[xtypo_dropcap]G[/xtypo_dropcap]reen isn’t just a part of its name for Green Mountain College, a small liberal arts college in Poultney, Vt. The school was named the country’s No. 1 green school in Sierra Magazine’s most recent edition for its sustainability efforts.
By 2011, the college hopes to become carbon-neutral through a combination of biomass power, cow power, solar power, and carbon-credit purchases.
“Green Mountain College excels in most categories, and it’s the MVP when it comes to creativity,” according to Sierra.
Case in point is the college’s new $5.8 million, 400-horsepower heat and power biomass facility that opened this year to power a portion of the school. It is situated on 155 acres in Poultney, a small town in southwestern Vermont near upstate New York. The plant burns locally sourced wood chips, creating high-temperature steam, which serves a dual purpose—to heat the campus as well as drive turbines that in turn generate electricity.
“The initiative really started in 1995 when President Thomas Benson declared an environmental liberal arts mission,” said Kevin Coburn, the college’s communications director.
The college is a participant in Vermont’s recent cow power electricity program, where it purchases power from local utilities generating electricity from burning cow manure derived from Vermont’s dairy farms.
“We hope to achieve carbon-neutral status using a combination of sources to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel,” Coburn said. “The biomass plant will heat up to 85 percent of the campus, which saves around 41,000 gallons of fossil fuel for us a year.”
At the college barn, solar panels installed by students heat water used to sterilize equipment used in its dairy studies.
For Green Mountain’s student body, being green is an integral part of their education. Each student majoring in any of the college’s 22 programs is required to take a 37-credit core “green curriculum,” according to Coburn.
The Student Campus Greening Fund is a student-run, student-designed program to assist the college in reducing its environmental impact. Every student contributes $30 to the program through the college’s activities fee, and student groups devise ideas, which are then voted on by the student body. Last fall, a total of 15 student projects were funded by close to $50,000, according to the college’s website.
Many liberal arts institutions across the nation are investing in green initiatives. The Princeton Review, an annual ranking of U.S. colleges and universities, has a dedicated section for environmental friendliness.
Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., has a Center for Sustainable Living with working living spaces to conduct research on sustainability concepts.
“Beyond the cost savings to an institution, even the simplest aspects of a green campus, such as increased use of natural light, have been found to improve student learning and quality of life,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president of U.S. Green Building Council, in a Princeton Review release.
By 2011, the college hopes to become carbon-neutral through a combination of biomass power, cow power, solar power, and carbon-credit purchases.
“Green Mountain College excels in most categories, and it’s the MVP when it comes to creativity,” according to Sierra.
Case in point is the college’s new $5.8 million, 400-horsepower heat and power biomass facility that opened this year to power a portion of the school. It is situated on 155 acres in Poultney, a small town in southwestern Vermont near upstate New York. The plant burns locally sourced wood chips, creating high-temperature steam, which serves a dual purpose—to heat the campus as well as drive turbines that in turn generate electricity.
“The initiative really started in 1995 when President Thomas Benson declared an environmental liberal arts mission,” said Kevin Coburn, the college’s communications director.
The college is a participant in Vermont’s recent cow power electricity program, where it purchases power from local utilities generating electricity from burning cow manure derived from Vermont’s dairy farms.
“We hope to achieve carbon-neutral status using a combination of sources to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel,” Coburn said. “The biomass plant will heat up to 85 percent of the campus, which saves around 41,000 gallons of fossil fuel for us a year.”
At the college barn, solar panels installed by students heat water used to sterilize equipment used in its dairy studies.
For Green Mountain’s student body, being green is an integral part of their education. Each student majoring in any of the college’s 22 programs is required to take a 37-credit core “green curriculum,” according to Coburn.
The Student Campus Greening Fund is a student-run, student-designed program to assist the college in reducing its environmental impact. Every student contributes $30 to the program through the college’s activities fee, and student groups devise ideas, which are then voted on by the student body. Last fall, a total of 15 student projects were funded by close to $50,000, according to the college’s website.
Many liberal arts institutions across the nation are investing in green initiatives. The Princeton Review, an annual ranking of U.S. colleges and universities, has a dedicated section for environmental friendliness.
Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., has a Center for Sustainable Living with working living spaces to conduct research on sustainability concepts.
“Beyond the cost savings to an institution, even the simplest aspects of a green campus, such as increased use of natural light, have been found to improve student learning and quality of life,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president of U.S. Green Building Council, in a Princeton Review release.
