Campus Sustainability Tour

One features we investigated was The reuse room located on the first floor in Cramer hall. Two facts about this feature are one is that this is a room designed for students to take what they need when they need it for free and all you have to do is sign the items out and you are good, Another is Every item in the reuse room has been donated “recycled” for others to get if they need, they hold things from dishes, clothing, school supply, kitchen appliances ect. This feature helps PSU become more sustainable by reusing items that would be recycled or thrown away because one might not one them again and is given to someone who needs it. This feature is being utilized by some but not everyone has heard or seen this feature in the school because it isn’t talking about/being introduced to people.

Another Feature we investigated was Lincoln Hall, In Lincoln hall, there were many sustainable features since the whole building has at least one sustainable feature. Examples of a feature that lincoln hall had were the sky roof and window that brought light into the building and the building did not have many electric Lights since there was many sky roof and windows everywhere. Their lights are powered by solar panels that are located at the rooftop of the building.

Sustainability

My group decided to visit the Campus Recreation Center. One of the lesser known facts about the Rec Center is that the equipment was selected for its accessibility to different users. Additionally, the equipment is made from recycled materials and chosen based on their longevity and ethical manufacturing. The cleaning products used throughout the facility are also non toxic and fragrance free. I would say these features definitely contribute to making the campus more sustainable and are being utilized heavily by the students at PSU.

PSU Sustainability Tour

My group and I went to the Academic & Student Recreation Center. Before we went inside, we quickly read the description included for the location on the Self-Guided Sustainability Tour, and two of the things we found out were that all wooden materials used for the location are sustainably harvested and/or certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, and that the track above the basketball courts is made from recycled materials.

This feature of sustainable materials used to build things for the rec center has made PSU more sustainable in that the campus is actively reusing materials rather than letting those materials be wasted. This track is being utilized and appreciated everyday by many campus rec members, and in fact might actually be my favorite part of the rec center. It is very well built, and very well designed.

PSU Sustainability Campus Tour

In the Campus Student REC Center, there is a plaque on the wall of the bathroom describing the use of “dual-flush toilets and low-flow faucets” which help reduce the amount of water being used. Another thing described is the system of collecting rain water on one of the terraces to use for the toilets and fire sprinklers to save on the amount of water used as well.

It is most likely that not many students or faculty members know about this sustainability feature in the Campus Student REC Center unless they stop and take the time to read about it. This must make a big impact on water use because a lot of people use the bathrooms and showers on a daily basis in the building and if fresh water was being used every flush, there would be a lot of water wasted. Rain is falling a lot in Portland, so why not use it to our advantage to save on water use.

Sustainability Tour – Portland State

Hailey Ramirez

PSU Sustainability Spot 1 – Reuse Room

The Reuse Room is located in Cramer Hall Room 180. The Reuse Room is an on-campus resource used for students to get a hold of used supplies for school, or at home. You are also more than welcome to donate. This is very a very useful place for both staff and students to find things they might need and is helping to reduce waste while saving money.

PSU Sustainability Spot 2 – Lincoln Hall

According to the Portland State Sustainbility Self Guided Tour Map, they say that “…Lincoln Hall became PSU’s first LEED Platinum certified building… Renovations include major seismic upgrades, an efficient heating and cooling system, and double-paned windows… built to match existing architecture. The building also features a more than 4,000 sq. foot solar array on the roof.”

As for its sustainability, lincoln hall seemed to have dim lights and allowed for natural light which is powered by solar energy.

Campus Sustainability Tour

For the campus sustainability tour, my group and I went to the Bike Hub and Rec Center. In the Rec Center, I noticed these water fountains, that have a screen showing how many plastic bottles were saved thanks to the refilling of bottles with these bottles. Unfortunately, the picture doesn’t show how it actually looks, but the number was in tens of thousands.

– Daniil Tsioma

PSU Sustainability Campus Tour.

The Disability Resource Center in Smith Memorial.

Smith Memorial has a lot of interesting cultural features, one being the Disability Learning Center. The purpose of the program is to provide assistance to students, who might have trouble learning due to a disability. Even though this seems like a useful resource, the location was not the best as it was tucked away in a corner making it hard to find at first.

Academic & Student Recreation Center.

The recreation center is a Leed certified building, which means it very sustainable. It has cool features like advanced rainwater toilet flushing systems or one thing that I noticed was the location where it was close to a biking station and a max, which are way more sustainable methods of transportation.

Campus Sustainability Tour

Location 1

We went to the Disability Resource Center inside the Smith Memorial Student Union. This resource center currently has a virtual front desk but continues to put out a weekly newsletter as well as weekly workshops. By having an accessibility driven resource center on campus we are creating a more socially sustainable campus that will assist students is being more successful. Whether or not this feature was being utilized was not identifiable because all of the services are still operating online and through zoom.

Campus Sustainability Tour Reflection

by Linh Ong

1. Academic & Student Recreation Center

While we were exploring the campus. We decided to go to the Academic & Student Recreation Center. There, we observed and took notes of the campus and the surrounding. As researched, we found out that the building center was built in 2010. Their toilets flushing system is collected with rainwater from the roof. They also use wood as their materials. Their track and climbing walls are also made from recycle materials. There are Nike bikes right in front of the building for convenient traveling.

(Academic & Student Recreation Center)

2. Smith Student Union Building (Disability Center)

This place located inside the Smith Student Union Building. It is called “Disability Center”. The entry of the center was located in a narrow corner of the Student Union building. It was a little bit difficult to find. There was only a door and nothing much shown around. It is a place where people with disability go to and get help.

Campus Tour

Our group walked through the smith memorial student union building and found a lot of cool features and resources that I didn’t know was available to the students. As we walked through we found the food pantry, which is a really important resource for a lot of students here at PSU and is absolutely essential. We also walked by the disability resource center and the daycare for students that have children. These two resources are huge and should definitely be talked about more so that everyone knows they’re there and has access to them.