{"id":35,"date":"2013-10-07T23:31:22","date_gmt":"2013-10-07T23:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laverne.edu\/sustainability\/?page_id=35"},"modified":"2024-04-01T16:09:17","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T16:09:17","slug":"treading-lightly","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/laverne.edu\/sustainability\/billion-dollar-challenge\/treading-lightly\/","title":{"rendered":"Treading Lightly"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of La Verne has become the second seat of higher education in California to join the Billion Dollar Green Challenge<\/strong> \u2014 for no other reason than it\u2019s the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

The Challenge, launched by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, encourages colleges, universities, and other nonprofit institutions to invest a combined total of $1 billion in self\u2010managed funds to finance energy efficiency improvements.\u00a0 This is something that could be an action item pulled straight from La Verne\u2019s own Mission Statement.\u00a0 It is in La Verne\u2019s institutional DNA.<\/p>\n

In other words, La Verne is again not just talking the talk, but walking the walk, joining Cal Tech as the only two California schools so far to sign on with the program.\u00a0 Thirty-eight other schools are also making such a commitment to sustainability.\u00a0 The Challenge seeks to create a network of institutions that will launch cost-saving sustainability projects on campus.\u00a0 Each institution committed to the challenge must establish a fund, separate from other capital projects, which will be used only to fund green initiatives on its campus.<\/p>\n

When the plans were drawn up for the Sara & Michael Abraham Campus Center, it had enough green components built in that it earned Silver Certification from Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED).\u00a0 The university\u2019s next project, a 100,000+ square-foot residence hall now known as Vista La Verne, earned LEED Gold Certification for going to extensive lengths to promote and facilitate sustainability.<\/p>\n

It was a little more expensive, but going to such lengths fit right in with the way La Verne operates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University of La Verne has had a long history of concern for the environment and sustainability and this is reflected in the language of our new 2020 Strategic Vision,\u201d said Clive Houston-Brown, La Verne\u2019s Associate Vice President of Facility & Technology Services & CIO.\u00a0 \u201cOur last two major construction projects, a 40,000-square-foot Campus Center and a 102,000-square-foot residence hall, are both LEED-certified buildings (Silver and Gold respectively). It is only natural that we would seek to participate in a challenge that would allow us to take more active steps towards implementing sustainable solutions on our campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the next six years, La Verne will work to build its fund, which could be used for such things as replacing traditional light bulbs around campus with energy-saving LED fixtures. Under the plan, all money saved by such measures goes back into the fund to be used for additional projects that will save additional energy and operating costs. These \u201crevolving\u201d funds remain dedicated to green projects, where the savings realized from such measures are reinvested into the account.<\/p>\n

There are additional benefits suggested by greenbillion.org<\/a>, such as:<\/p>\n