A green timeline

1991: University Committee on the Environment established to encourage and coordinate University-wide environment-related activities and scholarship.

1998: Harvard’s President’s Office and the Office of the Governing Boards decide to use only recycled copy paper and stationery.

1998: Harvard wins the “Best College and University Recycling” award from MassRecycle.

2000: Harvard becomes first university in New England to be a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Partner for Change because of hazardous waste and spill prevention training programs.

2000: Harvard recognized by the Environmental Business Council of New England for excellence of environmental programs and compliance with environmental regulations.

2000: President Neil Rudenstine provides the seed funding for the Harvard Green Campus Initiative (HGCI) to be established as a joint academic and administrative initiative. Leith Sharp is recruited to Harvard from Australia to establish and direct the University-wide program.

2000: HGCI Strategic Plan develops an innovative business model to finance HGCI, dedicated to greening Harvard’s campus operations. The HGCI begins to grow, using savings generated by a range of cost-effective green campus projects.

2001 April: Harvard Center for the Environment established, under chairmanship of Professor Michael McElroy, to integrate disciplines relating to the study of the environment and support multidisciplinary approaches to the solution of environmental problems. New center takes over mandate of University Committee on Environment, representing a new level of commitment by the University.

2001: President Rudenstine approves request for five years of HGCI core funding and the Green Campus Loan Fund, administered by the HGCI. The $3 million fund offers no-interest loans that are repaid over time from the savings realized by the projects.

2001 summer: An HGCI-sponsored group of 11 interns work on seven projects across the University. Some of these students are recruited by the HGCI into full-time professional positions working with Harvard Real Estate Services (HRES), the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), and Harvard Medical School (HMS).

2001 fall: HMS and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) partner with HGCI to establish the Longwood Campus Energy Reduction Program. HRES partners with HGCI to establish the HRES Green Buildings Program. FAS partners with HGCI to establish the FAS Campus Energy Reduction Program, targeting computer energy use.

2002: HRES and HSPH pilot Harvard’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green buildings. HGCI completes a comprehensive review of the pilot and determines that LEED should be recommended for all projects at Harvard.

2002 summer: A group of 10 more interns work on nine projects across the University. Many projects are converted into ongoing programs at Harvard.

2002 fall: HGCI establishes its Green Building Service to support Schools wanting to adopt cost-effective green-building renovations and construction.

2002 October: The FAS Inter-House Resource Efficiency Program (REP) pays 15 undergrads to teach and preach environmental awareness. Sponsored by HGCI, University Operations Services (UOS), and Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS).

2002-03: REP saves the University more than $200,000 in reduced energy usage, waste decreases, recycling increases, and water conservation efforts, becoming a model for other universities. Yale and the University of New Hampshire create programs based on REP. HMS and HSPH save over $120,000 a year through the Longwood Campus Energy Reduction Program.

2002 October: Holyoke Center installs Vending Miser, ‘smart’ vending machines that know when to turn on and off.

2002 November: Harvard sets monthly recycling record.

2003 October: HGCI establishes class at the Extension School, ‘Sustainability: The Challenge of Changing Our Institutions,’ achieving largest enrollment of any new class. Leith Sharp and Jack Spengler, HGCI co-chair, co-teach class.

2003 November: FAS and Longwood campus square off in inaugural energy-saving duel, “Go Cold Turkey.”

2003: The EPA recognizes the John F. Kennedy School of Government, FAS, and the HGCI for their energy conservation efforts.

2003: A 36-kilowatt solar panel array, the second largest in Boston, is installed on Harvard Business School’s (HBS) Shad Hall.

2003: HGCI now has 10 full-time professional staff and 20 part-time students and is funded predominantly by partnering Schools and departments that are seeing significant financial and environmental savings as a result.

2004: The University adopts six Sustainability Principles to guide its planning and operations.

2004: Professor Daniel Schrag takes over chairmanship of the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

2004: Cambridge awards Harvard its Go Green business award for efforts to preserve the environment and the quality of life in Cambridge.

2004 March: University becomes the first Ivy League school to use biodiesel – a mix of 20% soybean oil and 80% diesel fuel – as the primary fuel for its entire fleet of diesel vehicles. Harvard opens its own biodiesel filling station to supply its vehicles.

2004: HSPH becomes the first School to achieve a real reduction in energy use across its entire campus. HSPH also purchases renewable energy certificates to further offset 50% of its electricity-related greenhouse gas emissions.

2004: Harvard registers its fifth LEED building project.

2004 December: President Lawrence H. Summers announces that the University will double the Green Campus Loan Fund — to $6 million.

2005: The University wins the Green Power Leadership Award from the EPA, the U.S. Energy Department, and the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions.

2005: University Operations Services switches its custodial service to green cleaning projects.

2005 January: Utilities and Maintenance Focus Group is formed and starts meeting. The group comes together monthly to share tips and techniques for making buildings more energy efficient.

2005 February: Harvard announces that energy-efficient programs in Harvard-managed buildings save the University $700,000 annually.

2005 March: Harvard’s waste management supervisor Robert Gogan announces a 42.37% recycling rate, up from 38% in 2004.

2005 March: President Summers announces a new fund to promote the development of renewable energy on campus.

2005 April: Harvard begins using rainwater to wash as many as 250 University-owned vehicles each week, saving 25,000 gallons of water each year.

2005 June: Harvard Law School (HLS), HBS, and HRES partner with HGCI to establish Graduate Green Living Programs in all graduate residential buildings. A two-year target of increasing recycling by 40% and reducing energy use by 10% is set.

2005 July: 46 Blackstone St. renovation achieves recycling rate of 99%.

2005 July: HBS establishes Harvard’s first Green Team to engage staff in buildings across the campus to reduce environmental impacts.

2005 September: Dunster-Mather dining hall opens after renovation that includes composting. Receives LEED silver rating.

2005 September: Harvard Museum of Natural History opens new exhibit on climate change.

2005 November: HGCI kicks off EmPOWER Harvard campaign, which gets people to sign an online pledge to conserve power in their offices.

2005: Harvard Divinity School (HDS) offsets 100% of its electricity-related greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing renewable energy certificates.

2005: Harvard registers its 12th LEED building project.

2006: HGCI hosts Harvard’s first campus sustainability conference. More than 600 alumni, students, staff, and faculty attend. Keynote speakers include President Summers and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. At this event, Summers doubles HGCI fund for second time, now reaches $12 million.

2006: New fund is created with the aim of researching Harvard’s renewable energy options.

2006: HMS promotes “Shut the Sash” campaign, encouraging the closing of fume hoods. Energy costs generated by a single hood are between $2,000 and $3,000 each year.

2006: 20 buildings win renewable energy certificates for having 50% of occupants sign pledge to conserve.

2006 June: Harvard announces it will purchase the renewable energy credits from the town of Hull’s 1.8 megawatt wind turbine for the next 10 years.

2006: Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and FAS partner with HGCI to establish Green Teams to implement School-wide conservation efforts.

2006: Radcliffe achieves LEED rating for its Schlesinger Library renovation. The renovation is modeled to be 25% more energy and water efficient.

2006: HUDS partners with HGCI to establish Green Skillet, a kitchenwide program engaging more than 500 staff in reducing kitchen-related environmental impacts.

2006 December: 83% of FAS undergrads vote in favor of FAS adopting a greenhouse gas reduction commitment of 11% below 1990 levels by 2020, 1% better than Yale’s commitment. In response, FAS establishes a committee and partners with the HGCI to develop a business plan for achieving this target.

2006: HRES sets energy reduction goal and partners with HGCI to undertake an energy audit of residential buildings. 200 new energy conservation projects are found.

2006: Harvard registers its 16th LEED building project.

2007: HGCI has grown to an interfaculty organization of 20 full-time professional staff and 40 part-time students funded largely through savings generated by programs listed above. See http://www.greencampus.harvard.edu.

2007: The Sustainable Endowments Institute gives Harvard an A- grade for “one of the most comprehensive campus sustainability programs in the country.” Out of the more than 100 U.S. universities evaluated, Harvard was one of only four to receive the rating.

2007 January: HGCI partners with Jack Spengler to co-teach a new class at the Extension School, ‘Green Building Design and Construction.’

2007: Radcliffe (62%) and HBS (61%) fight it out for the highest recycling rates on campus.

2007: Harvard’s Stuff sale raises a record $90,000 for charity from the resale of abandoned “dorm stuff.”

2007: HGCI expands the repayment terms of Green Campus Loan Fund to encourage inclusion of sustainable features in the design and construction of new buildings. Since its inception, the fund has directly financed and supported more than 130 conservation programs and projects across the University, generating an average return on investment of over 35% through energy conservation and other savings.

2007: American Forest and Paper Association gives its 2007 recycling award to Harvard for its University-wide paper recycling efforts, which reclaimed 2,616 tons of paper fiber between July 2005 and June 2006.

2007: Harvard registers its 21st LEED building project.

2007 April: The United States Green Building Council awarded part of the 46 Blackstone St. complex Harvard’s first platinum rating, the highest possible certification under the LEED green building program. Achieved at no added cost to the project.

2007: Harvard’s University Construction Management Council approves development of green building guidelines to be incorporated into the approvals process for building renovations and construction at Harvard. HGCI convenes an interfaculty steering group of project managers to develop these.

2007: Harvard’s Allston Development Group establishes comprehensive Sustainability Guidelines for the Allston campus. Guidelines include a LEED gold aspiration for all buildings along with goals to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

— Compiled by Alvin Powell