UF Goes 'Green' With New Ideas

November 9, 2005

This op-ed appeared Nov. 9 in the Tampa Tribune.

By: Bernie Machen
Bernie Machen is president of the University of Florida.

You don't have to look hard this fall for evidence it's high time to adopt a green, or environmentally conscious, approach to life.

High gasoline and natural gas prices highlight the increasing scarcity of fossil fuels. Widespread damage wrought by hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma show the spiraling human and financial cost of natural disasters.

As individuals, we can all be more conservation- and environmental-minded. But as major employers and trustees of taxpayer dollars, public institutions -- especially universities -- bear a special responsibility. That's because we're rightly expected to serve as sources and advocates for challenging new ideas.

Although it's largely been behind the scenes, UF has worked for several years to meet this responsibility.

Here area few examples. We crafted a master plan that emphasizes sustainability along with academic excellence and community partnership. We've built several of our newest buildings to national Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards for energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. In fact, a third of Florida's LEED-certified buildings are on the UF campus. And we've worked hard to reduce lawn chemicals and fertilizers, preserve conservation areas and otherwise maintain a balance between our developed and natural campus.

Our efforts recently received national recognition. Audubon International in October made UF the first university to receive its "Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary" designation. But in the wake of the energy concerns that followed this summer's hurricanes, we're ratcheting up our efforts.

Our goal: To become the nation's most sustainable university -- and a living laboratory for sustainable concepts in general.

From now on, the university will:

• Purchase only hybrid- or alternative-fuel vehicles.
• Reduce the use of current state vehicles by charging departments for parking.
• Provide additional incentives for employees to carpool and encourage more employees to take the bus.
• Evaluate hallway, corridor and nonsecurity night lighting -- turning it off or down when possible.
• Raise or lower heating and air conditioning for optimum efficiency. Our summer goal is to maintain an indoor temperature of 78.
• Ask all employees to turn off computers, electrical equipment, fans, radios and other devices when not needed.

After a time, we'll review the outcome of these changes. Chances are high we'll implement other energy-saving policies. In the meantime, we're also pursuing a range of other sustainability initiatives.