For university officials, going green is not just a passing trend on the campus, and the university will continue to prioritize sustainability for years to come thanks to several key additions made to the Facilities Master Plan last month.
Officials from the Office of Sustainability and Facilities Management spent the last several months working to weave more eco-friendly objectives into the Facilities Master Plan, a guide to campus development over the next decade the University Senate approved in September.
The plan’s new sustainability targets — broad goals supported by more specific recommendations — include designing university buildings to become carbon-neutral and more energy-efficient, reducing energy demand and water consumption on the campus and maximizing use of the university’s space for students through steps such as incorporating outdoor teaching spaces.
Office of Sustainability Director Scott Lupin, who serves on the Master Plan steering committee, said the improvements reflect the university’s increased focus on environmental sustainability since the plan was introduced in 2002.
“It really initiated some of the environmental consciousness that has become part of the campus,” Lupin said of the initial draft in 2002. “This plan expands it, and in my mind, that’s the theme that runs through the entire report.”
University officials worked over the summer to offer specific suggestions on how to expand sustainability initiatives outlined in April’s draft of the master plan, Lupin said.
“We wanted to create a link in the text that this plan does support sustainability goals,” Lupin said.
The result was a more detailed Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability section of the plan, which made the jump from four major sustainability goals in the April draft to nine in September’s revised plan.
The initiatives originally outlined in April’s version of the plan included conserving the campus forest and making it more accessible as an academic resource, helping the university effectively respond to stormwater run-off and managing university utility systems to avoid landscaping conflicts.
While the April draft touched on these important sustainability goals, Lupin said the Office of Sustainability expanded on the ideas to tie them to environmental initiatives highlighted in the University Strategic Plan and Climate Action Plan.
Lupin said the additions vastly improved the Master Plan because they complement the university’s Climate Action Plan — an outline released in 2009 that details measures the university must take to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
“We took opportunities to provide written comments and a better connection between the draft of the plan and the Climate Action Plan,” Lupin said. “We wanted to distinguish where there was this overlap [between the plans], and that’s why we became involved.”
University Sustainability Council undergraduate representative Matthew Popkin said the Master Plan has always considered sustainability goals, but the revised plan better coincides with the Climate Action Plan.
“I’m not saying the documents have to be synonymous, but they should acknowledge each other and work together to address some of the same issues,” Popkin said. “I was very pleased to see the additions that were made; it’s a very comprehensive and quality plan.”
Facilities Management Campus Development Coordinator Bill Mallari said university officials made sure the new plan reinforces aims similar to those in the Climate Action Plan without overtly repeating them.
“We’re not trying to be overly redundant in repeating what the Climate Action Plan says,” Mallari said.
Even though the goals revamped the plan’s section on sustainability, Mallari said nothing is set in stone as the plan progresses into the future.
“Like anything in the kind of economic climate we’re in, we can’t do everything across the board,” Mallari said. “We have all these goals we might not be able to achieve at the same rate.”
saravia@umdbk.com
