Miracle or Nightmare
By: Robert Miller
Higher education is going green; this is one of them most common heard buzzwords in college planning committees. (Frey, 2006) The green concept seems to be both politically and environmentally correct in today’s culture.
But what does this mean to the colleges who must meet this new demand on a system already strapped in today’s tough economic times. The goal is simply enough in theory, but is very complicated in reality. Colleges have to meet governmental regulatory demands to provide basic infrastructures, while integrating environmentally friendly technology and methods into available facilities and processes.
This will require green technology integration across all areas of the college campus and create additional administrative demands to include green concepts in all decisions for the college in order meet societal demands, and current and future stringent environmental regulations. (Frey, 2006) The colleges will have to reduce their carbon footprint (a modern term which equates the total of all resources used to create a product from concept to disposal or in layman terms from cradle to death) in order to comply with proposed future regulation. This integration has begun with the introduction and use of new technology in the classroom. (Nightingale, 2010)
The incorporation of technology in the classroom has had a large effect on the classrooms contribution to going green. Many current green concepts in higher education are currently being used in today’s classrooms. Some, such as the development of distance education technology went green as an added benefit
The smart board was initially created to serve as an interactive learning and presentation tool. The effect on green technology of the smart board is the reduction in the number of paper handouts which must be given to students. The smart board does have a carbon footprint of its own and the carbon footprint information is not disclosed in available literature. However the use of one of the commonly available carbon footprint calculators will yield approximate values.
Results for the smart board values were yielded by: “The Carbon Footprint Calculator” available at
Distant education reduces the numbers of students on campus which reduces the demands on the infrastructure of the college and has resulted in the creation of its own green tool. This new green tool is the E-Book - an electronic book downloaded and posted within the course documents for the course. This can eliminate the need for a printed textbook which has the potential to reduce the’ carbon footprint of a college significantly.(Sarah Axon, 2009)
Most do not realize the carbon footprint required to put a college textbook into a classroom. The creation of a book involves the necessity of millions of dollars in investment and equipment to grow and harvest timber, the destruction of the environment in collecting and processing raw materials and finally the release of toxic emissions through in the processes of manufacturing, printing and delivery to the final user and then eventually the landfill. (US. EPA, 2006). This does not take into account the countless energy and other resources consumed during the research and writing of the material to be used in the book. When one considers the number of text books used on a campus in one year, the use of electronic texts would foster a significant reduction in the overall footprint of the college (Sarah Axon, 2009)
Technological advances are quickly altering the traditional view and role of the classroom and virtual technology will become much more prominent in future educational systems. However, this is not a method without flaws; current technology has been helpful in reducing the classrooms’ carbon footprint, however the incorporation of such technology results in a larger overall carbon footprint when you begin to calculate all the impacts due to the cradle to grave requirements necessary for the production of the technologies and the energy top operate them. (US EPA, 2006)
Works Cited
Nightingale, J. (2010, may 4). classroom inovation. Retrieved september 20, 2010, from www.guardian.co.uk: http://www.guardian.co.uk/classroom-innovation/problem-solution-schools-cut-ict-spending/print
FREY, C. (2006, August 23). Seattle PI. (L. ©1996-2010 Hearst Seattle Media, Editor) Retrieved October 9, 2010, from seattlepi.coml: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/282232_greencampus23.html
U.S. EPA, 2006. Solid Waste Management and Greenhouse Gases: A Life-Cycle Assessment of Emissions and Sinks, EPA530-R-06-004
Sarah Axon. (2009). carbon reduction and e-learning. Epic Performance Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment