FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ulli Klein, 617-722-0036 ext. 206, uklein@secondnature.org
US Green Building Council Leadership Award (PDF)
(Boston, MA, November 17, 2009) - Second Nature, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), and ecoAmerica -the three organizations that launched the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment- have been awarded the prestigious US Green Building Council Leadership Award for nonprofits as recognition of their vision, leadership, and commitment to the evolution of green building design and construction by working with higher education. The award ceremony took place at the annual US Green Building Council's Greenbuild Conference in Phoenix, Arizona on November 13th with an estimated 28,000 people in attendance.
"It is an honor to receive this award on behalf of the ACUPCC member schools," said Anthony D. Cortese, President of Second Nature and organizer of the ACUPCC, who accepted the award alongside Geoff Chase, Chairman of AASHE; and Meighen Speiser, Vice President of Marketing of ecoAmerica. Cortese added, "The vast majority of ACUPCC schools have made green building a critical component of their sustainability programs, a big part of why higher education is the fastest growing sector pursuing green building practices."
People are encouraged to view the video of the compelling award ceremony here. Move the play button to just beyond half way through the closing plenary session to view the NGO segment.
Since its inception in early 2007, 662 college and university presidents, representing 35% of the college student population, have joined the ACUPCC and committed to neutralizing greenhouse gas emissions on their campuses, dedicating research and programs to the development of climate change solutions, and training their students to address the climate crisis upon graduation.
Said Rick Fedrizzi, President and CEO of the US Green Building Council, "Those receiving this year's awards are among the most influential green building leaders in the country. [Their] achievements are bedrock to our mission of transforming the built environment." According to the USGBC, there are nearly 4,000 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) registered projects on the nation's campuses. The USGBC and ACUPCC leaders are working to fully transform the higher education sector so that schools educate and model for the rest of society completely sustainable operations, including green building practices and renewable energy use, resulting in dramatic reductions in pollution and energy costs. The goal is to make green building "second nature" - the default for the entire building sector of society.
With guidance from the ACUPCC, member schools have undertaken green building initiatives and received national recognition for green building design and construction. Notable examples include:
- Warren Wilson College's EcoDorm, which was the first college dormitory to achieve LEED Platinum in the Existing Buildings category;
- Richland College's LEED-Platinum designed Sabine Hall project that opened for classes this fall; and
- University of California Merced's LEED-Gold Kolligian Library, with an innovative heating and cooling system.
In addition to its work with the ACUPCC, Second Nature began its Advancing Green Building in Higher Education initiative earlier this year, which is focused on under-resourced colleges and universities that are looking to build and renovate sustainably on campus, but often lack the necessary in-house expertise. Just this month, Second Nature launched a free, interactive web site, The Campus Green Builder at www.campusgreenbuilder.org, with hundreds of links to green building information, case studies, and grant opportunities for colleges and universities. Thanks to a new $1.8M grant from The Kresge Foundation announced last week, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), with assistance from Second Nature, will organize green building conferences and provide sustainability planning grants for minority-serving colleges and universities.
About Second Nature
Second Nature is a Boston-based nonprofit organization that works to accelerate movement towards a sustainable future by helping senior college and university leaders in making healthy, just, and sustainable living the foundation of all learning and practice in higher education. Second Nature is the lead supporting organization of the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment. Second Nature also manages the Advancing Green Building in Higher Education Initiative as well as the Higher Education Associations' Sustainability Consortium.
About the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment
Launched in 2007, the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment is a network of 662 signatory schools, representing all fifty states and the District of Columbia. This high-visibility effort to address global warming garners institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth's climate. The ACUPCC is led by a Steering Committee comprised of more than 20 university and college presidents, including three co-chairs: Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University; Mary Spangler, Chancellor of Houston Community College; and David Shi, President of Furman University.
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