Where UConn Goes From Here

By: Timothy Bleasdale

Posted: 3/26/08

Tuesday afternoon, the University of Connecticut took an important step in its growing reputation as an environmental leader by acknowledging that humans have caused global warming and pledging to take action.

The document that UConn president Michael Hogan signed, the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), is both a declaration that global warming is caused by humans and an agreement to take immediate steps within the university to combat the problem. According to the ACUPCC Web site, this brings UConn into the ranks of roughly 537 other colleges and universities across the country that have joined the movement to become role models of environmental leadership.

"We [the undersigned] recognize the scientific consensus that global warming is real and is largely being caused by humans," the ACUPCC reads. "We further recognize the need to reduce the global emission of greenhouse gases by 80 percent by mid-century at the latest, in order to avert the worst impacts of global warming and to reestablish the more stable climatic conditions that have made human progress over the last 10,000 years possible."

In addition to officially giving the university a stance on climate change, Hogan's signature also recognizes a social mandate to serve students by preparing them "with the knowledge and skills to address the critical, systemic challenges faced by the world in this new century."

"Campuses that address the climate challenge by reducing global warming emissions and by integrating sustainability into their curriculum will better serve their students and meet their social mandate to help create a thriving, ethical and civil society," the document reads.

But what the university is actually committing to is far more vague. The ACUPCC does not set out a specific plan for schools to follow. Rather, it sets bench marks for the university to develop a plan to reach climate neutrality in a timely manner.

According to the agreement, UConn must create a group or structure to guide and implement its climate neutrality plan within two months and have a working plan within two years. At the one-year mark, UConn is required to have fully assessed its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which will allow the university to effectively measure any changes in those emissions.

UConn currently meets several of the immediate action requirements of the ACUPCC. While the comprehensive plan is being developed, the commitment requires that the university implement at least two initiatives from a list that ranges from eco-friendly construction standards to GHG reduction plans. From the list, UConn already offers full-campus access to public transportation and is currently participating in the national RecycleMania competition. UConn also already requires certain new buildings to meet the stricter building guidelines.

"We've had sustainable building guidelines in place since 2004, but they aren't as detailed as the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) guidelines," said Rich Miller, UConn's director of environmental policy, about changes to the university's new construction policy last year. "Our guidelines were more of an outline … now with the new policy we've committed it as a performance mandate that all building projects of at least $5 million must meet a minimum of silver LEED certification."

The requirements for the silver-level LEED certification include, among other things, the use of approved adhesives, paints and other building materials that do not emit gasses, as well as taking energy-efficient measures and using recycled materials, according to the U.S. Green Building Council Web site.

"This is one big first step toward environmental sustainability, which is more important than just fighting global warming," said Bianca Lopez, an 8th-semester ecology and evolutionary biology major and EcoHusky member who has been working closely on the ACUPCC initiative at UConn. "But it's an important start toward reducing our ecological footprint."

Lopez added that this is a good example of a student initiative that received a positive response from the university administration because it was so popular with students.

"It shows that they're willing to listen to us," Lopez said.

Contact Timothy Bleasdale at Timothy.Bleasdale.UConn.edu.

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