Sustainability assessment and reporting for the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor Campus (2024)

EPA/600/R-10/182, 2010

Sustainability relates to finding and maintaining conditions that can support social and economic development without adversely altering the environment to too great an extent. Moreover, in order to satisfy the definition of sustainability, the environmental, social, and economic characteristics of the system must effectively meet the needs of current and future generations, indefinitely. Our definition of sustainability depends on the extent to which the environment can be altered and still maintain a high quality of life for people, without jeopardizing the quality of life for future generations. Consequently, to assess sustainability, information is needed to understand the requirements for human well-being and the linkages and demands of human activity (e.g., society, economy, government, industry, etc.) on environmental systems. One way to collect needed information is through metrics that quantify the environmental, social, and economic characteristics of a system. We used a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to investigate this complex problem. Specifically, we set out to: 1) determine the applicability of using existing datasets to estimate metrics of sustainability at a regional scale, 2) calculate the metrics through time (1980-2005), and 3) compare and contrast the results to determine if a regional system is moving toward or away from sustainability. This information can help decision makers determine if their region is on a sustainable path (i.e., moving toward sustainability).As a starting point, we identified and tested a set of four metrics that capture some of the most basic properties of an environmental system. The metrics represent: 1) ecological impacts of human activity to produce the resources consumed and to assimilate the wastes generated using Ecological Footprint Analysis; 2) economic well-being or welfare with Green Net Regional Product; 3) flow of available energy through the system using Emergy Analysis; and 4) overall system order with Fisher information (i.e., a well-functioning system is orderly and departure from such a state can lead to decreased function). Each of these metrics is most sensitive at capturing some particular aspect of the system, although there is some overlap or redundancy (e.g., consider a physician using multiple tests to examine a patient’s health). We tested the methodology on the San Luis Basin (SLB) in south-central Colorado. The SLB is a rural, agricultural region with a limited population. This seven county region contains the Upper Rio Grande River Basin, the San Luis Valley, and the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Even though data for some of the variables were not available at the county level, we were able to calculate the metrics through time. From our analyses, Ecological Footprint Analysis indicated the SLB was moving away from sustainability. Green Net Regional Product appears to have an upward trend over the 26-year period providing no indication that the SLB was moving away from sustainability (this one-sided test can only tell if a system is moving away from sustainability). Due to data unavailability, a complete Emergy Analysis was estimated only for an 11-year period (1995-2005). One emergy index (fraction of renewable emergy used) that captures sustainability within the system suggested a gradual movement away from sustainability, but a second index (Emergy Sustainability Index) revealed the region improved its relationship with the larger system, (i.e., other states and US) from 2003 until the end of the period. Finally, the results of the Fisher information assessment revealed that, although the system was relatively stable during the 26 years, there was an indication of slight movement away from sustainability near the end of the study period. We consider the entire system moving away from sustainability if any one metric reveals movement away from sustainability. Therefore, the weight of the evidence from our results indicate that the broad trend of the SLB was moving away from sustainability over the period examined. Because this was a pilot study, we offer a number of recommendations for future research based on what we learned while developing and using this approach.

The locational and spatial circ*mstances of town and gown present opportunities to advance sustainability. This essay examines these areas of opportunity by proposing collaborative frameworks between town and gown. In what we describe as “place-based collaborations,” we identify three areas for productive collaboration by two mutually compatible institutions. Part I of this essay introduces the impacts of the sustainable curriculum and other projects that implement the educational mission of the institution, including the more progressive notion that pedagogical strategies for engaged learning, combined with the introduction of sustainability in the curriculum, may serve as drivers for nested sustainable practices. Part II considers the special relationship that towns may foster in their nested universities by recognizing shared space. Part III illustrates interaction and collaboration possibilities that build on the intellectual capital occurring in educational institutions.

Journal of Environmental Management, 2012

Abstract: Estimates of construction and demolition (C&D) waste entering landfills range from 20 to 33% of the total waste stream volume. Although waste estimates are difficult to verify, it is clear that, even at the low end of this estimate range, there is significant potential for diverting C&D materials from landfills. A study by the California Environmental Protection Agency (2006) found that new residential construction comprised about 10% of the C&D waste stream.

Proceedings from the Winning 2010 Ford College Community Grant Award.

Until recently, most manure management research has focused on manure storage and land application methods and technologies. However, the quantity and composition of manure is primarily affected by nutrient digestibility of dietary ingredients and the amount of feed and water wastage. Nutrient composition of swine manure (especially nitrogen and phosphorus) is affected by the amount of excess dietary nutrients above the animal's requirements, nutrient digestibility of ingredients, and method of manure storage and land application. Both the quantity of manure and the concentration of nutrients in manure, along with soil nutrient levels, soil type, and type of crop to be produced, determine the number of crop acres necessary for environmentally responsible land application of manure. Nutrition can also affect odor and gas emissions from swine facilities. Dietary nutrient levels, nutrient digestibility, and the nature and extent of microbial fermentation in the lower gastrointesti...

A Full-Cost Accounting (using an ecosystem services accounting framework which placed a dollar value on environmental and social costs & benefits) of a proposed CAFO facility in Jo Daviess County, Illinois.

International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2018

Jeff Pavlik is a professional baker and bread historian in Mt. Clemens, MI. Raised in an Army family, he lived and traveled extensively around the U.S. and abroad before earning degrees in American History and Peace Studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia. For over 30 years Jeff has been active in historical interpretation and reenactments. Starting his career at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI, he has baked in many historical ovens using period techniques. In 1998-2022, he and his partner owned and operated Sunflour Bakehaus, formerly the Farmington Bakery, an historic neighborhood bakery established in 1936. Today, Jeff teaches and reenacts American bread history for public events, civic groups, museums, and classrooms around the U.S. Short videos of Jeff making historic breads can be seen on his Old World Bread Facebook page.

Agribusiness, 2020

Sustainability, 2019

In November 2016, Washington State voters were presented with a ballot initiative (Initiative 732) advancing the first carbon tax on production and use of fossil fuels in the United States. Initiative 732 promised to reduce fossil fuel consumption by taxing carbon emissions, while remaining revenue-neutral by lowering taxes on businesses, consumers, and working families. In promising revenue-neutrality, Initiative 732 sought support beyond environmentalists and similarly sympathetic voters. It failed to pass, achieving 41.2 percent of votes cast. To investigate this initiative's failure at the ballot, we analyzed zip code-level voting patterns and demographic data. Relying on a two-step LASSO (Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator) + OLS (Ordinary Least Squares) procedure, our results suggest that the framing of revenue-neutrality did not sufficiently satisfy moderate right-leaning voters regarding perceived costs of the carbon tax. We also found evidence suggesting not only that some voting segments may have opposed revenue-neutrality, but that those facing higher climate change risk did not appear to see the initiative's value net of expected costs.