Presidential Statement on Climate Change
Associated Project(s):
On June 16, 2017, University of Illinois President Tim Killeen issued a statement on climate change (attached).
Attached Files:
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Projects Updates for Make Climate Commitments
Chancellor Signs Resilience Commitment
Associated Project(s):http://sustainability.illinois.edu/ui-remains-green-campus-leader-as-cha...
Illinois a Green Campus Leader as Chancellor Signs Climate Resilience Commitment
MARCH 3, 2016 — The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign took on a leadership role to more actively respond to global climate change when Interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson signed Second Nature’s Climate Resilience Commitment in February.
Illinois is a Charter Signatory of the Second Nature Climate Commitment, which combines a Carbon Commitment the campus signed in 2008 with the newly signed Resilience Commitment. The full Climate Commitment formally acknowledges that the effects of climate change are already felt — and that universities and colleges must pursue both mitigation and adaptation to combat the unfolding crisis.
By adding the Resilience Commitment, Illinois has made a pledge to evaluate campus vulnerabilities to a changing climate in its landscapes, natural resources, and energy production — and to make an action plan that addresses those weaknesses.
In 2015, Illinois released an updated Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) reporting its progress toward emissions reduction and other campus sustainability goals and outlining a new path to reaching net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible, but no later than 2050.
“While the iCAP is a plan for how campus impacts the atmosphere and climate, the resilience plan will be about how the campus reacts to atmosphere and climate change,” said Evan DeLucia, Director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE).
Resilience is a measure of the ability to react to and recover from difficult circumstances. Resilient communities bend but do not break under pressure, he said.
Wilson, who signed the document Feb. 9, said: “Signing the Resiliency Commitment is a natural extension of our efforts to carefully steward university resources. By planning ahead, we can prepare for a range of potential challenges presented by climate change — whether social, financial, or ecological.
“We’re positioning ourselves to be the kind of nimble and responsive university that can deliver on our educational and research missions for generations to come.”
DeLucia said that carrying out the terms of the commitment will create a more holistic picture of sustainability on campus.
“I think this commitment will make us think about sustainability in a broader way,” he said. “Rather than only asking, ‘How much renewable energy do we use?’ we’ll also be asking ‘Do we have a diverse enough pool of energy resources so that if one fails, the entire system doesn’t fail?’ It will be less about being ‘green’ and more about being truly sustainable.”
A PDF of the Resilience Commitment — complete with Wilson’s signature — can be viewed on iSEE’s website.
Second Nature is a nonprofit organization with more than 20 years of experience mobilizing institutions of higher education to lead the way to a more just, healthy, and sustainable society. It sponsors the Climate, Resilience, and Carbon commitments and oversees reporting of the signatory institutions’ progress toward their goals.Jaime Van Mourik offers resources
Associated Project(s):Roadmap to a Green Campus – www.centerforgreenschools.org/roadmap
The Roadmap is a strategy guide for using the LEED green building certification program as a framework for developing and evolving campus-wide sustainability plans. Contained within the 100+ page document are more than 100 tools and resources to support campuses in their greening efforts and more than 20 unique profiles of college and university success stories. The guide was created with the support of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
Hands-on LEED: Guiding College Student Engagement, www.centerforgreenschools.org/handsonleed
This document speaks exclusively about the role students can play supporting green building projects and how they can contribute to LEED certification efforts. The guidance outlines three options for engaging students - course work, internships and volunteer opportunities. It details the benefits of involving students and outlines ways to initiate the process of developing an engagement program, such as planning considerations and LEED-related activities and tasks that students can perform.
The Paid-from-Savings Guide to Green Existing Buildings
http://centerforgreenschools.org/paidfromsavings
The Paid-From-Savings Guide to Green Existing Buildings provides information to help building facilities managers and energy service companies (ESCOs) leverage utility cost savings to fund comprehensive green building retrofits. The resource provides detailed information on how to aggregate green improvement measures to optimize project economics and achieve LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance certification.
Campus Implementation Workbook (attached)
The Campus Implementation Workbook is designed with three goals in mind. To assist university and college campus teams with:
1. Creating a green existing buildings program on campus
2. Implementing the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance rating system at the campus and building level
3. Establishing a culture of performance on your campus
