Campus Kudos: ASU Tops Green Honor Roll
Taking their cue from a growing number of eco-conscious homes and businesses, many of America’s colleges are now making sustainable construction a top priority. Campuses across the country have begun to apply green building practices to new and existing buildings in an effort to conserve energy, reduce waste, and preserve our natural resources.
Among the schools putting their greenest foot forward is Arizona State University. Its Tempe campus recently received a Green Rating of 99—the highest score possible—by the Princeton Review, whose Green Honor Roll “provides a comprehensive measure of a school’s performance as an environmentally aware and prepared institution”.
ASU was among 16 schools that earned the distinction of being one of the nation’s greenest universities, marking the fourth consecutive year the institution has earned the honor. Says ASU President Michael Crow, “We are working to instill the objective of sustainability in everything we do. It isn't one thing, it's everything. Our approach must be transformative, not incremental.”
Since 2005 every building on the Tempe campus constructed has received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification or higher from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). In total, the university has 36 facilities that meet this standard, with two other projects in line for LEED certification. The school also has set the record for having the largest solar collection of any university campus in the country.
According to a USGBC and Booz Allen Hamilton study, the green construction industry supported more than 1 million workers from 2000 to 2008, and that figure is expected to rise to 3.3 million by 2013-2014.