Sustainability Blog

April 2024: Georgia Tech Sustainability Champion

“On a daily basis, Leonard embraces the SDGs and through his leadership and service, he makes campus and our planet a better and happier place.

He is a true champion of SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. He spends time before, during, and after our Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)…

Georgia Tech Sustainability Champion: April 2024

April 2024 Sustainability Champion, Leonard Law

Leonard Law, Building Coordinator at the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, is the April 2024 Georgia Tech Sustainability Champion.

From the nomination:

“On a daily basis, Leonard embraces the SDGs and through his leadership and service, he makes campus and our planet a better and happier place.

He is a true champion of SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. He spends time before, during, and after our Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB) events setting up composting bins and educating our guests on how they can divert items from the landfill. Leonard brings enthusiasm and care to the often overlooked and not pleasant process of what to do with the “trash.” Just today he delightfully shared with me that he helped someone use the compost bin correctly. He works to recycle paper and staples in our office space. In addition, IBB’s café reopened last month, and Leonard has been patiently working with the café vendor to get them to recycle and compost more. To Leonard, each paper towel composted or aluminum can recycled makes a difference.

In addition, Leonard’s efforts address other SDGs such as 2: Zero Hunger and 15: Life on Land. Last month, he started working on collecting leftover food from our events and ensuring those items are delivered to Klemis Kitchen. During spring and fall bird migration seasons, he educates our Petit Biotechnology Building occupants how they can reduce bird collisions by turning off research lab lights before they leave every night. He also cuts of Nadina berries in the IBB courtyard, since sadly those berries can poison birds.”

Q&A

Q: What is your title?

A: Building Coordinator

Q: How long have you been at Georgia Tech?

A: Approximately 2 years

Q: What does sustainability mean to you and/or why is it important?

A:  It means a healthier oceanic life, atmospheric and quality of life. Sustainability allows mankind to take what was used to make it greener and to help reduce emissions and carbon footprints.

Q: What is your favorite saying about sustainability?

A: To compost and recycle matters!

Join Our List

Office of Sustainability updates straight to your inbox each month.

Sign Up

Connect With Us

Join the conversation by following us on social media. 

Georgia Tech Student Takes Passion for Sustainability into Community

From a young age, Renee Alnoubani felt the need to give back to her community. As a Georgia Tech civil engineering student, she quickly learned of The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design. The Kendeda Building is Georgia’s first building to earn Living Building Challenge certification, the world’s most ambitious and holistic green building standard.

Georgia Tech Student Takes Passion for Sustainability into Community

Kendeda Fellows were invited to compose articles showcasing their community initiatives. Scroll down to find out more about their significant contributions.

By: Renee Alnoubani

Image Credit: Szabo Studios

From a young age, Renee Alnoubani felt the need to give back to her community. As a Georgia Tech civil engineering student, she quickly learned of The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design. The Kendeda Building is Georgia’s first building to earn Living Building Challenge certification, the world’s most ambitious and holistic green building standard. The Kendeda Building is regenerative, generating its own energy and giving back energy to the power grid and treating rainwater to potable on site. A key goal of the building program is to educate and inspire others to incorporate regenerative design concepts into their projects and lives.

The building’s mission was so aligned with Renee’s personal mission that it inspired her to reach out to her congregation, Roswell Community Masjid (RCM), which was beginning work on a new mosque and community center. She emphasized to her congregation’s board and construction team that to truly fulfill their vision of constructing a sustainable campus, they could not strive for anything less than excellence: full Living Building Challenge certification.

Renee seized an opportunity to take initiative within her congregation by starting their Green Team and worked closely with all project teams to show that the Living Building Challenge is possible.

The Kendeda Building was so impactful in Renee’s journey that she sought out to and became a Kendeda Building Fellow to learn more about regenerative design, teach, and inspire others. This was serendipitous because The Kendeda Building director, Shan Arora, had already been engaging with RCM leadership to guide them towards the Living Building Challenge.

When successful, RCM’s mosque and community center will be the first full Living Building Challenge certified house of worship in the world. Exemplifying the kind of community-outreach and collaboration that Georgia Tech strives for, Renee serves as the bridge between Georgia Tech and her congregation.

Renee highlights both Georgia Tech’s commitment to Leading by Example and to responsible stewardship. Her experience shows just how powerful leading by example can be. As she amplifies The Kendeda Building’s purpose in her community, she empowers her congregation to do the same for others, creating a ripple effect of impact.

Join Our List

The latest insights in sustainability at Georgia Tech, straight to your inbox each month.

Sign Up

Connect With Us

Interdisciplinary and Critical Approaches to Sustainability

Interdisciplinary and Critical Approaches to Sustainability

Wednesday, April 24th, 2024 | 8:30 AM – 6 PM

AGSC is excited to announce a conference highlighting Interdisciplinary and Critical Approaches to Sustainability, entitled “Sustainability in a Planet of Diverse Knowledges and Persistent Inequalities”. The morning session will feature panels of faculty from Georgia Tech’s College of Computing, College of Design, Insitute of People and Technology, the College of Engineering, and College of Science, all in dialogue with faculty from the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. The afternoon will focus on critical approaches to the concept of sustainability, featuring scholars from across the Institute and two keynote events:

NELSON MALDONADO-TORRES: “Colonial and Decolonial Sustainabilities”

JESSICA HERNANDEZ: “Indigenous Science: From Local to Global Context”

Find out more here.

 

BBISS Seminar Series – Fani Boukouvala

BBISS Seminar Series – Fani Boukouvala

Thursday, April 25th, 2024 | 3 – 4 PM

A Process Systems Engineering Approach for the Design of Plastics Recycling Systems

Fani Boukouvala, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech

Abstract: We will present a new approach for chemical conversion of waste plastics to their original raw materials. We start with detailed process modeling of a chemical reactor validated by experimental data, and proceed with simulation of an entire pilot scale facility. We conclude with technoeconomic analysis and assessment of the impact of this process on the plastics supply chain factoring cost and emissions metrics.

Find out more here.