Green College Spotlight: Binghamton University in Binghamton, NY

Binghamton University was recognized by the Princeton Review as one of 11 colleges in America that reached the highest score possible, 99, on their new ‘green rating’ system.  It’s a well-deserved honor – Binghamton hasn’t just put sustainability initiatives at the top of their priorities on campus, they’ve also dedicated themselves to researching some of the planet’s most pressing challenges, from green technology to the proper management of precious natural resources.

Binghamton University – officially known as the State University of New York at Binghamton, or SUNY Binghamton – has adopted a wide variety of green programs and projects that encompass all aspects of campus operations, from implementing ‘Operation Green Space’, which transformed over 80,000 acres of paved areas to green space, to its Energy Management System (EMS) which monitors the school’s energy use.

The campus has gotten greener and greener every year, with students and faculty coming together to reduce energy consumption, conserve water, recycle as much as possible, cut down on unnecessary waste and use as much organic and local produce as possible throughout the year. Food waste is composted, a solar hot-water system is being installed and the campus is equipped with low-flow toilets and aerated faucets.  Electric motorcars and bikes are seen all over campus, parking meters are solar/battery powered and janitorial staff uses non-toxic cleaners.

Students have also participated in energy conservation contests, including one between residential halls in which the winning community, Dickinson, offered one-hour ‘blackouts’ and encouraged students to unplug electronic devices not in use. Other efforts include a student bus system, Move Out Week in which food and clothing are donated to charity, Zero Waste Earth Day, America Recycles Day and regular recycle ‘Blitz’ days.  This year’s energy savings was estimated at about 650,00 pounds of carbon.

Several of SUNY Binghamton’s buildings also received LEED certification including Mountainview’s Cascade and Windham Halls.  Green features in and around the buildings include water-efficient landscaping, use of local and regional materials, use of low-emitting materials, storm water management and indoor pollution controls.

Binghamton also offers more than 40 environment and sustainability courses each year, many of which are taught at the university’s 12,500-square-foot greenhouse. The E.W. Heier Teaching & Research Greenhouses functions as a living laboratory for the University’s plant and ecology related courses.  It holds over 6,000 exotic plants, representing over 1,200 distinct species.  Other ‘green’ research conducted at Binghamton University include sensor systems related to environmental technologies, the natural features and human effects on watersheds and alternative energy technology.

One of the things we might see coming out of Binghamton sometime soon is the world’s first affordable fuel cell car.  Right now, professor of chemistry Chuan-Jian Zhong is the lead researcher in a project that aims to lower the cost of manufacturing fuel cells, something that could be a huge breakthrough in the green auto industry.  We’re sure lots of fresh green ideas are going to be coming out of this school, and the world will be better off for it.

Link [Binghamton University]

How to Green Up Your Dorm Room

Just because you’re at college, on your own for the first time, doesn’t mean you have to join the millions of students across the country who generate thousands of tons of garbage each year due to poor choices in furniture and accessories.  Treehugger has a great guide over at Planet Green for greening up your dorm room, with tips ranging from using power strips instead of extension cords and picking out the right lighting to scoring free stuff and doing without disposables.

From Planet Green:

Beyond the actual stuff you’ll need, going green in your dorm room is also about adopting a green point of view. For example, instead of loading up on bottled water to help stay hydrated during all-night study sessions, grab a BPA-free water bottle (like a Bilt, Sigg or Kleen Kanteen) and a tabletop water filter, or a filtering system that you can keep in the fridge. Rather than running extension cords everywhere to power your electronic gear, put them all on power strips, so you can easily keep them from sucking too much phantom power out of the electricity grid. Instead of using plug-in air fresheners, stock up on plants that improve indoor air quality to help keep your room smelling fresh without all that toxic stinky stuff.

Read through the whole article to get facts on colleges and universities going green as well as links to dozens more college tips.

Link [Planet Green] via [Treehugger]

Photo credit: Flickr user (nutmeg)

Green College Spotlight: University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia was the first university in Canada to adopt a sustainable development policy, and to open a campus Sustainability Office.  The University of British Columbia (UBC) has campuses in Vancouver and Kelowna, British Columbia.  Named on Grist.org’s 2007 list of Greenest Colleges, UBC is well known as a vibrant school where environmental responsibility is at the top of their priority list.

UBC offers a unique academic program called SEEDS – social, ecological, economic development studies. It brings together students, faculty and staff for projects that address sustainability issues, including studying stormwater treatment alternatives, finding innovative ways to market Fair Trade coffee, reducing pesticide use and exploring a sustainable food system for the campus.  Students receive academic credit for their participation.

Some of the ways in which UBC has risen above other Canadian colleges on the ecological front include a comprehensive energy management program, a variety of green campus structures, paper reduction efforts, and a team of sustainability coordinators that includes both staff and students.  UBC has been honored with Green Campus Recognition from the World Wildlife Federation for three years, and the college offers more than 300 sustainability-related courses.

UBC’s Residential Environmental Assessment Program was launched in 2006 to steward development in the college’s University Town neighborhoods. The program uses a residential green rating system to determine how green the buildings are, and assesses water consumption, energy consumption, indoor environmental quality and material and resource use. The REAP program has ratings that range from Basic Compliance to Platinum, and helps make UBC one of the greenest campuses in Canada.

Green buildings on campus include the LEED gold-rated Life Sciences Center, the award-winning C.K. Choi Building for the Institute of Asian Research and the Liu Center for the Study of Global Issues.  The C.K. Choi Building features many used and recycled materials, natural ventilation and composting toilets; the Liu Center is partially constructed of ‘fly ash’, a waste material from coal-firing power plants that replaces cement in the concrete mix.  The Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory is pending LEED silver certification, and the ICICS/Computer Science building boasts a mechanical system that uses chilled slab for cooling.

Check out UBC’s Sustainability Office home page, where you can see real-time figures of sheets of copy paper, kWh of electricity and liters of water used as well as the amounts of these resources that have been saved and how much money these efforts have saved the school. On the same page, you can view videos of UBC’s green building tour and sustainability initiatives.

College Spotlight: The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington

The Evergreen State College is appropriately named, nestled in an evergreen forest in the southern part of Washington State. Evergreen has been honored several times in lists for greenest colleges in the U.S., including Grist’s 2007 15 Green Colleges and Universities. They’ve committed to being a carbon-neutral campus, incorporated eco-friendly designs into their buildings, taken charge of their waste management practices and much more.

Evergreen’s strong commitment to sustainability is evident in many aspects of the college. In terms of curriculum, they offer an oft-praised undergraduate program in environmental studies as well as a Master in Environmental Studies. Full-time interdisciplinary programs in energy studies, environmental design and ecological agriculture are available.

On the 1,000-acre campus, which includes about 800 acres of woods, forest and saltwater beach used for teaching and learning, you’ll find green roofs, native vegetation and teaching gardens. There’s also an organic farm and Center for Ecological Living and Learning, where sustainable agriculture is taught in a hands-on environment. Its newest teaching facility is a LEED gold certified green building.

Students have also worked to put many of the college’s green programs in place, including a self-imposed fee for purchasing green, non-polluting energy at a cost of $100,000 per year (total). 100% of Evergreen State’s energy is green. The college has a sustainable food service, with 28%-38% of weekly food purchases being local, local organic and organic. They’ve also got a sustainable housing checkout, which has resulted in donations to 10 non-profits.

Of pledging to be carbon-neutral, the college President Thomas L. Purce said,

“Since 1971, Evergreen has built a national reputation for environmental studies at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Its graduates and faculty are leaders in addressing environmental challenges locally, nationally and globally. By joining the Presidents Climate Commitment, and building sustainability into our strategic plan as a top priority, we are sharpening our focus on climate issues and environmental responsibility. We hope to set an example others can follow.

Sustainability isn’t just a bandwagon we’re hopping onto. It’s woven into the very fabric of our identity, and history, as an institution.”

Evergreen State plans to take its initiatives even further in the future. It has a Sustainable Task Force in place to research and inform college decision-making, and has employed a full-time Sustainability Coordinator. The college has put a ‘strategic plan’ in place to ensure that they constantly improve, building sustainability right into their core.

Prospective students can learn more at the Evergreen State website, apply online or schedule a visit.

More Info for College Students: Princeton Review Adding Sustainability Ratings to their College Rankings

The jury’s still out on whether college ratings provided by outlets like Newsweek and the U.S. News and World Report are actually helpful to students and their families. There have been a lot of questions about some of the statistics used to rank schools, and some colleges have been known to intentionally skew data to rank higher.

One way that these college rankings can be helpful to college students, however, is getting a feel for a school’s eco-friendliness via The Princeton Review’s new sustainability ratings. Beginning this year, you’ll be able to see a school’s ‘green rating’ in The Princeton Review’s annual college rankings.

From the Maneater:

The Princeton Review spokeswoman Harriet Brand said the “green rating” measures how well schools are using their environmental practices to deliver a better campus experience and to prepare students to succeed in their future careers.

The rating criteria includes how environmentally responsible a school’s policies are, whether students have a quality of life on campus that is both healthy and sustainable and how well a school is preparing its students for employment and for citizenship in a world defined by environmental challenges.

The data for the rating is based entirely on the 2007-2008 academic year.

Adding a rating like this to widely read rankings from the Princeton Review, which many prospective students and parents take very seriously, could be a great thing for the future of green practices in colleges. It could introduce a little competition into the sustainability practices at the schools highlighted in the issue. Students win, the environment wins – sounds good to us.

Link [The Maneater]

Photo credit: Flickr user katmere