Andrew Predmore, IU’s associate director of sustainability, said Wednesday night that IU is working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, improve the efficiency of its buildings and focus on green education.
His presentation, “Sustainability and the IU Bicentennial Strategic Plan,” was featured at the final Green Drinks meeting of 2015.
These monthly meetings take place at Upland Brewery Co.’s Banquet Facility, where Bloomington residents meet to eat, drink and talk about environmental issues.
Predmore said IU’s goals include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020, looking at large-scale solar energy, certifying all new buildings with LEED Green Building Certification System and setting the minimum certification level of other buildings to Gold.
In order to meet LEED’s certification standards, buildings must satisfy certain prerequisites according to the desired level.
With each prerequisite met, a building earns points. Sixty to 79 points are required for Gold level.
The plan also includes supporting living laboratory initiatives, Predmore said.
He said this means professors getting students out into campus and the community to solve sustainability problems — and asking faculty to “think differently about their jobs.”
“This is campus as a lab,” he said. “Class-based experiential learning is another opportunity.”
Predmore mentioned School of Public and Environmental Affairs students’ efforts to map out ash trees on campus so their progress can be tracked as the emerald ash borer beetle threat increases.
Interns from IU’s Office of Sustainability have also been contributing to ongoing research projects, like evaluating the health of the Jordan River, studying the costs and benefits of solar energy at IU and improving accessibility to “real food” on campus.
But Predmore said the school has to do more.
“I don’t think it’s enough,” he said. “I think the challenge is too urgent.”
Though IU is working to increase its earth friendliness, doing educational outreach matters even more, Predmore said. That means reaching more than just the student population in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs studying sustainability.
“If you think about across the entire campus, there isn’t a core curriculum sustainability requirement,” he said and added that students should have at least some exposure to the issue by the time they walk across the stage at graduation.
Ryan Clemens, a master’s student at the SPEA, said he wants to push for more classes that focus on sustainability.
“There’s really not that many classes on it,” he said.
Clemens and fellow masters students Gilbert Bongmba, who attended Green Drinks, agreed the university has a responsibility as a public institution to be green. They said IU is moving in the right direction at a strong pace.
“The school is trying everything ... to push the campus to be more sustainable,” Bongmba said. “They are truly working toward it.”
Predmore said there is still a need for similar sustainability efforts across the country.
“The last thing we want ... are the Sample Gates to be a symbol of green privilege,” he said.
