for
Washington State University
Pullman, Washington, USA
The Green Guide for Washington State University (GG-WSU)
is a living document. It can grow, adapt and change with time and circumstance. These pages are just a beginning, a working draft developed as a project for a class on "Sustainability."
The primary purpose of the GG-WSU is to encourage awareness and involvement in issues which will enhance the long term quality of the WSU campus experience and the Pullman community. Specifically, it discusses issues and recommends human and environmentally friendly activities and strategies which can improve campus and community sustainability.
Locally and globally, sustainability is a critical issue. Universities have a significant leadership role to play in their academic, research and public service missions in influencing the long term quality and viability of our human and natural environment.
As introduced earlier, this GG-WSU has been developed by the participants in an advanced class/seminar entitled "Sustainability by Design." The seminar was interdisciplinary and this guide was developed collaboratively, as a team project.
Students:
Kenneth Birkel, Environmental Science/Regional Planning
Trenton Brown, Environmental Science/Regional Planning
Jason Engle, Architecture
Aaron Fairbrook, Environmental Science/Regional Planning
Stephanie Griffin, Environmental Science/Regional Planning
Janet Harden, Interior Design
Shih-Meng Huang, Architecture
Choi-Yung Lam, Architecture
Troy Leffel, Environmental Science/Regional Planning
Kimberly Miller, Environmental Science/Regional Planning
Terina Owen, Architecture
Ligang Qiu, Architecture
Yu-Fai Siu, Architecture
Holli Smith, Architecture
Geng Tan, Architecture
Jeniffer Walker, Architecture
Hong Wan, Architecture
Matthew Wysock, Environmental Science/Regional Planning
Dana Zlateff, Environmental Science/Regional Planning
Faculty Coordinators:
Tom Bartuska, Architecture
Ayad Rahmani, Architecture
Faculty Presenters:
Various faculty
were invited to present their disciplines perspective(s) on Sustainability.
These participants are listed in the following section D. Course Content.
The collaborative design process used in the development of the GG-WSU, paralleled the following class organization and sequence:
A. Definitions of Sustainability: First, the class explored various definitions of sustainability. Although many definitions were discussed, most were substantially similar. They all addressed the two connected parts of this elusive and inclusive term:
Ability: what intellectual and behavioral abilities are necessary to create sustainable processes and practices, locally and globally. Generally, this requires an ecological knowledge of the design of processes, products and policies that enhance and sustain human-environmental systems.
B. Indicators for Sustainability: The next step taken by the class was to create a measuring method. From the above definitions, the class generated an initial set of 27 indicators for measuring positive progress towards a more successful and sustainable university and community. Because this number was difficult to analyze during this semester, we prioritized them into the following set of 7 general issues. Each issue has a team web page and more detailed student reports.
* To investigate the large set of indicator topics (click)
on indicators
* To investigate each issue (click) on the underlined topics below:
C. Strategies of Sustainability: Collectively, the class generated over 350 strategies-ways to make WSU and Pullman more successful and sustainable. Each student was responsible for developing at least 3 strategies per class session (from the readings, class presentations and discussions), each on one 4"x6" card. After all the strategies were developed, the class organized them into various indicator categories on wall charts (reference group photographs). This produced a comprehensive overview of the class creativity and displayed numerous ways the campus and community could be more sustainable. Various strategies are also organized with each of the indicator issues discussed in the above reports.
D. Course Organization: During the collaborative development for the GG-WSU, the coordinators invited a series of WSU faculty to present their perspectives and work related to sustainability. These presentations/discussions included the following interdisciplinary set of colleagues organized in a hierarchy of design scales:
Global Issues: Eldon Franz, Environmental Science/Regional Planning
National/Regional Issues: Jean Gorton, Sustainable Development Program
Urban Issues: Bashir Kazimee and Tom Bartuska, Architecture
Landscape Issues: Janet Silbernagel, Landscape Architecture; Barbara Ryder, Facilities Development; & Darin Saul, Environmental Education Program
Architectural Issues: William Mincks, Construction Management; Ayad Rahmani, & Tom Bartuska, Architecture
Interior & Product Issues: Geogory Tew, Interior Design & Tom Bartuska, Architecture
Computer Systems Support: John Sacchi, Architecture
E. Course Textbook: Deep Design: Pathways to a Livable Future by David Wann, Island Press, 1996. Numerous other reference and consultants were used by individual student teams in completing the course and projects.
To all the above students, faculty and staff.....thank you.