Maryland Higher Education Commission

University of Baltimore Sustainability Efforts:

Last December, the President signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, pledging the University of Baltimore to become fully engaged in the pursuit of climate neutrality. This year we have laid a foundation to advance a culture of sustainability for our community.

Through our system of shared governance, the University Council created the Sustainability Task Force to ensure full participation of the UB community in the development of an action plan and the promotion of ongoing efforts to achieve climate neutrality.

The Task Force has established a Recycling Workgroup for the purpose of reducing our overall waste stream both on campus and in our communities.

We have adopted an energy-efficient procurement policy requiring the purchase of ENERGY STAR certified products.

The Law School has held its second annual summit on the health of the Chesapeake Bay (see law school for more)

We have embarked on a campus-wide Energy Performance Contract that will result in a 30% reduction in energy consumption by 2010, exceeding the governor’s Empower Maryland Goal of 15% by 2015. The aggregate guaranteed savings of $11 million over the next 14 years will finance $8 million in major utility system upgrades & replacements, while employing new green technologies such as a green roof, daylight harvesting, and electricity generated by photovoltaic panels to achieve a truly sustainable environment. This project will dramatically impact our carbon footprint by reducing emissions by 3,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The University announced that Stefan Behnisch, a world-class architect renowned for his cutting edge sustainable designs, was the winner of the new law school design competition. Upon completion of contract negotiations Behnisch will team with the Baltimore firm of Ayers/Saint/Gross to design a LEED Gold Certified facility that incorporates green roofs and terraces, natural light and fresh air ventilation that are truly forward thinking and transformational for UB and our surrounding community.

Our streetscape master plan prescribes a greening of our campus, by dramatically increasing the number of trees and shrubs to both soften the hardscape and increase fresh air through oxygen producing plants.

Integration of sustainability into our curriculum and other educational experiences is a high priority. In November, the Merrick School of Business approved a specialization in sustainability- initiating a nexus between environmental practices and traditional academic programs.

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