Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 26, 2007|Volume 36, Number 8

Yale must take lead in promoting
a ‘green’ future, says Levin

By modeling responsible environmental practice on its own campus, Yale can demonstrate to other universities, the nation’s political leaders and even the rest of the world that efforts to stop global warming are both “feasible and affordable,” President Richard C. Levin said at the Oct. 18 conference on “The Greening of Yale and Beyond.”

Levin was one of five speakers at the event who discussed current and developing initiatives to protect the global environment. The four-and-a-half hour conference, which drew a large crowd to Battell Chapel, was presented by the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies and sponsored by the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Lecture Series.

Levin focused his presentation, titled “Creating Sustainable Campuses,” on the threat of global warming and the University’s initiatives to reduce its carbon emissions (believed to be the primary cause of global warming). He began by noting that global warming is no longer a matter of debate, saying that scientific evidence of the rise in the Earth’s average temperature is now considered conclusive and that this increase is caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activity.

While the United States is the world’s largest source of GHG emissions, Levin said, it is unlikely that the nation will enact legislation that is “sufficiently ambitious” to change that status. Yet, he warned, global warming cannot be stopped unless the United States — along with China and India, also top producers of GHG emissions — reduce their amounts. Levin cited one report, the 2006 Stern Review, which concluded that in order to prevent global warming in excess of two degrees Celsius — a level, scientists believe, that would have dramatic environmental and ecological repercussions — carbon emissions worldwide must be reduced by 45% to 55%.

Given the lack of comprehensive action on the part of the United States and rapidly developing China and India, institutions like Yale must take the lead in demonstrating that a major reduction of GHG is possible and that it is relatively inexpensive to do so, Levin told his audience.

Levin noted that in 2005 the University announced its goal of reducing GHG emissions by 2020 to 10% below its 1990 level, a 43% decrease. The University, the president said, has already achieved a 17% reduction from the 2005 level , and projects that are currently planned will create an additional 17% reduction. Yale has made progress by installing more efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC) in 90 buildings; replacing windows throughout the campus with thermally efficient ones; introducing new and modified energy-saving equipment in its power plants; using renewable fuel in buses and turbines; ensuring that all new buildings and major renovations on campus can receive a LEED rating of “Silver” or better (LEED is a nationally accepted benchmark for “green” building design and construction); using ground water for cooling; and achieving a 10% yearly reduction in electricity use in the residential colleges. Yale students and others on campus have also been engaged in boosting the campus waste that is recycled, Levin noted.

In addition, other initiatives are in progress at the University, including the installation of a 14 megawatt cogeneration plant at the medical center; the adoption of sustainable building design and construction standards for Yale projects; the purchase of hybrid vehicles; and the placement of thin film photovoltaic cells on certain buildings to convert light to energy. In addition, by next summer a windmill project in a windy corridor of Science Hill will be launched, according to Levin.

The University will also upgrade or make renovations to buildings and systems that are part of its newly acquired West Campus, the former Bayer pharmaceutical complex in West Haven and Orange, Levin said during his presentation. A key goal, he pointed out, is to minimize “the carbon footprint of transportation” between the two campuses, mentioning bicycle paths as one alternative.

In addition to reducing Yale’s ecological footprint, most of the University’s initiatives have “positive economic returns,” said Levin. While he acknowledged that green building construction and increased use of renewable fuels are expensive, he told his audience that the estimated cost to meet Yale’s GHG emissions goal is about 1% of the University’s operating budget — and by some estimates only half of that amount.

“Would you pay one-half of 1% of your income to halt global warming?” Levin asked his audience. “I think so.”

Beyond these measures, Yale also plays a role in creating a more environmentally friendly Earth by educating its students — the next generation of leaders — about sustainability issues across a wide variety of fields; advancing scientific and policy research, again, across disciplines, that will have an impact on the future of the environment; and by influencing other universities in the United States and across the globe to pursue similar efforts to reduce their carbon footprints.

Since the University created its Office of Sustainability in 2005, Yale has been engaged in conversations with other Ivy League schools and with universities abroad to share sustainability practices and work toward a common GHG emissions reduction goal, Levin said, noting that these alliances help to create a global network of universities focused on thinking about and working toward sustainability.

In the future, if the University reaches its GHG emissions goal, its next step would be to “raise the bar,” said Levin.

“We are going to make our own contribution,” Levin said of Yale’s efforts, which he hopes will also encourage “meaningful U.S. and global policy solutions” to the problem of global warming. The ultimate goal, he said, is to forestall the dangerous two-degree rise in global temperature.

Other speakers at the symposium included Professor Derek Briggs of the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, an organizer of the event, who emphasized the critical nature of the conference topics in his opening and closing remarks; Paul Anastas, director of the Yale Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, who discussed how efforts by Yale and other scientists to design chemical products and processes that are not harmful to humans or the environment impact nearly every aspect of life, including our food supply; Yale alumnus Howard Berke, chief executive officer of Konarka Technologies Inc. and an executive at Good Energies, who spoke about current and emerging solar energy technologies; Professor James Axley of the Yale School of Architecture, who examined the issue of green building design; and Professor Marian Chertow of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, who explored the ways in which corporations are successfully (and profitably) adopting sustainability as a part of their overall business strategy.

— By Susan Gonzalez

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