Universities are leading the sustainability revolution
When it comes to educating the next generation about energy and resource sustainability, it should surprise no one that America’s colleges and universities are leading the way.
It’s a movement that stretches from coast to coast, including public and private institutions of all sizes. Students are often at the heart of these campus efforts, first serving as catalysts for action, then helping to shape their universities’ go-green plans.
It’s generational for sure. Living smaller and more efficiently, sociologists say, is a way of life for today’s teens and 20- and 30-year-olds. The trend is arguably less common among us older folks, but that is changing, too, as the younger brigades shape the marketplace that encompasses—and influences—all consumers.
The Princeton Review recently released its Guide to 286 Green Colleges, and Richmond is prominently listed among a Who’s Who of top universities—Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT—great company to keep. The guide features seven universities from Virginia, but Richmond is the only private university in Virginia to earn the distinction.
One of Edward Ayers’ early actions as president of the University was to sign the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, a venture that today boasts some 300 signatories. In Virginia, 16 university presidents have agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to promote sustainability education and research among students and faculty.
Ayers’ signature set the University on a course to develop our first-ever Climate Action Plan. This baseline strategy will push the University to cut our greenhouse gas emissions significantly over the next decade en route to becoming fully carbon-neutral. Such plans don’t come together—much less succeed—without university-wide support. And we seem to have it. Richmond’s administrators, faculty, staff, and students are embracing a “teachable moment” that could last a lifetime.
Of course, campus-wide buy-in also must include a capital funding commitment. Retrofitting existing buildings and going the extra mile to construct highly energy-efficient new ones comes at a price, but often with calculable savings, too. Yale, for example, says it will meet its aggressive energy goals by spending less than 1 percent of its annual operating budget on sustainability initiatives between now and 2020. Big projects with the greatest greenhouse gas reductions and return on investment are being done first.
UR, like Yale, is unquestionably committed when it comes to energy-efficient construction and renovation. Already, nine Richmond buildings are LEED-certified or in the process of becoming LEED-certified. That’s a remarkable number for an institution of our size. LEED, by the way, stands for leadership in energy and environmental design.
It is essential that Richmond’s administrators have made this commitment, but ultimately the University’s ability to achieve its sustainability goals will depend on our students. The good news is they are motivated—if not passionate—and broadly influential when it comes to protecting the environment.
The most successful campus sustainability plans are curricula-based, where work spreads from classroom discussion to student-faculty research to cutting-edge facilities management. UR’s new environmental studies program—which brings together science, geography, economics, and politics, among other disciplines—has students actively engaged in researching and developing the elements of the University’s Climate Action Plan.
Universities can be more dynamic than most people realize. They are uniquely positioned to deploy human and intellectual capital to solve problems. They can quickly turn theory into action, measuring the results and refining the approach as they progress. It is gratifying to see this happening right now at the University of Richmond. Students, faculty, staff, and administrators are working together to learn from the past, seize the moment, and shape the future.
L. Preston Bryant Jr., G’88, is a senior vice president of McGuireWoods Consulting. He served as Virginia secretary of natural resources from 2006 to 2010.
Send comments about this story to krhodes@richmond.edu.
