Environmental Consulting

2015 – 2016 Academic Year Student Projects

CMC Sustainability Reporting

For the past year, the consulting team worked with CMC to create an annual sustainability report, and the goal is to complete the report by the end of this academic year.  This semester, the team is expanded the project to help CMC report to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) to get a Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS) rating for sustainability.

Mono Lake Tour Economic Analysis

The REC consulting team is analyzed the economic viability of a day-long guided tour program for the Mono Lake Committee.  This project could be expanded to address a larger research question of what non-national park ecotourism destinations can offer to visitors that national parks cannot.

2014 – 2015 Academic Year Student Projects

Feasibility Research and Identification of Funding Sources for the Claremont Colleges Water Reclamation

In collaboration with Harvey Mudd and Pomona experts, an REC team collected information on existing water reclamation projects and explored grants and loans that have been available for such projects.

CMC Sustainability Highlights Report

The team produced the first comprehensive CMC annual environmental in collaboration with the CMC Facilities Department.   In addition to summarizing the trends in energy use, water, waste, landscaping and more, the CMC Sustainability Highlights report chronicled CMC’s impressive progress, despite major expansion of the campus.  Further refinements are possible, and the annual reports can be the base for periodic environmental plans.  

2013 – 2014 Academic Year Student Projects

Pilgrim Place Sustainability Report

The Consulting Team provided Pilgrim Place, a local retirement community, with guidance on publishing their inaugural sustainability report. The REC had been working with Pilgrim Place since the spring of 2013, and the partnership culminated in Pilgrim Place publishing their first sustainability report, which outlined energy and water use, waste management, and sustainability initiatives. The Consulting Team plans to partner with more local organizations to produce similar reports in the future.

Claremont City Survey

The team began working with the City of Claremont in the fall of 2013 to create a survey that would capture residents’ opinions on sustainability initiatives. The survey gathered information about household energy retrofits, energy use, waste management, water use, and other key elements of the City’s sustainability plan.