Energy
Stave off holiday excess by ‘greening the holidays’ this season
Nov. 15, 2012—The holiday season is traditionally a time of plenty, but it also can be a time of excess. The average American household generates 25 percent more trash during this time of year – including, in some cases, those freezer-burnt holiday leftovers nobody got around to eating. Add in all the energy use from extra travel...
This Halloween, slay energy vampires
Oct. 29, 2012—[Originally posted on MyVU] A silent menace may be lurking around your Vanderbilt office or home. “Energy vampires,” electronic devices that slowly suck energy when they are turned off but still plugged in, provide no useful function and waste energy and money. This is especially true for devices with standby capability—such as a remote control...
Greenhouse gas emissions down 12 percent since 2008
Oct. 25, 2012—Vanderbilt releases updated report to mark Campus Sustainability Day Overall greenhouse gas emissions from Vanderbilt’s campus and medical center have decreased by 12 percent from an all-time high reached in 2008—and by 7 percent from 2005 to 2011—even though the institution has seen significant growth in square footage, staff, students and research dollars over the...
Vanderbilt doubles on-campus electric vehicle charging capacity
Oct. 23, 2012—[Originally published by Liz Entman, Vanderbilt News] Vanderbilt’s solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging station at the corner of 21st Avenue South and Broadway is up and operating. The Smart Modal Area Recharge Terminal, or SMART station, can accommodate 10 vehicles and joins five other stations scattered across the university campus and medical center, bringing the...
Grant will help professor develop battery to aid home energy use
Oct. 22, 2012—[Originally posted by Vanderbilt School of Engineering News] Peter Pintauro, H. Eugene McBrayer Professor of Chemical Engineering and chair of the chemical and biomolecular engineering department, has partnered with researchers from the University of Kansas and TVN Systems, Inc. on a three-year, $1.72 million grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) of the U.S....
Vanderbilt Green Fund application deadline extended!!
Oct. 18, 2012—The Vanderbilt Green Fund was established in the spring of 2011 as a way of connecting student sustainability ideas with the means to implement them. We are looking for ideas that are both visible and educational in nature. Past projects awarded have involved solar panels, light sensors, and shower timers. Applications for projects will be...
Spinach power gets a major boost
Sep. 6, 2012—Originally posted on research news @ Vanderbilt Spinach power has just gotten a big boost. An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Vanderbilt University have developed a way to combine the photosynthetic protein that converts light into electrochemical energy in spinach with silicon, the material used in solar cells, in a fashion that produces substantially more...
Vanderbilt Achieves Highest Sustainability Rating From “The Princeton Review”
Aug. 28, 2012—Originally posted on MyVU Vanderbilt University has been named to the 2013 Green Honor Roll by The Princeton Review. The publication’s fifth annual green ratings measured the environmental friendliness of 806 institutions nationwide on a scale of 60 to 99. Vanderbilt was one of only 21 universities to receive the highest possible score of 99....
Love Circle alternative energy showcase project nears completion
Jun. 12, 2012—A collaborative wind-solar alternative energy project between Vanderbilt University’s mechanical engineering department and Nashville Metro Water Services has picked up speed with the installation of a modest 3kW (kilowatt) wind turbine at the Love Circle site close to campus. “Once the power sharing agreement with Nashville Electric Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority is finalized...
Vanderbilt Research Brightens the Future of Lighting
May. 15, 2012—by David Salisbury With the age of the incandescent light bulb fading rapidly, the holy grail of the lighting industry is to develop a highly efficient form of solid-state lighting that produces high quality white light. One of the few alternative technologies that produce pure white light is white-light quantum dots. These are ultra-small fluorescent...