Missouri University of Science and Technology will be recognized in two venues this month as one of 20 colleges and universities nationwide that exemplify the mission of the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) to promote education, research and community involvement on sustainability issues.
The "Celebrating Sustainability" series highlights the sustainability initiatives of finalists for the 2013 Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards. Second Nature, a national nonprofit that works to create a sustainable society by transforming higher education, will formally recognize S&T on the ACUPCC and Second Nature websites on April 19.
In tandem with the series, Missouri S&T is vying for the top spot in a public video voting competition. S&T has produced a video that promotes the campus's sustainability initiatives, and viewers will have the opportunity to vote for the most innovative and groundbreaking institution in each Carnegie Classification. Voting takes place throughout April in partnership with Planet Forward, an organization that publishes news and opinion about energy and sustainability issues. View S&T's video and vote.
Missouri S&T's selection as a finalist is associated with two innovations in sustainability:
- The university's Solar Village, a neighborhood of four student-designed solar homes inhabited by students and faculty, and
- S&T's geothermal energy project, which when completed in 2014 will reduce the campus's carbon dioxide emissions by 25,000 tons per year and cut energy usage in half.
David Hales, president of Second Nature, calls the geothermal project an "outstanding operational achievement." The geothermal effort, "coupled with the university's integration of environmental stewardship into its education and research, are two reasons why S&T is so deserving of a finalist position in this year's awards," Hales says.