Oct 24 2014
Ten of the world's top universities now release the Green Guide for Universities at the international conference Making Universities Sustainable Conference that takes place in Copenhagen this week. The guide makes it easier for universities around the world to become more sustainable.
The International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) which consists of some of the world's top universities, among others Yale University, University of Cambridge and University of Copenhagen, has published the Green Guide for Universities. The Guide focuses on sharing experiences and knowledge about how universities can become more sustainable. The guide is launched at a side conference to the scientific congress Global Challenges – Achieving Sustainability that takes place in Copenhagen from October 22-24 2014. Read more about the conference: http://sustainability.ku.dk/iarucongress2014/
“Universities have the opportunity to create cultures of sustainability for today’s students and tomorrow’s leaders, and to set their expectations for how the world should be. The green guide provides real-world examples to inspire innovation and creative action at universities around the globe,” says Jørgen Honoré, University Director at University of Copenhagen.
Environmental, financial, and social successes
The Green Guide is jointly developed by IARU universities and the international think-tank Sustainia and it presents examples of environmental, financial, and social successes from the IARU Universities. The guide includes 23 inspiring cases that have made a difference at IARU universities.
“At UCPH we have already achieved ambitious targets. We have reduced our energy consumption per person by 20 percent and we have cut our CO2 emissions per person by nearly 30 percent since 2006. Many of our buildings have been made more energy efficient, for example by replacing ventilation units, installing LED lighting, insulating pipes and making laboratory work more energy efficient,” says Jørgen Honoré.