The creation of the Angwin Ecovillage will fulfill two important goals for Pacific Union College: to fund an endowment that will ensure the college’s financial viability into the future, and to reposition PUC on the cutting edge of educational innovation in the competitive college marketplace, through
- Development of a strong sustainability curriculum,
- Incorporation of the Ecovillage “living laboratory” into coursework, and
- Adoption of state-of-the-art sustainable campus operating practices.
The Sustainable Endowments Institute publishes its annual “Report Card” for the top 100 colleges and universities in North America each year. Of its seven categories of analysis, four are campus-related, including Administration, Climate Change & Energy, Food & Recycling, and Green Building.
The most sustainability-minded university campuses in North America include Harvard, Yale, Duke, Cornell, Washington, British Columbia, Bowdoin College and Middlebury College. Close behind, with near-excellence in all four categories, includes Stanford, Dartmouth, Oberlin, Carnegie Mellon, U.C.L.A, Tufts, Wesleyan, U.C. Berkeley, Carleton, M.I.T., Princeton, Williams, Penn State, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Grinnell, Smith, Berea, and Syracuse.
Comparing PUC’s Forward Commitment to the 27 Top Schools
Administration: Almost all of the 27 comparative schools have implemented initiatives and advisory councils to guide campus sustainability principles, policies and practices, with Harvard’s Green Campus Initiative leading the field. Overall commitments include energy conservation, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, green planning and building practices, recycling, waste reduction and water conservation.
PUC’s Commitment: As a component of PUC’s proposed Ecovillage, a Campus/Town Community Resource Center and Office of Sustainability will be created with a full-time sustainability coordinator. This office will be involved in campus transportation management, energy and water audits, dining hall waste reduction, recycling and composting programs, solar, geothermal, and co-generation to reduce non-renewable energy consumption, LEED planning and construction standards, and effective behavioral change programs. PUC intends to become a leading institution of higher education in sustainable practices.
Climate Change & Energy: A number of leading sustainable campuses among the top 27 include co-generation for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, and many purchase renewal resource energy including solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, biodiesel, ground source heating, and local hydro-electric.
PUC’s Commitment: PUC has previously installed a $12 million co-generation plant to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. A solar photovoltaic array in conjunction with a major commitment to geothermal heating, will allow Ecovillage neighborhoods to operate almost completely from renewable energy sources. PUC has committed to a sustainable master plan of pedestrian and bicycle connectivity, restricted automobile use within its campus, a transit shuttle within the campus and town to link with county-wide transit, and campus car sharing of electric GEM vehicles for local trips. The college’s wastewater treatment facility will be converted to tertiary level to reclaim 100% of the Ecovillage and campus wastewater, eliminating all potable water use for irrigation purposes. Rainwater harvesting and water-saving fixtures will also be employed to conserve water.
Food & Recycling: Local organically grown foods are quickly becoming the norm in the dining halls for almost all 27 of the comparative schools, with some of the schools maintaining their own small farms. Purchasing within area regions to reduce “food miles” and support local farming is emphasized. Many schools convert pre-consumer kitchen waste into biofuels for campus vehicles and post-consumer food waste into compost for local farms.
PUC’s Commitment: Pacific Union College is proposing to exceed most of the comparative colleges with the Angwin Agricultural Conservancy or “AAC”, that will organically farm 70 acres of campus property. The AAC is expected to provide up to 80% of the produce needs for the college, the Ecovillage, and the town of Angwin. In addition, local elementary and high school students will benefit from the AAC’s new Farm to School program.
Green Building: All of the top performers in our comparative group utilize LEED certification standards for new buildings planned and under construction. Oberlin’s Center for Environmental Studies has been designated one of the world’s 30 “milestone” buildings of the 20th Century.
PUC’s Commitment: PUC is making a bold commitment to green building within its Ecovillage. All residences, including new faculty and student housing as well as market rate structures, must be built to a LEED-Silver certification standard or higher. All commercial and residential structures must be constructed with solar photovoltaics, geothermal source heating, rainwater harvesting, 100% reclaimed wastewater, low flow water conservation facilities, and green building materials.