Second annual sustainability recognition for Santa Clara

By Staff reports

The Princeton Review has selected Santa Clara as one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the United States and Canada for the second consecutive year. The announcement was made in the Princeton Review's second annual edition of its book, "The Princeton Review's Guide to 311 Green Colleges: 2011 Edition."

Santa Clara was chosen based on a survey of administrators at hundreds of colleges that the company polled in 2010 about their schools' sustainability initiatives. The guide profiles the colleges that provide application information plus facts, stats, and write-ups reporting on the school's environmentally related policies, practices and academic offerings.

Santa Clara was recognized for offering sustainability related courses in 22 departments, winning third place in both the 2007 and 2009 Solar Decathlon, and receiving a silver rating from the STARS rating system for colleges and universities.  

Santa Clara's initiatives to become climate neutral by the end of 2015 include using more than 30 million kilowatt-hours of green power, installing a solar thermal collector to heat water, adopting water conservation practices and building its first LEED certified building.  

Looking ahead, SCU is collaborating with Sustainable Silicon Valley, Cisco and Serious Energy (formerly Valence Energy) in order to continue and improve upon its sustainability projects and endeavors.