Rice University
Contact Information
Education and Research:
Rice University offers sustainability-related degree options through environmental engineering, environmental science (double major only), environmental policy (double major only), ecology and evolutionary biology, earth science, and an environmental engineering option within the chemical engineering degree. In addition, the department of civil and environmental engineering is launching an energy and water sustainability minor. Several courses use the campus as a laboratory for learning about sustainability, including “Environmental Issues: Rice into the Future” and “Engineering Solutions for Sustainable Communities.” Together, these two courses have played a key role in many of Rice’s sustainability efforts, from the university’s sustainability policy to its green building commitment to the creation and updating of the campus greenhouse gas inventory and the preliminary development of the university’s climate action plan. Rice’s community gardens are also connected to the curriculum through a one credit hour course. At times, special courses are established to advance student-led projects, such as with the Rice University Biodiesel Initiative as well as the Solar Decathlon project.
Rice has a number of centers and institutes engaged in sustainability-themed research, including the Shell Center for Sustainability, the Energy and Environmental Systems Institute, the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, and the Baker Institute Energy Forum. In addition, the Center for the Study of Environment and Society hosts a number of environmental lectures and events each year. Research activities of particular relevance to this discussion include:
- biodiesel research in the lab of Professor Ramon Gonzalez,
- biochar research in a partnership between faculty in Earth Sciences and Chemical Engineering,
- climate change research in several labs in Earth Sciences,
- nanotechnology research to better understand and reduce the risks of biological interactions with engineered nanoparticles in the environment, led by faculty in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and
- global energy balance and energy and climate policy reports from the Energy Forum.
In addition, Rice Prof. Herb Ward is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the international journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
In March of 2009, Rice hosted an international conference entitled “Transforming the Metropolis: Creating Sustainable and Humane Cities” bringing together speakers and guests from around the world to discuss how urbanization can provide answers to the ecological, social and economic issues of the 21st century, as for first time in history more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. Conference presenters ranged from public officials to pastors, designers to the disenfranchised, and academics to activists. The conference was created and organized by an impressive interdisciplinary collaboration between a number of departments and centers at Rice, including the Center on Race, Religion, and Urban Life; the Center for the Study of Environment and Society; the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; the School of Architecture; the Rice Design Alliance; the Department of Sociology; the James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy; the Scientia Institute (History of Science and Culture); as well as with our cross-town partner the University of Houston’s School of Architecture.
Campus Operations:
In 2006, thanks in part to a student project team in the course “Environmental Issues: Rice into the Future,” Rice adopted a green building policy with a commitment that all new buildings would achieve at minimum the “certified” level of certification. By 2008, this commitment was raised to LEED-Silver. This commitment to green building came at a crucial time in the development of the Rice campus, as we were undergoing an unprecedented wave of construction. By the end of 2010, about 20% of our campus square footage will have been built to LEED standards. We have roughly 10 LEED-registered projects either in design, under construction, or now open. At least one of these projects is expected to achieve LEED-Gold certification, and several others may as well.
These projects include a variety of energy- and water-saving features. We anticipate that our two new residential colleges projects (Duncan College and McMurtry College) will be over 50% more energy efficient and 40% more water efficient than typical “baseline” buildings. Our Biosciences Research Collaborative tower will feature an “Aircuity” system to reduce the number of air changes required in the building’s laboratories, while an enthalpy wheel will use the cool, dry air in the building’s exhaust to pre-treat the incoming (often) hot and humid air. The condensate from the air handling units of the Biosciences Research Collaborative is piped back to our new utility plant (the South Plant) to provide make-up water for the cooling tower. A geothermal system provides heating and cooling for the conditioned control room and meeting room in the South Plant, as a demonstration-scale clean technology.
Another related initiative is that we now actively recycle construction and demolition waste on major construction projects. Several of our new building projects have achieved total diversion rates of over 80%, with one job site achieving close to a 95% diversion of materials from the landfill to recycling. This is the single-most important solid waste initiative that we could have undertaken over the past several years.
Another key recycling initiative is that we compost our landscaping waste. In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, which struck our campus in September 2008, we recycled approximately two million pounds of landscaping waste generated by the storm.
Rice has added an array of transportation initiatives to improve mobility and choice while reducing our carbon footprint. Our campus is home to the first two ZipCars in the state of Texas. All of our undergraduate students receive free unlimited access to METRO’s bus and light rail system. Three light rail stations are located adjacent to our campus, as well as numerous bus routes. We operate a free campus shuttle system that also has routes connecting Rice to a number of nearby destinations. We provided free bicycles to 35 graduate student residents of our Rice Village Apartments who agreed not to own/register/park a car at the complex.
We have an active green cleaning initiative, and use only one environmentally-friendly chemical (a general cleaner) to clean our academic buildings.
Administration and Finance:
Two of the most important ways that a university’s administration can contribute to social sustainability are through affordability for applicants and through how it treats its own employees.
Affordability is at the heart of Rice’s success story. Founded as a free institution with its first class in 1912, Rice did not begin charging tuition until 1965. In a world in which the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” continues to grow, Rice has remained one of the best buys in higher education, providing access to a top-tier college education for generations of students. Rice is one of 44 institutions listed as a “best buy school” in the 2010 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges based on the quality of academic offerings in relation to the cost of attendance. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine and the Princeton Review “Best Value Colleges for 2009” both ranked Rice number 4 among private schools providing the best value. The Princeton Review ranked Rice the number 1 value amongst private schools in 2008.
As an employer, Rice has been recognized by the Houston Business Journal as a “Best Place to Work in Houston” in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. In addition, Rice was the winner of the 2008 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility.
A powerful example of Rice’s qualities as an employer comes from the custodial department of the Facilities Engineering and Planning department. The custodians receive a living wage and the full generous benefits that all Rice employees receive. Unlike most of their peers in the industry, most of these custodians work daytime hours (6:30 AM to 3PM) for reasons of safety, energy conservation, and customer service. Many of these custodians are mothers with children, and this schedule allows them to get home in time for the arrival of the school bus. The custodial program offers extensive training opportunities, including free on-the-job ESL (English as a second language) classes during work hours, as many of our custodians are not native English speakers. These courses are offered in a partnership with Houston Community College, and carry college credit. The custodians also take several levels of training through our Cleanology program, where they learn about green cleaning (improving their safety!) amongst other topics. This training offers our custodians levels of professional certification, which is uncommon in the industry. For a profession with a very high turnover rate, we have only lost one custodian to an equivalent job in recent years, and that was because her new employer was located across the street from her house (a school). This represents a stellar example of how a caring work environment can turn into a social sustainability success story.
Other benefits include the newly-opened Rice Children’s Campus (expected to earn LEED-Silver), inexpensive back-up care options for dependents ranging from infants to elderly, a robust wellness program that provides many free medical services, and free tuition at Rice and a handful of other in-state schools for the children of Rice employees.
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