A deeper shade of green: Mission begun, not yet accomplished

By Alvin Powell

Harvard News Office

Though Harvard has taken substantial steps toward environmental friendliness in recent years, a long road lies ahead in its quest for a sustainable campus and in its efforts to impact the world around it through faculty research, the activities of its graduates, and leveraging its leadership role.

When asked where Harvard stands today with its efforts to create a sustainable campus, Harvard Green Campus Initiative director Leith Sharp said that despite the progress made in recent years, “We’re really at the end of the beginning.”

In the next phase, Sharp said, the breadth and depth of campus greening activities will expand enormously.

“We’ve moved from ‘Where can we have our next victory, our next green building or our next renewable energy project?’ to establishing how we can have victory in everything we do, making all of our buildings greener and greener and all of our energy cleaner and cleaner,” Sharp said.

New initiatives

Faculty research into environmental issues is perhaps more mature than campus sustainability projects, but Harvard University Center for the Environment Director Daniel Schrag said research too, is poised for new initiatives. The center, he said, is preparing for a major new research thrust focused on a key issue at the center of the global warming debate: energy.

One area moving full steam ahead is the design plans for Harvard’s Allston development. With the benefit of a relative blank developmental slate and the backing of University leaders, Allston developers are striving for a LEED Gold building standard and are actively seeking ways to make the new academic area environmentally friendly. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the set of standards for sustainable buildings and interiors established by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“Harvard recognizes that it has a unique opportunity with its Allston development to incorporate environmentally sustainable features at the initial design phase, which should make an enormous difference in the effectiveness of those features and which will allow the campus to grow on a firm foundation of sustainability,” said Chris Gordon, chief operating officer of the Allston Development Group.

Activity across all other areas of the campus has increased tremendously as all of Harvard’s schools have become engaged in finding ways to improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of their buildings. While exactly what the future will hold is unclear, Tom Vautin, associate vice president for Facilities and Environmental Services, said that change is definitely a part of the picture.

“People are concerned about this, but excited by the opportunities to do something to help,” Vautin said. “And student leadership continues to be a major driver.”

Global warming

A primary task will be to figure out how to reduce the University’s greenhouse gas emissions. With Harvard an enormous energy consumer and most power plants in New England fired by fossil fuels, the University will have to use its leadership position to effect change in its off-campus suppliers, Vautin said.

For the past two years, the Harvard University Center for the Environment has been laying the groundwork for a new research effort focused on the world’s energy future. The initiative will build off the center’s “Future of Energy” lecture series, which has brought leaders in the energy field to Harvard to discuss the world’s energy supply.

The center is also looking to influence the next generation of scientists and leaders. This fall, the Annenberg Foundation, working with the Center for the Environment, plans to release a 13-unit course for high school environmental science teachers. Each unit covers a separate topic in environmental science, consisting of a written chapter and a 30-minute video with the content organized by a Harvard faculty member.

“Annenberg has given us a remarkable opportunity to reach high school students all over the country by giving material to their teachers,” said Schrag, who served as head scientific adviser for the series.

Gold standard in Allston

Nathalie Beauvais, the design and sustainability point person for the Allston Development Group (ADG), said environmental sustainability is a core value for the Allston development.

The two Allston building projects already on the drawing board — the science complex and a new home for the Harvard University Art Museums — will have energy-saving features, using natural light where possible and, for appropriate areas — excluding labs and art conservation areas — allowing a broader range of building temperatures. Other features will include low-water-consumption toilets, geothermal heating systems, and natural air circulation and ventilation in areas that are not strictly climate controlled.

The science complex’s current design includes some green roofs with water collection features that will clean and store rainwater for use in landscape irrigation and possibly for flushing toilets.

“Sustainability is a way of living. It’s taking your bike or walking. It’s expanding the range of comfortable temperatures,” Beauvais said. “Even in the last two years, the political environment on sustainability has changed drastically. And technology will change drastically in 50 years [the span of construction at Allston]. We want to be part of the conversation.”