Category

Four-year and Graduate Institutions over 7,500 FTE

On-campus farmers market Photographer:

Contact

Ciannat M Howett
Director
Office of Sustainability Initiatives
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
(404) 727-5020
Ciannat.howett@emory.edu

Governance & Administration

In Emory's Strategic Plan, sustainability is identified as a top priority and core principle of the University, including all of our hospitals and healthcare facilities.  Sustainability is also integrated as a priority value in the University's Campus Master Plan.  Since 1990, Emory has had a Committee on the Environment as a Standing Committee of the University Senate.  In 2000, the University Senate passed an Environmental Mission Statement and created an Implementation Task Force.  In 2001, the University's Trustees passed a resolution to build to LEED standards, and currently all construction projects must meet LEED "Silver" design standards.  In 2004, the Trustees passed a Land Use Classification Plan that set aside more than half the campus (54%) as protected greenspace.  In addition, the University passed a "No Net Loss of Forest Canopy Policy" requiring that, every time a tree is removed, enough trees to be replanted to maintain the same forest canopy.  In 2006, in response to the Strategic Plan, the University created a Sustainability Advisory Committee and adopted a Sustainability Vision for the University.  The Vision set goals for Emory such as 25% energy reduction by 2015 from 2005 levels, 75% local or sustainably-grown food in our hospitals and cafeterias by 2015, and a 65% recycling rate by 2015.  The Univeristy created an Office of Sustainability Initiatives in 2006.  The Office is comprised of a full-time Director, an administrative assistant, a part-time Faculty Liaison who is a tenured professor of Anthropology, and a part-time affiliated director who is a senior lecturer in Religion.  We currently have four University-wide committees:  the Sustainability Advisory Committee, a Sustainable Food Committee, a Drought Response Task Force, and the Committee on the Environment.  We also have Sustainabililty Representatives who act as ambassadors for our initiative, representing every major building on campus.  Our sustainability website is www.emory.edu/sustainability. 

Operations

Emory University has more square feet of LEED-certified green building space than any other campus in America.  Emory built the first LEED-certified building in the Southeast when it constructed its Whitehead Biomedical Research Building in 2000.  Emory has six buildings with LEED certification, one EarthCraft-certified multi-family sorority complex, and another 5 buildings registered for LEED that are occupied and awaiting certification, and another 6 that are under construction or design currently. Our commitment to green building will help Emory reach the goal of 25% energy reduction by 2015.  To achieve this, we are also renovating existing buildings to improve their energy efficiency, starting with a million square feet at a time.  Emory has a free shuttle bus system--the second largest transit system in Metro-Atlanta--that is 100% alternatively-fueled, with half the buses running on a biodiesel blend made from used cooking oil from our campus and hospital cafeterias.  Emory has doubled parking rates, and has an incentive program for commuters who carpool, vanpool, walk, bike, or take transit including a free emergency taxi ride home, free public transit passes, and free membership for hybrid zip-cars for errands.  "Bike Emory" is a partnership with Fuji, an international bicycle manufacturer and a local bike shop to offer discount pricing on new bikes and equipment to the Emory community. We have a Bike Share program, offering free bikes to use for errands, and a mobile bike repair center that offers onsite and 48 hour repairs. Emory has a comprehensive water management plan, and we use water saving technology in our green buildings, including underground cisterns which hold 300,000 gallons of storm water runoff that is recycled to water landscapes. Large heat wheels pull moisture from the air while efficiently ventilating our buildings, and the resulting condensate amounts to 4 million gallons of water a year that we use to cool our buildings.  Emory's sustainability vision statement sets an ambitious goal of 75% local or sustainably-grown food in our hospitals and cafeterias by 2015.  Sustainably grown food includes worker safety and fair wage protections.  To accomplish our goal, Emory is working closely with our food vendors, local farmers, and the nonprofit Georgia Organics.  We have hired an Emory Farm Liaison to work with local producers to increase local food supply.  We have a weekly Farmers' Market and seven food gardens on campus that demonstrate local production. Recycling at Emory goes beyond paper, aluminum, cardboard, glass, and plastic. We find new uses for 95% of our electronic waste and plan to match that mark by 2015 with animal bedding and food waste. Our current construction waste recycling rate is about 75%, and our overall recycling rate is 59%  Our goal is 65% overall by 2015. In 2004, Emory's trustees adopted a Land Use Classification plan that identifies areas appropriate for development and set aside 54% of the campus as protected green space.  This green space includes some of the most biodiverse forest within Atlanta's 285 perimeter. To ensure protection of our forest canopy in all areas of campus, Emory instituted a no-net-loss-of-forest-canopy policy that guarantees that, every time a tree is removed, enough trees will be planted to maintain the same forest canopy.

Curriculum & Research

Emory hopes to instill sustainability practices into the daily lifestyle and habits of our students and staff.  Emory has the longest-running faculty development program in sustainability in the country.  Named the Piedmont Project after the ecosystem in which we are located, the program has trained more than 130 faculty participants from every school and division within the University-from medicine to journalism.  We now train faculty from other schools across the country about how to create a similar program on their campuses.  Emory also has a Piedmont Project for graduate students.  Emory has an Environmental Studies Department that offers a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, minor in Environmental Studies, and a joint Masters degree with our School of Public Health.  Many of Emory's centers and institutes, including our Center for Ethics and Center for Global Safe Water, focus on sustainability issues.

Campus Culture

This fall, two freshmen dorms built to LEED "Gold" standards are opening that have a sustainability theme-"Living Green".  Some of the innovative features include an underground rainwater cistern connected to a solar array that uses solar power to pump the collected rainwater to the toilets in the dorms for flushing.  Silver LEED certified Turman residence hall opened in August 2007, and has features like an energy monitor in the lobby to track energy consumption floor-by-floor, occupancy sensors throughout most of the building, and  recycled and renewable materials like bamboo flooring and terrazzo flooring made from recycled automobile glass.  Emory is installing energy monitors in all of the buildings it is renovating as part of its 25% energy reduction plan, and this encourages friendly competition.  Emory holds an annual energy reduction competition.  Last year, the students saved enough energy to power an additional dormitory.  Emory has an innovative peer-to-peer outreach program called Emory as Place which seeks to instill knowledge and caring about the unique history, culture and ecosystem of Emory's campus and our community. Through this program, upperclassmen mentor freshmen in what it means to live sustianability at Emory. Emory has a Sustainability Incentives Fund that awards grants up to $5,000 to student, staff, and faculty projects that further sustainability. Emory has Sustainabiltiy Representatives that are ambassadors for our program and represent every major building on campus.  Emory also encourages every individual to make a Personal Sustainability Initiative, which is a pledge to undertake 2 or 3 sustainability-related actions over the next year.

Community Service and Outreach

The Office of Sustainability Initiatives works closely with the Office of University-Community Partnerships (OUCP) to promote social responsibility, civil engagement, and public service between Emory and the Greater Atlanta communities. OUCP has internships for students in sustainability.  For example, conducting scientific research to assess the water quality of the streams around Emory and investigate the relationship between air pollution and lung disease in Atlanta.   OUCP's sustainability interns have also researched the reuse of "brownfield" industrial areas and hazardous waste policies in Atlanta. Through these projects, Emory demonstrates its effort to raise social awareness of environmental issues and to promote environmental justice.  Emory also has a large recycling outreach program, handling recycling for the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), area schools, and retirement communities.  Recently, we helped Delta Airlines set up its in-flight recycling program.  Over the past two years, Emory Healthcare has donated an average of over 7,000 pounds of surplus medical supplies and equipment per month. Besides donation of medical supplies, Emory workers also donate their time by volunteering at MedShare. Emory's involvement in MedShare dates back to 1998 when the founders sought advice from some of Emory's professors and deans prior to the founding of the organization. Also, Emory's Crawford Long Hospital was one of MedShare's first surplus product gathering sites. Emory's Turner Environmental Law Clinic provides pro bono environmental representation to individuals, community groups, and non-profit organizations that seek to protect and restore the natural environment for the benefit of the public.  At the same time, the Clinic enables law students to participate in all aspects of environmental law cases, preparing them to become future environmental leaders and advocates.  By working with the majority of the environmental groups in the state of Georgia, the Clinic has expanded the effectiveness of the environmental community on issues ranging from opposition to proposed coal-fired and nuclear power plants, to preservation of marshes and wetlands, to protection of communities from undesirable facilities such as landfills. Volunteer Emory is a student organization that matches students with service opportunities at Atlanta-area community organizations. Volunteer Emory seeks to improve many aspects of Greater Atlanta's society such as health care, urban housing, animal and wildlife protection, and environmental stewardship.  Last year, Volunteer Emory had weekly service trips to the Oakhurst Community Garden which provided opportunities for elementary school students to learn about sustainable food production, food waste handling, and their power to participate in sustainability through their food choices. The service trips involve hands-on gardening as well as other outdoor educational programs.