Waller Creek
Printable PDF of 2015-2016 Green Fee Awards*
* Green Fee is now named Green Fund (change in 2018-19)
| Regenerative Rainwater Harvesting Systems | The School of Architecture's Center for Sustainable Development will lead a project that develops innovative building-integrated rainwater harvesting systems that are socially, environmentally, and economically responsive to campus conditions. | $60,000 |
| Campus Charging Station Prototype II | With the first campus charging stations installed and work proceeding on a national website to track charging station data, students will collaborate with Sol Design Lab to design and install smaller charging stations to increase access to solar electricity. | $52,250 |
| Indoor Air Quality Study | Dr. Lea Hildebrandt Ruiz’s lab in the Cockrell School of Engineering (Chemical Engineering) will lead a study of air quality within large public spaces such as gymnasiums. Air quality studies assist with decision-making regarding energy conservation and occupant health. This project also provides employment and beneficial academic work to current students. | $43,920 |
| Campus Carbon Footprint Road Show | UT-Austin has written and published two carbon assessments, in 2009 and 2014. To follow up on this work, a partnership between the School of Architecture's Center for Sustainable Development, the Energy & Water Conservation Program, and the Office of Sustainability will conduct an ambitious outreach strategy to connect this work to students, faculty, and staff across campus. | $40,770 |
| Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Study & Implementation Plan | The Urban Information Lab (School of Architecture) will lead an infrastructure study in collaboration with Parking & Transportation Services, resulting in recommendations for improvement and safety throughout campus. | |
| A Taste of Place: Edible Native Plants Installations | The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center will collaborate with the Division of Housing and Food Service (now Housing and Dining) on a demonstration garden of edible native plants. The main installation will be at the Wildflower Center, with an ‘echo’ installation in a DHFS-managed garden, for easier access for students. There will be student volunteer and educational opportunities to accompany the garden in progress, and products of the garden will be used in campus kitchens and at special catering events. | $30,000 |
| Waller Creek Biodiversity Working Group | This group will bring together the massive amount of research and data, existing and future, on Waller Creek. Waller Creek is a critical and fascinating campus biohabitat frequently studied by students and faculty, and this is a way for research to build on itself and avoid repetition. Award to Jackson School of Geosciences. | $25,000 |
| NexusHaus Solar Decathlon | The Green Fee is proud to support the School of Architecture for UT-Austin’s entry into one of the campus’s most prominent environmental competitions, the Solar Decathlon run by the Department of Energy. The funds support team expenses incurred by construction, testing, installation, and representation in Irvine, CA in October 2015. | $25,000 |
| Green Garage | This demonstration project will test the viability of installing plants suitable for green walls in the downtown Austin environment, with the eventual goal of beautifying campus parking garages in a practical and environmentally friendly manner. Green walls improve air quality, and their lifespan provides opportunities for observation and research. | $24,920 |
| Green Labs Team Year II | The Green Labs team is a collaboration between Environmental Health and Safety, Office of Sustainability, the Energy and Water Conservation Program, and Zero Waste. The student-led team monitors special recycling initiatives and audits labs for green practices. The Green Fee funds will support the Team through 2017, assisting the development into one of the largest green labs programs in the nation. | $22,400 |
| Sustainability Tours Year II | In Year One, the Tours program established an online database of sustainability locations, piloted tours with new curriculum, and created an interactive map. In the second year, the project will work with classes in the School of Architecture to deepen the available content for tours, improve the online map, and integrate the tours with other campus tours. | $21,000 |
| Campus Lights Out | Extending the reach of Longhorn Lights Out, the student organization will lead at least five other campuses in competitions to conserve energy by shutting down lights, electronics, and appliances at the end of the day. Longhorn Lights Out continues as a campus tradition every final Friday of each month. | $20,100 |
| Bokashi Composting Pilot | This project will pilot an innovative anaerobic composting method appropriate for urban spaces, increasing the reuse of campus organics waste on campus property. The project will be managed by UT-Austin’s Zero Waste Initiative. | $19,550 |
| MicroFarm Year V | In the MicroFarm’s fifth year, the student staff and volunteers will focus on food production and academic alliances with departments on campus. The Farm continues to be a positive presence in East Campus. | $16,000 |
| Can I Recycle This? Longhorns & Recycling Decisions | Led by the Communications Department, the project will develop an effective campaign educating students and employees on how to recycle on campus, and how to efficiently implement campus signage and bin changes to make the correct procedures apparent. | $15,870 |
| Tree Nursery Year V | For four years, the Tree Nursery has successfully contributed to reforestation of loblolly pines in the Bastrop area. The fifth year will be dedicated to improving campus tree programs, including experimentation with growing trees from campus seed, especially ‘heritage’ trees. Volunteer opportunities will continue. | $15,360 |
| LED Lighting in Duren | Proposed by students, the project will improve lighting quality and efficiency in Duren (Housing and Dining) by replacing older lighting with cutting-edge LED lights. The installation would not be possible without Green Fee funds. | $13,600 |
| Zero Waste Collaborative Graduate Assistant | Providing another ‘green job’ on campus, this position offers a chance to assess the campus accomplishments to date in recycling, waste diversion, and zero waste, and represent these accomplishments in a national collaborative with nine other campuses. This collaborative will serve as an archive and resource to all institutions of higher education. The graduate assistant will also provide data analysis and assessment support to the campus Zero Waste Coordinator in Resource Recovery. | $12,600 |
| Texas Athletics Sustainability Squad | These funds support the continuance of critical recycling operations in the stadium during football season by Texas Athletics Sustainability, and incentives to student volunteers. Over the past three years, the sustainability squad has become a desirable and fun volunteering opportunity and a leadership development experience for the group leaders. This grant will also improve signage related to recycling. | $10,600 |
| Campus Farm Stand | Students will work with the Division of Housing and Food Service (now Housing and Dining) to offer a periodic farm stand with produce sourced from farms already supplying the campus cafeterias. This will raise awareness of local and sustainable food sources, and give students a beneficial and challenging business development experience. | $10,300 |
| Concho Community Garden | The Concho Community Garden, managed by the Campus Environmental Center, is a mainstay for individual students interested in growing their own food. These funds support key student staff in continuing the garden. | $10,000 |
| North End Zone Water Stations | The Green Fee offers matching funds to Athletics to install water bottle filling stations convenient to the North End Zone, reducing the need for plastic bottles. | $10,000 |
| Biodiesel Year III | The Biodiesel project, targeted for installation at the Pickle Research Campus, received these funds for use by the managing faculty member for staff and research. | $10,000 |
| TecX Technology Exchange | The School of Information was offered these funds to complete a feasibility and impact study on streamlining the exchange of appliances, computers, and equipment that would otherwise go to University Surplus or be stored and forgotten on campus. | $10,000 |
| UTeach Outreach Year V | These funds will continue the sustainability field trip program established in 2011, enhancing UT students’ teaching and learning experience as they share sustainability knowledge with visiting elementary students. | $8,560 |
| Green Office Program | The Green Office program will certify self-defined offices throughout campus with a three-tiered program to encourage green practices. The funds cover incentives and staffing within the Campus Environmental Center; the program is co-sponsored by Office of Sustainability and the Energy & Water Conservation Program. | $8,500 |
| High Efficiency Lighting Incentives | These funds will create student ‘green jobs’ within the Energy & Water Conservation program. The students will select and evaluate small-scale efficiency projects funded by Facilities Maintenance, increasing campus data on these projects and building a case for large-scale investments in lighting efficiency and other initiatives. | $7,500 |
| Water Bottle Waste-Scape | The School of Architecture, fresh from a study of waste in modelmaking, will create a strong statement piece from discarded water bottles that will assist in motivating the campus to eliminate the use of water bottles to the fullest extent possible. | $7,500 |
| Climate Investigations from the 40 Acres | The summer internship program with the University of Texas Center for Space Research and the Texas Space Grant consortium focuses on education and outreach for space-based measurement of climate change. UT-Austin graduate students and researchers become mentors to high school students (many of whom end up attending UT). These funds will support the graduate students working with the program. | $7,200 |
| Campus Beehives Year II | After an enthusiastic response from students to the idea of a beekeeping society on campus, the Green Fee offers continuing funds to provide workshops and local trainings to interested students. Now formally named Beevo. | $2,000 |