Sustainability
The University of Vermont has a long history toward operational environmental sustainability on its campus. In 1995, the Environmental Council at UVM was established to fill a gap regarding a bridge between operations and academics on campus greening issues. The first Council project was to hear presentations from the various environmental programs on campus to provide a baseline scan of campus operation environmental impact. Greening UVM was published in 1998 by the Council to establish a baseline on the environmental impact of the campus' operations. During the same year, a Recycled Paper Policy was created and was implemented in 1999. As a community stakeholder in the Lab-XL project, the Environmental Council received an EPA grant to support the Tracking UVM project and publication to assess relative environmental impact and community interest in laboratory chemical waste. Tracking UVM, a follow-up to the Greening UVM report, was published in 2002 and reported on the environmental progress of the University from 1990-2000. The University of Vermont's commitment to tracking its environmental performance was recognized in 2004 with Vermont's Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence for this 2002 environmental report card. Tracking UVM is one of the first report cards that track the environmental impact of campus operations in an institution of higher education.
In 2005, UVM's President Daniel M. Fogel signed the institution's Green Building Policy. The Recycled Paper Policy was updated in 2006 after two students pushed for the university to commit to purchasing 100% post-consumer, chlorine-free paper for routine copying and printing.
In 2007, President Fogel signs on to the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. The American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) is a high-visibility effort to address global climate disruption undertaken by a network of colleges and universities that have made institutional commitments to eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions from specified campus operations, and to promote the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth’s climate. Its mission is to accelerate progress towards climate neutrality and sustainability by empowering the higher education sector to educate students, create solutions, and provide leadership-by-example for the rest of society. In 2008, UVM dissolved the Environmental Council and established the Office of Sustainability. The Office of Sustainability aims to foster sustainable development and promote environmental responsibility at the University of Vermont by strategically bridging the academic activities of teaching, research, and outreach with the operations of the University. The sustainability office reports jointly to the Provost and to the Vice President for Finance & Administration, who supervises the director. There are two full-time staff and four Graduate Fellows, plus an Academic Advisor and a team of supporters.
In 2011, UVM released its Climate Action Plan to the American College & University President's Climate Commitment. The climate action plan focuses on the direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the institution's operations. The target dates for UVM's climate action plan are 2015 for 100% carbon neutral electricity (Scope 1) and 2020 for carbon neutral heating, cooling, and fleet (Scope 2). UVM aims to target the net zero emissions from Scope 3 sources by 2025.
In 2012, UVM became one of the first institutions nationwide to end the sale of bottled water on campus and mandate that one-third of drinks offered in vending machines be healthy options. During the same year, UVM's Board of Trustees passed a resolution to earmark $13 million for the fund, making it the largest challenge to date. Harvard’s $12 million green loan fund had been the largest. In March 2012, UVM became 5th school in the nation to sign the Real Food Campus Commitment, pledging to purchase 20% real food by 2020.
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