Greener Education

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has established a policy that requires all campus construction to be built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Silver standard as part of AASHE’s support of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.  The Presidents Climate Commitment is an effort to make campuses more sustainable and address global climate change. The agenda is modeled after the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

The LEED Green Building Rating System—a nationally accepted standard for green building design, construction and operation—has been adopted by 11 federal government agencies, dozens of state and local governments and a number of private developers across the country, according to a press release from the USGBC.

“It is a momentous step for America’s higher education community, a $300 billion industry, to recognize its impact on the environment and make a public commitment to addressing climate change,” says Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of the USGBC.

Organizers of the commitment say that they are seeking the cooperation of at least 200 university and college presidents and chancellors by June 2007 and more than 1,000 by December 2007. Presidents and chancellors signing the commitment are pledging to eliminate their campuses’ greenhouse gas emissions over time. The Presidents Climate Commitment is being coordinated and supported by the AASHE, Second Nature and ecoAmerica, working with the Leadership Circle of presidents and chancellors.