Central Washington University Board of Trustees February 20, 2020 Executive Summary—Sustainability Planning
On October 16, 2019, President Gaudino delivered his State of the University address and identified reducing CWU’s carbon footprint as one of three top university goals through 2025. In December, CWU hired a sustainability coordinator to define and unify carbon-reduction efforts, and to lead the development a long-term strategic vision for the university. Funding for the position came from existing budgets within the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Kathleen Klaniecki joined CWU on January 2, 2020 as Sustainability Program Coordinator. Dr. Klaniecki will lead efforts to infuse sustainability principles into operational activities primarily, but also curricular and co-curricular functions of the university. Dr. Klaniecki holds a PhD in Sustainability Science and previously worked at Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA) as Sustainability Program Coordinator. Where we are now— sustainability successes The work of CWU over the past two decades to reduce energy consumption and enhance resource efficiency earned CWU “bronze” certification by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (AASHE STARS). The president’s new carbon reduction initiative starts from a strong foundation. o LEED certified facilities. The Operations Division has overseen the construction of four buildings that achieved certification by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a green-building certification program used worldwide: Dean, Hogue, Barto, and Discovery Hall. The Samuelson Hall and the new Health Sciences building under construction now are anticipated to meet LEED standards. o Native landscaping. Local basalt columns and native or drought-resistant vegetation have been used in the landscape architecture of nearly all recent construction or renovation projects on the CWU campus of the 21st century, including the Student Union and Recreation Center, McIntyre Hall, Wendell Hill Residence Hall, Dean Hall, Discovery Hall, Bouillon Hall, and Lind Hall. o Energy reduction. The Division of Operations has reduced natural gas consumption despite an increase in building footprint, and installed a heat exchange system to capture waste heat. This also includes a significant reduction in electricity consumption and we are saving nearly five million gallons of water per year through our low-temp heating water system. o Recycling and composting. Auxiliary Operations has switched to 100 percent recycled letterhead for Wildcat Printing, increased green products in the Wildcat Shop, established the Wildcat Neighborhood farm, and rolled out compostable products in dining. o Academic programming. Within academics, a Sustainability Pathway was added to the General Education Program and the Environmental Studies Program launched the Sustainability Certificate.
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