Green college honor roll announced
The Princeton Review has named 15 of the nation's universities to the 2010 Green Rating Honor Roll.
Mon, Jul 27 2009 at 12:46 PM EST
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Photos: Mark Boisclair Photography Every year, The Princeton Review publishes its list of the best colleges in the nation. As part of the list, the nation’s top green colleges are recognized and named to the Green Rating Honor Roll. Fifteen post-secondary institutions, including seven public colleges, made the 2010 honor roll.
The colleges were among 697 institutions that The Princeton Review included in their green ratings system. The green ratings were determined by using a university’s sustainability policies, eco-friendly practices and eco-minded academic programs. In order to make the honor roll, schools had to score 99 points, which is the maximum available.2010 Green Rating Honor Roll
- Arizona State University, Tempe campus
- Bates College (Lewiston, Me.)
- Binghamton University (State University of New York at Binghamton)
- College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, Me.)
- Colorado College (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
- Dickinson College (Carlisle, Pa.)
- Evergreen State College (Olympia, Wash.)
- Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Harvard College (Cambridge, Mass.)
- Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vt.)
- Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.)
- University of California (Berkeley, Calif.)
- University of New Hampshire (Durham, N.H.)
- University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.)
- Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)
I am proud to say that I am an Arizona State University Sun Devil. The university is training today’s students for tomorrow’s green industry jobs through the first-in-the-nation School of Sustainability. Students can earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in sustainability at ASU’s main campus.
The Tempe campus currently has five LEED-certified buildings with more undergoing the LEED certification process. Additionally, ASU has four buildings at satellite campuses that have already received LEED certification. All newly constructed buildings are required to be built to LEED Silver certification standards.
Atlanta-based Georgia Tech also made this prestigious list and is the only institution in the region to make the top 15. Speaking about the recognition, Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson said, ““We were an early adopter of the LEED standard for buildings, and have implemented numerous water conservation efforts resulting in substantial savings. In addition to winning many environmental awards for our efforts on campus, we are working to make a difference throughout the world. For example, the Water Resource Institute is helping to shape local, state and national policy. Georgia Tech is committed to responsible resource management.” Source: GA Tech
The sustainability trend at college institutions is becoming more popular. The Princeton Review only had 534 colleges receive a green rating for their 2009 review. Despite the economic crunch, the number is sure to grow again for the 2011 list.
For more information on the sustainability features of the top 15 green colleges, read the 2010 Green Rating Honor Roll school profiles.
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Comments
Katie
05/07/2010 12:41 PM
I am an alum of College of the Atlantic, and I can attest that not only the campus is green but so are the 350 students and faculty. With the major in human ecology, COA really makes a difference in the global community!
Anonymous
08/06/2009 17:18 PM
The Bainbridge Graduate Institute has two very sustainable campuses. One campus is completely off-grid and houses students in cob structures and cabins milled from materials on-site. All of the food is grown in 100-year old permaculture gardens, also on-site. The other campus is LEED gold certified (when gold was the highest standard) and has the second largest solar array in Washington state. There is also a Living Machine that uses biological processes to clean "grey" and "black" water.... More
Florencia
08/05/2009 00:54 AM
Williams College is one of three capuses in the country to introdue the Shorter Shower Program.
The incoming freshman at Williams College located in Williamstown, Massachusetts will be introduced to more than a new roomate this fall...also to the Ripple Products Duck shower timer. The Thursday Club, an environmental campus club is sponsoring short showers for students. Not only will students save water and energy with short showers... they will get to class on time!
More info go to .... More
Leon Springer
Today 14:10 PM
Enter your comments here How did Northeastern make the list and not UC Santa Cruz? Its Environmental Studies program is fantastic! I graduated from NU and just wanted to know how it made the list.
ButlerBulldog
08/01/2009 13:08 PM
We can argue over the criteria used for this list perhaps, but I think it's still notable that no school from the Midwest made this list. I love living in this region but hate the "wait and see" policy tactics that many Midwest states, business and colleges use. This is not an issue we can wait on, and I hope this motivates some Midwesterners to play catch up!
Sally Lacy
08/03/2009 14:55 PM
In reference to lamenting the lack of green colleges in the mid-west, you might take a look at Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana. They have the Rivers Institute on campus, offer ecology and geo-chemistry classes for high school students in the summer, and are taking a number of steps toward sustainability, thanks in large part to an open minded adminstration, an enthusiastic faculty and the energy and efforts of a recent graduate.
Treefriend
07/31/2009 21:29 PM
Glad to see Evergreen on the list. I'm sure we are number one!!
GreenHoosier
07/31/2009 19:42 PM
I was disappointed to not see Ball State University listed here especailly after they just replaced an ancient coal fired relic with one of the largest geothermal projects in the country - cutting their carbon footprint in half.
Anonymous
07/31/2009 14:01 PM
Expect to see SDSU on this list next year. They just voted to have their new Student Union LEED Platinum and have passed a referendum by the students to have their student fees increased to do sustainable enhancements in all of their facilities. SDSU also offers Professional Certificates in the Green Industry.
Anonymous
07/31/2009 11:50 AM
What about Bainbridge Graduate Institute??? They completely overlooked it. The school is dedicated to sustainability offering a certificate program and MBA program in Sustainable Business. Every class incorporates sustainability (ie. triple bottom line accounting) and even the campus itself is sustainable (ie. green buildings, locally grown food).
Elisabeth
07/31/2009 10:45 AM
This article wasn't at all what I expected. I think in order for a college to be "green", not only must it have LEED certified buildings, it also needs to offer programs for students who want to learn how to lead sustainable lives. For example, does your school teach triple bottom line economics? Is your business and management program focused on sustainable business? Does your IT/computer science department teach how to build energy efficient hardware and software?
It's more than just the.... More
frankieg
08/01/2009 00:47 AM
How relevant is it if university buildings are so called "green" yet students graduate without even understanding the importance or simplicity of reducing waste, separating recyclables, turning off unused "energy ghosts", and leave unaware they are a global citizen with profound impacts on the planet. This is FAR more important than buildings certified platinum LEED.
Randy
07/31/2009 15:57 PM
I have to agree with an earlier post. Sustainable living means more than LEEDS buildings. While that is a very important part, I would think a school should be doing more.
Universities should be teaching people why sustainable living needs to happen. The true costs of not being sustainable needs to be taught. Corporations that do not take into consideration the pollution they are emitting are adding an extra burden onto everyone else.
We need to move beyond the excuse that being.... More
Hannah ****
07/31/2009 10:34 AM
What about Maharishi University of Management?
They are currently building a "living building" for the Sustainable Living program, which produces more energy than it uses.
Check them out!
Anonymous
07/29/2009 21:57 PM
Enter your comments here
Warren Wilson College seems to defines a green campus. what othern college raises its own organic food & livestock?
Anonymous
07/29/2009 15:55 PM
wahhh! where's my school? waaahh!!
Sally
08/03/2009 15:02 PM
It's clear you're wanting to weigh in, but not clear how you're helping move the conversation forward. As a parent of a prospective college student, it helps to see what is happening on college campuses that didn't make the elite 15. I also agree with some of the other writers that what a student may want from a green campus goes beyond the certification of buildings and extends into the classroom and out of classroom experiences.
Chris
07/29/2009 12:48 PM
Where is Warren Wilson College on this list? Surely they deserve to be on it!
Laura Early
07/30/2009 15:51 PM
Warren Wilson is an awesomely unique campus, and I'm sure that it qualifies as one of the greenest.
CynWit
07/29/2009 12:46 PM
Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, on the shores of Lake Superior should not be overlooked! Green buildings, composting toilets, 1st campus to have a windmill, solar power, composting their cafeteria waste, hybrid vehicles, etc...
Need I say more? And teaching Ojibwe as a foreign language! Check it out at http://www.northland.edu/index.htm
Annie
07/29/2009 10:45 AM
I would like to add to your article that architects from the firms Lord, Aeck & Sargent and Gould Evans Associates collaborated on the renovation of what is now the Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU. They also designed ASU's Biodesign Institute, Buildings A and B. All three buildings are LEED certified; Biodesign Bldg. A is LEED Gold, Biodesign Bldg. B is LEED Platinum, and the Global Institute of Sustainability was just certified LEED Silver on July 23!
Tara R.
07/28/2009 21:26 PM
We want to say that it is not easy to be Green in a campus environment where students are on the go. But to get this honor is a great privilege and states how important being Green is beyond just academic scores to Princeton Review.
Once again Congrats and hope that more colleges vie for this honor.
Tara
http://GForceProducts.com
Anonymous
07/28/2009 17:16 PM
University of California, Davis, had one of the first "sustainable" living developments in Village homes during the 1970s. I am shocked it is not listed... Needless to say, since, the school has been pioneering premier interdisciplinary programs focusing on Environment Policy and Analyiss, Sustainable Agriculture, and Landscape Architecture
NorCal
07/31/2009 16:59 PM
I agree. the list should include for how long the institutions have been engaged in 'green' polcies. Using that criteria i'm confident that more California colleges and institutions have left a smaller eco footprint than any of the other colleges combined since the environment became a serious issue in CA in the 1970's and others have mimicked and played catch up ever since.
Momof2
07/28/2009 16:23 PM
..which should land on any top 10 list...also, have any of you heard of Sterling College in Vermont? Yes, the campus is green,...but the mindset of its students is phenomenal! they're the leaders of future sustainability.
Anonymous
07/28/2009 15:55 PM
What about Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA? They just opened their LEED science building and the president of the college gets around campus on her bike!
