Doing so creates an engaged and empowered community — one that makes choices that benefit both the planet and the health and wealth of our University of Louisville community.
You might think of ShelbyHurst as the sleepy little Shelby Campus of a few years ago; however, today, ShelbyHurst is home to businesses, offices and technology endeavors. UofL’s Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning and Kent School of Social Work both have offices at ShelbyHurst. The Center for Predictive Medicine (CPM), a Level 3 biosafety facility, is also there, as is the Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center (KPPC).
KPPC works with businesses and schools throughout Kentucky to help them be more efficient in their energy use. In March, KPPC spearheaded the launch of the ShelbyHurst Campus Green Team. Representatives from each of the KPPC programs and departments and a representative from CPM meet monthly to identify, plan and implement campus environmental sustainability initiatives.
So far, the Green Team has hosted four brown-bag information sessions with speakers on home energy audits, composting, climate change and UofL sustainability efforts. We organized a campus cleanup to commemorate Earth Day 2011 and started a Web page to share our mission, goals and event information. We are also exploring the feasibility of a campus composting project.
During Campus Sustainability Week 2011, we shared “Sustainability stories” with all ShelbyHurst Campus employees on how we are taking simple actions in our everyday lives to live more sustainably.
UofL is committed to integrating sustainability into every aspect of the university, from coursework and research to finances and facilities. The CPM building is a good example of this effort. It is LEED Gold certified and has design features that reduce its environmental impact. Some of those include landscaping, drainage and plumbing fixtures that are designed to reduce water use and solar panels to provide electricity for part of its lights. There is also preferred parking for carpools and for people who drive fuel efficient vehicles. You can read more here.
The ShelbyHurst Campus Green Team meets on the last Monday of every month, 1 p.m.-2 p.m. in Room 157 of Burhans Hall. If you are interested in learning more, please visit our website or join us for a meeting!
As the team moves forward, it will continue to look for ways to raise employees’ awareness of sustainability issues, including education, outreach and collaboration with UofL’s Sustainability Council and the ShelbyHurst Campus departments, centers, organizations and businesses.
