0 S 0 U 4B WdnsyDcmbr4213/ThSatmn Wedne5ua - -, ,,55 , .. S Po hough you'll _never hear it chanted on a football Satur- day, those sporting the Maize and Blue have gotten a lot bet- ter at going green since Uni- versity President Mary Sue Coleman made sustainability one of her four presidential initiatives in 2009. In a2011 address, Coleman re-emphasized the importance of sustainable practices by announc- ing the results of an Integrated Assessment, which investigated and suggested improvements for the University and made a $14 million invest- ment toward four main areas on campus: climate action, waste prevention, healthy environments and community awareness. She then set University-wide goals in each of the areas to be reached by 2025, including cut- ting greenhouse emissions by 25 percent and purchasing 20 percent of all University food from local and sustainable sources - a goal that has already been reached. To say that the University's focus on sustain- ability has flourished since Coleman made it a priority would be an understatement. Though measuring progress on the sustainability ini- tiative is often more subjective than whether or not the campus smoking rate has declined or more students are studying abroad - two of Coleman's other initiatives - fiscal year 2013 marked the sixth consecutive year that energy conservation measures saved millions of dollars, according to an annual energy consumption report. While public funding for many proj- ects has decreased in recent years, the amount of sustainability research-related funding has increased by 200 percent since 2003. Don Scavia, director of the Graham Environ- mental and Sustainability Institute and special counsel to the president on sustainability, said since Coleman placed an emphasis on the issue, projects at the University have begun snowball- ing, and students have become more active than ever in sustainability initiatives. The Graham Institute's mission is to bring facets of campus together on sustainability initiatives. The difference even in just two years, he said, is marked - evident in the growth of institutes, enterprises, departments, student programs and clubs at the University dedicated to sustainable practices. "There are very few places that have the kind of programs we do here at Michigan, at the scale we have here," Scavia said. "Michigan is so well- positioned to deal with it." But student efforts are just the tip of the ice- berg when it comes to implementing tangible, eco-friendly solutions. The growing sustain- ability culture on campus addresses operations, construction and behaviors, as well as under- graduate and graduate programming. The "green" efforts have touched the University of Michigan Health System and the Michigan Athletic Department facilities, all of which have been influenced by the president's ambitious sustainability goals. Scavia said Coleman was moved to take action after she realized that the environment would be the defining issue for this generation. "It's critically important. It's the kind of thing we can't do casually - we have to focus on it," Scavia said. There are 640 sustainability-related course . offerings at the University, reaching across departments from the School of Art & Design to the Ross School of Business, according to the 2012 sustainability report. The Program in the Environment major, often called PitE, has been the fastest growing concentration at the University for six years, according to Scavia, and a minor in sustainability was added last year to meet demand from students interested in the topic. Faculty across campus have incorporated sustainability into their courses, an inter- disciplinary approach that is critical if the University wants to continue to prioritize sus- tainability, according to Coleman. "Sustainability is an area that presents some of the most complex problems we face - challenges that no single discipline will solve," Coleman said in a recent statement to The Michigan Daily. "We've positioned our approach to be broad, including key research activities and educating students how to apply sustainability to all fields for the greatest impact." Mike Shriberg, the educational director of the Graham Institute and a Program in the Environment professor, said Coleman's pri- oritization of sustainability allowed profes- sionals and campus leaders interested in the issue to pursue projects and research that oth- erwise may not have come to fruition. While many programs at the University have begun incorporating sustainability into their courses, broadening the interdisciplinary approach to all corners of campus is his next objective. Shriberg has been involved in sustainability issues on campus for 15 years. He said, in the past, there were "pockets of good activity," such as recycling and energy conservation measures. However, he said having the presi- dent of the University prioritize sustainability allowed students, faculty and staff to pursue ideas they otherwise may have considered pipe dreams. "I think what President Coleman did was take those initiatives, leverage them up to the highest level and provide resources to advance them," Shriberg said. "When the president says, 'This is something I value,' it opens all kinds of venues for students, faculty and staff across campus." For Shriberg, the need for sustainability isn't a niche topic or partisan issue - it's the basis of existence, and needs to be a focus of a, robust education. "The president of Cornell said sustainability is the frame of the liberal arts education," he said. "That's'what I believe and I think Presi- dent Coleman has helped move it in that direc- tion. It's not so much that it's more important than any other issue, but it underlies every- thing else." Scavia, too, said though there is little direct top-down control at the University - which was done specifically by administrators to allow individual programs and colleges to do as they see fit without running into bureau- cratic red tape - Coleman setting sustainabil- ity as a priority was critical to the progress the University has seen in the past two years. .So far, specific initiatives have largely focused on changing individual behaviors on campus, such as turning off lights and buying sustainable produce, and basic institutional changes, such as the purchase of seven hybrid buses and the implementation of water refill stations and "trayless" dining halls. Last year, a campus farm was created at the University's Matthaei Botanical Gardens through the Sustainability & the Campus course, which Shriberg teaches. Students also created the "How to Be a Green Wolverine" guidebook, which is available to all students and provides tips on how to modify behaviors for more sustainable living, produced using recycled paper and ink. More than 10,000 guides were distributed in 2012. Scavia said the University still needs to improve on the operational side of sustainabil- ity, which has proven difficult as the Univer- sity continues to expand in size by one to two percent each year. Total energy use increased from 6.51 trillion BTUs in 2009 to 7.41 trillion BTUs in 2012, though the amount used per person per square foot of building space has declined steadily by 22 percent since 2004, showing a decreasing per capita ratio. Additionally, 137 campus buildings con- served energy in 2013, resulting in an 8.4-per- cent energy use reduction. Despite the continued expansion of exist- ing facilities and construction of new ones, the University helped to mitigate green gas emis- sions from 2011 to 2012 through multiple chan- nels, including expanding the North Campus Chiller Plant, which saves money by serving the whole area instead of relying on units in each building. However, the original 2025 goal to decrease emissions by 25 percent still stands. The University has reduced its waste tonnage by about 1 percent according to the 2012 sustainability report - its goal is to hit 40 percent by 2025. Certain sustainability measures, such as carbon neutrality, are not feasible because of the University's mission as a research institu- tion and the continual need for improved lab spaces and facilities, Scavia said. "There's always an interesting balance between our mission and these goals," Scavia said. That's not to say sustainability initiatives in operations have not been undertaken. On the contrary, various energy conservation and waste reduction measures have been success- ful. Five buildings on campus are LEED certi- fied - including C.S. Mott Children's and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital, the Business School, the Dana Building (home of the PitE program), Crisler Center and the Law School's South Hall - meaning they have achieved the highest marks in human and environmental health standards as verified by a third party. The Dana building is Gold LEED certified, as is Crisler Center, which is the second-high- est level of LEED certification. Since June 2010, all new construction proj- ects undertaken at the University that exceed $10 million must attain at least a Silver LEED certification, according to Andrew Berki, the manager of the University's Office of Campus Sustainability. Berki, who has led the Office of Campus Sustainability since its creation in 2009, said- though Michigan has led strong environmen- tal efforts for years, Coleman's development of University-wide sustainable goals was a criti- cally important step forward. "President Coleman's support and endorse- the Athletic Department Sustainability Com- mittee. Since then, the Athletic Department has adopted a four-pronged approach to sus- tainability, including waste reduction and recycling; energy efficiency and sustainable building infrastructure; water conservation and chemical usage; and education and aware- ness. Energy efficiency is the department's biggest focus, as energy saving measures not only help the environment - they save money. Crisler Center's Gold LEED'certification is a point of pride for the department, Dunlop said, and future construction projects will continue to focus on sustainable measures. According to statistics on the office of Cam- pus Sustainability's website, each home game at Michigan Stadium generates an average of 18 tons of waste, one-fifth of which is diverted from landfills thanks to the efforts of the Uni- versity of Michigan Football Stadium Recy- cling Program, which was initiated in 1994. Overall, in fiscal year 2012, more than one mil- lion pounds of total waste were collected from athletic facilities, including Michigan Stadium, of which 40.8 percent was recycled. Student Athletes for Sustainability, created by Law student Courtney Mercier, a former Michigan women's soccer player, was devel- oped in 2012 to connect student athletes with officials involved in sustainability initiatives, and seeks to educate other student athletes on the issues. A representative from the student organization also sits on the Athletic Depart- ment Sustainability Committee. Though he acknowledged there is alot more Athletics can and will do on the sustainability front, Dunlop said in just 18 months, the Ath- letic Department has made significant strides in improving its practices. "We went from literally not doing anything to developing a plan, to organizing a commit- tee, to putting it into action, to seeing results," he said. "We've really come a long way in a short amount of time. I don't see sustainability as a target, we've done it and we're done with it. It's an ongoing part of our operations." On the other side of campus, the University of Michigan Health System was named one of the 50 greenest hospitals in the United States by Becker's Hospital Review earlier this year. The recognition comes after UMHS com- pleted 12 energy conservation projects in 2012, including installing advanced air handling unit controls and restructuring heating and cooling schedules, accordingto UMHS's website. Increasing sustainable practices in the Uni- versity's hospital system is a priority for the University has shown improvement in cur- riculum, research and operations, the move toward greater sustainability won't end when she leaves Ann Arbor in July.' "While I'm proud of what our university has accomplished during my tenure, our commit- ment to sustainability has deep roots," Coleman said. "We continue to build on the solid founda- tion laid before and I anticipate much more to come from U-M in the world of sustainability." Sustainability will continue to be an impor- tant issue for the next president to address, building on Coleman's strong foundation. "Who would be opposed to it?" Scavia asked. Shriberg said working with peer institutions such as Yale, Princeton and Harvard is one of the best courses of action to further the objec- tives of this "collective social goal." Addition- ally, further integration across campus will be vital for sustainable technologies to evolve. "I think President Coleman has put a tre- mendous amount of effort into a framework to build from," Shriberg said. Berki said students can expect to see addi- tional hybrid buses added to the fleet as more of the existing diesel buses are replaced. The Office ofCampus Sustainability will also switch from synthetic pesticides and herbicides to more organic options for campus's green spac- es, including the golf courses and lawn around the Diag. There will be a continued push to increase the purchase of locally grown sustain- "This is something we're really looking for in the next president, someone who's really focused on this and wants to advance the con- cept of sustainability on campus," O'Connell said. "(Coleman) prefaced it well and is going