Sustainability Management has been hard at work to enhance efforts to protect the environment at Syracuse University. A new Sustainability feature has been added to the University’s interactive map, helping users identify all things sustainable on campus. New electric vehicle charging stations—and upgrades to the existing ones—are coming soon, and a refresh of the sustainability website will help educate community members about current projects, best practices, and the Climate Action Plan.
If you’re looking for a bike rack or curious about where the solar panels are located, you can use the interactive campus map’s sustainability feature. The sub-categories within this section include:
The interactive campus map has been updated to include sustainability items.
Under Climate Action Plan projects, you can find any LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building and details about the Schine Student Center solar panels and the Center for Science and Technology Energy Recovery system, as well as where the most recent LED lighting upgrades are on campus.
Not sure where to refill your Hydro Flask? The water section highlights where all water bottle filling stations are located. The grounds section identifies Pete’s Giving Garden, the Pollinator Garden and the honeybee hives. And if you’re trying to find where you can compost, look under waste.
New projects supporting the University’s Climate Action Plan will be added to this area of the map. The goal of this feature is to increase awareness of sustainable initiatives while also making it easier to navigate campus.
The sustainability team has finalized an agreement with the company ChargePoint to modernize existing electric vehicle charging stations. All the existing stations will be upgraded to dual port, supplying 7.2 kilowatts of power and allowing two vehicles to charge at once. A new station will be installed in the 621 Skytop parking lot and the station currently mounted on the Syracuse Center of Excellence building will be moved to the parking lot. This work will be completed during December, so the new stations will be ready for service by the start of the new semester.
The new stations will be visible on the ChargePoint network so customers can see whether a station is in use or available for charging on the ChargePoint mobile app. The app also allows customers to view charging status and receive alerts. A usage fee will be included which will be applied directly to the maintenance, operation and upgrades to the system. The station’s usage will be monitored and will allow Sustainability Management to make decisions on where and when to expand the system.
Sustainability Management has also been working to update the University’s sustainability website. The updated site includes details on the most recent Climate Action Plan, volunteer opportunities and features student projects related to sustainability. There is also Sustainability in the News, highlighting the latest articles released about all things sustainable on campus. If you’re curious about what certain departments are doing to be more environmentally conscious, there are sections describing sustainable practices that have been implemented.
There’s a new timeline depicting sustainability through the years at the University—and if you’ve never heard of Pete’s Giving Garden or didn’t know the University had its own bees or pollinator garden, there are sections detailing their importance. The website is a valuable resource to inform the community and highlight the many meaningful initiatives taking place on campus.
If you have any suggestions or ideas about how to make Syracuse University more sustainable, email sustain@syr.edu. And be sure to check out the new website at sustainability.syracuse.edu to learn more about ways to get involved.
