November / December 2008

War Eagle and welcome to
eCommons, the
electronic version of
Auburn Commons.

Here's a look at what is happening this month:

An Auburn University study sheds new light on just how valuable shade trees are in reducing homeowners' electricity bills during hot summer months.

Professor David Laband in the Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences says electricity usage and costs will be 11.4 percent less if a house has just 17.5 percent heavy shade coverage. This is compared to a house with no shade.

"The keys are heavy foliage and late afternoon shade," Laband said. "The savings can be very significant for homeowners. Over the years I had read statements that shade trees reduce electricity consumption, so we wanted to put a dollar amount to it."

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Southeastern landowners interested in converting their land into longleaf pine forests for the economic and environmental benefits now have an important resource for information and services in the recently created Center for Longleaf Pine Ecosystems in Auburn University's School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences.

There is growing recognition by Alabama landowners of the economic, ecological and recreational returns from longleaf pine forests and in the last 10 years longleaf pine acreage in Alabama has increased by 60 percent.

Auburn University is recognized as the leading university in the nation in the study, research and management of longleaf pine and the new center is the only one of its kind in the country.

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Auburn University's College of Business has established a new ethics center to help organizations avoid unethical practices and to teach students about appropriate business conduct.

The Auburn University Center for Ethical Organizational Cultures, which has already begun operations, conducts surveys for clients who wish to determine if their organizations are operating in a proper manner.

"If we find an unethical culture, we will help the management develop a plan to correct it," said Achilles Armenakis, Auburn University's James T. Pursell Sr. Eminent Scholar in Ethics. "The small things we find now may keep the organization from doing much worse later, like 'cooking' the books."

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Auburn University selects PureVision technology for biorefining initiative

Auburn University's Natural Resources Management & Development Institute and PureVision Technology Inc. have entered into a collaborative agreement in which PureVision is providing a continuous biomass fractionation process development unit to Auburn for use in research and technology commercialization initiatives.

The unit rapidly converts cellulosic biomass into sugars and lignin for making many biobased products including biofuels and industrial chemicals. It will be used by Auburn's Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts and will be located in newly renovated space in the existing Forest Products Laboratory on the Auburn University campus. It also will be available for interdisciplinary collaborative programs to advance biomass research programs.

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Auburn University honored the outstanding academic achievements of four faculty members and recognized many others at an awards ceremony Oct. 8. The event, at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center, marked the third time these annual awards have been given in a combined, formal ceremony.

Among those receiving awards were Daniel D. Butler, the Thomas Walter Professor of Technology Management and associate professor of marketing in the College of Business, and Steven Kincaid, alumni professor of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Both received the Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching. Rex Dunham, alumni professor of fisheries and allied aquacultures in the College of Agriculture, was presented with the Creative Research and Scholarship Award. Chris Rodger, the Scharnagel Professor of Mathematical Sciences in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, received the Award for Excellence in Faculty Outreach.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated Auburn University as a Center of Excellence for Watershed Management, enhancing Auburn's efforts to address water quality and availability issues in Alabama and the region. This is only the fourth Center of Excellence to be designated in the Southeast and the first in the state of Alabama.

Auburn University President Jay Gogue and officials from the EPA and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize the partnership between Auburn, the EPA and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

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Leading military and technology industries in Huntsville hosted 90 Auburn students in business and engineering as future career prospects at the Space and Rocket Center and other area locations Oct. 23-24. Staff and faculty from the College of Business also attended the event.

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