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Sustainability Commitments and Goals - First annual report, "Commitment to sustainability is broadening and deepening'

10/09/2012

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One of last spring's Go Green @ Miami events, contributing to a campus culture of sustainability (Sustainability Commitments and Goals number three)

For the first time, a “Report on Progress towards Sustainability Commitments and Goals” measures Miami University's success in achieving targets announced by President David Hodge in 2011. The inaugural report details efforts during Fiscal Year 2012 (the 2011-2012 academic year).

The Sustainability Commitments and Goals focus on energy, classroom learning, campus culture, buildings and landscape, campus practices, transportation and investments/endowments. Progress highlighted by the report includes:

• Miami continues to reduce its energy consumption and related emissions, part of utility planning that looks 50 years into the future;
• investments in green building and geothermal heating/cooling are paying off in reduced energy costs and improved living and working environments;
• curricula related to sustainability are expanding across divisions;
• students, faculty, and staff are engaging sustainability where they live and work;
• ground work is being laid to reduce landfill waste through source reduction, better recycling, and the introduction of composting;
• planned transportation and storm water improvements are improving campus quality of life and efficiency;
• and investment and endowment decisions are becoming more publicly transparent.

Construction on the Western campus will include a new geothermal energy plant with a first phase of 315 wells to supply geothermal heating and cooling

The report, recently submitted to Hodge and the University Senate by the Sustainability Committee, also details new strategies for accountability and transparency in how Miami tracks and shares its progress with the university community and public.

The report was prepared by David Prytherch, sustainability coordinator and associate professor of geography, and Yvette Kline, director of sustainability and energy conservation. The information was compiled by the Sustainability Committee, currently co-chaired by Prytherch and Tom Crist, professor of zoology and director, Institute for the Environment and Sustainability.

Commitment to Sustainability

President Hodge expressed his "deepest thanks to everyone involved in advancing our sustainability goals at Miami" and noted the report "provides much evidence that our commitment to sustainability is broadening and deepening."

Ben Ross, supervisor of the material recycling facility (MRF), with bales of plastic for recycling. Approximately one 900-pound bale per day is generated during the academic year, according to Ross.

"This is a continuing journey," Hodge said, but "we can be proud of what has been accomplished and the momentum that has been created."

“The Sustainability Committee is happy to communicate such good progress. But the real credit goes to the people and units across the university that are making sustainability a priority in their daily work,” Prytherch said.