By Menachem Wecker
One of the key lessons GW taught Benjamin Balter, B.A. ’09, was the value of sustainability.
“As a student at GW, I learned the importance of recycling,” says the first-year law student at GW. “In fact, one of the first purchases I made when I moved into an apartment post-graduation was a recycling bin.”
The findings of a recent independent study of sustainability at colleges and universities and an award from the Washington Business Journal show that Mr. Balter is the rule rather than the exception at GW.
At a reception on Oct. 13, the Washington Business Journal awarded GW its Green Innovation Award, and a study from the Sustainable Endowments Institute, a project of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, reveals that GW is on an upward trajectory in its sustainability efforts. The Green Report Card, released on Oct. 8, also named the University a “campus sustainability leader.”
According to the institute’s Web site, a campus sustainability leader has achieved an average of at least an A- grade in all six of the campus operations categories: administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building, student involvement and transportation. GW received four A’s and two B’s in those six categories and also received an A in investment priorities.
According to Sophie Waskow, stakeholder engagement coordinator at GW’s Office of Sustainability, one of the most important findings of the ranking is that there is a “unified, University-wide sustainability effort this year.”
This is the first year that the institute has made universities’ responses accessible to the public, Ms. Waskow says. The Web site reveals that GW staff members contributed to sustainable efforts across the University, including facilities, investment and student groups
The Sustainable Endowments Institute takes universities’ submissions, evaluates them independently and draws from publicly available institutional information, according to an explanation of its methodology on its Web site.
According to the study’s key findings, 53 percent of the 332 schools surveyed earned an overall B- grade. GW was part of the group of 45 percent that earned an overall grade of a B; only 8 percent received an overall grade of an A.
“The ranking says GW is off to a good start on the solar and renewable energy part of the sustainability equation,” says Ken Zweibel, director of the GW Solar Institute. “The next step is to continue what we are doing. It takes time.”
“I think we can be pleased that the B grade received in the most recent rating is higher than those received in previous years,” said Mark Starik, chair of the School of Business Department of Strategic Management and Public Policy and director of the Institute for Corporate Responsibility.
“The efforts of GW students, faculty, administrators, alumni and other stakeholders in the past couple of years to move in this direction has been inspiring.”
Universities in major metropolitan areas have sustainability advantages and challenges, according to Dr. Starik. Having the “brain power to interact to advance urban sustainability” is a plus, he says. But it is difficult to tackle “ecosystem health in which the regional and local environments have been over-built, with limited green and open spaces.”
“GW and the District and Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments are in the process of working together on a number of fronts to collaborate on sustainability projects, including those involving scholarship,” Dr. Starik says.
One of GW President Steven Knapp’s first initiatives when he joined the University was appointing a task force focused on sustainability, which recommended the creation of the Office of Sustainability to coordinate a variety of programs across the University. Despite the challenges of an urban campus, the University’s newly opened residence, South Hall, is in accordance with the standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
“Overall, I think GW has come a long way over the past two years to improve its sustainability efforts and performance,” Dr. Starik says.