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	<title>DU Today » sustainability</title>
	
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		<title>It’s not easy being green: Meet DU’s new sustainability coordinator</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dutodaysustainability/~3/aUUTPqVYbHw/it%e2%80%99s-not-easy-being-green-meet-du%e2%80%99s-new-sustainability-coordinator</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 03 May 2012 12:45:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chase Squires</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.du.edu/today/?p=28251</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The sustainability movement at the University of Denver has come a long way in a short time, progressing in five&#160;&#160;<a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/it%e2%80%99s-not-easy-being-green-meet-du%e2%80%99s-new-sustainability-coordinator">read more...</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_28252" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 360px"><a href="http://files.campus.edublogs.org/blogs.du.edu/dist/e/5/files/2012/05/chadkingW-1jcixa2.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-28252" title="chadkingW" src="http://files.campus.edublogs.org/blogs.du.edu/dist/e/5/files/2012/05/chadkingW-1jcixa2.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="350" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Chad King will take the helm of the new DU Center for Sustainability in June. Photo: Chase Squires</p></div>
<p>The sustainability movement at the University of Denver has come a long way in a short time, progressing in five years from a student-driven pledge to join a national effort to an even more permanent step: hiring the University’s first full-time sustainability coordinator.</p>
<p>Chad King, most recently of Ohio Dominican University, will take the helm of the new DU Center for Sustainability in June. King brings to DU an array of education, interests and experiences, including a PhD and a master’s degree in environmental science, work in sustainability and agriculture, and even a stint as a middle school science teacher. At Ohio Dominican he was founder and co-chair of the University Sustainability Council and assistant professor of environmental science. He helped incorporate sustainability across the curriculum and was involved in carbon-footprint analysis, environmental policy, university sustainability reporting, environmental justice, habitat restoration, service learning and recycling.</p>
<p>It’s been a long road, King says, but he has consistently fed his passion for sustainability.</p>
<p>“Everything I did, I could feel it all morphing into this area of institutional sustainability,” King says. “I see the director’s position here as pulling together all these areas — computer science, engineering, business, graphic design, education. Suddenly you’ve got this mix that approaches problems in sustainability in different ways, but all targeting the same issues.”</p>
<p>DU’s sustainability efforts began in earnest in 2007, when Chancellor Robert Coombe, in consultation with DU’s student body, signed the University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, which requires members to initiate development of a comprehensive plan to achieve climate neutrality, begin to make climate neutrality and sustainability part of the curriculum, and develop other educational experiences while expanding research or other efforts necessary to achieve climate neutrality.</p>
<p>To that end, DU established the Sustainability Council, made up of administrators, faculty, students and staff. The council partners with facilities management, student housing, dining services, parking and transportation, marketing and other divisions with an eye toward reducing DU’s carbon footprint and encouraging sustainability. The council and its member divisions have successfully developed recycling and food-composting programs, encouraged bicycle sharing, established a fleet of natural gas-fueled vehicles, hosted awareness events and encouraged development of a sustainability minor.</p>
<p>In 2011, it became clear that a full-time coordinator would be needed to focus all the initiatives, from curriculum and mechanical retrofits to changes in behavior.</p>
<p>After a nationwide search, King was selected this year. He says his first task will be to review recent sustainability efforts across campus.</p>
<p>Fred Cheever, associate dean of academic affairs at the Sturm College of Law, serves as chairman of the Sustainability Council. He says the addition of a full-time coordinator shows just how far the movement has come.</p>
<p>“Hiring Chad King as the University of Denver’s first sustainability coordinator will take us to a new level,” Cheever says. “The members of the DU community have shown enormous enthusiasm and commitment to the concept of sustainability in many ways. Chad will help us draw our efforts together. His commitment to student learning and his solid background in the hard sciences will help DU sustainability efforts grow.”</p>
<p>King will move to Denver this spring with his wife and son. An avid runner and hiker, he says he is eager to begin experiencing all that Colorado has to offer and to meet the University of Denver community.</p>
<p>“What I love is you have students really driving these ideas, and you have faculty and staff meeting the students where they are taking this,” King says. “This movement is about the council and the students, and it’s about DU; it’s not about the coordinator. I’m just excited to be at the interface for all of that.”</p>
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		<title>International energy and natural resources law journal lands at DU</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dutodaysustainability/~3/qgt0KJ1KyjI/international-energy-and-natural-resources-law-journal-lands-at-du</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/international-energy-and-natural-resources-law-journal-lands-at-du#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:55:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chase Squires</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.du.edu/today/?p=26356</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A leading global publication covering legal issues in the field of energy and natural resources law will now come with&#160;&#160;<a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/international-energy-and-natural-resources-law-journal-lands-at-du">read more...</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A leading global publication covering legal issues in the field of energy and natural resources law will now come with a Denver perspective.</p>
<p>The <em><a href="http://www.ibanet.org/Publications/publications_journal_of_energy_and_natural_resources_law.aspx">Journal of Energy &amp; Natural Resources Law</a></em>, a product of the International Bar Association, has a new home at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. DU will be the first United States-based university in the journal’s 30-year history with the responsibility for editing a publication that sparks discussion among some 2,000 of the most recognized international practitioners in energy and natural resources law, says Don Smith, director of DU’s <a href="http://www.law.du.edu/index.php/enrlp?">Environmental &amp; Natural Resources Law &amp; Policy Graduate Program</a>.</p>
<p>“It’s quite prestigious to have been chosen by the IBA to edit this Journal,” Smith says. “For us, as an institution, this is a great achievement. It’s a ‘vehicle,’ in a manner of speaking, to have access to the very best minds in the world, and it will introduce our program to all of these people around the globe. It puts us on the map, really.”</p>
<p>Smith says the strengths of the DU program — environmental, natural resources and energy law at both domestic and international levels — are well suited to editing a leading refereed journal in the field of energy and natural resources law.</p>
<p>The idea of starting a journal on natural resources law was one element embedded in the DU Sturm College of Law’s new <a href="http://law.du.edu/documents/about/SCOL-Strategic-PlanFinal.pdf">strategic plan</a> as faculty discussed centers of excellence, including natural resources and environmental law, Smith says. But starting a journal from scratch is a lengthy process. When he heard the University of Calgary was surrendering editorship, Smith says having a strategic plan in place allowed DU to move quickly in applying to edit the journal. Prior to Calgary, the journal was based at the University of Dundee in Scotland.</p>
<p>Dean Martin Katz says hosting the journal is a perfect fit for DU.</p>
<p>“Our strategic plan commits to demonstrated excellence in environmental and natural resources law,” Katz says. “To us, this means being at the center of the international dialogue on cutting-edge resources issues. This journal advances our ability to do exactly that. We are very excited to be able to host the journal at Denver Law.”</p>
<p>The International Bar Association was established in 1947 and includes international lawyers and bar associations and law societies. With 45,000 members, the IBA’s stated mission is to promote the exchange of legal information and support the practice and profession of law worldwide.</p>
<p>“The people who write for the journal are global thought leaders,” Smith says. “They are some of the best legal minds in the world.”</p>
<p>The journal is published quarterly. Students and faculty at DU will commission pieces and reports and distribute them for peer review to leading attorneys, putting students in direct contact with those who shape environmental and natural law. Authors deal with the big issues of the day as resources become scarcer and the impact of harnessing the planet’s energy supplies becomes more evident.</p>
<p>Recent articles in the <em>Journal</em> include, “Political Risk Management in Light of Venezuela’s Partial Nationalization of the Oilfield Services Sector,” “Coal Bed Methane Development in Indonesia,” and “A European Legal Perspective on Wind Energy.”</p>
<p>“DU is going to be right in the center of the discussion and debate about the options the world has for dealing with these major issues,” Smith says. “I can’t think of anything more exciting for our program and our students. This is a great achievement for our entire institution. This is recognition for everything that has been accomplished here at DU over the years.”</p>
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		<title>Alumnus tees up sustainability at local country club</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dutodaysustainability/~3/ejOVEvyu_Eo/alumnus-tees-up-sustainability-a-local-country-club</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:49:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Staff</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.du.edu/today/?p=26305</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mark Condon is focused on making putting greens even greener. Condon (MA ’84) is the general manager of Red Rocks&#160;&#160;<a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/alumnus-tees-up-sustainability-a-local-country-club">read more...</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_26306" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 360px"><a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2011/12/alum-condon.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-26306    " src="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2011/12/alum-condon.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="280" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Alumnus Mark Condon, third from left, manages the Red Rocks Country Club in Morrison, Colo. The club has instituted several sustainability initiatives during Condon&#039;s tenure. Here, Condon is pictured with chef Robert Meitzer, left of Condon, and Red Rocks club president Glen Zobcek, fourth from right, and his family at the club. Photo courtesy Mark Condon.</p></div>
<p>Mark Condon is focused on making putting greens even greener.</p>
<p>Condon (MA ’84) is the general manager of Red Rocks Country Club,  a private golf club located in Morrison, Colo., near the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre. During Condon’s tenure, the club has incorporated many innovations in sustainability.</p>
<p>“It is a very different type of club that is more like a family resort and oasis,” Condon says. “The course is near the city, but it is still remote and feels like you are miles away.”</p>
<p>The club has two private lakes, gardens and 1,000 acres of private open space that attracts wildlife and provides members and guests with many outdoor activities not normally available at a golf course, such as hiking trails and areas for catch-and-release fishing.</p>
<p>When Condon took over, he looked into changing the course’s watering system along with superintendent Aaron Smith. Before, the course used a wall-to-wall system for watering, but Condon and Smith took a more native approach.</p>
<p>“We looked at our property here and saw this beautiful ranch country, and instead of a park we wanted it to look more native and work with the environment,” Condon says. “We restored native grasses, plants and gardens and reduced the acres that needed irrigation by 30 percent. Now you see grass and plants that take very little water.”</p>
<p>Condon worked with the club’s food and beverage director and executive chef, Robert Meitzer, to adopt a farm-to-table concept. The club funded an acre of land to develop a garden, and Condon and Meitzer planted a variety of produce including tomatoes, chilies, squash, beets and fruits in the spring. The club was recognized with the American Culinary Federation&#8217;s Achievement of Excellence Award this past summer. <em> </em></p>
<p>Linda Irwin, a club member since 1993, helped create the club’s strategic plan toward sustainability.</p>
<p>“The fuel for the initiative came from [Condon] and [Meitzer]; they championed it,” Irwin says. “The board and members were wholeheartedly behind this movement, but [they] deserve credit for building the concept and launching it, right down to weeding the garden.”</p>
<p>“As a general manager, [Condon] was able to get the approval for the whole project and did a great job lobbying for the funds to get it all built,” Meitzer says. “He has done a lot to get the club to the next level.”</p>
<p>Red Rocks also values the family experience. In order for the club to be marketable, Condon says, it has to appeal to the whole family, not just one person, which is why the club provides a full-family curriculum from junior golf programs to wedding ceremonies and banquets.</p>
<p>Condon graduated from DU with a master’s degree in sports science and started out working in the athletic department at the Denver Athletic Club.  There, he was encouraged to pursue management and eventually crossed over to become the food and beverage director, supplementing his degree from DU with a certification from the National Restaurant Association. He then got a job at Lakewood Country Club in Lakewood, Colo., where he also got some training at Disney University.</p>
<p>He later took a job at Rolling Hills Country Club in Golden, Colo., and moved to the golf side of the business. After another stop at the Denver Athletic Club, Condon o became the general manager at Red Rocks Country Club.</p>
<p>“We built the club on family values and culture to create a place where families feel welcome,” Condon says. “It is not your typical country club.”</p>
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		<title>Transportation Solutions celebrates DU’s green commitment</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dutodaysustainability/~3/0DdIGISqS08/transportation-solutions-celebrates-du%e2%80%99s-green-commitment</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:32:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chase Squires</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.du.edu/today/?p=25658</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Using public transportation earned University of Denver staffer Marijke Swierstra a new method of private transportation. Swierstra, an administrative assistant&#160;&#160;<a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/campus-community/transportation-solutions-celebrates-du%e2%80%99s-green-commitment">read more...</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_25659" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 360px"><a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2011/11/ScooterWinnerW.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-25659" src="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2011/11/ScooterWinnerW.jpg" alt="Marjike Swierstra, center, with Mark Rycroft, left, and Rich McClintock, right. Photo: Chase Squires" width="350" height="350" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Marjike Swierstra, center, with Mark Rycroft, left, and Rich McClintock, right. Photo: Chase Squires</p></div>
<p>Using public transportation earned University of Denver staffer Marijke Swierstra a new method of private transportation.</p>
<p>Swierstra, an administrative assistant in DU’s advancement office, regularly takes advantage of her DU-issued Eco Pass, which grants free access to the Denver area’s RTD system of buses and light rail. So earlier this year she signed up for <a href="http://transolutions.org/">Transportation Solutions’</a> “Ride, Walk, Roll, Win” promotion, which encouraged the campus community to pledge to leave the car at home and commute to work by an alternate method at least once a week.</p>
<p>Her pledge to go green got her something red: a new Schwinn motor scooter. Swierstra won the grand prize drawing from Transportation Solutions, a public-private partnership dedicated to promoting alternative transportation in southeast Denver.</p>
<p>“The last time I rode a scooter I was 15 years old,” Swierstra says.</p>
<p>But she’ll be an expert in no time, says Mark Rycroft, whose business, <a href="http://www.scootersonbroadway.com/">Scooters on Broadway</a>, partnered with Transportation Solutions for the promotion. Rycroft, a standout hockey player with the Pioneers from 1997–2000, went on to play in the National Hockey League before coming back to Denver to start a business. He says Denver, with a dry, moderate climate, is a perfect city for scooters. He sells both gas and electric models.</p>
<p>“By the sixth lap around the parking lot you’ll be a professional,” Rycroft says. “A scooter like this is so easy to ride; it’s easier than a bike. You don’t even have to pedal.”</p>
<p>Another feature Swierstra likes about her shiny red scooter: It gets 100 miles to the gallon and will be perfect for running errands in her neighborhood.</p>
<p>As for getting to work, Swierstra says she’ll still depend on RTD, which she usually rides 3–5 times a week.</p>
<p>“The Eco Pass is really a great benefit to staff and faculty,” she says. “More people should use it.”</p>
<p>Rich McClintock, executive director of Transportation Solutions, says as a result of his team’s efforts to get more DU community members to pledge to take alternate transportation to work at least once a week, some 1,000 faculty, staff and students signed up for the promotion between July and October.</p>
<p>“We had a very strong show of support across campus,” McClintock says. “It’s just one day a week, but it makes a difference. It’s a clear commitment by the DU community to find transportation solutions.”</p>
<p>As part of its ongoing commitment to work with DU, Transportation Solutions is conducting a survey about how people get to and from campus. The survey is online at <a href="http://www.dutravelsurvey.com/">www.dutravelsurvey.com</a>. In addition, the organization is working on a Denver “Complete Streets” program to make it easier for people to bike to work. Transportation solutions will be on the Driscoll Bridge from 10 a.m. to noon weekdays from Nov. 8–22 to collect input about biking routes, trouble spots and areas where bike routes would better serve the campus.</p>
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		<title>Soccer senior is a real header in the classroom</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dutodaysustainability/~3/G4kNHiLVvcM/soccer-senior-is-a-real-header-in-the-classroom</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/soccer-senior-is-a-real-header-in-the-classroom#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:30:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Staff</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sports & Recreation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Athletics & Recreation]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.du.edu/today/?p=25618</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Strike up a conversation with Kari Storslett, and it takes only a few moments for several observations to become strikingly&#160;&#160;<a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/soccer-senior-is-a-real-header-in-the-classroom">read more...</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_25619" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 360px"><a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2011/11/athletics-storslett.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-25619" src="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2011/11/athletics-storslett.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="350" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Kari Storslett will try to win the Sun Belt conference tournament in Murfreesboro, Tenn. </p></div>
<p>Strike up a conversation with Kari Storslett, and it takes only a few moments for several observations to become strikingly clear.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>First, Storslett is bright. So bright, in fact, that the explanations regarding some of her research projects from an internship last summer easily befuddle those from a non-scientific background. Secondly, it is difficult not to admire Storslett, given that the focus of what she hopes will be her future will help make the world a cleaner, greener place, And, finally, Storslett obviously is as dedicated in the classroom as she is on the soccer pitch.<strong></p>
<p></strong>Storslett, a senior physics major and a defender-midfielder on the University of Denver women’s soccer team, is only a few months removed from a summer internship at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden, Colo.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>“(The internship) really confirmed that energy research is what I really want to end up doing,” Storslett says.  “I was working with a really great mentor on this project that was focused on optimizing a very small part of the biomass-to-ethanol pathways. I found it really interesting and I really liked being in that kind of environment, where people are looking to come up with new technologies.”</p>
<p>A three-time honoree on the Sun Belt Commissioner’s List<strong> — </strong>the highest academic recognition in the conference — Storslett gained a wealth of experience focusing on the nuances of efficiently converting raw materials into clean ethanol, yet she also took full advantage of the opportunity to observe many of the other groundbreaking research projects being undertaken at NREL. Storslett was able to tour NREL’s hydrogen laboratory and algae laboratory in addition to visiting the facility’s wind energy site.</p>
<p>The internship also marked the first year in which Storslett, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., did not return to her home state for the summer, which proved to be an added bonus.</p>
<p>“There were a whole variety of different energy research options open to me at this internship,” says Storslett, who was selected to the College Sports Information Directors of America’s academic all-district 7 university division first team after each of the past two seasons.</p>
<p>Undoubtedly, graduate school looms on the horizon for Storslett, although she has not ruled out the idea of deferring for one year in order to recharge and perhaps indulge in some traveling.</p>
<p>For the moment, however, Storslett is focused on helping the Pioneers to recapture the Sun Belt Conference tournament crown, an honor that almost had turned into a birthright over the past decade. DU had won seven conference tournament titles in nine years, including four in a row, before suffering a disappointing shootout loss against Middle Tennessee in the final last year, which ultimately denied the Pioneers an NCAA Tournament berth.</p>
<p>Storslett, one of only three seniors on the team, has provided a steady presence throughout her DU career. Primarily an outside defender, Storslett has appeared in 87 games for the Pioneers, and this season she recorded a career-best four assists.</p>
<p>“I know she came to DU first and foremost to get a degree and get a great education, but we have gotten 100 percent effort every single game from her,” Head Coach Jeff Hooker says. “She has always wanted to become the best student she can be. She has always wanted to be the best soccer player she can be, and she has improved every year. We can’t keep her out of the lineup now. She might have a down day, but she always bounces back. She’s a great teammate and has always been a good presence on the field.”</p>
<p>Visit <a href="http://www.denverpioneers.com/">www.denverpioneers.com</a> to find out more about DU’s women’s soccer team.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Forecast is sunny for alumna’s solar power career</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dutodaysustainability/~3/bSdGi27rXhY/forecast-is-sunny-for-alumna%e2%80%99s-solar-power-career</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:00:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Doug McPherson</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.du.edu/today/?p=25340</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Martha Symko-Davies (PhD ’97) had a memorable May 20. She got to meet Vice President Joe Biden and show him&#160;&#160;<a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/forecast-is-sunny-for-alumna%e2%80%99s-solar-power-career">read more...</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_25347" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 360px"><a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2011/10/alum-symko-davies.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-25347 " src="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2011/10/alum-symko-davies.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="350" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Alumna Martha Symko-Davies spoke at TEDxDU on May 13. Photo: Wayne Armstrong</p></div>
<p>Martha Symko-Davies (PhD ’97) had a memorable May 20.</p>
<p>She got to meet Vice President Joe Biden and show him around the Process Development and Integration Laboratory (PDIL) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Both Biden and his boss are very interested in that work. And really, the whole world should be.</p>
<p>At that time, Symko-Davies was serving as the head of the photovoltaic incubator program at NREL in Golden, Colo., where she played a pivotal role in making solar energy a daily part of human life. Currently, she is the solar business manager for the PDIL at NREL.</p>
<p>In the program, she identified small start-up companies that can turn the sun’s rays into energy humans can use. Funded by the Department of Energy, the photovoltaic incubator gives companies up to $4 million and 18 months to see what they can develop.</p>
<p>Symko-Davies says the program has delivered $59 million in federal funds to about 20 photovoltaic startups and that more than 1,200 clean tech jobs have been created to date. Researchers say the potential exists to raise solar energy capacity in the United States from hundreds of megawatts to thousands of megawatts.</p>
<p>The program has awarded companies such as Abound Solar of Longmont, Colo., which created a simpler way to make cadmium-telluride solar cells. In turn, the company attracted even more venture capital money and a $400 million federal loan guaranty. The company expects to employ more than 1,000 when its plants in Colorado and Indiana reach full capacity.</p>
<p>Symko-Davies adds that the private sector has invested about $1.3 billion in the photovoltaic companies.</p>
<p>“I think that’s clear evidence of the commercial value of the technologies coming from these start-ups,” she says.</p>
<p>When it comes to the future of solar energy in the United States, Symko-Davies says she’s optimistic. “By the end of the decade, solar will be competitive with coal,” she says.</p>
<p>But to reach that goal, she says it’ll take innovations like thinner materials, lower cost manufacturing and reliable materials.</p>
<p>Symko-Davies spoke at TEDxDU and says her work fit the event’s theme, which was “radical collaboration.”</p>
<p>“It will take disruptive innovation and out-of-the-box minds to make solar a part of American life,” she says.</p>
<p>Symko-Davies, who’s the first female graduate of the materials science program offered by <a href="http://www.du.edu/nsm/departments/physicsandastronomy/index.html">DU’s physics department</a>, adds that her education at DU served her well in her career.</p>
<p>“It gave me the opportunity to complete my research at NREL for the PhD and that resulted in my job here.”</p>
<p>To watch Symko-Davies’ talk, visit the <a href="http://tedxdu.com/"><span style="text-decoration: underline">TEDxDU website</span></a>.</p>
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		<title>Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute dissects green energy issues</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dutodaysustainability/~3/8_fYNTB4Z7U/rocky-mountain-land-use-institute-dissects-green-energy-issues</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/rocky-mountain-land-use-institute-dissects-green-energy-issues#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:56:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chase Squires</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Campus & Community]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.du.edu/today/?p=25319</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While generating clean energy from renewable sources such as wind farms and solar arrays may sound like the kind of&#160;&#160;<a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/rocky-mountain-land-use-institute-dissects-green-energy-issues">read more...</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>While generating clean energy from renewable sources such as wind farms and solar arrays may sound like the kind of energy solutions everyone agrees with, there’s a hitch: getting the power to the people.</p>
<p>Wind farms and the huge arrays of solar panels that can generate significant amounts of energy tend to be far from city centers where consumers need the power. And that’s where problems arise as power companies try to design transmission lines that cross potentially sensitive wild lands and private property, not to mention state, local and regional jurisdictions.</p>
<p>The DU Sturm College of Law <a href="http://www.law.du.edu/index.php/rmlui?">Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute</a> will host former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter and Robin Kundis Craig, professor of law and associate dean for environmental programs at the Florida State University College of Law. The two will discuss the sticky legal issues surrounding green energy as part of the 2011 Carver Colloquium, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Sturm College of Law Room 165.</p>
<p>This year’s event is titled, “The Governance of Renewable Energy Transmission.” The session will allow for discussion and debate between Ritter, now director for the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, and Craig, author of several books and an expert on the Clean Water Act, water law and the public trust doctrine, water resources and climate change and the intersection of water issues and land issues.</p>
<p>The Carver Colloquium is an annual event hosted by the institute and Professor Jan Laitos, the John A. Carver Jr. Chair at the <a href="http://www.law.du.edu/index.php/rmlui?">DU Sturm College of Law</a>. Held each fall, the colloquium features two leading legal or planning scholars from the land use, environmental and natural resources law fields. The colloquium presents divergent or alternative viewpoints fields in a point-counterpoint format.</p>
<p>The event is free and open to the public.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>J-Mac residence hall earns Energy Star certification</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dutodaysustainability/~3/u5sZA6p4-DU/j-mac-residence-hall-earns-energy-star-certification</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/j-mac-residence-hall-earns-energy-star-certification#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:02:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chase Squires</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.du.edu/today/?p=25234</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Johnson-McFarlane, we’re going make you a star. An Energy Star, that is. The University of Denver’s three-year overhaul and energy&#160;&#160;<a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/j-mac-residence-hall-earns-energy-star-certification">read more...</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Johnson-McFarlane, we’re going make you a star. An Energy Star, that is.</p>
<p>The University of Denver’s three-year overhaul and energy upgrade at Johnson-McFarlane residence hall — commonly known as J-Mac — has earned the Environmental Protection Agency’s <a href="http://www.energystar.gov/labeledbuildings">Energy Star certification</a>, placing the facility in the top 25 percent of college residence halls nationwide.</p>
<p>Buildings that earn the certification typically use an average of 35 percent less energy and release 35 percent less carbon dioxide.</p>
<p>“Through this achievement, we have demonstrated our commitment to environmental sustainability while also lowering energy costs,” says Christy Cerrone, assistant director and sustainability coordinator for <a href="http://www.du.edu/housing/">DU Housing and Residential Education</a>.</p>
<p>DU Energy Engineer Tom McGee says the award is the culmination of years of work.</p>
<p>As the hall was renovated, McGee says, DU looked for ways to include the best products available and to leverage rebates and other special programs. At every turn, conservation was a major goal as DU moves forward to its goal of becoming carbon neutral, McGee says.</p>
<p>“Energy conservation is where you want to start and do everything you can,” McGee says. “Efficiency is a key.”</p>
<p>The University replaced existing windows with better insulated windows, upgraded the heating system, installed more efficient hot water exchangers, upgraded lighting and painted the roof white to better reflect summertime sun.</p>
<p>While DU is home to several LEED gold-standard buildings, the Energy Star program looks at internal efficiency rather than building standards. It’s a different standard, and McGee says that some buildings built to LEED standards might not qualify for Energy Star certification.</p>
<p>The EPA Energy Star program measures buildings against similar facilities nationwide. The program was instituted in 1992 as a voluntary partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.</p>
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		<title>Grads’ clothing line is a force for good, no monkey business about it</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dutodaysustainability/~3/q_MRgkQLeZ4/grads%e2%80%99-clothing-line-is-a-force-for-good-no-monkey-business-about-it</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/grads%e2%80%99-clothing-line-is-a-force-for-good-no-monkey-business-about-it#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:05:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Staff</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.du.edu/today/?p=25015</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Dean Dormady (MBA ’10) was a chubby kid who got picked on by his classmates. Carolyn Francis (MBA ’10) gained&#160;&#160;<a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/grads%e2%80%99-clothing-line-is-a-force-for-good-no-monkey-business-about-it">read more...</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_25016" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 360px"><a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2011/10/alum-dormody-francis.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-25016  " src="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2011/10/alum-dormody-francis.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="275" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Alumni Carolyn Francis and Dean Dormady started Tamarins -- an environmentally and socially responsible outdoor clothing brand -- after earning MBAs from DU&#039;s Daniels College of Business.</p></div>
<p>Dean Dormady (MBA <strong>’</strong>10) was a chubby kid who got picked on by his classmates. Carolyn Francis (MBA <strong>’</strong>10) gained 60 pounds when she got pregnant with her first child.</p>
<p>Together, they might have been voted most unlikely to get off the couch, much less start a fitness-oriented company. But the pair, who met at DU’s <a href="http://www.daniels.du.edu/">Daniels College of Business</a> in 2008, are co-founders of Tamarins, an environmentally and socially responsible outdoor clothing brand.</p>
<p>No one’s surprised that they’re entering the retail sector. After all, Dormady had worked for Costco for 10 years before starting his own brokerage business, and Francis’ family owned Veda Spa and Salon. But each came to a passion for fitness fairly late in life.</p>
<p>As a teenager, Dormady grew tired of being teased and committed to losing weight. He began running and playing hockey and later, hiking and snowboarding, and in the process, fell in love with the outdoors. Francis started a similar weight-loss journey after the birth of her first child, only to be diagnosed shortly afterward with a rare form of cancer. While many people might have reacted with resignation, Francis became even more motivated to exercise.</p>
<p>“[The cancer is] in maintenance mode — it doesn’t grow and it doesn’t go away. By being in tune with how my body’s working physically when I work out, it lets me know if there’s a problem,” she says.</p>
<p>Still, not everyone who works out starts a fitness-clothing company. But Francis and Dormady worked on a number of projects together at Daniels and discovered they complemented each other perfectly.</p>
<p>“He takes care of the details that make me crazy, and I handle the big-picture things and the creative end.”</p>
<p>And they realized they had something else in common: They both wanted to give back to the community.</p>
<p>“The thinking these days — and DU is kind of a leader in the business school realm — is it’s not just about profits, but it’s about people and the planet, the triple bottom line,” Francis says. “I think if everybody gives back in some small way, it turns into a big, big way. I think it’s important to lead by example.”</p>
<p>So in April — just eight months after graduating from Daniels — the duo launched Tamarins. The company produces shirts made from a blend of cotton and polyester. Before you shudder, consider that the polyester is made from recycled plastic.</p>
<p>“They take post-consumer plastic, melt it down, make it into a thread and weave it into a product,” Francis says. “My point of view is we’ve kept how many tons of plastic out of a landfill. And it takes less energy to recycle plastic into polyester than it does to make virgin polyester.”</p>
<p>The combination is ideal for athletes, Francis adds.</p>
<p>“The polyester wicks away the moisture and the cotton breathes — so you’re getting the benefits of a Dry Max kind of situation.”</p>
<p>The shirts are meant to be fun and fashionable as well as functional, she says.</p>
<p>“You can go from the trails to the taverns in them. The shirts are whimsical and have a sense of humor.”</p>
<p>Each shirt, in fact, is imprinted with the stylized face of a tamarin, an endangered species that has become the company’s mascot.</p>
<p>But Francis and Dormady weren’t always mad for monkeys. Just as their obsession with fitness grew out of necessity, so did their tenderness for tamarins.</p>
<p>When they were writing their business plan, Francis and Dormady knew they wanted to give a percentage of their profits to conservation efforts and began looking for an animal to represent their brand.</p>
<p>“The tamarin is a really great face of endangered species. He’s cute. People love cute. He’s fuzzy, and there are 18 different species of tamarins, so you can have fun with them within the brand,” Francis says.</p>
<p>But Tamarins doesn’t limit its charity to tamarins. When people buy a shirt from the company’s online store, they can choose to support four different conservation efforts — selected by the Denver Zoo — and 2 percent of their purchase price goes to that cause.</p>
<p>“What’s really cool to me,” Francis says, “is not only are the shirts a sustainable merchandise, but we give back on the other side. On both ends of the deal, something good is coming out of it.”</p>
<p>And that’s the real bottom line — no monkeying around.</p>
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		<title>Car sharing arrives on campus</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dutodaysustainability/~3/7Mg19rBUIGU/car-sharing-arrives-on-campus</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/car-sharing-arrives-on-campus#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:30:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Staff</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.du.edu/today/?p=24263</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The University of Denver is partnering with Enterprise Rent-A-Car to bring the company’s WeCar car-sharing program to campus starting Sept.&#160;&#160;<a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/car-sharing-arrives-on-campus">read more...</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_24266" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 360px"><a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2012/09/wecar.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-24266" src="http://blogs.du.edu/today/files/2012/09/wecar.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="250" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">With WeCar by Enterprise, members of the DU community will have access to a car-sharing program. </p></div>
<p>The University of Denver is partnering with Enterprise Rent-A-Car to bring the company’s WeCar car-sharing program to campus starting Sept. 8, offering the University of Denver community an efficient, affordable, sustainable transportation alternative.</p>
<p>Partnering with WeCar by Enterprise caps off months of work initiated by the DU Sustainability Council, which set off in search of a car-sharing program to complement DU’s other sustainable transportation options in early 2011. Those options include the B-Cycle bicycle sharing kiosks on campus and the Eco Pass benefit, which gives DU students, faculty and staff free access to all RTD public transportation buses and light rail.</p>
<p>By working with WeCar, DU is partnering with a company — Enterprise — led by an alumnus, Enterprise CEO Andrew Taylor (BSBA ’70).</p>
<p>DU students 18 and older, faculty and staff are eligible for membership, as are 21-and-over drivers in the surrounding community.</p>
<p>WeCar offers 24-hour access to hourly, daily and overnight rentals, allowing members to maintain the benefits of a personal car while paying for the vehicle only when they use it.</p>
<p>WeCar’s national campus car-sharing program is especially popular with students because it provides a solution to car rental age restrictions and to financial concerns associated with having a car on campus.</p>
<p>Registered members have access to Ford Focus vehicles parked in specially marked spaces — one on the west side of Driscoll Student Center South and the other off High Street and Jewell Avenue near Centennial Hall.</p>
<p>Once members <a href="http://www.wecar.com/content/car-sharing/en_US/join-wecar.html">register online</a>, signing up to use the car is entirely automated. The application fee is currently being waived, and the first $35 annual membership fee is converted to rental credit. Hourly rates start at $7.50 and daily rates start at $55.</p>
<p>“The University of Denver is proud to be one of WeCar’s first car-sharing ventures on a university campus in Colorado,” says University of Denver Chancellor Robert Coombe. “Car sharing through WeCar offers DU community members convenient, sustainable access to a vehicle when they need it, without the expense of ownership. Along with B-Cycle bicycle sharing stations on campus and a multitude of public transportation routes available through our Eco Pass benefit, WeCar provides another way for students, faculty and staff to access our vibrant city and the spectacular Colorado environment. We are particularly pleased to partner with Enterprise, an international corporation owned and led by a 1970 University of Denver graduate, Andrew Taylor.”</p>
<p>WeCar members reserve a vehicle online, then access the vehicle using a membership card and return it to the same location. Fuel — and basic vehicle physical damage and state-required liability protection — are included in the standard rate plan.</p>
<p>“WeCar provides a more sustainable transportation solution to the University of Denver community. It is an efficient transportation alternative that incorporates automated car-sharing technology that makes it quick and easy to access the vehicles,” says Ryan Johnson, assistant vice president of WeCar.</p>
<p>Enterprise actively recruits and hires graduates from DU each year and is working with the University to offer a brand ambassador internship on campus to market the car-sharing service.</p>
<p>WeCar by Enterprise operates car-sharing programs on more than 50 college campuses throughout the United States and Canada, as well as corporate and municipal programs throughout the country.</p>
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