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The Greening of Georgetown

When the newest addition to Georgetown’s campus, the Rafik B. Hariri Building, opened its doors on Sept. 16, it laid claim to two firsts. It gathered the entire McDonough School of Business community under one roof for the first time in its 52-year history, and it marked the first time a Georgetown building became a candidate for LEED certification as a green building.

These efforts, as well as other Georgetown environmental programs, were discussed at a panel held in the Hariri Building during Homecoming Weekend, moderated by Tim McBride (L’75, L’80), a member of the business school board of advisors and an adjunct faculty member.

The LEED system (which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2000. It evaluates a new building or renovation on criteria ranging from water and energy efficiency, to waste reduction and indoor air quality, to proximity to public transit and open spaces for walking and physical activity. Georgetown has applied for the second highest rating, silver, for the Hariri Building.

A Model for the University

“We were pretty far into the design process for the building when we suddenly realized we could do more to be environmentally responsible. That’s when we began making deliberate decisions that led us towards applying for LEED certification,” said Karen Frank, panelist and vice president for university facilities and student housing at Georgetown. In her role, Frank oversees planning, design and construction for all new buildings and renovations, as well as their maintenance and custodial care.

As examples of these deliberate decisions during the design phase, Frank points to surrounding the building with bicycle racks; reserving prime parking spaces in the garage for hybrid vehicles; and installing automatic heating, cooling and lighting controls so the equipment powers down when not in use.

Because LEED also measures the environmental impact of the building during operation as well as construction, Frank notes that Georgetown has adopted a green cleaning program to eliminate use of strong chemicals that will adversely affect indoor air quality and has purchased certified green power for 100 percent of the anticipated needs of the Hariri Building.

“[The Hariri] Building can become a model for the rest of the university in terms of a holistic approach to sustainability on campus,” said panelist Jaime Van Mourik, higher education sector manager at the U.S. Green Building Council. Van Mourik notes that sustainability efforts on campus are often grass roots by nature, bubbling up from a student body that is increasingly environmentally conscious and demands the same from their university (and eventually from their employers).

The Blue and Gray Goes Green

In 2008, the Princeton Review introduced a green rating to its annual rankings of colleges and universities nationwide. The rating measures how environmentally friendly the institutions are on a scale of 60 to 99, based on data about their environmentally related policies, practices and academic offerings. Georgetown fared well in the rankings, with a score of 95.

To ensure it is tapping into student enthusiasm for the environment, as well as the knowledge and professional expertise of faculty and staff, Georgetown established the Sustainability Advisory Group in spring 2007. The group advises the university’s senior leadership on developing a plan to reduce Georgetown’s environmental footprint.

A student participant on the advisory group and member of the Homecoming panel, Michael Durante (B’10) has seen Georgetown make great strides in environmental awareness in the four years he’s been on the Hilltop. Key milestones along the way include a survey, signed by one third of undergraduates his freshman year, to increase student fees to enable the university to purchase more green power, the installation his sophomore year of energy monitors in residence halls and the closing ceremonies for the Climate Ride, a charity bike ride from New York to D.C., held on campus his junior year.

Durante is a member of EcoAction, a student group that seeks to educate the campus community about environmental issues. Its home page urges visitors to“Bleed blue, wear gray - think green!”

“When I joined EcoAction my freshman year, it was a hobby group,” said Durante. “Every year since then, more students have become knowledgeable about environmental sustainability, they are beginning to see what Georgetown can do to improve our collective footprint and they want to get involved. Environmentalism isn’t a hobby anymore – it’s been integrated into every aspect of university life.”

As yet another sign of the greening of Georgetown, in late September the university rolled out new solar-powered trash and recycling containers to help meet its recycling rate goal of 40 percent in the coming year (read related story). Pending efforts include switching all GUTS buses to biodiesel fuel and evaluating recent building projects, such as the Southwest Quad and the Davis Performing Arts Center, to see if small improvements can be made to make them more energy efficient. And if the Hariri Building is any indication, Georgetown’s next new facility to be built – the science center – will be the university’s greenest.

For more information, please visit Georgetown’s sustainability Web site.

Anne Merrill is director of editorial services in Georgetown’s Office of Advancement.