President Richard C. Levin and Provost Alison Richard have announced the establishment of a $1 million "Yale Green Fund," to be spent over the next three years, to support environmental initiatives on campus.
"Raising additional funds for this effort will be an institutional priority," Richard said. "The $1 million will enable us to make a good start."
The "Yale Green Fund" will be used to finance environmental activities proposed by the Provost's Advisory Committee on Environmental Management (ACEM). Established in the fall of 2001, the committee includes faculty, staff, undergraduate, graduate and professional school students. The committee was created to transform the Environmental Focus Group, which advised the Provost regarding the environmental impact of the University's operations, into a Standing Advisory Committee.
In charging the committee, the Provost asked ACEM to propose a set of environmental principles for adoption by the University (see story); recommend quantitative benchmarks, targets and time scales for such goals as energy efficiency, reduction of solid waste, recycling rate, water use, greenhouse gas emissions and perhaps other measurable properties; propose programs and initiatives to achieve specific targets; monitor progress toward the targets; and recommend means of communicating Yale's environmental record and its goals for the future, within and outside the University.
In April ACEM submitted to the Provost an "Interim Report: Proposals for the Adoption of Environmental Principles and the Enhancement of Environmental Management at Yale." With the support of the Yale Corporation and the approval of the President and the Provost, the University committed itself to the principles proposed by the committee.
In addition to these principles, the report contained 14 individual proposals for environmental management actions. Richard divided the proposals into three broad categories. The first group requires modest expenditures and can be implemented now. These include development of a "Green Page" on the University's website and hosting an environmental open house to showcase Yale's existing environmental initiatives. The second category contains more sizeable and more costly proposals. One example is an Energy Minimization Pilot Study which attempts to monitor and optimize energy consumption and conservation in a sample of campus buildings. Long-term goals listed in the third category involve broad changes in the operations of the University. These include Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification of all construction projects on campus.
For the coming year the Provost has asked ACEM to prioritize, refine and further analyze the proposals contained in the report and to make recommendations regarding implementation using the Yale Green Fund. In addition the committee was asked to continue its efforts to define quantitative benchmarks for Yale's environmental performance.
Richard described the Interim Report as a "thoughtful and exciting document," and she praised ACEM's chair, Professor Thomas Graedel, for his leadership of the committee. She said she looks forward to continued progress in Yale's environmental management.
ACEM members
The following are the members of the Advisory Committee on Environmental Management.
Chair: Thomas Graedel, the Clifford R. Musser Professor of Industrial Ecology at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES).
Members (in alphabetical order): Rebecca Sara Adler, Yale College student; Jay Ague, associate professor of geology and geophysics; Margaret Virginia Chapman, director of project management and construction, Facilities Development and Operations, School of Medicine; Martin Costello, associate director, Office of Environmental Health and Safety; Martha Crawford, senior buyer, Procurement Department; Robert Dincecco, associate director, University Planning; Elan Gandsman, director, Office of Environmental Health and Safety; Stephen Kellert, the Tweedy/Ordway Professor of Social Ecology, F&ES; Nathaniel Keohane, assistant professor, School of Management (SOM); Karen Lamb, assistant provost; Cyril J. May, recycling coordinator, Office of Facilities; Roberto Meinrath, deputy director, Office of Facilities; Nicholas Ornston, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology; Alan Plattus, professor of architecture and urbanism; Justin Pollard, SOM student; Jeffrey Powell, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and of F&ES; Tyler Radniecki, Graduate School student; Dr. Carrie Redlich, associate professor of internal medicine (occupational medicine); and Eric Weese, Yale College student.
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