Category: News

Study measures air pollution increase attributable to air conditioning

When summer temperatures rise and people turn to their air conditioners to stay cool, something else also increases: air pollution. A new study shows that the electricity production associated with air conditioning increases emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide by hundreds to thousands of metric tons, or 3 to 4 percent per …

Steven Olikara receives Forward Under 40 Award

Alum Steven Olikara ’12, who helped found the UW–Madison Office of Sustainability and served as its first student leader, is a recipient of a Forward Under 40 Award from the Wisconsin Alumni Association. Olikara is a founder and chief executive of the Millennial Action Project, which organizes bipartisan caucuses of elected officials under the age …

Terrace trees find new life inside renovated Memorial Union

The Memorial Union Renovation (MUR) team has minimized the project’s environmental footprint through each phase of the process by staying true to a promise of sustainability. The team had hoped to avoid removing any Terrace trees, but found some were showing signs of deterioration. They sent the trees removed from the Terrace to The Wood …

Student art exhibit explores Arboretum prairies through comics, stories

As part of her master of fine arts thesis, design studies student Liz Anna Kozik has installed an exhibit telling the story of the first restored prairie in the world, Curtis Prairie at the UW–Madison Arboretum. Through full-length comics, hand-woven tapestries, and wooden signs over the prairie, “Stories in the Land” explores the history of …

Volunteers needed for Housing move-out recycling

As the end of the semester quickly approaches, the UW–Madison Division of University Housing is asking for volunteers to help residents and their families properly recycle and donate unwanted items. With more than 7,400 students preparing to move out of the university residence halls, it adds up to a lot of items! Each year, University …

Green Fund supports greenhouse cooling

Coming soon to campus: a more efficient rooftop greenhouse. This project is one of the first to be supported by a new UW–Madison Green Fund administered by the Office of Sustainability. The Green Fund supports student-initiated projects that reduce the environmental footprint and operating costs of campus facilities. Energy-Efficient Greenhouse Cooling System Residents of Leopold …

Waste study shines at Undergrad Symposium

A class effort to study the waste stream at Union South illustrates how a lot of student research done on campus has immediate, real-world value.

App links low-income residents with services

Health Links, a student-designed smartphone app, helps connect low-income Madisonians with critical community resources such as food pantries, shelters, and health centers.

Five UW–Madison offices achieve Green Office certification

The Green Office program gives offices of any size the knowledge and resources to become more sustainable, both economically and environmentally. By becoming certified through the program, an office signifies that they have made a tangible and measurable commitment to learning about sustainability, better understanding the impacts of their actions on the greater campus community …

Castillo wins Bucky’s Award in sustainability

UW–Madison senior Maria Castillo received the Conservation and Sustainability Award at the Bucky’s Award Ceremony Sunday evening. The ceremony is a recognition event hosted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Student Leadership Program. The Conservation and Sustainability Award, sponsored by the Office of Sustainability, is given annually to a student or organization that has gone above and …