News Release

BOISE STATE NEWS RELEASE / April 17, 2008

Campus Sustainability is a Key Focus at Boise State on Eve of Earth Day Celebration

“The turf may be blue, but the campus is green.”

It’s a catchy way of saying Boise State University is serious about sustainability – an appropriate message on the eve of Earth Day 2008. But while the new tagline adopted by the man in charge of those efforts focuses on making the campus more sustainable from stem to stern, its underlying purpose is much more subtle and personal.

“Ultimately, the vision of a green campus moves beyond our long running commitment to efficient lighting, appropriate landscaping and high-performing, energy-efficient buildings,” said John Gardner, associate vice president for energy research, policy and campus sustainability. “It’s about engaging people to help them think about their own impact on the environment. It’s about creating an educational environment so that sustainable choices are the obvious and easiest ones to make in our everyday lives.”

Gardner was appointed to this new post in September to manage ongoing grassroots sustainability efforts on campus – from the “green team” (http://www.boisestate.edu/greenteam/) to the student-led recyclemania competition – and as part of President Bob Kustra’s adherence to the Presidents’ Climate Commitment, a national effort by college and university presidents to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at their institutions (www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/).

As a result, Gardner is responsible for the university’s focus on creating a campus with an environmentally friendly footprint while advancing research in sustainability. He hopes to make the future expansion of Boise State’s campus a laboratory and model for low-impact development.

“Boise State has a unique opportunity to merge the growth of its student body, its campus and facilities and its academic and research programs with its goal of creating a green campus,” Gardner said. “By creating an environment where sustainability is everywhere – in the curriculum, in the building design and layout of campus, and in the labs and research centers – perhaps sustainability will become the way of life for the next generation of Broncos.”

In recent months, Boise State has taken the following steps toward a more sustainable future with Gardner’s leadership:
• On Jan. 30-31, Boise State hosted Focus the Nation (www.boisestate.edu/focusthenation), an unprecedented national educational initiative on global warming solutions for America held at more than 1,000 universities and colleges and in all 50 states.

• Boise State students participated in Recyclemania, a nationwide competition among college students to improve recycling and reduce solid waste.
• Boise State’s resident dining hall, the Table Rock Café, is engaged in a program to discourage and reduce food waste.
• Building on the work of an undergraduate class led by professor Scott Lowe, Gardner’s office is implementing a carbon footprint tracking program that will allow us to see the results of future efficiency measures.
• To meet the terms of the Presidents Climate Commitment, Gardner’s office is developing a long-term campus sustainability plan to reduce the carbon footprint of the campus to zero.
• Boise State is participating in the pilot year of the STARS rating program. STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) is a new program developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and will soon become a national standard to compare the degree of sustainability of the nation’s campuses.

Those more recent steps build on Boise State’s progress over the past several years, including improvements in:
• Building design (energy efficiency, durability, future adaptability, sustainable land use).
• Campus energy management (reduced use of electricity, reduced natural gas consumption, expanding use of geothermal energy, purchase of wind power credits).
• New installation and retrofitting that reduced electrical use by 19.3 percent (7.3 million kW per year), reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 83 million pounds per year and reduced natural gas consumption by 50 percent.
• Promotion of transportation programs that provide free bus passes to faculty, staff and students, a free shuttle service and car pool programs (http://www.boisestate.edu/parking/parkalt), as well as the promotion of bicycle commuting through the annual Bicycle Congress (http://www.boisestate.edu/bicyclecongress/) and the campus Bike Barn (http://kinesiology.boisestate.edu/bikebarn), believed to be the first of its kind on a Northwest college campus.
• Campus-wide recycling of white copy paper, mixed paper, aluminum cans, plastic drink bottles, printer cartridges, cardboard and newspapers.
• Low-impact landscaping and grounds maintenance.
• University research on wind energy (http://coen.boisestate.edu/WindEnergy)  and global warming (http://earth.boisestate.edu/).
• Participation in the statewide Energy Policy Institute (https://inlportal.inl.gov/portal/server.ptopen=512&objID=286&mode=2&in_hi_userid=200&cached=true ) and the Intermountain West Geothermal Consortium (http://www.geothermalresearch.org/).

For more information about Boise State’s sustainability efforts go to www.boisestate.edu/sustain.

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Media Contact: Mike Journee, University Communications, (208) 426-1517, mikejournee@boisestate.edu

Boise State University’s new Finish in Four program guarantees that eligible students who follow a planned course of study can complete their degree in four years. If not, Boise State will pay for the additional required courses. More information about Boise State’s graduation guarantee can be found at www.boisestate.edu/finish4.
 

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Last reviewed on Thursday, April 17, 2008