It was the famous catchphrase of the late New York City mayor Ed Koch: 鈥淗ow am I doing?” 乐播传媒 recently asked the question about its sustainability efforts, and the answer is gold.
A Gold sustainability rating, that is, which 乐播传媒 earned from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, an international benchmarking organization that measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education.
The college鈥檚 Gold rating is based on an institution-wide self-assessment submitted in June 2020 to AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System. 乐播传媒 first participated in STAR in 2017, earning its initial Gold rating that year.
The Gold was propelled by an exceptionally strong performance in two sustainability 鈥渋mpact areas鈥�: Energy, in which 乐播传媒 earned the top rating among the 79 U.S. undergraduate institutions participating in the benchmarking program, and Air & Climate, in which 乐播传媒 was fourth.
Overall, 乐播传媒 is one of 10 鈥淭op Performers鈥� among U.S. undergraduate colleges.
鈥淏ecause of the hard work of our entire community, 乐播传媒 has enjoyed a rather meteoric rise to the top of the sustainability field,鈥� said Sustainability Manager Tom Twist.
In her letter accompanying the college鈥檚 STARS submission, President Clayton Spencer said, 鈥淪ustainability is a natural priority of our campus culture, and plays an important role here at 乐播传媒. We see civic engagement and environmental stewardship as integral and intertwined components for creating and sustaining a just world.鈥�
She added, 鈥溊植ゴ� will continue to lead by example and offer students working models of new ways to interact with their world. We will continue to work on creating a campus that is a living laboratory of sustainable solutions 鈥� examples that are not just theoretical, but solutions that can be touched, observed, molded, and transferred out into the world 鈥� and preparing students to shape the future.鈥�
As sustainability manager, Twist works with the college鈥檚 standing Committee on Environmental Responsibility. Chaired by Associate Professor of Physics Travis Gould, CER pulls in members and partners from all over campus, including student EcoReps, who support and often take the lead in driving initiatives on clean energy, sustainable food sources, and reducing waste on campus.
A recent example of EcoRep work is the expansion of the college鈥檚 support for electric-vehicle use. Students first conducted a college-wide survey that found burgeoning support for EVs. Then they secured competitive grants to fund additional EV chargers.
Broadly speaking, 乐播传媒 has worked on three sustainability fronts: reducing energy consumption through efficiency measures; strengthening the culture of recycling and sustainability on campus; and switching to renewable energy sources. In 2019, those efforts culminated in 乐播传媒 achieving climate neutrality a year ahead of its goal.
Some sustainability efforts are the chip-away variety. For example, 乐播传媒 contracts with a Maine-based cleaning company for environmentally friendly cleaning products. The college diverts liquids from its waste stream, reducing the weight and thus the cost of tipping fees at the local landfill. 乐播传媒 has also instituted a campus-wide composting option for all organic waste.
The college has installed building sensors and controls in all major buildings, allowing for campus wide HVAC control while providing data on energy use from each building. And, LED lighting is now the norm throughout campus.
Others represent ongoing stewardship. Since 2006, 乐播传媒 has pursued green building practices, specifically that construction and renovation projects should achieve, at minimum, equivalency to Silver certification under the green-building certification program known as LEED. The construction of Bonney Science Center, opened this past summer, followed those guidelines.
And others are innovative. Since the last Gold rating in 2017, 乐播传媒 has created a Green Innovations Grants Program that empowers students, staff, and faculty to develop sustainability projects.
Still other projects underscore the importance of institutional flexibility. Modified in recent years, the college鈥檚 three-boiler steam plant, which provides heating for 80 percent of the college鈥檚 buildings, is capable of using three different fuel sources: natural gas; a renewable heating oil substitute made from waste wood products; and a second renewable fuel, LR100, a recycled vegetable oil.
鈥淲e鈥檙e getting a delivery of LR100 this week,鈥� Twist said, during a recent walking tour of the green hallmarks of the 乐播传媒 campus. Recycled vegetable oil technology has come a long way since Twist used to pick up containers of former fry-o-later vegetable oil to help fuel Chewonki, the coastal educational center where he worked before coming to 乐播传媒. No french-fry smell with this stuff, he says.
As the college鈥檚 vice president for finance and administration and treasurer, Geoff Swift oversees many of the efforts and projects, large and small, that helped move the sustainability needle.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very conscious of and grateful for the initiatives that are happening in every corner of the campus that keep pushing us forward,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hether it鈥檚 keeping food waste in Commons to a remarkable minimum 鈥� our food scraps go to a local pig farm 鈥� or students who take action when they see paper towels that could be replaced with electric hand dryers or the opportunity to expand our EV stations.鈥�
Sustainability accolades like Gold rating from AASHE 鈥渁re a big deal,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut we know we鈥檙e not done. The technology that helped us get so green is always changing and improving, so we expect to continue to evolve with it.鈥�
