University of Research Corridor Sustainability
BRITANY AFFOLTER-CAINE, IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MICHIGAN’S UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORRIDOR Students and young adults see climate change and the preservation of our planet not as an impending challenge, but one with grave consequences that are impacting humanity today. Generation Z is more likely than older generations to act on their climate concerns through their purchasing power and in career choices. A majority of Gen Z are willing to spend 10% more money for sustainable brands according to a 2019 McKinsey report, and 42% of Gen Z respondents have already changed or plan to change their job or industry due to climate concerns according to a 2023 Deloitte survey. For these future leaders and doers, the greatest priority is to develop sustainable solutions to mitigate these impacts and the forces causing further environmental harm. Gen Z is not alone. Many university researchers, staff and administrators across Michigan’s University Research Corridor (URC) share their climate concerns and have made sustainability a priority area of research, education, innovation and service. An alliance of Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University that is dedicated to improving the quality of life for its region while advancing knowledge at a global level, the URC is committed to bringing all its resources to tackling climate change and mitigating its impacts today and in the future. Sustainability is an imperative we define as efforts to discover ways to meet the economic and health needs of people today while meeting the needs of future generations to thrive in ways that are effective, just and equitable. Sustainability includes decarbonization, clean energy innovation, reducing waste and pollution and managing limited resources, such as water. The sustainability work of URC researchers and students stretches across dozens of academic fields and within dedicated schools and colleges, such as U-M’s School for Environment and Sustainability, and includes partners in our communities, government and industry. Development of sustainable technologies, knowledge and practices is critical for addressing climate change and is good for our economy. For example, Michigan’s mobility sector is accelerating its transition to a more sustainable and eco-friendly industry. It is reshaping the way people think about transportation, pushing automakers to innovate, and encouraging governments and businesses to invest in a cleaner future. The URC universities play a key role in developing new technologies to support the mobility industry’s transition. Over the past five years, Michigan’s URC universities conducted more than $565 million in mobility-related R&D, which included sustainability-focused research, such as light weighting vehicles through advanced materials, energy storage to extend battery range for vehicles and alternative fuels that are more sustainable, such as hydrogen. The contributions our universities are making to support sustainability in the market can be seen in our strategic innovation partnerships with industry, like at MSU’s top-ranked School of Packaging, where researchers are working alongside industry leaders to reduce the amount of plastic waste in landfills and water systems by streamlining the different types of plastics that are used in manufacturing. MSU is also a leader in mass timber research, studying everything from structural performance and cost savings to fire resistance and sustainability. Made from a renewable resource, mass timber stores carbon and is less carbon-intensive to produce than other common building materials. U-M’s BioMatters team has developed their own sustainable solution for construction using upcycled sawdust. This fully biodegradable, reusable and recyclable material is formed into molds using 3D printing and can replace concrete formwork traditionally used across the construction industry. These molds are like giant LEGO pieces that can be used again and again. At a time when the consequences of climate change are increasingly evident and devastating, the need for sustainable solutions across all sectors has never been more urgent. This starts on our own campuses, where we all have implemented comprehensive sustainability initiatives that encompass various aspects of campus life. We’ve invested in energy-efficient infrastructure, adopted renewable energy sources, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions through innovative technologies and conservation efforts, showing that the URC is not only contributing to a greener Michigan but also setting an example for institutions nationwide. From lead in drinking water and intergenerational impacts of pollutants to mitigating development of fatbergs in our wastewater systems to storm water management, Wayne State has been studying the impacts of climate change and environmental threats to human health on residents and communities in Michigan’s largest city, Detroit. Old pollutants left behind by factories and other industries in the past are causing problems for people and the environment today. Supported by an $11.5-million National Institutes of Health grant, Wayne State University’s Center for Leadership in Environmental Awareness and Research is studying these old pollutants in cities, identifying how they move around and their impact on the health of mothers and babies. Our commitment extends to our work in sustainable action in communities across Michigan and the world. Michigan is renowned for its abundant freshwater resources, including the Great Lakes, which contain about 20% of the world’s surface freshwater supply. The presence of these vast water bodies makes our institutions leaders in research on water-related issues and solutions. The United Nations tapped Wayne State University and the University of Windsor to head its Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development in the Detroit-Windsor region. The partnership will address community health, equitable city-building practices, public transportation, clean water, sustainable urban planning and housing policy, to better our two communities that share an international border. U-M recently received a $5 million grant to study how climate change is affecting water resources in different areas, especially when those areas share borders. This research will help us understand how rising temperatures and changing weather patterns are impacting our water supply, like rivers and lakes, and lead to better ways to manage and protect these vital sources of water. Sustainability is already becoming the heart of academic and industry research. Not only are environmental and economic pressures mounting, but our next generation of thinkers and leaders are dedicating their lives to addressing these
Energy Savings Plus Workforce Development Aids Companies, Students
The Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) at Michigan State University, in collaboration with Michigan Technological University and Henry Ford College, offers the 6,200+ small and medium manufacturers (SMEs) in Michigan free technical assessments to help save energy, improve productivity, reduce waste, and reduce carbon emissions. As a result, the institutions are helping to build and expand a knowledgeable and diverse energy workforce pipeline. The scope of topics covered includes: – Energy and water savings – Smart manufacturing – Energy management – Cybersecurity – Resilience planning – Decarbonization – Electrification SBN Detroit spoke to Dr. Kristen Cetin, associate professor at MSU in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She also is the director of the MSU Industrial Assessment Center. Q: Tell me about the Industrial Assessment Center A: We are a U.S. Department of Energy-funded center focused on two things: First, we support small and medium-sized manufacturers and commercial building owners by providing one-day no-cost assessments to identify opportunities to improve and support their energy and sustainability goals. Our second focus is workforce development. Once students graduate they take manufacturing and sustainability and energy knowledge into the workforce. Some students will go on to jobs in manufacturing or energy, and others perhaps not, but will know to integrate what they’ve learned in whatever career they pursue. We are one of 37 IAC centers across the country, and ours is a collaboration between Michigan State University, Michigan Tech, and Henry Ford College. Q: How did the IAC come to be? A: The Department of Energy program has been in existence since the ‘70s to support energy efficiency, and every five years they do a funding call. That’s where it began. Michigan has not had an IAC for about six years. I moved here from Iowa and was surprised that this manufacturing-rich area did not have an IAC providing this service. So, when the funding call came out we applied for Topic 1, which is the manufacturing side, and Topic 2, which is the commercial building side, pilot program. We knew MSU alone couldn’t easily support all regions of Michigan given how big Michigan is. Michigan Tech is surrounded by important and different industries, so they were a natural collaboration to support the northern part of the state. Collaborating with Henry Ford College as a community college helps us to support the Detroit area, as well as to better reach more commercial buildings. This collaboration also enables broader diversity of students to participate in terms of training. So we partnered, and it’s been going very well to date. Q: What does the assessment process involve and how much support do you offer outside of the assessment? A: The assessment process begins with a thorough analysis of utility bills, followed by a one-day in-person assessment. Sometimes we leave datalogger equipment to continue to monitor the operation of energy-consuming systems after the assessment. Once the assessment and analysis are complete a full report is written up including detailed recommendations, estimates of energy efficiencies, and associated costs. We then follow up about a year after the assessment to see what was implemented, if there were efficiencies gained, and receive feedback on what was actionable and what was not. This helps us figure out what we can do better and what kind of impact each assessment has made. In terms of supporting the implementation of our recommendations, we do a few things. If appropriate we contact utility companies to see if there are rebates or incentives that fit well. We also connect interested companies to the Better Plants program, which can help facilitate larger-scope initiatives and provide ongoing support beyond our assessments. And finally, a new development that is just becoming available is a matching grant program to support any company that completes the assessment. Part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law implementation, this is a new grant that will match company funds to support implementation of the changes recommended in the post-assessment report. Q: Are all assessments the same or do they vary depending on the building? A: We typically have one day to do them, so to that end we follow a similar schedule and format. But our recommendations and areas of focus vary depending on what kind of manufacturing the company is doing, or what kind of commercial building it is. We do a walk-through in the morning and obtain information about all of their systems in place. At lunch, we brainstorm about areas of improvement, and then we split into groups to dive deeper into those areas throughout the afternoon. Q: How many assessments are done annually? A: We do 30 assessments per year, approximately 20 of which are manufacturers and ten commercial buildings. Q: What is the role of the students? A: This is very much a student-led program. Students are the main point of contact with each of the companies we work with, the lead in the discussions, the lead in data collection, and all aspects of the program. There is a student lead for each assessment, and that person is in charge of setting up the logistics and takes the lead during the assessment. They also present the report and recommendations to the companies we work with. They also lead the student group in creating the report draft review, which is then reviewed and approved before sharing with the company. The faculty and staff in the IAC help to support and generate ideas, provide technical expertise, as well as review recommendations and overall reports. Our student groups range from approximately three to eight per assessment. Approximately 90% of the students are undergraduates from a variety of engineering and non-engineering backgrounds. There is also a three-credit training course that students in the IAC take during their first semester in the program. All students are paid for the work they do, including training. Q: What does it mean to have this practical hands-on experience? A: I think this hands-on training is even more valuable than taking classes. It’s invaluable – this
Helping Detroiters Create New Businesses for a More Equitable World
Jerry Davis, Gilbert & Ruth Whitaker Professor of Management and faculty director of Business+Impact at the Michigan Ross School of Business, believes that with more available government funding than in the past, more entrepreneurs and businesses in Detroit are in a position to build equitable community wealth. Davis, who received his Ph.D. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and taught at Northwestern and Columbia before moving to the University of Michigan, has published six books and dozens of articles in academic and business publications. His latest book is Taming Corporate Power in the 21st Century (Cambridge University Press, 2022). His focus is reshaping and developing businesses to be drivers of social and environmental change. SBN Detroit spoke to Davis about his perspectives, the new graduate-level class, and what it ultimately means to Detroit businesses. Q: Tell us about your concept of reshaping businesses into drivers of change. A: I think there are two ways we can orient businesses toward a more equitable sustainable future. First, we can take an existing business and reform it from the inside. This is often done by intrapreneurs. Second, we can create new enterprises that are built right from the start. My overall concept is that businesses can address bigger challenges than just shareholder value through reform or fresh starts. There are so many new building blocks available to businesses today that we can leverage to not only make money but also to begin to address the racial wealth gap, generational inequality, and the green energy transition. Q: What do you mean by building blocks? A: Technology has fundamentally changed the building blocks for creating an enterprise in the last fifteen years. There are dozens of new ways to raise capital that didn’t exist ten to fifteen years ago. There are new ways to find distribution channels, new ways to work with suppliers and labor, new legal formats, and the list goes on. Q: How do the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals inform your work? A: Since the inception of the Sustainability Development Goals in 2015, I’ve used them as a GPS of sorts for orienting what businesses can do to contribute to social benefit. I’ve integrated this into my teaching and writing and research. Drilling down …If you had to pick one threat we are facing on a global basis that businesses can work better to address – and that creates business opportunities – it’s the green energy transition. This is the thing in our generation that we need to accomplish starting today. And it’s impossible to address it with government action only. There is a central role for businesses to play in bringing about this transition. And with the Inflation Reduction Act and Justice40 in place, there is no better opportunity to build green enterprises than right now. Q: What are some of the opportunities provided by the Inflation Reduction Act? A: As I said, the need for the green energy transition has never been greater. It is imperative for our species. At the same time, we have the Biden-Harris administration launching the IRA, which creates huge incentives to electrify and transition to green energy. There is an astounding amount of money being allocated to homeowners and renters and drivers to help make this transition. You can simply go online and see the offerings – switching from a gas furnace to a heat pump offers free cash. There are huge tax benefits to electric vehicle owners. And low-income brackets receive even more benefits. I highly recommend the “Rewiring America” website. From a business perspective, this is an opportunity like never before. Businesses that provide services around transitioning to green energy stand to prosper greatly through this funding. These opportunities represent a chance to build generational wealth. Q: Can you explain more about how the act supports generational-wealth building? A: Detroit has been hit hard in several ways … the mortgage crisis, residential flight, municipal bankruptcy, and the list goes on. These have robbed people of opportunities to create prosperity for themselves and their families. So, this funding represents an especially well-placed opportunity for cities like Detroit. According to the White House, the Justice40 initiative means that “40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution.” That includes “climate change, clean energy, and energy efficiency, clean transit, affordable and sustainable housing, training and workforce development, remediation and reduction of legacy pollution, and the development of critical clean water and wastewater infrastructure.” When you combine the IRA and Justice40, it opens the spigot for cash allocated toward environmental initiatives. So again, the opportunity to start a new business and build community wealth has never been greater than it is right now. This is the impetus behind a new graduate class starting this week called “Impact Studio: Designing the Equitable Enterprise” that I am teaching with my co-instructor Cat Johnson. Q: Tell us more about the class and how you see it impacting both the students and local businesses. A: The class focuses on how to use the new building blocks of business to create enterprises in Detroit that will facilitate the green energy transition. Students will interview dozens of Detroit businesses and members of the community to better understand the needs and pain points around energy. They will then map out the opportunities. For example, let’s say a building contractor is looking to use heat pumps but can’t find someone with the skill to install them, or can’t find a vendor for them. This represents an opportunity. Maybe a college can create training programs for installation. Or find incentives to make heat pumps more widely available. They will then go on to create what I call template business models – plausible, economically sustainable models that are replicable – and a set of how-to guides. The how-to guides will translate into plain English the ways in which entrepreneurs and communities can build on the IRA and the new building blocks of
Working to Reduce Packaging’s Environmental Impact
According to information from the University Research Corridor – Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and Wayne State University – each year an estimated 11,000 tons of plastic pollution enters the Great Lakes, harming fish and wildlife and getting into our food and drinking water. “The United States currently recycles only 5 percent of its plastic waste, and 30 percent of plastic ends up in products that can’t be recycled at all,” said Muhammad Rabnawaz, an assistant professor at Michigan State University’s School of Packaging. Since August 2016, Rabnawaz’s work in the lab includes creating a new generation of highly skilled workforce, reducing plastic waste from the packaging industry, and creating end-of-life solutions for waste plastics. Rabnawaz and his team of students are working closely with Michigan packaging and manufacturing companies to achieve innovation around these efforts. SBN Detroit spoke to Rabnawaz about this work and its potential impact on Southeast Michigan residents, businesses, the community, and the planet. Q: Can you expand on the work you are doing to reduce plastic packaging waste? A: Our mission is to find solutions to minimize the element of waste coming from packaging. My top priority is to reduce the environmental impact originating from the packaging sector. Our work focuses on several aspects related to this. First, we are looking at how we can divert plastic waste from landfills and move it back into manufacturing. Recycled plastic typically has low performance compared to virgin plastic, so we are creating methods and protocols that help build back the properties of the material to try to achieve virgin-like performance. Second, we are designing for simplification and driving the idea of looking at the end of life of the packaging in the beginning – when we create it. Much of the plastic used in packaging is multilayered with different types of plastic making up each of several layers. This makes it much more difficult to recycle. We are working on ways to simplify this and forward the use of single-layered plastics or those with fewer layers. The third is paper-based alternatives. Plastic has unique properties, yet some alternatives are paper-based that do not create microplastics and hence are much better for the environment from this aspect. So, we are working on research and creating the technologies for the implementation of real-world applications, while at the same time educating students to take the lead in sustainability and packaging innovation in the coming years. Q: The National Science Foundation awarded you a 2021 CAREER grant to research how to best simplify plastics recycling by developing affordable polymers that are easy to recycle. What are you learning through this research? A: A common type of plastic is a thermosetting polymer, often called a thermoset. Think of the handle of a pressure cooker or cookware. When you heat it, it does not melt. Thermosets make up 20% of the plastic market. The problem is if we cannot melt it, it cannot be recycled and used for something else. So, we are working on creating a vitrimer (plastic) that behaves like a thermoset and is heat resistant, but above a certain temperature it can be melted, so it can be recycled like thermoplastics (plastics that can be melted). Q: What is your involvement with Michigan packaging companies? A: We work closely with several local companies that make plastics, companies that convert plastics to packaging, and companies that work on the recycling of plastics. So, the full supply chain Q: When do you believe your work will be commercially viable? A: We are certainly working toward commercializing the technologies we are developing with Southeast Michigan businesses in the interest of helping our community and our planet. One example is a product that can be used as an alternative to a single-use plastic bag, which we are testing now and anticipate it being commercialized in up to one year. I anticipate the technology I spoke about regarding simple structure versus multilayered to be in practice within 18-24 months. It’s time-consuming. We have to look at performance as well as consumer safety and that takes time. Q: What does this research potentially mean to Michigan manufacturers and businesses, and how does this tie into the manufacturing industry here? A: Some global packaging giants run their research and development in Michigan. They are looking at materials that can improve the performance of recycled materials. According to the U.S. Plastic Pact, by 2025 if a company is creating a package it has to consist of 30% recycled material or 30% biobased material. The collection of 30% is not easy. Packaging companies are going to need help to meet the requirements of this pact and other regulations coming in. We are working toward that and working toward educating the next generation to assist. Q: To that end, what kinds of skills will the students you are working with have upon entering the workforce, and might this impact Michigan businesses? A: We are generating a workforce equipped with design and development knowledge for sustainable materials and packaging. They will have the training and expertise to deliver alternatives to protect our environment. The research we are conducting is focused on solving real-world problems, and the students are connected to stakeholders and local companies to do so. For example, two of my graduate students have internships they are starting in January where they’ll have opportunities to put their skills and knowledge to work, as well as bring back learnings that will then positively impact our research. Q: What drives your passion here? A: Developing the technologies to reduce plastic pollution coming from packaging to benefit society and make the environment better – and training students at the same time – that’s an amazing thing. Q: What does the future of packaging look like in Michigan? A: I think packaging will include more and more recycled materials. In the longer term, I think we’ll see more biodegradable plastics and paper alternatives. I hope that the work we are doing will
