Green College Spotlight: Yale University
Yale University is one of America’s best-known institutes of higher learning, but did you know it’s also a leader in campus sustainability? Yale is among just a handful of colleges and universities that have really proven their dedication to going green, with impressive achievements in virtually every area of sustainability on campus.
Yale signed the G8 University Summit Sapporo Sustainability Declaration, and employs four full-time staff in its Office of Sustainability. The university committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and has already made quite a bit of headway, reducing emissions by 11 percent in just two years. 25% of the Environmental Science Center’s energy needs are provided by a 250-kilowatt high-efficiency fuel cell. Yale also has its own $100 million co-generation facility which has increased fuel efficiency from 35% to 60-65%.
A big part of Yale’s success with lowering their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions is due to changing the habits of students, faculty and staff as well as improving energy efficiency in all of its buildings. Residential energy use contests encourage students to cut back energy use as much as possible, while retrofits in Yale buildings have also had a considerable impact. All new construction projects at Yale will have to meet LEED silver certification, and the school currently has one each of Silver-, Gold- and Platinum-certified buildings.
Students at Yale definitely don’t need to bring vehicles on campus, since there are so many green transportation options. A free shuttle service will get them into town, plus there’s a commercial car-sharing service and a departmental bike program. Yale’s fleet includes seven hybrids and five electric vehicles.
Recycling is one area where Yale definitely shines. The university began recycling efforts 39 years ago, on Earth Day 1970. Recycling contests encourage mindful waste management, and Yale also has a comprehensive desk-side recycling program as well as an e-waste program. In the dining hall, where a large percentage of the food is locally grown and organic, food waste is composted and biodegradable take-out containers are available.
Student involvement in sustainability at Yale is sky-high. There are a number of green student groups on campus, and students are employed by the Office of Sustainability, the Yale Sustainable Food Project and the recycling department.
Yale has set some ambitious goals, and there’s no doubt that they’ll continue to make amazing progress toward becoming a fantastic example for colleges and universities around the world.
Link Yale University
Related posts:
- Green College Spotlight: University of New Hampshire
- Green College Spotlight: Arizona State University at Tempe
- Green College Spotlight: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Green College Spotlight: Emory University
- Green College Spotlight: Stanford University
This entry was posted on Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 10:30 am and is filed under Consciousness, Green Living, Health, Science, Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
