By Denise Fitzpatrick

The University of Louisville recently tied with Berea College as Kentucky’s top “green” school on a report card issued by the nonprofit Sustainable Endowments Institute. This Rockefeller Philanthropy project rates 332 North American schools on their eco-friendliness.

With an overall B+, UofL received an A in five of the nine rating categories: administration, climate change and energy, transportation, endowment transparency and investment priorities.

“It’s heartening to see our efforts recognized,” says UofL President James Ramsey. “About two years ago, we made sustainability one of our top priorities. Our university has been working very hard to gain ground in this area.”

Last year Ramsey signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a campaign launched by more than 600 higher education institutions to curb global warming. Since then UofL has begun a $21.7 million project to trim its energy use, compiled its first greenhouse gas emissions report, established the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research and Environmental Stewardship and formed a university-wide sustainability council.

The university also hired a new sustainability coordinator, Justin Mog, to lead efforts to become greener.

“What’s been encouraging to see in my first few months is that so much important groundwork has already been laid and many people at UofL are responding enthusiastically to the challenge of sustainability,” Mog says.

Finding the Baseline

Without knowing where you are, you can’t know how to get where you want to be. That was the simple philosophy behind UofL’s first greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions report, released in October.

“Before the university can take steps to reduce GHG emissions and its contribution to global climate change, the university must have a baseline for comparison,” Mog says.

According to the report, UofL produced average net emissions equivalent to 197,506 metric tons of carbon dioxide for fiscal years 2006 through 2008.

This includes emissions from sources owned or controlled by the university and those produced off-site by Louisville Gas & Electric Co., on the university’s behalf. The number also considers other indirect emissions generated off-site by faculty, staff and student commuter travel, business travel and waste transported to landfills.

The largest portion of UofL’s carbon footprint (58 percent) comes from emissions produced from purchased electricity generated from coal.

“While the university does not have direct control over how this electricity is produced, it is not powerless to create change,” Mog says, noting that there are several things the university can and will do to improve that statistic.

They include implementing energy efficiency initiatives on Belknap Campus as part of a contract with Siemens Corp. This Illinois-based company specializes in energy and environmental solutions, building controls, fire safety and security systems.

UofL and Siemens recently began work on a $21.7 million, 13-year performance contract to make the campus more energy efficient. The massive project to shrink the carbon footprint of Belknap Campus is expected to reduce the university’s electricity use by more than 20 percent and its natural gas and coal use by nearly 40 percent each.

The total energy savings will cut UofL’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by 55.5 million pounds, an amount equal to taking 4,600 cars off the road for a year, Ramsey says.

The project includes updating heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, cutting back water consumption and installing more energy-efficient lighting and controls in 69 buildings totaling about 4.5 million square feet. UofL will pay for the improvements with money it saves in reduced energy costs—an anticipated $6,400 a day or more than $31 million over the life of the contract.

UofL and Siemens announced last year they were teaming up on the project, driven by the findings of a detailed energy audit Siemens began on Belknap last fall. A similar audit of the university’s downtown Health Sciences and east end Shelby campuses is under way and could raise UofL’s total savings to more than $50 million, officials say.

Simple Day-To-Day

While the university and Siemens work on the large infrastructure changes, faculty, staff and students on all three campuses are playing a vital role in reducing electricity usage every time they come to campus, Mog says.

“Significant reductions can result from simple, day-to-day behavioral changes like remembering to turn off lights and equipment when vacating rooms or choosing to take the stairs instead of calling an elevator,” he says.

Further reductions can come from the “choices each of us make about what to plug in or turn on,” Mog adds.

Also, the university’s green purchasing policy calls for only energy efficient appliances, electronics and computers, such as those with U.S. EPA Energy Star certification.

“The choices we all make—big and small—add up to a significant impact on the amount of pollution released into the atmosphere,” Mog says. “We are all in this together and UofL has an important role to play in leading the way toward climate neutrality and a more sustainable tomorrow.”

Among other recommendations for reducing UofL’s greenhouse gas emissions included in the GHG report are:

• Finding ways to produce more of the university’s electricity on campus from renewable sources such as the demonstration photovoltaic array on the roof of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering.
• Pursuing improved efficiency in how UofL heats and cools buildings.
• Increasing the use of more sustainable ways of commuting to campus.

UofL will submit a climate action plan by Sept. 15, 2010, that outlines a long-term strategy for how it can continue to minimize its greenhouse gas emissions and, ultimately, seek climate neutrality.

The 2020 Plan—UofL’s strategic blueprint for the next 11 years—sets measurable goals for improving its sustainable practices through 2020, including boosting its score in a sustainability, tracking and assessment rating system being developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

“We’ll be making our campuses greener and saving money as we go,” Ramsey says.