UB has a long history of sustainability through operational change.
Rethink, reduce, repair, reuse and recycle are our mantras when
it comes to how we operate our three campuses. From the way we use
energy to the way we discard waste, UB is a leader in
sustainability. We owe our success to the support and participation
of the entire UB community.
For three decades, UB’s energy conservation initiatives have saved millions of dollars each year. Our success is a result of outstanding operational management and responsible energy use by members of the UB community.
UB is committed to green power alternatives, as evidenced by our
two solar installations and the fact that 30 percent of our energy
comes from renewable energy outside of hydropower.
UB diverts more than 30 percent of the waste we produce from the landfill.
Campaigns to curtail trash include our "All In One" recycling
program, new in 2011. The program makes recycling easy by allowing
people to place all accepted recyclables in one bin instead of
separate containers.
In 2010, UB Campus Dining & Shops launched an aggressive composting strategy designed to reduce food waste from dining centers.
Today, we compost hundreds of thousands of pounds of organic waste each year, with 43 percent decomposed on campus by an innovative machine that transforms everyday refuse—onion skins, egg shells, chicken bones—into a soil amendment for gardening.
By summer 2012, the addition of a second decomposer will enable
UB to compost 100 percent of its dining center food waste right
here on campus. UB helps build greater food security in Buffalo and
beyond by offering its compost as free fertilizer to urban
community gardens and members of the campus community.
UB's food decomposer helps the university compost food waste
from dining centers.
New buildings on all three UB campuses reflect our commitment to the future. Construction and renovation projects across the university have been designed to meet rigorous accessibility and LEED green building design standards.
William R. Greiner Hall, a sophomore residence hall that debuted
in 2011, is one example. The building is packed with green features
such as high-efficiency lighting, low-flow faucets, and laundry
room counters made from recycled Tide bottles.
Inside our facilities, UB’s custodial team practices green
cleaning techniques, using nontoxic, recycled products and
implementing responsible application methods that protect our
health and the environment.
UB offers plenty of ways to travel around campus using alternative transportation methods. Our system of convenient, free shuttles and buses make it easy to travel to or around any of our three campus centers. Here are some other ways to get around:
UB’s IT Services has been at the forefront of utilizing green information technologies and practices. As part of its ongoing 2020 IT Strategic Transformation, the department has implemented measures such as server virtualization, cloud computing and virtual computing, which have all increased UB’s efficiency and decreased its environmental impact. In addition, the Center for Computational Research launched a series of green IT projects a little over 2 years ago with funding from the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The projects have been successful, resulting in an incredible seven-fold increase in CCR's research computing capacity as well as a decrease in total energy consumption by 20%. As of January 2012, such actions have saved the university more than $278,000 and reduced greenhouse gases by more than 550 metric tons. The recently relocated CIT data center will soon undergo similar improvements.
IT services has also been working on providing a cutting edge learning environment for the School of Management, self-help course capture technology in the School of Social Work, and upgrading CIT's UBUnix timeshare environment. For more information about IT services initiatives, visit: http://www.cio.buffalo.edu .