing work.

Electricity – A fundamental form of energy observable in positive and enegative forms that occurs naturally (as in lighting) or is produced (as in a generator) and that is expressed in terms of movement and interaction of electrons

Environment – The aggregate of social and cultural conditions that influence the life of an individual or community

23

Hydroponic – The growing of plants in nutrient solutions with or without an inert medium (as soil) to provide mechanical support

Nanoscale – Having dimensions measured in nanometers

Organic – A pesticide whose active component is an organic compound or a mixture of organic compounds

Photovoltaic – Of, relating to, or utilizing the generation of voltage when radiant energy falls on the boundary between dissimilar substances (as two different semiconductors)

Power Plant – An engine and related parts supplying the motive power of a self-propelled object

Radiation – The process of emitting radiant energy in the form of waves or particles

Recycle – To reuse or make (a substance) available for reuse for biological activities through natural processes of biochemical degradation or modification

Renewability - Capable of being replaced by natural ecological cycles or sound management practices

Resource – A natural feature or phenomenon that enhances the quality of human life

Reusable – Capable of being used again or repeatedly

Solar – Produced or operated by the action of the sun’s light or heat

Solar Panel – A battery of solar cells

Sustainable – Of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged

Thermal – being or involving a state of matter dependent upon temperature

24

Ultraviolent – Sited beyond the visible spectrum at its violent end