Sustainability at The University of Louisville

University of Louisville - Sustainability Creating a more sustainable UofL is a dynamic, multi-faceted, long-term process. We've come a long way and we have a long way to go...but, yes, it's happening here. Use this site to learn more about our on-going UofL sustainability initiatives and to explore the many ways you can get involved and help us create a better world right here, right now.

Sustainability Council The Sustainability Council provides oversight and direction, coordinates activities and recommends policies. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This, one of the most commonly referenced definitions of sustainability, comes from “Our Common Future: The Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development,” also known as the Brundtland Commission report. In 1991, UofL honored the Brundtland Commission with the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order and Gro Harlem Brundtland spoke on campus the following academic year. Today at UofL, an extraordinary amount of activity has been going on in the area of sustainability. Groups are implementing or planning everything from green purchasing policies to buying locally produced food, and energy audits to recycling programs. The Green Budget Rescue Team, largely comprised of folks from Arts and Sciences, has presented a proposal to manage our budget woes through smarter personal and institutional energy practices. The Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center runs programs all over the state to help businesses run more efficiently. The Partnership for a Green City teams us with local schools and the city to manage our environmental resources better. We’re doing a lot, but we can, and will, do more. One of the goals of our new strategic plan is to be “creative and responsible stewards” of our resources. That includes making a commitment to sustainability and efficiency — a commitment so important to us that we will track our progress according to standards from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). Because we work best when we work together, I have formed the Sustainability Council to help pull together our efforts and to keep the campus community informed of everything that’s happening. The council also will help us move into a leadership position in the sustainability area. Among other things, the Council will: Oversee the work of three subcommittees (Education & Research; Operations; Administration, Finance & Outreach) on sustainability initiatives Develop and review policies to recommend for implementation to President Ramsey and me Set metrics and provide oversight to measure progress using the categories in the AASHE Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) and in other important areas Create new subgroups or committees, if needed, to move forward agendas Serve as a clearinghouse for university activities related to sustainable practices Encourage faculty, staff and students to become involved in our efforts Work with the Office of Communications and Marketing to publicize internally and externally what we’re doing I’m sure more tasks will emerge, but you can see from these examples that the main purpose of the council is to coordinate and lead our activities and create excitement for creative thinking and engagement in this important area.

Bike To Work Day with President Ramsey	Campus Sustainability Day	Solar hot water system installation at Shelby campus

Admin & Outreach Our commitment to community engagement and responsible management of people & funds. The Administration, Finance & Outreach Committee of the Sustainability Council works to ensure that the University of Louisville: 1. Continues our rich tradition of community engagement to solve real world problems; 2. Remains a diverse, accessible and affordable university where differences are respected; 3. Compensates our employees fairly, provides for basic needs, promotes health & wellness and treats everyone with dignity; 4. Manages our funds with a triple-bottom-line perspective that takes into consideration the economic, social and environmental impacts of our investments. Follow the links to the left to learn more.

Diversity & Affordability Working to ensure that UofL remains a diverse and affordable university. The Office of Diversity at the University of Louisville strives to foster and sustain an environment of inclusiveness that empowers us all to achieve our highest potential without fear of prejudice or bias. Commission on Diversity & Racial Equality The University of Louisville‘s diversity equity committee is the Commission on Diversity and Racial Equality (CODRE). CODRE serves as the primary policy advisory group on issues of diversity and racial equality at the University of Louisville and reports to the President. CODRE stays abreast of relevant issues including, but not limited to: recruitment, retention, and promotion of faculty and professional/ administrative staff from diverse populations; group-based inequalities and inequities; the academic success of a diverse racial and ethnic student body including retention, curriculum, and campus climate concerns; addressing sexist and racist conduct that impedes the educational mission of the university; and strategies and praxis that support “education that is multicultural.”	Human Resources UofL strives to compensate employees fairly, provide for basic needs, promote health & wellness and treat everyone with dignity. UofL actively seeks to be a truly Great Place to Work, where faculty and staff are treated fairly, given a voice in governance, and encouraged to get actively involved in making the University a place of ever greater health, wellness, and sustainability.	Peace & Justice A sustainable society requires us to actively pursue peace and justice. UofL is building a culture of peace and justice through a variety of means designed to create more resilient communities. Our students, staff, and faculty are engaged citizens who work inside and outside the classroom to help make our community safer, saner, and better for everyone. We pursue these goals through our commitments to education, research, and civic engagement. Listed below are some of UofL's academic and other programs that share these goals.

Operations The University of Louisville is taking steps to reduce its environmental impact and enhance sustainability on all three of its campuses. These efforts span the full spectrum of our operations from how we build and maintain our facilities, to what food we serve, to how people get to and from campus. The Vice President for Business Affairs is committed to fostering leadership in the area of sustainability. Vice President Larry Owsley chairs the Sustainability Council's Operations Committee and works with university units to improve environmental, social and economic performance in areas such as local food, energy management and LEED certification.

Buildings & Energy UofL is committed to building smarter and conserving energy and water on campus. In growing and improving our campus facilities, UofL is working to minimize environmental impacts and maximize opportunities for efficiency. This effort is guided by the Office of University Planning, Design and Construction (UPDC). Energy & Water Efficiency UofL is making massive investments to retrofit its existing facilities in order to increase the efficiency of our operations, reduce costs, consume less energy and water, and produce less pollution as a result. LEED Buildings All new construction and major renovation projects at UofL are designed and built in accordance with Kentucky's High Performance Building Standards, using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ as a guide or for certification, depending on the scale of the project. Renewable Energy As we transition toward climate neutrality by 2050, UofL has made a bold commitment to renewable energy. Our immediate goal is to source at least 20% of our power from renewable energy sources by 2020. UofL is seriously exploring options including solar, biomass, geothermal, and low-impact hydropower projects. Some of these efforts are tied to educational and research objectives at UofL. Green Roofs Vegetated roofs are not only beautiful, but they help moderate temperatures to reduce the urban heat island effect and building energy demands for cooling and heating, while reducing storm water runoff, generating oxygen, and providing wildlife habitat in the urban landscape. They can also be designed as green spaces for urban dwellers looking to escape the concrete jungle.	Food UofL seeks to provide ever greater access to local, healthy, and sustainably produced food. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program Each year UofL invites students, staff and faculty to connect directly with local farmers through our CSA program. The program helps support our local economy, promotes healthy eating, and reduces the environmental impact of transporting, processing, and packaging food from far away. Basic Pantry Campus Health Promotion's Basic Pantry Program provides cooking workshops, shopping guidance, and tasty recipes to help students learn the basic arts of stocking a pantry and cooking. Whether you are a novice cook or expert cook, a poor student or a rich entrepreneur, a well-stocked pantry makes it easier to create quick and nutritious meals. The food you have on hand largely determines how healthfully you will eat. So wisely stocking your pantry is a step toward your good health!	Green Purchasing UofL's commitment to sustainability is reflected in our Green Purchasing Policy. The University of Louisville is committed to the stewardship of the environment and to reducing the University’s dependence on non-renewable energy. UofL's Green Purchasing Policies and Procedures supports the University’s commitment to sustainability. The goal of this policy is to reduce the adverse environmental impact of our purchasing decisions by buying goods and services from manufacturers and vendors who share our commitment to the environment. Green purchasing is the method wherein environmental and social considerations are taken with equal weight to the price, availability and performance criteria that colleges and universities use to make purchasing decisions. Green Purchasing is also know as “environmentally preferred purchasing (EPP), green procurement, affirmative procurement, eco-procurement, and environmentally responsible purchasing.” Green Purchasing minimizes negative environmental and social effects through the use of environmentally friendly products. Green Purchasing attempts to identify and reduce environmental impact and to maximize resource efficiency

Recycling Recycling at UofL is comprehensive and easy...but it depends on your cooperation Our goal is to continually reduce the amount of waste we generate and send to the landfill. You can help by: 1. Reducing - avoiding unnecessary purchases and excess packaging. 2. Reusing - swaping surplus property and choosing reusable items like mugs, bottles, cloth bags and napkins, rechargeable batteries, etc. 3. Recycling Since 2010, any recycling bin on all three UofL campuses can be used to recycle all types of paper, cardboard, plastics, metals, and glass. Learn more about UofL's Single Stream Recycling program. Electronic Waste Recycling UofL's E-Scrap recycling program is handled by UofL Surplus and accepts items such as televisions, computer hard drives, monitors, keyboards, and printers, lap tops, and other audio/visual equipment. These items contain toxins and reusable components which should be kept out of the normal waste stream. Reuse! UofL's surplus property exchange program allows staff and faculty to swap reusable campus office furniture and equipment	Grounds Taking steps to enhance environmental responsibility in the planting and maintenance of campus landscapes. Grounds maintenance at UofL is the responsibility of Physical Plant. The Sustainability Council works with the Grounds crew to explore ways to protect campus trees; to minimize the waste and excessive use of water, fertilizers, pesticides, salt and fossil fuels; and to find effective options for lower-maintenance and native species plantings.	Campus Gardens UofL promotes food literacy and urban agriculture through gardens on all three of our campuses. Garden Commons UofL's organic community Garden Commons is hosted at the Cultural Center, in front of the University Club, and is a collaborative project in partnership with Louisville Grows. The garden is student-managed by the Garden Commons RSO (Recognized Student Organization).whose goal is: "Educating ourselves to become urban farmers." Though everyone is invited to participate, from the beginning, students have taken the lead role in making decisions about what to plant, how to care for the crops, and what to do with the harvest Garden Commons is a community space open to participation from all. Learn more and get involved through the Garden Commons website, The Garden Commons hosts an on-going series of workshops about organic gardening, agriculture, and food justice.

Education & Research Integrating sustainability into what we teach and study. The goals of the Education & Research committee are to raise awareness of the importance of sustainability and to weave sustainability into the curriculum and research agenda at the University of Louisville. We seek to provide students, faculty and the public with more opportunities to study and investigate the most pressing sustainability challenges facing society.

Academic Programs Expanding the opportunities for students to learn about sustainability from a variety of perspectives. The University has developed an internal system to identify sustainability-focused and related courses throughout our catalog. This system has identified hundreds of courses across all disciplines which we are using in the development interdisciplinary undergraduate and masters programs in Sustainability. These programs are currently going through the approval process and UofL hopes to begin enrolling students in Sustainability degree programs in 2012-13.	Green Threads Sustainability Across the Curriculum Green Threads is an on-going series of workshops for tenured and tenure-track faculty sponsored by the UofL Sustainability Council's Education & Research Committee. The program is designed to expose faculty to sustainability issues and help them weave sustainability themes into existing courses or to create new courses focused on sustainability. Participants receive inspiration, resources, and mutual support. Incentives also include an honorarium of $500, a series of workshops and tours with local food meals, and resource materials on sustainability.	Research Pursuing a deeper understanding of sustainability challenges and solutions. The Sustainability Council envisions the University of Louisville as a living laboratory of sustainability. This means that faculty and students from all disciplines have the opportunity to study the environmental, social and economic challenges to sustainability that exist right here on campus and in our community...and to research solutions that make sense here

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