UC San Diego Named One of Greenest Colleges in U.S. and Canada by Princeton Review

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The University of California, San Diego has been named one of the most environmentally responsible “green colleges” in the U.S. and Canada by the Princeton Review.

In “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition,” UC San Diego was praised for its strong commitment to sustainability in its academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.

“Sustainability is part of who we are and what we do at UC San Diego,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “We have become one of the greenest universities in the nation because of the unique collaboration among our researchers, faculty, staff and students. As a campus, we have made a commitment to climate change solutions and environmental sustainability.”

According to the Princeton Review, “Sustainability is in the institutional DNA at UC San Diego. It was here that the late climate scientist, Charles David Keeling of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, began testing the atmosphere for carbon dioxide. His research produced the Keeling Curve, the most important geophysical measurement of the 21st century and the foundation for research on global warming. That legacy of groundbreaking environmental research continues today through the campus’s various sustainability initiatives.”

To produce the guide, the Princeton Review partnered with the U.S. Green Building Council, a national nonprofit organization best known for developing the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system.

The methodology of the rankings is based on responses to a survey developed by a panel of experts in higher education green practices, according to the Princeton Review. The survey measured 1) whether students have a campus quality of life that is both healthy and sustainable, 2) how well a school is preparing students for employment in the clean energy economy of the 21st century as well as for citizenship in a world now defined by environmental concerns and opportunities and 3) how environmentally responsible a school’s policies are.

UC San Diego’s accolades and awards for its sustainable efforts continue to grow. The university received an A- grade in the Sustainable Endowment Institute’s “Sustainability Report Card.” In addition, UC San Diego was named the first college in California to earn a “gold” sustainability performance rating in the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS) survey.

For more information on “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition,” go to http://www.princetonreview.com/green-guide.aspx and for more information about UC San Diego’s sustainability efforts, go to http://sustainability.ucsd.edu.