A Timeline of Carnegie Mellon Green Practices
September 1990
Carnegie Mellon creates a position for and hires a Recycling/Waste
Coordinator.
October 1990
Carnegie Mellon adopts a formal recycling policy and appoints campus
Recycling Liaisons to implement the policy. The liaisons adopt the
"Reduce, Reuse, Recycling" theme and promote efforts to
reduce waste campus wide.
December 1991
Carnegie Mellon conducts a solid waste management study and audit,
and determines that 5% of non-hazardous waste is being recycled.
Phase-in of the new campus recycling program begins.
1994
Carnegie Mellon wins the Three Rivers Environmental Award for their
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Program.
May 1996
Carnegie Mellon receives a $10,000 grant from the Heinz Endowments
for waste reduction initiatives.
An Environmental Practices Task Force designs Environmental Practices
Policy.
September 1996
Carnegie Mellon Environmental Practices launches their web site.
1997
Jared L. Cohon becomes the eighth President of Carnegie Mellon.
Carnegie Mellon joins Three Rivers University Consortium for the Environment
(3RUCE), an academic partnership to advance environmental education,
research, and technological development.
April 1998
A groundbreaking meeting is held to create the Environmental Practices
Committee (EPC). The Committee is established to develop a more
comprehensive waste reduction and energy conservation program.
The committee, which is comprised of staff, faculty and students,
establishes priorities, goals, and mechanisms for implementing environmental
practices.
The mission statement reads,” The Environmental Practices Committee
will strive to develop university practices that improve environmental
quality, decrease waste, and conserve natural resources and energy,
thereby establishing Carnegie Mellon as a practical model for other
universities and companies.”
January 1999
The Environmental Practices Committee begins to meet monthly and organizes
subcommittees to focus on recycling, purchasing, energy use, dining
services, housing services, buildings and construction, transportation,
and communication and outreach.
December 1999
The University Center Schatz Dining Room bans the use of polystyrene
in the dining room and switches to washable dinnerware.
2000
Ten years after the creation of a campus-wide recycling program, the
percentage of non-hazardous waste being recycled has increased from
5% to 13% by weight.
February 2000
Carnegie Mellon joins the Pennsylvania Consortium for Interdisciplinary
Environmental Policy (PCIEP), an organization comprised of environmental
policy makers and universities and colleges devoted to improving environmental
policy and understanding through government and academic cooperation.
October 2000
A full-time position is created at the university for an Environmental
Coordinator.
November 2000
Carnegie Mellon hosts the first Household Hazardous Waste Collection
Day for faculty, staff and students.
January 2001
In conjunction with the Pittsburgh Clean Cities program, Facilities
Management purchases two natural gas (CNG) vehicles.
Campus Security also purchases a natural gas car.
Carnegie Mellon adopts a policy that all new vehicle purchases for
campus organizations will be alternative fuel vehicles.
Carnegie Mellon Dining Services investigates the possibility of composting
food waste from its kitchens.
Spring 2001
The Environmental Practices Committee begins work on a campus-wide
environmental assessment to document the current state of the campus
environmental practices and policies.
April 2001
Carnegie Mellon eliminates the option to purchase virgin paper and
switches 100% of its copy and printing paper to 30% post-consumer
recycled content.
May 2001
The ‘Green Scene’ environmental newsletter is created
to communicate and publicize the efforts of the Environmental Practices
Committee and promote the environmental successes of the campus.
The newsletter continues to be published and distributed bi-monthly
on 100% recycled content paper and online to faculty, staff and students.
Carnegie Mellon makes a groundbreaking purchase of wind power from
the Somerset, PA wind farm. The campus purchases 5% of its total
electricity from clean wind power, which is the equal to 4.8 million
kilowatt hours per year. The purchase will offset some
environmental impacts from the coal-fired campus energy plant.
Carnegie Mellon becomes the nation’s largest single retail purchaser
of wind-generated electricity, and is awarded one of the 1st Annual Green Power Leadership
Awards from the EPA, DOE and CRS.
October 2001
Carnegie Mellon holds its first annual Energy Fest to promote awareness
about energy conservation and alternative energy resources.
The Environmental Practices Committee changes its name to Carnegie
Mellon Green Practices and adopts an official university logo.
The 2001 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence recognizes the university's commitment to purchasing green power.
November 2001
Carnegie Mellon Dining Services launches a test of biodegradable cornstarch
containers as a substitute for clear plastic containers. They
also launch a reusable mug program to reduce the amount of disposable
cups distributed.
Carnegie Mellon makes a commitment to pursue Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification
for all new buildings and major renovations on campus and becomes
a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.
April 22, 2002 (Earth Day)
Green Practices unveils a new Recycling Education Center in the University
Center.
It will provide extensive information about campus recycling and recycling
processes as well as serving as a collection area for the recycling
of unusual items such as cd’s, transparencies, and batteries.
October 2002
Carnegie Mellon extends its wind energy purchase contract for five
years and increases the percentage to 6% of the total campus electricity
use.
The University was the first of 25 Pennsylvania colleges and universities
now purchasing wind power.
September/October 2002
A team of Carnegie Mellon students designs and constructs a solar-powered
house to compete in the first Solar Decathlon National Competition
on the Mall in Washington, DC. The house is proposed to be rebuilt
on campus as the University Visitor’s Center.
February 2003
Carnegie Mellon wins second place in one category in the PA DEP “Rush
to Recycle Challenge.” The Challenge pitted colleges and universities
across Pennsylvania against one another to see which school could
increase its recycling percentage the most in six weeks.
Green Practices announces a new Recycling Master Plan for the campus
with a goal of diverting landfill waste and increasing our recycling
percentage to 33% (from the current 14%).The plan includes integrating
Building Recycling Coordinators into the recycling network, and improving
communications and increasing awareness. Six fraternities and several
off-campus housing units begin recycling as a result of the effort.
Spring 2003
Carnegie Mellon Facilities Management approves the construction of
a green roof on Hamerschlag Hall. The project will be researched and
designed by several students, and will serve as a test bed for future
green roof projects.
May 2003
The first LEED Accredited building on campus, the New House First
Year Residence Hall, opens. The building will house 259 students,
and has incorporated strategies for energy efficiency, improved indoor
air quality, and water conservation. Several other projects are pursuing
LEED Certification.
SWPAHHW Task Force recycles over 90 tons – 180,000 pounds of
household hazardous waste from 1,400 homes in SW PA. The event was
sponsored by the Southwestern PA Household Hazardous Waste Task Force,
a volunteer group comprised of representatives of industry, environmental,
education and government organizations.
June 2003
Dell Computer Recycling Event held a Carnegie Mellon recycles 56.5
tons of computer equipment from the region.
Green Practices Campus Guide designed by Green Practices Interns Jasdeep
Khaira and Daphne Firos.
July 2003
Summer interns working with Green Practices Committee develop a Communications
Master Plan that will be used to help the campus move beyond green
projects into becoming a green campus.
August 2003
Bio-diesel Relay stops at CMU
September 2003
New House LEED Silver Dedication Ceremony. New House is first LEED
rated Silver University Residence Hall in US.
October 2003
Society for College and University Planning; Live satellite telecast
on ‘Sustainability Plan for it!’.
October 2003
Energy Fest ‘03
October 2003
Trash Sort ‘03
December 2003
Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research (SEER)
formed with a $4M grant from trustee Lowell Steinbrenner.
January 2004
Sleep is Good - Power Naps; put your monitor to sleep campaign started.
Of the 21,000 computers on campus the university agreed to have 1000
monitors changed to sleep mode over the course of the year.
February 2004—April 2004
Recycle Mania recycling contest with 17 others schools across the
US. CMU comes in 6th place and beats Harvard, Yale and Brown!
February 2004
Awarded the PA DEP Energy Harvest Grant for the Hamerschlag Hall green
roof project.
June 2004
Awarded Three Rivers Wet Weather Demonstration Project Grant for the
Hamerschlag Hall green roof project.
June 2004
New Green Practices Web site designed and developed.
August 2004
Four household hazardous waste events were held throughout the year
in SW PA; Allegheny, Lawrence, Armstrong and Butler Counties. Planning
for next year’s events has begun.
October 2004
Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) Conference with 500 environmental
journalists will be held on campus.
November 2004 Awarded DEP Energy Harvest grant for solar panel project.
December 2004 Henderson House receives LEED Silver rating from the USGBC.
February 2005—April 2005
Recycle Mania recycling contest with 28 others schools across the
US. Contest improves awareness on campus.
February 2005
Campus Baseline Assessment completed for 2004.
April 2005 The 2004 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence recognized the university's commitment to green buildings for all new construction on campus.
April 2005 Green Practices Committee was recognized at the Green Building Alliance 2005 Shades of Green Leadership Awards and received the Green Initiative team award.
May 2005 Hamerschlag Hall Living Roof is completed! The roof is instrumented for green roof research and the project gets underway.
September 2005 Solar panels are plugged in and we start Solar Powered Computing! A solar photovoltaic (PV) system-direct conversion of sunlight into electricity- starts operation. The 12kW DC grid-tied array produces 10% of the building energy. This largest (known) solar display in Pittsburgh is located on the Computer Science Building at 407 S. Craig Street.
September 2005 Five household hazardous waste events were held throughout the year in SW PA; Allegheny, Cambria, Butler, Beaver and Westmoreland Counties. Planning for 2006 events has begun.
September 2005 Eco-Reps program started to encourage fellow peers to live in a more environmentally conscientious way.
October 2005 - Posner Center receives notification from USGBC that it has achieved LEED Certification and becomes the third building on campus to be built using the LEED guidelines.
January 2006 The Hamerschlag Hall Living Roof is featured in the New York Times 'Greening of America's Campuses' article.
February 2006—April 2006
Recycle Mania contest with 45 others schools across the country.
The U.S. EPA Waste Wise Program recognizes Carnegie Mellon for
participating in the RecycleMania 2006 intercollegiate recycling
competition to increase campus recycling and promote environmental
stewardship.
February 2006 The Hamerschlag Hall Living Roof is awarded the National Roofing Contractors Association Roof of the Year award! It is also nominated for the Healthy Cities Award and PA Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence.
March 2006 Green Practices Program awarded the 2006 C.O.O.L. Idealist "Idealism in Action Award" for being a leading 'green' campus in the USA. C.O.O.L. (Campus Outreach Opportunity League) and Action Without Borders/Idealist.org recognizes Carnegie Mellon at their annual student national conference.
March 2006 The Collaborative Innovation Center Building received a LEED-CS gold rating (Core and Shell Version).
June 2006 The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection and Green Practices organized the first 'Carbon Neutral' Energy Efficiency Workshop for Colleges and Universities in Western Pennsylvania. The attendee travel and hotel accommodations were offset with clean, renewable New Wind Energy. The estimated environmental benefit of this workshop is equal to offsetting more than 9,300 pounds of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of planting 630 trees.
August 2006 The Synergy Solar House used for the 2005 US EPA Solar Decathlon is installed back on campus and hooked up to the grid. It will be used as an educational facility.
August 2006 Several building renovations are completed and are being submitted for LEED certification.
September 2006 The university becomes a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and is represented on the ACORE Higher Education Steering Committee for American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE).
October 2006 Contract negotiated to supply the entire university with 'green gas' from a local landfill at no additional cost.
December 2006 The university received the EPA Green Power Partnership Club Award for exemplary green power procurement. In 2006, 15% of the university's electricity comes from renewable sources. This is to increase to 17% in 2007 and 18% in 2008.
February 2007 We sign up for another year of the Recycle Mania contest that has grown to OVER 200 others schools from across the country, including Alaska and Hawaii!
March 2007 407 South Craig Street building renovations receive LEED Silver Rating.
April 2007 The Southwestern Pennsylvania HHW Task Force is winner of the 2007 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence. Carnegie Mellon initiated the formation of the SWPAHHW Task Force in 2002. It is a partnership of profit and non-profit organizations, as well as academia, government and environmental organizations. The task force has managed the collection of over a million pounds of waste from Western Pennsylvania residents since April 2003.
May 2007 300 South Craig Street building renovations receive LEED Silver Rating.
November 2007 Sierra Magazine has ranked Carnegie Mellon
University the 10th "Coolest" School in its November/December 2007
cover story. The ranking stems from the university's efforts
around combating global warming and creating a greener campus.
