Sustainability has become a very popular word over the past few years and making it a reality is essential as the world moves forward.
Cal State Northridges fourth annual Technical Symposium, sponsored by CSUNs Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, will explore Sustainability Initiatives: A View to the Future on Thursday, Feb. 18, from 5 to 9:30 p.m.
The symposium will be held in the Northridge Center of the University Student Union located in the east side of campus, at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.
This event will explore the broad issue of sustainability in academic policy and business initiatives. Speakers will provide an overview of sustainability, zeroing in on subjects such as chemical policy in California, particularly the Green Chemistry Initiative and its role in enhancing sustainability.
Speakers also will explore national and international initiatives in corporate environments, including the challenges and opportunities that are created by shifting to a culture of sustainability. The roles of the environmental and occupational health (EOH) professionals in introducing and implementing sustainability initiatives also will be discussed.
We think a broad range of students and professionals can benefit from this years technical symposium, said Tom Hatfield, professor and chair of EOH.*Even though this event is sponsored by our Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, we want to spread the word that we welcome the entire community to this event.* These are world-class speakers, and Im proud of the efforts from CSUN students and alumni to bring about this event.
Speakers will include Nurit Katz, UCLAs Sustainability Coordinator and founder of the UCLA Sustainability Resource Center; Michael Wilson, research scientist at the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, and Acting Executive Director of Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry; Loraine Sedlack, director of EHS and Sustainability at a division of Black & Decker; Mark Katchen, managing principal of the Phylmar Group, Inc.
In 2006, Cal State Northridge enacted one of the most comprehensive university policies on clean energy in the U.S. The university acquired an efficient, secure and environmentally-friendly energy generation system. The one-megawatt stationary fuel cell power plant system reforms hydrogen from natural gas to power the fuel cell.
Thefootprint of the cell, and the clean waste water it emits, created an ideal environment for a mini subtropical rainforest, which was created next to the fuel cell plant. The system generates over 9,000 gallons of water daily which is collected in a storage tank. The water, as liquid and steam, is used to irrigate the rain forest.
The project established CSUN as a leader in sustainable systems for academic institutions worldwide and CSUN is the only educational facility in the world to have an outdoor subtropical rainforest fully sustained from conventional industrial waste byproducts.
At the Feb. 18 event, Tom Brown, CSUNs director of physical plant management will conduct a tour of the mini-rainforest every half-hour starting at three up until the symposium starts at five. For more information on tours, see contact information below.
The Technical Symposium is approved by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene for 0.75 CM for six contact hours for Registered Environmental Health Specialists in California.
For more information or to register for the symposium online go to https://www.csunalumni.com/techsym or by phone at (818) 677-2137. Registration for the symposium is $60 and parking will be available in Parking Structure G3. Parking is $5.