Virginia Tech
IN-1: Innovation 1

“Sustainability Plan Implementation: Improving Administrative Practices and Behavior through the Green Campus Challenge”

In June 2009, as part of Executive Order 82, former Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine challenged state agencies to reduce pollution and become more sustainable. The “Green Commonwealth Challenge” invited agencies to use the period of June 15 through November 15 to see how many deliberate, voluntary actions to reduce impacts to the environment could be achieved. The Challenge was entirely voluntary. Thirty-seven state agencies chose to participate, and all of them implemented practices to make government more efficient with regard to travel, electricity consumption, and recycling. The top-scoring agencies in the “Green Commonwealth Challenge” were as follows: the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Corrections, Virginia Tech, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. Please see http://www.facilities.vt.edu/sustainability/green_challenge_results.pdf for former Governor Kaine’s press release of the winners of the “Green Commonwealth Challenge.” Unique to Virginia Tech’s submission was its intent to create its own Green Campus Challenge to be modeled after the Green Commonwealth Challenge.

The Energy and Sustainability Committee created the first Virginia Tech Green Campus Challenge in survey format that was administered during the period March 5 to April 16, 2010 and subsequently evaluated by the Committee. All departments on the Blacksburg campus with 10 employees or more were eligible to complete the survey. The survey asked responding departments to score points if they had policies and practices to reduce energy and material waste, maximize recycling, and avoid transportation impacts of meetings and commuting.

Under the guise of a friendly competition, the primary aim of the Green Campus Challenge was to educate and to prompt action by departments by giving them the opportunity to adopt sustainability-related policies and practices in the process of completing the survey and thus score points.

The Virginia Tech Green Campus Challenge Survey served as an excellent educational tool for the implementation of the Virginia Tech Climate Action Commitment and Sustainability Plan and other key university policies such as University Policy 5505: Campus Energy, Water, and Waste Reduction. The strategy for implementation of the Sustainability Plan has four main components: improving efficiency of facilities and operations, enhancing academic programs related to sustainability, engaging with the larger Blacksburg community, and changing campus culture and behavior to conserve energy, water and materials. The latter component is the most difficult. Student services units such as dining and housing and student organizations have done much to affect student culture and behavior, but campus administrative units and their thousands of employees have been slower to change behavior and adopt sustainability practices. The Virginia Tech Green Campus Challenge targeted these administrative units to adopt policies and behaviors to conserve energy, water, and materials.

The Virginia Tech Green Campus Challenge Survey may be viewed at the following link: http://www.facilities.vt.edu/sustainability/vt_green_campus.pdf The survey contained a maximum of 320 points with 50 dedicated to innovative sustainability practices cited by the responding department. Points were awarded to the innovative practices by the Energy and Sustainability Committee.

For additional points, the survey also asked each responding department to identify a Green Campus Communication Representative from their department to participate in a continuing cross-campus dialogue about sustainability practices, as well as cite innovative policies and practices that they have adopted. Finally, the survey asked respondents to suggest ideas to enhance campus sustainability.

As a show of his support for the Green Campus Challenge, Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger offered to invite a representative from each of the top four scoring departments to accompany him at Lane Stadium for a fall 2010 home football game. Representatives from the winning departments accompanied President Steger at the Virginia Tech verses East Carolina football game on September 18, during Sustainability Week 2010. For more information and a photo from the event please see: http://www.facilities.vt.edu/sustainability/greencampus.asp

Outcomes:

The vast majority of the fifty departments that qualified to participate in the Green Campus Challenge participated, representing over 4,700 employees, or two-thirds of the Blacksburg campus work force. All departments that participated in the survey identified a Green Campus Communication Representative from their department that will continue to participate in cross-campus dialogue about sustainability practices.

Participating departments included the following:

• Administration departments (14): Budget and Financial Planning, Controller’s Office, Diversity and Inclusion, Environmental Health and Safety Services, Facilities Services, Hokie Passport Office, Human Resources, Network Infrastructure/Systems Support, Office of the President, Office of Vice President for Administrative Services (joint response from offices of University Architect, Emergency Management, Real Estate Management, and the Vice President for Administrative Services Information Technology Department), Purchasing, University Police, University Relations, and the Virginia Tech Foundation.

• Academic departments (12): Building Construction, Chemistry, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Geosciences, Materials Science and Engineering, Mathematics, Mining and Minerals Engineering, the School of Public and International Affairs, the School of Visual Arts, Statistics, University Academic Advising/University Studies, and Urban Affairs and Planning.

• Academic support departments (6): The Center for Academic Enrichment and Excellence, the Center for Survey Research, the Institute for Policy and Governance, Learning Technologies, the Office of University Registrar, and the Women’s Center.

• College deans’ offices (4): Architecture and Urban studies, Engineering, Science, and Veterinary Medicine.

• Student affairs units (10): Career Services, Dean of Students Office, Division of Student Affairs Communication and Marketing, Military Affairs/Corps of Cadets, Recreational Sports, Schiffert Health Center, Services for Students with Disabilities, University Unions, University Scholarships and Financial Aid, and Upward Bound/Talent Search.

• Auxiliary units (4): Athletic Department, Dining Services, Housing Services, and The Inn at Virginia Tech.

For departmental results see: http://www.facilities.vt.edu/sustainability/gcc_results.pdf

Please see http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2010/06/2010-470.html for a press release about the Green Campus Challenge.

The success of the Green Campus Challenge earned Virginia Tech a Governor’s Environmental Excellence Gold Award in April 2011. The Governor’s Environmental Excellent Award recognizes the significant contributions of environmental and conservation leaders in three categories: environmental projects, environmental programs, and land conservation. They are given to businesses and industrial facilities, not-for-profit organizations, government agencies, and individuals.

To view the 2011 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award please see: http://facilities.vt.edu/documents/2011_Governors_Environmental_Excellence_Gold_Award_to_Virginia_Techs_Sustainability_Plan_Implementation.pdf

For the press release about the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Gold Award please see: http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2011/04/040811-facilities-excellenceaward.html

For the Governor’s Environmental Excellent Awards Ceremony Program please see: http://facilities.vt.edu/documents/2011_Governors_Environmental_Excellence_Awards_Ceremony.pdf

For a photo of the ceremony please see: http://facilities.vt.edu/documents/virginia_tech.gif

From left to right: Doug Domenech (Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources), Rob Lowe (VT), Angie De Soto (VT), John Randolph (VT), Fred Selby (VT), Denny Cochrane (VT), Mike Coleman (VT), David Paylor (Director, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality), David Johnson (Director, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation).

As a result of Virginia Tech’s successful Green Campus Challenge, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requested that Virginia Tech co-present a webinar regarding “Greening Virginia State Government” with the DEQ and the Virginia Department of Corrections. The DEQ recognized that Virginia Tech’s Green Campus Challenge and other campus-wide sustainability policies and initiatives are applicable to other state agencies and institutions throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. The webinar was held on July 29, 2010.

To view the “Greening Virginia State Government” webinar please see: www.facilities.vt.edu/sustainability/2010_greening.ppt