LOUISVILLE, Ky.—For the fifth year in a row, the University of Louisville has made The Sierra Club’s “Cool Schools– list, a ranking of the nation’s greenest colleges and universities.
UofL is at the 53rd spot out of 162 schools the club listed as “Cool Schools” for 2013. The club evaluates schools based on their answers to questions about energy use and efficiency, waste management, food and other areas of sustainability.
The club also published a magazine article Aug. 14 with its list that features UofL student Angie Carlson and shows her standing in front of the Swain Student Activities Center clock tower. The article, which describes how schools are reworking their courses to focus on sustainability, also mentions that UofL is developing a master’s degree program in sustainability.
Only two other Kentucky schools made the club’s 2013 list — Western Kentucky University and Transylvania University, which ranked 112th and 146th, respectively.
“Our energetic, enthusiastic students and faculty are helping UofL stand out as a leader in green thinking and issues,” said David Simpson, an urban studies professor who chairs the university’s Sustainability Council. “We are becoming known as a place to pursue these ideas and put them into action.”
UofL began making sustainability an institutional priority in 2008. Since then, it has earned a Silver rating in the national Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) and has adopted a plan to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2050.
UofL made the “Cool Schools” list for the first time in 2009 with a ranking of 92nd out of 100 U.S. colleges and universities.
For more information on the “Cool Schools” ranking, see http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201309/coolschools/complete-rankings.aspx