UNC works to improve sustainability

UNC is doing its part to preserve natural resources and reduce waste — but it could do better according to two recent sustainability reports.

The Sustainable Endowments Institute released last week the College Sustainability Report Card a comprehensive report on campus sustainability initiatives.

UNC scored a B+ an improvement from last year's B-.

The University's grade puts it in the top 11 percent of the 300 universities on the report card for sustainability practices said Mark Orlowski executive director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute.

Only 15 schools in the U.S. and Canada received an A- the highest grade given to any institution.

Report cards were produced based on nine categories.

UNC scored an A on administration food and recycling green building transportation and investment priorities.

The University also received a B on climate change and energy and student involvement. UNC got a D on endowment transparency and was not evaluated on the ninth category shareholder engagement.

Brian Cain UNC Sustainability Office's research and outreach manager" said he was pleased with UNC's score.

Cain also said he thought UNC deserved a better grade on student involvement.

""We've got a student body that's willing to put action behind words"" he said.

A second report, submitted to the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment in September, focused on greenhouse gas emissions.

As a signatory of the commitment in Jan. 2007, former Chancellor James Moeser pledged UNC would achieve climate neutrality, or no net emissions.

Daniel Arneman, UNC's greenhouse gas emissions specialist, said he found that 90 percent of emissions come from supplying heat, cooling and electricity to buildings.

The path to reduce emissions further is threefold, said Executive Director Lee Bodner of ecoAmerica, which helped to implement the commitment.

First is reducing energy use in buildings primarily and transportation" second is switching to clean sources of power and third is buying carbon offsets to mitigate the emissions that you can't eliminate directly" Bodner said.

And Cain said the campus will become even more sustainable once UNC's in-progress initiatives and projects come to fruition.

Those projects include several new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design buildings, which are characterized by environmental features, and an initiative that will treat waste water for nondrinking uses.

Arneman said the results of the report also help to point UNC in the right direction.

Now that we understand where the emissions are coming from" we can start to work on an action plan for achieving reduction" he said. You have to tailor the reduction strategy to the actual emissions reality for the campus.""



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.