Green Recognition
Princeton Review Names La Verne One of the Country’s Most Environmentally Responsible Green Colleges
The Campus Center was designed to meet LEED environmental impact standards.
The University of La Verne, which has a longstanding commitment to environmentally friendly practices and sustainability, has been recognized as one of the country’s most responsible green colleges.
The Princeton Review included La Verne in the 2011 edition of its “Guide to 311 Green Colleges,” which was recently released. The guide features 308 higher education institutions from the United States and three from Canada that promote living and learning green to their students.
La Verne has been honored for its commitment to environmental issues, including overall philosophy, day-to-day management, curriculum and facilities. The guide notes La Verne’s efforts involving sustainability, environmental studies and literacy programs.
“We’ve been involved in trying to be green for a long time,” said La Verne Biology Professor Robert Neher, adding that the university had some of the first recycling programs in the city. “So I guess despite the fact that everybody likes to talk about being green today, the inclusion in this publication indicates that we are doing a lot of the right things and means that there aren’t a lot of colleges doing as well.”
“It’s a big deal,” he said of La Verne’s inclusion in the guide.
College-bound students are increasingly interested in sustainability issues, and a school’s commitment to the environment often influences a student’s decision to apply or attend. According to a Princeton Review survey, 69 percent of students polled said having information about a school’s commitment to environmental issues would affect their decision-making.
La Verne’s achievements include installing chillers to save a huge amount of energy, buying only Energy Star appliances, using recycled paper and adhering to Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design (LEED) guidelines in building the Campus Center. The Campus Center was the first building in the city to receive a Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. And La Verne is one of only five colleges in the state to earn a WRAP award from the California Integrated Waste Management Board.
In addition, President Morgan signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, which seeks to eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions from specified campus operations.
Provost Greg Dewey said campuses with a lot of old buildings such as La Verne have a bigger challenge in terms of energy-efficiency. It’s impressive that La Verne is on the list, he said. The university is putting efforts into making older buildings more efficient as well as erecting new buildings that are cutting-edge in terms of energy-efficiency.
“Our science faculty has been our conscience on this,” Dewey said. “They have been great about bringing this to the forefront. They have been the watchdog.” The university has responded, he said.
“I think we have done an admiral job considering we have older buildings,” Dewey said. “We are pleased to have been on that list.”
During construction of the Campus Center, almost 75 percent of construction waste was recycled and sustainable materials were included in the building. The campus center features automatic infrared sensor faucets in the restrooms and low-flow urinal and low-flow toilets to better regulate water use. Drought-tolerant landscaping was also installed. Temperature and humidity controls are strategically placed within the building to regulate the indoor environment.
The architects designed the building to draw on as much natural light as possible while ensuring that workspaces are well-lit and energy efficient.
In order to receive LEED certification, buildings must meet certain requirements about use of materials, water efficiency, indoor air quality, energy consumption and other criteria. The university adhered to LEED Silver Certification guidelines during construction to maximize sustainability and reduce energy costs.
Being eco-friendly always has been important to the university.
La Verne’s Mission Statement promotes appreciation and biodiversity through helping students understand the impact/dependence of human beings on their environment.
“It’s part of our mission statement,” Neher said. “It’s important that we live up to our mission statement, that we really do live our values that we talk about so much.”
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