Princeton University
Contact Information
Education and Research:
Princeton University’s global impact lies primarily in research and education. Princeton’s faculty and staff are uniquely positioned to advance research and public discourse on environmental, ecological, social, and economic sustainability.
Princeton engages faculty interested in sustainability, including faculty who are recruited as part of the Engineering and a Sustainable Society initiative. In addition, Princeton supports research that capitalizes on the campus environment as a dynamic hands-on laboratory for studying and testing innovative approaches to sustainability. Notable projects include Professor Eileen Zerba’s classes that study the Butler Residential College green roofs. The University supports junior independent work and senior theses that enhance undergraduate education and research in sustainability, in addition to graduate fellowships that relate to campus-based projects and/or foster collaboration with undergraduates on sustainability research and projects. At the curricular level, Princeton offers 51 courses across all major disciplines with specific sustainability components. In 2009, 38 students received a minor in environmental studies.
Through the Eco-Reps program, the University endeavors to train residential/campus life staff and RAs to engage the entire student body in sustainability issues and responsibilities. In addition, the undergraduate community has created vibrant environmental student organizations to support awareness and activism, namely Greening Princeton, Princeton Environmental Action, Water Watch, and SURGE (Students United for a Responsible Global Environment). These groups have brought sustainability to residential life: for example, some Residential Colleges have participated in vegetarian days or energy competitions, the entire student body participates in the inter-collegiate Recycle Mania competition, and a student-organized Farmers’ Market brings fresh local produce to campus in the fall and spring. In addition, leaders of these diverse groups collaborate and communicate through PEN- the Princeton Environmental Network.
Another opportunity to engage in sustainability outside of the traditional academic setting includes an option to participate in an outdoor or community service focused pre-orientation program. Leading into the fall of 2008, 686 freshmen participated in Outdoor Action, which introduces students to sustainability principles on the trail; likewise, 25 students participated in the Community Action projects that included a sustainability component. Additionally, Princeton trains students to communicate sustainability through the crafts of audio and video production, through academic coursework, intensive summer training programs and internships. This Student Environmental Communication Network is sponsored by the Office of Sustainability.
Princeton not only leads in research and academic engagement with sustainability, but also in bringing together top researchers and thinkers to spur discussion about solutions to sustainability challenges. Princeton has organized a number of influential conferences in the past two years including but not limited to “Feeding a Hot and Hungry Planet” in the spring of 2009 with 250 attendees, “The Sustainability Puzzle: Putting the Pieces Together” in the fall of 2008 with 150 sustainability professionals from the NE region, . and “Food, Ethics, and the Environment” in the fall of 2007 with 1000 participants.
Campus Operations:
Princeton’s goal is to reduce campus GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The strategies supporting this goal must focus primarily on our already very efficient central cogeneration plant and the buildings which it heats, cools and electrifies (which accounts for approximately 85% of the University’s emissions) as well as purchased power and increasing efficiency of new construction and renovated facilities. Princeton applies efficient technologies and has tested alternative fuel options to decrease emissions from the central power facility and is aggressively pursuing energy conservation through retrofits in existing buildings across campus. Princeton has committed to designing new construction and major renovations to use 50% less energy than required by current energy code. Included in this strategy is a commitment to design all projects to at least a LEED Silver equivalency.
As a note, Princeton’s greenhouse gas reduction strategies do not include the purchase of offsets or renewable energy credits. We believe the most viable and sustainable strategy is to reduce emissions on site. Princeton has also implemented an internal voluntary “CO2 tax” based on average market values (which at present are between $30 and $40 per metric ton of projected carbon dioxide emissions) when conducting financial cost-benefit analyses used to determine whether to undertake more energy efficient designs and technologies. By applying this “tax,” the University will place a monetary value on our environmental impact, which in turn will increase the “savings” that we would achieve by undertaking the project.
Transportation accounts for the second largest source of campus emissions.. Through our Transportation Demand Management program we have active programs to encourage biking, walking, carpooling, and use of public transportation.
Princeton has a history of institution-wide resource conservation with initiatives such as the early adoption of 100% post-consumer recycled paper and dining services’ aggressive purchase of local sustainable food. In the summers of 2008 and 2009 Dining Services employed an intern to help establish more sustainable food purchasing practices. Currently, Princeton uses Green Seal cleaning products for its primary carpet cleaners and its two highest volume daily use cleaners. Princeton has also reduced its total amount of municipal waste by 7.4% from 2008 to 2009. The Central Purchasing Department is establishing a Life Cycle Assessment program for better management of the product supply chain. Princeton also requires the use of EnergyStar appliances whenever they are available.
Princeton also has been historically sensitive to water-use, chemical inputs, and maintenance costs in landscape planning. The Princeton Sustainability Plan preserves and builds on that legacy by minimizing irrigation, preserving green space, enhancing rainwater collection and retention on site, ecosystem-based storm water management, and by implementing sustainable design principles in all projects.
Achieving our 2020 greenhouse gas reduction goal will prevent 75,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere in 2020 and in each subsequent year.
Administration and Finance:
The Princeton Sustainability Committee, a board of students, faculty, and staff, works closely with the Office of Sustainability to monitor and improve the University’s relationship with the environment by creating a forum for discussion, making policy recommendations, and coordinating of efforts within the institution. This committee also administers the High Meadows Sustainability Fund ($3.5 million over a four-year term, starting in 2008), which was created to accelerate efforts in research, education and civic engagement as outlined in the Princeton Sustainability Plan.
The Office of Sustainability, with a full-time director, a part-time graduate student associate, and in partnership with an increasing number of sustainability specialist staff in other departments, coordinates and advocates sustainability efforts in university, regional, and national affairs. The Office of Sustainability has also employed a total of 37 undergraduate student interns from 2006-2009. The University also follows a Campus Plan that integrates sustainability at a high level The Facilities Department currently has over 25 LEED Accredited Professionals on its staff.
In the realm of community partnerships, the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) collaborates with the Energy Grand Challenges (EGC) initiative and the Pace Center to coordinate and encourage environmental community service locally and globally. In Summer 2009, EGC and PEI sponsored 35 sustainability-oriented internships that ranged from working with Isles, Inc in Trenton, NJ to building wells in Ethiopia.
A Fall 2008 course sponsored by the EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) program partnered students with the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association to perform energy audits of homes throughout the area and promote awareness of green retrofitting strategies. In addition, the Pace Center and PEI sponsored spring break community service and education trips to Texas and the San Francisco Bay Area that focused on oil and energy and community food security, respectively. Professor Eileen Zerba partners with the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, Princeton Township, and Water Watch in watershed restoration projects. Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy supports undergraduate environmental policy education and hosts a PH.D program in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy.
Princeton strives to be a national model in diversity leadership. To achieve this, the University is building a new facility for the Carl A. Fields center for equality and cultural understanding. This center supports the work of and collaborates with the Davis International Center, Women's Center, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center; affinity-based student groups such as the Black Student Union, Latino Coalition and Asian American Students Association; the residential colleges; the Office of Religious Life; and academic departments in order to promote diversity. Princeton offers one of the best financial aid programs in the world and is one of only six institutions that offer need-blind admission and full-need financial aid to international students. In addition, Princeton offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits program that includes health and life insurance coverage, pension benefits, income protection in the event of short- and long-term disabilities and benefits for employee education and children's tuition grants.
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