By Tom Ventsias

Office of Sustainability project manager Heather Lair and director Scott Lupin are working with the university community to help make Maryland a greener, more sustainable campus.

At the University of Maryland, the concept of sustainability is viewed as a scientific challenge best met with research and education provided by a world-class university. It is also seen as a passionate environmental, social and economic effort to improve the quality of life on campus and beyond.

“Sustainability aligns itself with Maryland’s mission of education, research and service,” says Scott Lupin, director of the university’s Office of Sustainability, launched last year to provide leadership in coordinating, promoting and tracking sustainability initiatives across campus.

There is a robust history of university research involving sustainability—the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, Joint Global Change Research Institute, Maryland Energy Research Center and the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education are good examples. All boast top faculty and research scientists doing world-class investigation in areas of climate change, energy use, transportation and smart growth. There are also dozens of faculty researchers working on problems of soil and shoreline erosion, water quality, sustainable agriculture and other environmental topics.

The university itself has a good record of environmental stewardship, maintaining open green space wherever possible and promoting the use of environmentally friendly practices like Integrated Pest Management by the landscaping and grounds crew.

According to Lupin, a whirlwind of events last spring significantly moved the university forward in its sustainability efforts. In April 2007, Doug Duncan—a strong advocate of smart growth and environmental issues—arrived on campus to serve as vice president for administrative affairs. A month later, the University of Maryland became a charter member of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, pledging to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to move toward a goal of carbon neutrality.

This was a significant event, Lupin says. “Up to that point, sustainability efforts were mainly happening through individual actions—it wasn’t a campus-wide effort.”

With the signing of the climate commitment as well as the university hosting its second national Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference, the entire paradigm changed. “We established broad goals to become carbon neutral and to develop a climate plan, and this was supported across the campus community,” Lupin says.

Among dozens of measures so far: a new EcoHouse living and learning community allows students to explore environmental challenges and live their solutions; campus recycling and food composting has greatly expanded, especially through university-wide efforts like Recyclemania; and all new construction and major renovations must be certified as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“There are lots of private companies that are ‘going green,’ but the university is unique in that it is similar to a small city,” says Heather Lair, the sustainability office’s project manager. “With our diverse operations we can really showcase what is possible with a comprehensive sustainability plan—there is the potential to try out new ideas here that can possibly have a much greater societal benefit.”

Sustainability is also part of the university’s strategic plan, now in its final stages of development. Lupin expects a stronger educational component on sustainability to be implemented in the near future. “Ultimately, the goal is that every student will have some basic knowledge of sustainability and climate change issues when they leave here,” he says.

And there is now a Climate Action Plan Workgroup of more than 40 faculty, staff and students exploring strategies to reduce carbon emissions across the university. “This is a topic that has really brought about collaboration,” Lupin says, adding that there are more than 30 departments and offices involved in this workgroup, discussing common issues and strategies to move the campus toward carbon neutrality.

The common theme, Lupin says, is that this diverse group wants the university to become a greener, more sustainable campus, “because this is a source of pride and it is the right thing to do … there are many people on campus that believe in this strongly and want to see these [environmental] changes. They know change is under way, and they want to be a part of it.”

Sustainability Snapshots

Here are some examples of your colleagues’ efforts to promote better environmental practices. After viewing, take a minute and tell us how you or your department is making Maryland a greener, more sustainable campus.