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New Washing Machines on Campus!
By Katie Koenig For several years, students have complained about broken machines, long wait times, and water puddling on the floor of laundry rooms, among other things. From interviews in 2022, the Berkeley Beacon cites that student misuse is one factor of these issues. Another is that students are responsible for reporting broken machines, despite…
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Day in the Life 3: What Are LEED Certifications?
Emerson is LEED certified—yay! Wonderful! We love accreditations! …But what does that actually mean? The U.S. Green Building Council can certify any building with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. It’s a “globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement,” ensuring that the building is cost-saving, energy efficient, and offers additional environmental benefits. There are…
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Day in the Life 2: Voluntary Carbon Market
By: Katie Koenig In my last post, I mentioned doing research on other universities’ carbon offset strategies for Emerson to create its own. What I didn’t explain was the background for why so many universities have turned to offsetting their emissions in the first place. Starting in the ‘90s, the voluntary carbon market (VCM) began…
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Day in the Life 1: What Does Carbon Neutrality Actually Mean?
By: Katie Koenig Officially, I’m the Research Sustainability Fellow at Emerson College. Functionally, that means I spend a lot of time on my computer, figuring out the most efficient way to word google queries to find the exact internet pages and websites I need for my current projects. Not a lot of my work is…
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Tech Series 6: Energy Storage
By Sustainability Research Fellow Katie Koenig Part 1: Renewable Energy Storage Introducing Power Plants Electricity acts like the air that we breathe, or the water we drink—it’s that important to our day-to-day lives. Even a short blackout can send entire communities into haywire. Power plants, by extension, are vital to the functioning of our lives.…
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Tech Series 4: LED Lighting
By: Katie Koenig As Emerson students, one of the quintessential experiences of living on campus is complaining about the overhead lights in every dorm. They’re bright, can’t be dimmed, and are harsh on the eyes. When bringing or buying your own lamps for the dorms or for your off-campus apartment, the major consideration is the…
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Tech Series 3: Forest Restoration
By: Katie Koenig (Sustainability Research Fellow) In the last Tech Series post, I focused on technological innovations and strategies for carbon capture in the energy sector. This time, I’ll be looking into another method of carbon capture, this one more based in natural resources and ecosystems rather than high-tech solutions. Specifically, I will detail our…
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Tech Series 2: Carbon Capture
By: Sustainability Fellow Katie Koenig With atmospheric concentrations of CO2 rising, and the impacts of climate change already affecting populations around the world, there is a greater need not only to reduce future greenhouse gas emissions but also to actually remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. We have to go beyond reducing emissions in order…
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Tech Series 1: Eco Dining
By: Katie Koenig We all get takeout at some point in our lives, especially with the bustle of college life and late night deadlines. Whether it’s a muffin to-go covered in saran wrap, a cup of coffee in a waxed paper cup, or a meal boxed in plastic, takeout is a major generator of trash…
