Lludmila Moran NV Founder and Director

Sustainable Student Family Living University Village, UC Berkeley

Santa Barbara, CA June 25th 2013

California Higher Education Sustainability Conference - CHESC

Topic area: Institutionalizing sustainability

Session: Innovative Partnerships for sustainability in campus housing

About this talk

- Universities with family housing facilities

- Many characteristics in common

- Institutional sustainability goals

- Challenges

- Different experiences

- Nature Village is one of those experiences

Sharing our experiences is the only way we can learn from each other

What is Nature Village?

- Multidisciplinary - Multicultural - Incorporates

- Village residents - UC Berkeley students and staff - Local organizations - Volunteers

- Working toward Sustainability at UV

Goals: - Promote sustainable living practices - Reduce environmental impact - Strength the sense of community - Improve the life experience of residents

NV integrates ordinarily underrepresented community members

University Village - Student Family Housing - 974 apartments - West Village - LEED - Community garden - Recycling program - Bioswales - 3.5 mi from campus

35

17 15

6

4

3 2

2 2 1 12

English

Chinese

Korean

Spanish

Hebrew

Japanese

Taiwan

India

Brazil

German

Other

Languages at the Village (%)

Social Perspective - Approx. 3,000 residents - High turnover rate - 40% per year - Diverse community - Dependents of students

Nature Village timeline

Idea development

Group of volunteers

Outreach and fundraising

How does the Village works?

Participation in events

Organization of events

Program preparation

waste disposal facilities

Green Family Program Energy Audits

Surveys Saving tools

Winter 2011

Sumer 2012

Spring 2012

Fall 2012

Spring 2013

University Village Administration

Beginning Baseline

Getting to know our community

Preparation Implementation Implementation & Evaluation

Summer 2013

Water saving tool evaluation

GFP Saving tool

Moving In & Out Guides

Green cleaning

Awareness Talks & workshops

Daily electricity demand

Resource Management

- No one tracked consumption - Only one meter for the whole Village - Utilities not individually metered

Waste Management

- Highly contaminated recycling bins - No Reuse program - No hazardous waste program - No compost

Weekday

Weekend

University Village Resources Flow

Used water

Operations &

Maintenance +

Household

Driving and

Shopping in general (habits + choice making)

Special waste

Furniture, toys, clotes Hazardous e-waste

Shopping

Cleaning

products

Furniture, toys,

Clothes, etc…

pick up/month

$18,788

1.4 tons of beverage

containers/ month 125 cubic yd/week

13,000 cubic yd/year

Trash Recycling

Carbon

footprint

Treatment plant &

San Francisco Bay

Driving

Climate

change =

Green Family Program - GFP

Challenges • Funding • Families recruitment • Logistics and organization

Energy & Water Projects

Drying racks Dual flow shower Valves (UZLOW) Households and offices

Energy audits

Waste – Improvements & Programs

Cardboard bin

24 E 20 W

Special waste

Community events

Village Festival, September 2012

Community Yard Sales Cycling workshops

Swaps (Clothes, books, toys)

Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability Award

An enthusiastic and committed group of volunteers

Nature Village team achievements

- Green Family Network

- Compost

- Special waste

- Awareness & education

- Energy efficiency

Next steps (second year)

Conclusion - First steps to institutionalize sustainability at the Village

- Benefits of community participation in sustainability - Leadership & Outreach - High involvement of residents in programs - Appropriate programs for specific needs of the community

- Importance of Institutional Support - Village Administration information, implementation - TGIF Funding for green programs - University departments Services & facilities

- Student Engagement - Implementation & Evaluation - Learning from experiences in a real community

- Collaborations needed - Campus programs - Cities - Local organizations - Family housing in other institutions

www.naturevillage.org

naturevillage@berkeley.edu

Sustainable Family Living at UC Berkeley