Duke University
Duke students relax on the Chapel steps on West Campus. Campus Category
Four year and graduate institutions 5,000 – 15,000 student FTE
Contact Information
Tavey Capps
Environmental Sustainability Director
Office of the Executive Vice President
Education and Research
Duke has made inroads incorporating the tenets of sustainability into every student’s campus experience. Faculty in the Nicholas School of the Environment, Pratt School of Engineering, Fuqua Business School and Sanford School of Public Policy have long prepared future leaders to understand and redress unsustainable global trends, but the groundswell of interest in sustainability has lead to innovative new courses that incorporate sustainability as a mode for exploring and understanding global phenomena. A Qualitative Methods course for undergraduates this spring analyzed questions of sustainable food systems at Duke and used their data and analysis to present recommendations to campus dining staff. Courses like these were developed to ensure that all students, not just the growing cadre of passionate environmental leaders and future green collar professionals, leave with an enriched understanding of sustainability.
The Nicholas School offers degrees in environmental sciences and policy at the undergraduate, masters and doctoral level. In addition to offering minors, the Nicholas School brings a wealth of renowned speakers creating enriching opportunities for everyone on campus. Duke offers opportunities to achieve certification in key environmental areas – ex. the Certificate in Energy and the Environment is designed to provide undergraduates with an understanding of the breadth of issues that confront society in its need for clean, affordable and reliable energy.
The Home Depot Smart Home engages more than 100 students in a design/engineering curriculum based around the development of technologies to reduce homeowners’ carbon footprint. The Smart Home was the first LEED Platinum residence hall in the country and residents conduct public tours while working with engineering faculty on sustainability projects.
Green Grants totaling $50,000 every academic year allow passionate students to organize and carry out innovative sustainability programs. Recent recipients include two campus community gardens and a group of graduate students who hosted a carbon offset symposium. Grant funds helped launch the Duke Bike Station, a student run repair shop that partners with Duke Bikes, a bike-loan program with a fleet of 125 bikes.
The Duke Environmental Leadership program connects faculty conducting research on sustainable development and environmental topics with executives through continuing education. The Corporate Sustainability Initiative, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, The Climate Change Policy Partnership and the Duke Center for International Development all put the intellectual resources of Duke faculty into service to the local and global community.
Duke’s Sustainability Office has hired an offsets director to pursue strategic development of veritable offsets that create economic opportunities in our region’s growing green sector. Much like the Green Purchasing, Green Building, and Green Dining Coordinator, this position manages several undergraduate and graduate students who gain unrivaled professional experience.
Opportunities such as students living in the Smart Home or working to develop a carbon offsets plan for the university sets Duke’s sustainability program apart. Our research and interactions with students confirms that undergraduate and graduate students seek experiences in sustainability rather than just exposure to classroom ideas. The curriculum and co-curricular activities at Duke have evolved to accommodate this emerging preference.
Campus Operations
The breadth of campus accomplishments in the area of operations reflects Duke's model of engaging students, staff, faculty and top administrators in collaborative and strategic problem solving. Duke was an early signatory to the ACUPCC, and has worked extensively to educate and involve students, faculty and staff in developing our Climate Action Plan to become a climate neutral institution.
Eight sustainability staff, working within six separate offices, coordinate programs and initiatives that minimize environmental impacts across campus:
- Executive VP - Sustainability Director, Sustainability Outreach Coordinator, Director, Carbon Offsets Initiative
- Procurement - Green Purchasing Coord.
- Dining- Green Dining Coord.
- Facilities - Energy Manager, Recycling Coord.
- Health System Architect - LEED Coord.
Numerous committees and green teams, most notably the Campus Sustainability Committee headed by the Exec VP and Dean of the Nicholas School, formulate policy and strategic plans for minimizing our institutional footprint.
Procurement - student interns helped create an “environmentally-preferable” filter for our office supply vendor.
Land Use - The University has purchased over 7,060 acres of forested land for conservation while revitalizing three historic downtown areas.
Transportation - Duke subsidizes transit fare for all students and staff, provides incentives for carpooling, and manages a campus bus system and Zipcar fleet. Duke’s sustainability office has worked with OIT to train staff to use telecommunications software.
Student Involvement - Duke harnesses the talent and passion of students by hiring 15-20 students each semester to coordinate social marketing campaigns around a variety of strategic areas. Students are paid for their involvement in these efforts, providing a platform for students with an interest in sustainability to manage projects, develop new ideas and push the university to adapt.
Water - overall water consumption this spring was down approximately 50% since 2007. From June 2008 to February of this year, Duke used 100 million fewer gallons than the year before.
Green Building - Campus green building efforts at Duke have produced 22 LEED projects. Duke has the first LEED-certified dormitory renovation in the US and the first platinum LEED residence hall in the world.
Energy - An Energy Manager works closely with sustainability staff to increase efficiency and explore renewable options. By tapping into other fuel sources, Duke is expected to cut its coal consumption by approximately 70% within the next year.
Dining - recent data shows Duke’s campus dining facilities purchasing from over 73 local farms, spending $2 million dollars of their $5.2 million annual budget on local food. Duke’s Dining contract evaluation program rewards these efforts and encourages innovative thinking about new ways to be “green”.
Recycling/Waste Reduction - Duke Recycles participates in RecycleMania and coordinates Move Out for Charity, an end of year reuse program. Duke recycled 33% of all waste last year. Other initiatives include a composting program for dining facilities; recycling for universal wastes such as CFLs and cell phones; Duke Computer Exchange program donates machines to local schools and community centers; and Surplus program donates all usable materials to nonprofits.
Administration and Finance
As the third largest private employer in the state, Duke has acted decisively to engage the campus community in efforts to reduce our institutional footprint while leveraging our size and status for positive change. Because Duke has such a significant presence in the Durham area, policies that promote alternative transportation, energy and water reduction and reduced GHG emissions have a considerable impact on the surrounding community not just the Duke campus. Many of Duke’s sustainability programs not only have an environmental benefit but also provide key economic and social benefits to the community and region. For ex.
- Duke’s LEED Building Policy encourages use of local and regional materials not only stimulating local markets but also reducing environmental impacts of transportation.
- Duke’s Green Dining program encourages campus eateries to work with local farmers; main campus dining contractor, Bon Appétit, utilized 17% local food last year with other smaller eateries like the Divinity School café used over 50% local
- “Recycle for the Children” – football game recycling, revenue benefits the Duke Children’s Hospital.
- Duke GROWS project - student volunteers and Grounds work together to beautify Durham
The Campus Sustainability Committee, comprised of campus administrators, students, faculty and staff, have worked together to develop a plan for achieving carbon neutrality. Key financial staff and the Board of Trustees have been involved in the planning process to evaluate and understand the economic impact of the plan. Policies have already been put into place across campus to emphasize an institutional commitment to investing in conservation technologies now to minimize exposure to future rising energy costs and reduce the campus footprint.
The new Duke Carbon Offsets Initiative has been created to catalyze the development of local offsets in the NC/SC region by leveraging Duke’s unique resources. Focusing offset development in the local area will not only benefit the region economically, it will also serve to address other environmental impacts such as air and water quality.
Duke’s Green Purchasing Coordinator works with local, minority-owned businesses. In the past fiscal year, Duke University and Health System spent over $33 million with Diverse Suppliers, an increase of over 30% over the previous fiscal year.
DukeEngage is a flagship student service program, which has an expanding base of volunteers doing work in sustainability. Sample projects include volunteers working with a local nonprofit, Clean Energy Durham, to reduce energy use in low-income Durham residences.
Duke’s Neighborhood Partnership Initiative works actively with residents and other concerned citizens in the 8 neighborhoods closest to campus. Since 2005, the Durham Community Land Trustees, Habitat for Humanity and Self-Help have built 45 certified energy efficient homes in cooperation with the neighborhood-based Quality of Life Project.
The Children’s Environmental Health Initiative of the Nicholas School participates in numerous community action coalitions advocating for more effective and responsible public policy and governmental action. For example, these actions include lead poisoning outreach, monitoring of environmental and water quality in public housing, and using computer mapping to generate data on health and the built environment.
