Biodiesel or electric – which vehicle is best for the arboretum?

The Washington Park Arboretum staff uses utility vehicles to maintain the park grounds, but current diesel vehicles are a source of pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions (as well as being loud).

A team of researchers used a Green Seed Fund grant to discover whether biodiesel or electric vehicles would be the better option to replace the current fleet when looking at carbon footprint, performance, cost and user satisfaction.

Assessing the impacts of UW’s Green Wall

On the southeast side of Gould Hall, the UW Green Wall project perches, providing a home for plants, birds and insects while helping to conserve water and reduce energy needs.

A team funded by a Green Seed Fund grant is studying the Green Wall to quantify the effects of the green wall. The research is documenting plant growth, bird and insect sightings, water use, the impact on the urban heat island effect and building energy performance.

UW group encourages restoration projects on campus

You may not have noticed, but as you walk around the UW campus more of those plants and flowers at your feet are species native to Puget Sound.

That’s because UW’s Society for Ecology Restoration student guild (SER-UW) native plant nursery has been working to restore areas on campus by increasing native species biodiversity and creating open spaces for students to engage with the natural world just steps from their residence halls. 

Behind the scenes of More Hall's soon-to-be rainwater catchment system

By Tiffany Loh
This post was originally published on the Campus Sustainability Fund site.

Earlier this year, the CSF awarded a grand total of $105,367 to 6 projects in the first round of funding for 2015. One of the projects proposed innovative adjustments that would optimize the use of a gift Mother Nature likes to shower upon Seattle: rainwater.