Georgia Institute of Technology

The guys at Georgia Tech may not have noticed, but there is something different about the restrooms on campus. Three hundred and eight automatic, one pint urinals have been installed throughout the Institute.

For more than 10 years, the Office of Facilities Management has been testing low flow water fixtures to reduce the campus’ water consumption. Many of the newer buildings on campus have energy and water efficient bathrooms with automatic faucets and low flow toilets, and now several of the older buildings will be receiving these upgrades as well.

As the observance of National Bike Month comes to a close at the end of May, campus bicycle enthusiasts will still put one wheel after the other in their work to make Georgia Tech and its surrounding areas more bicycle-friendly. 

How many pounds of goods were donated by students moving out of dorms? Which students and campus organizations were honored at Earth Day 2012? Find out in the May issue of the Recycling Buzz, an online newsletter from the Office of Solid Waste Management and Recycling.Read or download the May issue now (pdf).

The Georgia Institute of Technology has received a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The program funds individuals worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in how persistent global health and development challenges are solved.

Most large cities are warming at twice the rate of the planet as a whole. Not only does that mean more discomfort during already warm summer months, but also contributes to heat-related illness and death. In a recently published book, The City and the Coming Climate: Climate Change in the Places We Live, Associate Professor Brian Stone offers strategies that address climate change at the urban scale.

For the third time in 2012, Georgia Tech has been recognized on a national level for its sustainable efforts. Most recently, Tech was among 15 schools highlighted by the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) for reducing carbon emissions, maximizing resources, lowering operating costs and allowing members of the Tech community to also engage in good practices.

Georgia Tech’s Earth Day Celebration is one of the largest in the southeast. On Friday, April 20, 2012, thousands of people will converge on Tech Walk for the 15th annual Earth Day Celebration, which features 70 exhibitors, live music, free organic popcorn and recycling activities.

Mekong Green Tech's technology to clean up rural Vietnam's rural brick-making industry won first place in the 2012 Ideas to SERVE (I2S) Competition at Georgia Tech College of Management.

Open to all Georgia Tech students and recent alumni, the I2S competition involves innovative business concepts that could help improve society or preserve the environment. The finals were held on April 4 following a poster showcase on April 2.

Splitting hydrogen and oxygen from water using conventional electrolysis techniques requires considerable amounts of electrical energy. But green plants produce oxygen from water efficiently using a catalytic technique powered by sunlight – a process that is part of photosynthesis and so effective that it is the Earth’s major source of oxygen.