In an effort to recognize the environmental and sustainability programs at universities and colleges across the country, The Princeton Review, in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), recently released “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 286 Green Colleges.” The guide is based on a survey of hundreds of colleges and universities across the United States. The survey looked at the following: building certification using USGBC’s LEED green building certification program; environmental literacy programs; available courses; formal sustainability committees; use of renewable energy resources; recycling and conservation programs, and much more.
Why should academic institutions care about sustainability? There are many reasons but one is certainly because parents and students care. In fact, according to Robert Franek, senior vice president and publisher, The Princeton Review, 64 percent of the nearly 12,000 college applicants and parents who participated in the publication’s “College Hopes & Worries Survey” said having information about a school’s commitment to the environment would impact their decision to apply to or attend it.
The Princeton Review chose the 286 schools included in the Guide based on the “Green Rating” scores the schools received in summer 2009 when The Princeton Review published Green Rating scores for 697 schools in its online college profiles and/or annual college guidebooks.
The Greenest Hotel Schools?
Curious guy that I am, I compared The Princeton Review’s list of green schools against the Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (CHRIE) “Guide to College Programs in Hospitality, Tourism & Culinary Arts.” Theoretically, those academic institutions found on the CHRIE list and The Princeton Review list would be those most eligible to be considered the greenest hotel schools in the United States. It is not a perfect list but certainly pretty accurate. After comparing the two lists I found 39 matches.
The first group of matches includes: Appalachian State University; Auburn University; Ball State University; Boston University; California State University—Chico; California State Polytechnic University—Pomona; California University of Pennsylvania; Central Connecticut State University; Colorado State University; Cornell University; DePaul University; Drexel University; Eastern Michigan University; James Madison University; Kansas State University; Michigan State University; New York University; Niagara University; Northern Arizona University; and Penn State University.
The second group of matches includes: Rochester Institute of Technology; Southern New Hampshire University; Syracuse University; Temple University; University of Arkansas—Fayetteville; University of Central Florida; University of Delaware; University of Denver; University of Florida; University of Houston; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Massachusetts—Amherst; University of Memphis; University of New Hampshire; University of South Carolina—Columbia; University of South Florida; University of Tennessee—Knoxville; Washington State University; and Western Kentucky University.
If your favorite school is missing from this group, it either does not belong, or for some reason it was inadvertently omitted from The Princeton Review/USGBC research or the CHRIE list. Given the level of concern today about the environment and the proven benefits to building green structures, any academic institution ignoring the green movement today could be considered a dying institution.
Said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, USGBC, in a press release summarizing the new guide to green schools: “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. Green facilities make colleges more attractive to students and can dramatically reduce energy costs. Higher education is a top priority market segment for USGBC because graduates of green colleges become incredible drivers of change when they call for similar surroundings in their jobs and communities.”
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Hospitality Design Expo & Conference
I will be attending the Hospitality Design Expo & Conference in Las Vegas from May 18 to 20. Be sure to watch for coverage of the conference’s Green Day as well as a wrap-up of the trade show on the Green Lodging News website.
Advertising Opportunities in 2010
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