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S. Y. Teh and H. L. Koh
with the aspirations of the UN DESD (2005–2014). A key aspiration is to promote
education that ensures that the fulfilment of the needs of today would not compromise the access of the future generations to the gifts and bounty of nature. Under
the University in a Garden Program, as a part of ESD, USM embarked on several
projects to enhance campus wide environment and ecosystem. This section provides
a narrative on several in-campus case studies to improve the management of air quality, water quality and storm water. The two study sites selected for these projects are
(i) the compound surrounding the School of Chemical Sciences (SCS) adjacent to
the New Science Complex (NSC) and (ii) the flood retention lake known as Tasik
Harapan (TH). In these research programs led by the SMS, quantitative methodology in the form of simple mathematics or robust simulation models was used to
assess the current campus environment and if deemed necessary, find sustainable
solutions to improve the environment. Some of the quantitative approaches used for
these in-campus studies were subsequently extended to areas beyond the campus.
Specifically, the methodology used for evaluating storm water management in USM
campus was extended for simulation of flood management options in the Penang
Island. Finally, a recent initiative for assessing and mitigating the adverse impact of
climate change on coastal groundwater and vegetation is then presented. Involving
many parties working towards common SDGs in the campus, these projects served as
vivid examples of good research in promoting ESD and SDGs in university. Indeed,
the knowledge and skills acquired empower USM scientists and graduate students to
share their expertise in several environmental studies nationally and internationally,
serving to empower education under ESD.
2.1 Air Environment
The NSC was completed in early 2000 to provide offices for the SMS and the School
of Computer Sciences (SCPS). The NSC building is located near to the SCS (Fig. 1a),
which has numerous exhaust chimneys (Fig. 1b) for the release of chemicals used in
the SCS. A research project was conducted to evaluate the potential health hazards of
fume emissions from the SCS on the NSC, in view of the proximity between SCS and
NSC. The emitted fumes could be removed before leaving the chimneys by means
of scrubbers that would demand hefty capital investment and that would also require
significant quantity of water for its proper operation. The use of scrubbers would have
transferred an air pollution problem to one associated with water pollution and water
consumption, a typical trade-off often encountered in achieving SDGs. After considerable debate, it was deemed desirable to avoid the scrubbers if it can be confirmed by
mathematical modelling study that this would not lead to air pollution harmful to the
campus community. Hence, modelling analysis was performed by means of the air
transport model ISC-AERMOD View (Tesse et al. 2000), developed by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), to evaluate the potential hazard
due to the fumes emissions from the SCS. As NSC and SCS are close to each other,
building wake effects must be carefully considered, as it may significantly increase
S. Y. Teh and H. L. Koh
with the aspirations of the UN DESD (2005–2014). A key aspiration is to promote
education that ensures that the fulfilment of the needs of today would not compromise the access of the future generations to the gifts and bounty of nature. Under
the University in a Garden Program, as a part of ESD, USM embarked on several
projects to enhance campus wide environment and ecosystem. This section provides
a narrative on several in-campus case studies to improve the management of air quality, water quality and storm water. The two study sites selected for these projects are
(i) the compound surrounding the School of Chemical Sciences (SCS) adjacent to
the New Science Complex (NSC) and (ii) the flood retention lake known as Tasik
Harapan (TH). In these research programs led by the SMS, quantitative methodology in the form of simple mathematics or robust simulation models was used to
assess the current campus environment and if deemed necessary, find sustainable
solutions to improve the environment. Some of the quantitative approaches used for
these in-campus studies were subsequently extended to areas beyond the campus.
Specifically, the methodology used for evaluating storm water management in USM
campus was extended for simulation of flood management options in the Penang
Island. Finally, a recent initiative for assessing and mitigating the adverse impact of
climate change on coastal groundwater and vegetation is then presented. Involving
many parties working towards common SDGs in the campus, these projects served as
vivid examples of good research in promoting ESD and SDGs in university. Indeed,
the knowledge and skills acquired empower USM scientists and graduate students to
share their expertise in several environmental studies nationally and internationally,
serving to empower education under ESD.
2.1 Air Environment
The NSC was completed in early 2000 to provide offices for the SMS and the School
of Computer Sciences (SCPS). The NSC building is located near to the SCS (Fig. 1a),
which has numerous exhaust chimneys (Fig. 1b) for the release of chemicals used in
the SCS. A research project was conducted to evaluate the potential health hazards of
fume emissions from the SCS on the NSC, in view of the proximity between SCS and
NSC. The emitted fumes could be removed before leaving the chimneys by means
of scrubbers that would demand hefty capital investment and that would also require
significant quantity of water for its proper operation. The use of scrubbers would have
transferred an air pollution problem to one associated with water pollution and water
consumption, a typical trade-off often encountered in achieving SDGs. After considerable debate, it was deemed desirable to avoid the scrubbers if it can be confirmed by
mathematical modelling study that this would not lead to air pollution harmful to the
campus community. Hence, modelling analysis was performed by means of the air
transport model ISC-AERMOD View (Tesse et al. 2000), developed by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), to evaluate the potential hazard
due to the fumes emissions from the SCS. As NSC and SCS are close to each other,
building wake effects must be carefully considered, as it may significantly increase