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In December, Western President Lee Rasch signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, by which the college will aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make sustainability part of the school’s education program.
The commitment helps build sustainability into the culture of the college, said Mike Pieper, vice president of finance and operations, who is spearheading Western’s sustainable initiatives.
“We strive for sustainability to be part of the planning that’s being accounted for as opposed to a good afterthought,” Pieper said. “It’s a driver. It’s not reactionary.”
The commitment is not the beginning of Western’s sustainable initiatives. The college last year built a rain garden, which traps rainwater and pollutants before they flow into the sewage system and eventually the river. It also has been converting to higher efficiency lighting since the 1980s.
But programs in the past have been done piecemeal. While recycling occurs, Pieper said, receptacles are not provided throughout the campuses.
“We need to embed (sustainability) into our policy,” Pieper said. “Right now, it is a driver in a lot of areas, but it’s here and there. It’s these people or this department.”
Construction of the Lunda Center — which includes renovating part of the Coleman Center and building an addition that will span into the courtyard between the Coleman and Kumm Centers on Seventh Street — is among the highlights of Western’s current sustainable projects.
The new building, which will be a community and conference training center, has been designed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, silver certification standards. LEED is a certification program sponsored by the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council.
“The newer reports have been coming in that global warming is real and not just a theory anymore and that responsible citizens try very hard to do something about it at the local level,” said Paul Albrecht, Western’s physical plant director. “We’re just like anybody else and we wanted to do something about it, too.”
As part of the certification, more than three-fourths of the carpeting used will come from old carpeting. The concrete floor slab of the existing building will be removed and given to the city to use as riprap.
Along with building and facilities operations, Pieper said the college is exploring how to build sustainability into purchasing policies.
The college also is considering providing ongoing instructional programs on sustainability, and looking at how fields such as welding can build sustainability into their training.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Pieper said. “The majority of the time, it’s the most fiscally responsible thing to do. So if it’s the most fiscally responsible thing to do, why don’t we do it?”
Joe Orso can be reached at (608) 791-8429 or jorso@lacrossetribune.com.
