Go Green
Sustainability Planning and Policy
Sustainability efforts at TU are largely driven through our students, faculty and staff. We have several committees dedicated to furthering green initiatives, as well as a Director of Sustainability who guides the development of sustainability policies and projects on campus. Working together—and under the guise of the Climate Commitment signed by TU’s president in 2007, the committees have established policies, strategies and long-term plans that are building the sustainable campus of TU’s future.
Sustainability Planning Committees
In addition to the Director of Sustainability, the main groups responsible for planning and implementing our sustainable initiatives are the Climate Commitment Committee and the Civic Engagement Subcommittee on Environmental Initiatives. The Climate Commitment Committee is chaired by Roger Hayden, Vice President for Facilities Management, while the Environmental Initiatives Subcommittee is chaired by Jane Wolfson, Director of Environmental Science and Studies. Both committees were formed in 2007 and have representation from students, faculty and staff, including representatives from the Student Government Association and the University Residence Government. Combined, the committees have more than two dozen people committed to furthering campus sustainability.
Sustainability Plan
We are currently in the process of developing a campus-wide sustainability plan which will serve as a roadmap for the funding and implementation of large-scale green initiatives on campus. As we develop the plan, we are soliciting feedback from the campus community through surveys and focus group sessions which we will use to inform the final projects and initiatives selected for development. The plan is expected to be complete by late 2011.
Climate Commitment
Many of the university’s long-term plans for achieving carbon neutrality are aligned with the Presidents' Climate Commitment. As a signatory of the commitment, we pledged to achieve carbon neutrality, and then created a climate action plan to help us get there. The strategy behind the action plan involves conducting annual inventories of campus greenhouse gas emissions which provide data for comparisons and trending of campus energy usage. That trending data is then used to identify energy reduction projects and develop best practices that help to reduce overall consumption. Such initiatives include the development of standard occupancy hours to guide the use of electricity in campus buildings, standard practices for turning down heating and air conditioning (HVAC) units in residence halls during the summer and winter breaks, as well as the installation of energy efficient LED lighting systems in campus buildings. Specific reduction projects are highlighted below.
Office of Sustainability
General Services Building, Room 132A (map)
Hours: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Phone: 410-704-3409
Fax: 410-704-6248
Email: gogreen@towson.edu
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