Campus efforts to ’go green’ gain momentum

Andrea George, VEHS Associate Director and Sustainability Coordinator

Call it the "one plus one plus one equal four" effect. Or the synergism of environmentally-friendly forces. Either way, Vanderbilt’s administration, faculty and students have teamed up like never before to take on campus sustainability - including energy conservation, recycling, pollution prevention, air quality and much more. Andrea George, who serves as associate director in the Environmental Health and Safety Department, has been named to the newly created position of sustainability coordinator to synchronize the many moving parts that make up the sustainability push at Vanderbilt.

George comes to her new role with sound credentials. Since the mid-1990s, she has developed and implemented management systems for many of Vanderbilt's environmental compliance programs. She has a master's degree in environmental engineering from Vanderbilt, and has been in her current senior position with the university's Environmental Health and Safety Department since 1997. In addition, she is in the process of completing her doctoral degree in environmental engineering through Vanderbilt’s Center for Environmental Management Studies.

"Vanderbilt's sustainability program is designed in a cooperative, systematic and thoughtful way," said Chancellor Gordon Gee. "This new program will leverage the existing collegiality among faculty, students, staff and administration to continue working together - with Andrea George as our coordinator - to develop a common plan of action for the next few years."

Sustainability has been a part of the fabric of Vanderbilt for many years but has gained momentum recently. Campus organizations and student groups have promoted environmental awareness in various ways, including the creation of recycling and environmental education programs. In 2005 alone, the collection of recyclable materials on campus resulted in the recycling of 41 tons of mixed paper, 71 tons of cardboard and 42 tons of printer by-products.

Vanderbilt is not alone in this focus. Recently, sustainability has become a hot topic in university and business settings across America. Wal-mart, for example, is considering undertaking what would be the largest investment in solar power in the planet’s history using their volume to drive this technology forward. However, such bold moves aren’t financially feasible for every institution, cautions Judson Newbern, associate vice chancellor for campus planning and construction. However, Vanderbilt will be watching such initiatives with a keen eye.

"The range of topics being placed under the 'sustainability' umbrella grows daily," Newbern said. "In the case of many innovations, applications are not technologically refined enough to produce the hardware in sufficient volume to reduce initial investments to the point that payback is cost-justified. It may be the politically fashionable thing to do, but often it is not affordable at a meaningful volume."

The university's commitment to an eco-friendly campus was brought into the spotlight most recently with the announcement that the university would seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for several new construction projects. LEED is a highly regarded rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to determine a building's effectiveness in reducing its negative impact on the environment.

"As green construction practices have matured, we are now in a position to seek LEED certification for these projects in a cost justifiable way," said Keith Loiseau, an architect who is LEED certified on Vanderbilt’s campus planning staff.

Both Crawford House and Sutherland House, residence halls in the new Commons development which opened for use by sophomores in fall of 2006, are soon-to-be LEED certified. Five more Commons buildings are projected to be completed and LEED certified by 2008 - Stambaugh House, Hank Ingram House, an as-yet unnamed third house, The Commons dining/recreation facility, and Gillette House which is undergoing major renovations.

George's fundamental challenge, she said, will be to more widely and deeply communicate the definition of sustainability and its impact on Vanderbilt to the campus at large.

"My first task is to recognize all the excellent efforts currently taking place on campus through the new sustainability Web site," she said.

The launching of this new site, branded "SustainVU," is now underway and will be the meeting point for all sustainability efforts on campus, according to George.

"We feel the Web site is imperative as a gathering place for ideas and information that will be key to defining institutional goals over the next three to five years," she said.

Vanderbilt's two principal short-term goals, she said, are to minimize solid waste production and to maximize the energy efficiency of campus buildings. Long-term, the program’s goal will be to develop a "sustainability playbook" for Vanderbilt's administration, faculty and students.

"We want to grow sustainability programs in a way that makes Vanderbilt a responsible citizen of the community while also being cost-effective and economically healthy," she said. "We will never lose sight of getting value for the university’s dollar."

The utility delivery units will be key stakeholders in determining such value, given their roles of providing utilities services and energy throughout the campus.

"The opportunities for utility conservation are substantial," said Mark Petty, associate vice chancellor for plant operations, "and something to which every person on campus can contribute."

Others on campus express equal enthusiasm for the sustainability "common plan of action."

"Part of my work focuses on studying greenhouse gas effects and how they intersect with societal and social norms and behavior," said Michael Vandenbergh, professor of law, who previously served as chief of staff of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1993 to 1995. "I think Vanderbilt is exceptional in this regard, because so much of our sustainability efforts are being conducted across disciplinary lines. I believe that is one of our great advances."

Mark A. Cohen, the Justin Potter Professor of American Competitive Enterprise at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, offers a similar endorsement.

"I have studied environmental and social responsibility in corporations for the past 20 years," Cohen said, "and it is exciting and encouraging to see these concepts move beyond the classroom and into the university setting. Vanderbilt has done much to conserve energy and build new buildings that are environmentally sound. We are an active leader in the local community [in that regard]. But Vanderbilt needs to do more. And by focusing and coordinating its efforts, for the first time, it will do more — with academic programs, community programs, research and additional efforts."

Going forward, Vanderbilt can learn much from other university sustainability efforts around the country, George said.

"We’ve looked at other universities and analyzed what they’ve done. Our analysis is that sometimes these strategies haven’t had a vast impact. So our approach has been, and will continue to be, more systemic — both in terms of setting goals and in measuring performance. Our role will not be to manage individual sustainability efforts on campus, but rather to coordinate and synchronize them and to act as technical advisors from a broader view. We’ll help projects get off the ground, and ensure that projects complement the larger effort."

For more information, visit www.cpc.vanderbilt.edu/CPC/GreenBuildings/Sustainable_Building_Page.html.

To visit the new sustainability Web site, visit www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu.