U Southern California Opens Three New Sustainability Research Centers
The new research centers, which are housed within the university's Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, are focused on Earth and Environmental Systems, Applied Environmental Solutions, and Social Transformation. The three centers will merge the interdisciplinary expertise of the institute’s affiliated faculty, full-time senior scientists, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students to better understand and help to solve environmental and sustainability challenges.
U Virginia Aligns Building Standards With Carbon Neutrality Goals
The University of Virginia recently updated its building standards required for all future construction projects to further the institution’s progress in meeting its goals to be carbon neutral by 2030 and fossil-fuel free by 2050. Starting this year, new buildings are restricted from adding infrastructure for the onsite combustion of fossil fuels, such as natural gas, for heating or other uses, unless required for safety or emergency back-up systems.
Georgetown U Opens Environment & Sustainability Institute
The Earth Commons, Georgetown’s new Institute for Environment & Sustainability, is building new educational programming for undergraduate and graduate students, expanding research opportunities for faculty members and students, and developing scalable solutions for a sustainable campus and planet. The institute will be composed of multiple focal areas that will each focus on a major environmental issue, including environmental justice, climate change and energy transitions, environmental health, food and water security and biodiversity conservation.
U Ottawa to Divest From Fossil Fuels
The university recently announced that it will divest all its direct equity fossil fuel holdings by 2023 and all indirect holdings by 2030. The university also announced plans to set a 10 percent target of its overall long-term portfolio to be committed to sustainable investments by the end of 2025.
Rice U Announces 2030 Carbon Neutrality Plans
The university's recently announced plans for carbon neutrality by 2030 include sustainability goals related to the institution's endowment, campus operations and curriculum, research, and student leadership.
U Alabama Renames Hall After First Black Student
The university's board of trustees unanimously voted recently to remove the name of a former Ku Klux Klan leader from a campus building and rename it for the first Black student to attend the institution, Autherine Lucy Foster.
U Surrey Enters Renewable Energy Partnership
(U.K.) The university recently announced a strategic partnership that will significantly increase the onsite renewable energy generation from 0.1 percent to 20 percent of total annual demand.
EPA Releases Top 30 Green Power Usage List
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently released the top 30 college and university Green Power Partners, as ranked by green power use. The University of California, Arizona State University and the University of Iowa are the top three ranked (respectively) higher education institutions for their usage of green power. Ten institutions on the list purchase green power in an amount equal to or exceeding 100 percent of their institution-wide electricity use.
