Rice receives B- for sustainability, highest in Texas

By Jaclyn Youngblood     10/2/08 7:00pm

Rice received a B-, just above the national average of C+ last month for its sustainability efforts from the Sustainable Endowments Institute. The rating, which has been in existence since 2005, is based on colleges' efforts in nine categories: administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building, student involvement, transportation, endowment transparency, investment priorities and shareholder engagement.Rice received A's in categories such as Green Building and Investment Priorities, but received an F and a D in Shareholder Engagement and Endowment Transparency, respectively. Director of Sustainability Richard Johnson said Rice's grade, the highest in Texas, was admirable, considering the best grade in the country was an A-.

Johnson (Will Rice '92) said Rice's A in the green building category was a testament to the efforts of students and administration alike. Calling for future Rice buildings to be at least silver certified for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design by Green Building Rating, both the students and the administration have worked actively to get people excited about green building. Johnson said Duncan College will be LEED Gold certified, making it the only such certified building in Houston.

Last year, 97 percent of colleges and universities responded to at least one of the Report Card surveys, Lisa Chase, senior communications fellow for the SEI, said. The Report Card noted a 27 percent recycling of university waste, a figure Johnson said he would like to see increase in the future. Johnson's class, Sustainability: Rice into the Future, accompanied by each college's EcoReps, are working to initiate recycling kitchen waste, institute aluminum can recycling competitions and add recycling devices to the Brochstein Pavilion.

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Johnson said providing adequate recycling receptacles would help increase this figure.

"We're making sure the infrastructure is in place," Johnson said.

Johnson said Rice was recycling 95 percent of the building waste from Duncan and McMurtry colleges. So far, the total amount of construction waste produced by the two colleges would be 17 feet high, enough to fill the Allen Center for Business Activities to the top of its first floor.

Other sustainability efforts Rice has undertaken in recent years include providing students with transportation alternatives, such as the ZipCar program, the METRO Light Rail, and the shuttle system. Johnson said Rice is ultimately trying to become net carbon neutral, meaning that Rice will have no net impact on global warming. President David Leebron signed the Presidents' Climate Commitment last fall, adding Rice University to a list of 582 colleges and universities pursuing this goal around the U.S.

Johnson said students can also help on a much smaller scale by keeping room thermostats at 76 degrees. It costs Rice and, in turn, the students, 4 percent more for each degree the thermostat is turned down below 76 degrees, he said.

"If you crank it [the thermostat] down to 70 degrees, it costs 24 percent more than keeping the room at 76 degrees," Johnson said.

Johnson said he has initiated discussions on an energy master plan that will encourage a standard campus-wide temperature policy. This policy will schedule cooling systems, ensuring that buildings only open for part of the day will not continue to be cooled even when they are not in use.

Johnson said there are multiple ways students can become involved with sustainability efforts. Organizations and initiatives already in place include the EcoReps, the Environmental Club, the Student Association Environmental Committee, the Green Building Initiative, Solar Decathlon, Biodiesel Initiative and the Wiess College Community Garden.

Johnson said the future at Rice, in terms of sustainability, is bright. With the Report Card grades improving over the last few years, he expects those increases to continue, especially in the Climate Change and Energy category.

"I have seen just a fantastic explosion of accomplishments [and] interest in activity all across the United States," Johnson said. "It's a sign of hope."

Rice's long term sustainability goals are to turn Rice into an environmentally restorative institution. Ideally, Johnson said the actions of the university would contribute to the regeneration of natural systems.

Johnson said the issue was no longer one of minimizing impact on the environment, but rather one of creating facilities that enhance the environment because of their presence.

"This is where the cutting edge of thinking in green design is going," Johnson said. "How do you design a building that cleans air and water, that provides habitat, that contributes to health, while also enabling its occupants to flourish?"

Rice's full Report Card is available at greenreportcard.org.

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