Committee assesses UC's level of carbon emissions
Taylor Dungjen
Issue date: 1/23/08 Section: News
After University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher joined the American Colleges & University Presidents' Climate Commitment in April 2007, the Climate Commitment Steering Committee has been working to turn the university into a more sustainable environment.
"Right now we are working on assessing the carbon footprint, which is the big project," said Beth McGrew, associate vice president of campus planning and design.
To measure the university's carbon footprint, the committee must record an inventory of carbon emissions and assess different facets of the university such as recycling, airfare mileage and utility information.
The climate committee is also charged with the development of an action plan to reduce carbon emissions and the carbon footprint at UC.
McGrew said she does not expect the changes will happen overnight, but is looking to create a series of steps for the university that will prove most effective. The implementation plan is slated to begin in late spring.
In order to quantify the collected data, the committee is using Clean Air Cool Planet, an organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming.
"We are using a standardized tool because there are really a lot of ways to look at what we do," McGrew said. "A standardized tool would be best for consistent measurement as we have a lot of information coming from a lot of places."
The committee is working to inform students, faculty and staff about the climate commitment during the assessment period.
"We have launched a lecture series called Climate Commitment 101," McGrew said. "The first lecture was given by UC scientists, the second will be from the point of view of a sociologist."
The second lecture of the series is scheduled to be held on Friday, Feb. 15.
The lecture series was created to analyze the word 'sustainability' from a number of different angles - politically, scientifically and through art, according to McGrew.
"Right now we are working on assessing the carbon footprint, which is the big project," said Beth McGrew, associate vice president of campus planning and design.
To measure the university's carbon footprint, the committee must record an inventory of carbon emissions and assess different facets of the university such as recycling, airfare mileage and utility information.
The climate committee is also charged with the development of an action plan to reduce carbon emissions and the carbon footprint at UC.
McGrew said she does not expect the changes will happen overnight, but is looking to create a series of steps for the university that will prove most effective. The implementation plan is slated to begin in late spring.
In order to quantify the collected data, the committee is using Clean Air Cool Planet, an organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming.
"We are using a standardized tool because there are really a lot of ways to look at what we do," McGrew said. "A standardized tool would be best for consistent measurement as we have a lot of information coming from a lot of places."
The committee is working to inform students, faculty and staff about the climate commitment during the assessment period.
"We have launched a lecture series called Climate Commitment 101," McGrew said. "The first lecture was given by UC scientists, the second will be from the point of view of a sociologist."
The second lecture of the series is scheduled to be held on Friday, Feb. 15.
The lecture series was created to analyze the word 'sustainability' from a number of different angles - politically, scientifically and through art, according to McGrew.
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