As many of you know, we just returned from dropping off our son, Andrew, at Duke University last week. We are very excited for him as it was his first choice school and he will be fencing for its Division I fencing team. We can only hope that he’d have the best time of his life during the next four years there. The school is beautiful and the administration did a superb job during the orientation to keep the students busy with a ton of activities – probably so that they won’t get homesick or notice that their families are not around anymore.
Photo: Duke University
Having said, it took a sizable amount of effort to keep my composure as I was leaving the campus. But I couldn’t help but to feel proud that he’s attending not just one of the best schools in the country, academically, but also one of the best green colleges in the country. It turns out, universities are not competing for just academic rankings anymore; there are as many rankings as there are colleges. And one of the rankings that I view as being just as important as academic rankings is the sustainability ranking. In fact, I posted an article about green colleges and where some of the colleges we visited last spring were on the prestigious Sierra Club’s Green College Rankings.
Since then, there have been more published lists and rankings and when we found out that he’s been accepted to Duke, I immediately went to check where Duke University is on this year’s list of green colleges.
I am happy to report that Duke ranked 9th on The Daily Green’s list, 54 on the prestigious Sierra Club’s list of cool green collegs (Duke came down to 54 in 2010 from 23 in 2009 mainly due to the fact that more and more colleges are becoming green and taking steps to be more sustainable which makes the rankings more prestigious and competitive), and made the Princeton’s Guide to 286 Green Colleges List (not ranked). Duke also made The Daily Green’s list of greenest college cafeterias.
There are many big and small colleges that are on these prestigious lists and even if you don’t have college aged kids, you should be aware of them. Why? Because these young college co-eds will decide our future one day. We need to make sure that they are thinking along the line of preserving and taking actions for the better future, that they are actually living the talk of taking care of the environment are not just being taught about it in classes.
So what does Duke University do that is so green?
You can read all about the specifics of what Duke University does in Princeton’s Green College Guide but let me tell you, what I witnessed on campus was, that all that published gibberish was not a lie. Take a look at some of the pictures I took from various places on campus.
These notices were posted in the girls bathroom in one of the dorms.
And in the hotel owned by Duke, where we stayed, there were these filtered water stations in the lounge areas.
And during the orientation, these compost and recycling stations were obvious presence at the picnic.
And some bathroom had these unique toilet flushing systems to save water. I thought this was the most clever!!
In more detail from The Daily Green and the Princeton Guide:
- All new construction at the campus must be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.
- In 2007, the school opened the Smart House dorm, a LEED platinum building.
- Across campus, the cafeterias buy local and organic foods, compost and promote recycling. They also use biodegradable and minimal packaging.
- Duke has done extensive surveys of dining practices, and it has it’s own sustainability website
- The administration provides $50,000 in grants to fund green projects initiated by students, faculty and staff such as composting program at Duke’s Marine Lab, travel to sustainability conferences, and install rainwater cisterns on campus buildings. Furthermore, grants can be used for educational purposes if it is clear that the education will lead to a reduction in Duke’s environmental impact.
- Eco-Olympics competition pits dorms against each other to reduce their energy and water consumption. The winning dorm gets a party—complete with Ben and Jerry’s ice cream—with the university’s president.
- Energy Star policy commits the university to buying energy-efficient appliances whenever possible.
- Numerous green organizations on campus include the Environmental Alliance, which works with the facilities department to hand out free energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs to incoming freshmen, and coordinates the Green Power Challenge, in which members of the Duke community purchase wind power (for around $50 per year) to offset their individual electrical consumption.
- There are also many opportunities for students to study sustainability in the classroom. The Nicholas School for the Environment offers a B.S. in Environmental Sciences and an A.B. in Environmental Science and Policy. Classes often have practical implications—one course called “Energy and the Campus” allows students to explore ways for Duke to conserve energy. Pratt School of Engineering may have the opportunity to design elements of the Smart Home, Duke’s sustainable living laboratory.
Smart Home is a live-in laboratory for student residents interested in exploring and showcasing sustainable designs for future homes. Duke requires its students to live on campus for the first three years and this small, LEED Platinum living and learning community is a choice destination for environmentally-concerned students on campus. Some of the green features incorporated into the Smart Home include: a green roof comprised of vegetation that insulates the home from the elements; two solar power systems that help heat water for showers and dish washing, including photovoltaic panels which transform sunlight into electricity that powers the lights in the dorm; and two rainwater collection systems to irrigate the property and provide water for non-potable indoor use.
The smart house is an exception to the typical Gothic architecture on campus but the opportunity to live in the green dorm is an opportunity that interested students can’t pass up. The university aims to achieve LEED Silver certification for all new construction and renovations. Given Duke’s 50-year plan to restructure its entire Central Campus, Duke spent $835 million dollars on 34 major construction projects initiated between February 2001 and November 2005 alone. Beginning with the West Edens Link residence hall, which opened in 2002, all new construction on campus has been registered with the U.S. Green Building Council. To date, the re-certified and 10 LEED-registered buildings pursuing LEED certification on campus.
Since Andrew is a freshman, he couldn’t take advantage of the smart house – he needed to be on the East Campus where all the freshmen are required to live – but it would have been so cool to live in one of these rooms, this mom thinks. However, Andrew’s building was as green as a dorm can get as his building and dorm room had CFL bulbs. (The university even gave out 900 CFL bulbs to incoming freshmen last year.) All the boxes that students unpacked were encouraged to be separated from garbage and put in a recycling area on each floor.
I wouldn’t have used the plastic lining but…
He has his own blue recycling bin in his room. I was going to give him a second garbage bin for that but Duke took care it! Ha! Not surprisingly, the university aims to be carbon neutral by 2024 – a lofty goal – but totally achievable, the rate they are going.
Students, faculty, and staff can elect to take the Green Pledge which publicly commits them to take responsibility for their role in greening Duke. The pledge states: “I will consider the environmental, social, and economic impact of my daily decisions and make every effort to reduce my ecological footprint. I will also share my individual sustainability efforts with others at Duke.” To track its successes, the university has implemented a media campaign to promote awareness of sustainability initiatives on campus. A series of videos showcasing campus greening efforts is available through the university’s sustainability website. The website, by the way, is awesome in itself because it has carbon calculator, Green Pledge badge, Ten Quick Tips on lowering your offset, and many many more resources for greening your life, on and off campus.
Check out this video that the students made to show how you can green your dorm room at Duke.
So how does your university rate as being a green college?
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