Sustainability Challenge Grants 2022 Funded Projects

According to the CDC, 35% of adults in Kentucky are living with at least one type of disability, including mobility (18%), cognition or intellectual (17%), independent living (11%), hearing (8%), or vision (7%) impairments.18 Therefore, to create inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable communities (SDG, Goal 11) in Kentucky—PWD must be meaningfully included and supported in sustainability plans. Additionally, many PWD are reliant on a caregiver to navigate daily challenges and/or make choices (e.g., purchase decisions). Organizations that intentionally include these voices and communicate how their sustainability efforts support specific needs, may (a) minimize the risk of exacerbating inequities, (b) improve company perceptions, and (c) contribute to better environmental outcomes.

The goal of this project is to leverage a transdisciplinary approach to answer this call. This project would develop and pilot inclusive best practices for organizations to implement CSR communication, or augment existing efforts in ways that include and support PWD. This work will be informed by the principles of universal design (UD).19,20 This project seeks to better understand the experience of climate-related issues from the perspective of PWD and their caregivers. Then, using UD principles as a guiding framework, the insights gathered from this research will inform the development of best practices for organizations (both the university and Lexington businesses) to implement inclusive CSR communication. Businesses in general, and strategic communication managers in particular, can use these recommendations to improve their CSR efforts in ways that give voice to more people. Importantly, approaching this project from the lens of UD, all individuals—including those representing other marginalized groups—would benefit from the recommendations.

Team Members: Dr. Erin B. Hester, Assistant Professor, Department of Integrated Strategic Communication, College of Communication and Information; Sarah A. Geegan, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Integrated Strategic Communication; Lindsey C. Mullis, MS, Disability Program Administrator, UK Human Development Institute; Jason Jones, Disability Specialist, UK Human Development Institute; Laura Butler, RS, MPH, Disability Program Administrator, UK Human Development Institute; Ketrell McWhorter, PhD, MBA, ACE-CPT, ACE-FNS, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, College of Public Health; Janie Cambron, RS, MPH, Associate Dean for Practice and Workforce Development, College of Public Health; Ariel Arthur, Manager, Center for Health Equity Transformation, College of Medicine

Through documentation, education, and interpretation this project, Documenting Change, seeks to capture the educational opportunities that are presented as construction begins on the new College of Design home, The Gray Design Building. This adaptive reuse project will be a textbook example of sustainable practice in construction and by examining the life of the Reynold’s Building, its multiple uses, and its physical evolution into the Gray Design Building, project proponents seek to leverage the ongoing construction project to create an educational experience that illustrates the importance of adaptive reuse as a tool for sustainability.

Team Members: SK O’Brien, Assistant Professor, Department of Product Design; Emily Bergeron, Assistant Professor, Department of Historic Preservation; Travis Rose, Lecturer, Department of Historic Preservation; Daniel Livingston, Principal Graphic Designer + Part-Time Instructor, College of Design; Joe Brewer, Director of Technology and Facilities, College of Design

The project described in this proposal will continue a suite of activities that include education and engagement, design, transformation of selected landscapes, and research assessing human and environmental benefits. While the original project focused on a plan for pilot project design and implementation, this grant proposal is for two intertwined activities that will extend the effort begun in the first challenge grant funded project. One group of activities is concentrated on the continued design and implementation of planting to create a more visually and experientially enveloping nature-infused landscape at the Markey Cancer Center. The second group of activities will develop a design guidelines document that can provide metric-based design guidance for infusing nature into future development on UK’s medical campus.

Team Members: Therese Bocklage, Professor and Vice Chair for Education, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Stacy Borden, UK Grounds Manager; Gregory Davis, Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Maureen Dreckman, Acting Facilities Planning Manager, Campus Planning Department; Rick Durham, Extension Professor and Faculty Advisor to the UK Horticulture Club, Department of Horticulture; Shari Dutton, Staff Horticulturist, Department of Horticulture; Connie Jennings, MD Medical Director Integrative Medicine and Health; Jonathan Larson, Assistant Extension Professor, Department of Entomology; Jordan Phemister, Lecturer, Department of Landscape Architecture; Christopher Sass, Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture

The Sustainable Housing Initiative proposes to assemble campus experts on residential design, sustainable construction methods and materials, community engagement, and family financial literacy to generate new resources for the Cooperative Extension Service specific to sustainable construction and rehabilitation practices in the aftermath of floods, tornados, or other natural disasters, with a specific focus on financial feasibility, energy efficiency, environmental health, and sustainable materials.

Informed by a steering committee of Extension Agents and community members, the project will generate an illustrated pattern-book to educate both professional and DIY homebuilders on best practices regarding sustainable materials, construction methods, energy efficiency, and environmental health. To complement the publication, we will construct demonstration wall sections and mock-ups for public education as well as assemble a sustainable materials library.

Team Members: Prof. Jeff Fugate, Associate Professor of Extension, Architecture Housing and Community Design Specialist; Brenda Cockerham, Family & Consumer Sciences Agent Cooperative Extension, Johnson County; Dr. Nichole Huff, Assistant Professor of Extension, Family & Consumer Sciences Family Financial Education Specialist; Dr. Dan Kahl, Associate Director, CEDIK Community Engagement Specialist; Prof. Brent Sturlaugson, Assistant Professor, Architecture Sustainable Design Advisor; Prof. Bruce Swetnam, Associate Professor, Architecture Building Science & Construction Advisor; Prof. Helen Turner, Associate Professor, Interiors Sustainable Materials Advisor; Dr. Jeff Young, Director of Urban Extension Disaster Recovery Lead for UK Cooperative Extension

Kentucky bourbon distilleries filled over 2.4 million barrels of bourbon last year, generating over $9 billion for the state economy. The major byproduct of bourbon production is stillage, which consists of the spent grains and liquids leftover from distillation. For every gallon of bourbon produced ~10 gallons of stillage is generated resulting in the production of over 1.25 billion gallons of whole stillage last year. The management and disposal of this whole stillage is a current, growing, and costly problem for Kentucky distilleries (Figure 1). In order to keep a distillery operational, producers commonly dispose of whole stillage as livestock feed or invest significant time, energy, and overhead costs to process it into Distillers Dried Spent Grains (DDSG). On average, these practices typically cost an individual producer over $8000/day in transportation costs or energy and storage overheads associated with transformation of whole stillage into DDSG. These costs and challenges are driving a need to identify strategies for the sustainable, scalable, and more profitable management of waste stillage.

Team Members: Dr. Tyler Barzee, Assistant Professor of Bioprocess Engineering and Fermentation; Dr. Seth DeBolt, Professor of Horticulture and Director of the James B Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits; Norbert Bokros M.Sc, Department of Horticulture; Zachary Byrd, Department of Horticulture; Dr. Virginia Verges, Department of Horticulture