Forbes Reports on Colleges and Universities Energy Saving Efforts

As reported in Forbes magazine

Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., has pledged to be completely carbon-neutral by 2020. Overlooking Monterey Bay on the West Coast, the University of California-Santa Cruz saves an estimated 300,000 on water each year by eliminating trays in its dining halls. And in the Deep South, the University of Georgia, which subsidizes public transportation on campus, now has nearly 30 student organizations related to sustainability.

 These schools all make our annual list of America's Greenest Colleges and Universities, and if they're any indication, environmentalism is booming on campuses nationwide. Among the reasons: money. By investing in energy-efficiency measures, schools can save millions of dollars over the long haul. For example, Harvard University, which also makes our list, last year installed energy-efficient lighting in its parking garages. It's expected to save the school an estimated $400,000 per year on its electric bill, according to the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI).

Each year since 2006 the institute has released a College Sustainability Report Card, grading more than 300 institutions (this year) on a range of green efforts, including student involvement, transportation and green building policies, investment priorities, food and recycling programs, and the administration's overall approach to sustainability. This year seven schools received A grades: Brown University, Dickinson, the University of Minnesota, Oberlin College, Pomona College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Yale. Another 45 earned a A-minuses.

"It's really impressive how far a large portion of higher education has come in the last four years," says Mark Orlowski, SEI's founder and executive director. He says in many cases students have been a driving force behind a school's green tide. Conversely, schools are increasingly aware that if they want to attract the best students, they need to show a commitment to sustainability.

In compiling our own list of greenest colleges, we've used the SEI's report card as a starting point, but we've also taken other factors into account. Does the Princeton Review also include a school on its elite Green Honor Roll? Does the Environmental Protection Agency recognize the institution as one of its top collegiate purchasers of green power? Is a school tracking its own efforts at environmental stewardship through a program run by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education? Has it signed on to the Presidents' Climate Commitment to achieve net neutrality in greenhouse gas emissions? Is environmentalism a theme of its academics?

For example, for the last 39 years Northland College in Ashland, Wis., has given its liberal arts curriculum an environmental twist. Students can enroll in courses of study focused on sustainable agriculture, man's connections with nature, or the Lake Superior watershed (which includes a one-month trip around the watershed itself). Maine's Unity College, which bills itself as "America's Environmental College," offers green-study programs such as Conservation Law Enforcement and Environmental Writing. Both schools make use of renewable power sources to feed their electricity needs.

Schools get high marks for energy efficiency and green building standards. Some institutions, including Yale and the University of Minnesota, have their own co-generation power facilities, which produce both heat and electricity. Oberlin College in Ohio and Boston's Northeastern University are among many schools that require all new buildings meet at least LEED silver standards (a level of green certification established by the U.S. Green Building Council). Oberlin has also committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2025. Two years ago Northeastern replaced nearly 70,000 light bulbs on campus with more energy-efficient options in an effort to save $1.2 million over six years.

To read the complete article and view a slide show please visit www.forbes.com.

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