Academically, there’s no doubt Northwestern comes out on top. But when it comes to green initiatives, we’re mediocre at best.
According to the Sierra magazine’s annual Cool Schools rankings, Northwestern’s sustainability initiatives lag behind those of our peer institutions. We’re nowhere near the top and, at number 115, we don’t even make “Top of the Class: America’s 100 Greenest Schools.”
According to the breakdown, minimal driving, shuttles and the bike-friendly nature of our campus earns us an 8 out of 10 on transportation. Our waste habits are bringing us down, though. In that category, Northwestern lands a 3 out of 10 because a third of our waste goes to landfills and the administration hasn’t set reduction goals as ambitious as Sierra would like.
Then there’s the College Sustainability Report Card, compiled from self-reported evaluations by certain members of the Northwestern community. With a B-, we’re only mediocre, but the breakdown shows we excel in some of the places that count most. Green building, investment priorities and food and recycling all earned A grades. With Ds in endowment transparency and shareholder engagement, there’s room to improve, but the overall grade is a definite improvement over last year’s C+.
This past April, Northwestern took another positive step by authorizing the search for a sustainability coordinator, a staff member in charge of communicating ideas and organizing green efforts within the community. As of yet, the position is empty. The search committee, led by Ron Nayler, associate vice president for Facilities Management, hopes to fill the position before the end of the academic year.
“I think we’re probably in the middle of the pack right now,” Nayler says. “But we’re certainly catching up.”
Nayler says he thinks the ideal coordinator would help bridge the gap between the cultural and nitty-gritty technical aspects of sustainability.
President Morton Schapiro is confident these scores will only get better.
“Wherever we have been and wherever we are now, it doesn’t have to be reflective of where we’re going,” he says. Schapiro says he hopes Northwestern will improve under the leadership of a coordinator, as Williams College did, where Schapiro used to be president.
Among the university’s efforts to improve sustainability standards is a water conservation project that saves thousands of gallons of water per year. The project is entering its third phase of implementation and has requested $20 million — in addition to the $10 million already granted — to fund conservation efforts throughout campus. Furthermore, Northwestern is a national leader in purchasing renewable energy credits and has instituted a policy requiring all new buildings to be Leadsership in Energy and Environmental Design certified.
“I think there are a lot of different things we could invest in that would pay off in the long run, especially energy improvements,” says Emmaline Pohnl, a SESP senior and the co-chair of Students for Ecological and Environmental Development. “Right now, the university is installing motion sensor lights and they have switched to CFLs [energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights] across campus, but I think we need to get our energy from a cleaner source.”
One of Northwestern’s clean energy initiatives is largely student-run. Engineers for a Sustainable World and the Northwestern Sustainability Fund are spearheading the Centennial Solar Panel System, an array that will contribute another source of energy to the six-story power load. With help and funding from Facilities Management, as well as several grants and an anonymous donor, the project raised over $100,000. Project manager and McCormick junior Joshua Kaplan hopes the project will be a symbol of Northwestern’s commitment to sustainability and become a catalyst for future renewable energy projects and education. The system should be online sometime this spring.
Deadlines are more up in the air, however, for the sustainability coordinator and the sustainability office, which could potentially offer students internships and work study jobs in addition to acting as a community liaison for environmental issues. Nayler attributes the delay to a commitment to thoroughly reviewing all candidates.
“Like any position, you’re looking for the best candidate with the best experience and personal attributes that will do the best job in making Northwestern a national leader in sustainability,” Nayler says.
President Schapiro wasn’t aware of the lag in selecting a coordinator, but he said he would ensure the search committee meets the year-end deadline.
“This is an area where I want to make real progress,” he says. “It’s an area where I want to be a national leader.”
Facilities management funding for the Centennial Solar Panel System updated to reflect full administration participation. North by Northwestern regrets the error.