- The Campaign
- Participate
- Schools and Centers
- University Life
- Annenberg School for Communication
- Arts & Sciences
- Dental Medicine
- PennDesign
- Engineering
- Penn Graduate School of Education
- Penn Law
- Penn Medicine
- School of Nursing
- Social Policy & Practice
- Penn Vet
- Wharton
- Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
- Penn Athletics
- Institute of Contemporary Art
- Penn Libraries
- Morris Arboretum
- Penn Museum
- Campaign News
- Leadership
- Contacts
- Give Now
Campaign Progress
| $2.54 billion (raised to date) | $3.5 billion |
Penn Connects > Campus Master Plan
A Vision for the FutureIt's So Easy Being Green at Penn
August 5, 2009
 |
"If I can do little things to reduce my negative impact on the environment, then there is no reason for me not to do so," says Pitt, 22, who earned a degree in anthropology and political science.
Pitt is working on campus this summer before heading to Oxford for graduate studies. For the last four years, he has worked at reducing his carbon footprint by doing the little things that really add up: reducing his water consumption and using eco-friendly cleaning products in his dorm.
Penn is also helping green-minded students take steps to reduce their collective carbon footprint. For example, students can trade in regular light bulbs for more efficient CFL ones, which saved 131,000 kilowatt hours of electricity in 2008. In dorms, the University is installing environmentally friendly showerheads and more energy-efficient laundry machines and toilets. Students can also pick up eco-friendly dorm products at the Penn Bookstore.
"I think the newer students are probably much more aware of the availability of things such as bamboo sheets or eco-friendly cleaners, and would probably use them more readily," Pitt says.
In fact, sustainability and environmental issues are central to Penn’s curriculum across a wide range of schools and programs from Arts & Sciences to Business and Medicine. It’s a mindset that feeds off the University’s commitment to become a model urban campus, starting with the Penn Connects campus development plan, which mandates LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for all new buildings. It’s why green roofs, solar-powered hot water, and natural ventilation systems are the norm, not the exception.
Soon Red and Blue will be green all over when Penn Park opens in 2011. The 24-acre site on the eastern edge of the campus—along the Schuylkill River between Walnut and South—will expand Penn’s athletic and recreation facilities within a broader public open space filled with beautiful canopies and brand-new playing fields.
Want to know more about Penn’s green initiatives? Go to Penn's Green Campus Partnership.
» more like this in Going Green | Innovation | Students