Roosevelt University in Chicago received gold-level recognition from the Illinois Governor’s Higher Education Campus Sustainability Compact and the Illinois Green Governments Coordinating Council for its green initiatives, the university announced in a press release.
“This recognition is one of Illinois’ highest honors for sustainability in the higher education arena,” said Paul Matthews, assistant vice president for campus planning and operations at Roosevelt. “We are proud of the accomplishments we’ve made thus far and are right on track to make many more strides in the future,” he said.
During the past five years the university has reduced its energy consumption, introduced composting, diverted 44 percent of its waste from landfills, implemented sustainable land-use practices and created an internship program for students to further sustainability initiatives on campus. Five students have completed the program.
In addition, many members of the Roosevelt community came together last semester to develop a five-year plan for integrating sustainability broadly across the University’s Chicago and Schaumburg campuses.
“The plan is being reviewed by the Roosevelt administration for approval and also will be presented to the Executive Council, Faculty Senate and Board of Trustees for endorsement,” said Matthews.
Awarded to institutions that are integrating sustainability throughout their campuses and working toward measured improvements, the Illinois Governor’s Higher Education Campus Sustainability Compact gold-level recognition is one of many sustainability awards the University has received since 2012.
Of note, the University’s new 32-story Wabash Building received gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for sustainable design and construction. The new Lillian and Larry Goodman Center for University Athletics received silver-level LEED certification from the USGBC in 2013. Listed for the last three years in The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges as one of the greenest universities in the nation, Roosevelt also was honored with USGBC’s Emerald Award for Green Innovation in 2013.
