Emory University has been recognized by the City of Atlanta for its commitment to energy and water conservation through the 2016-2017 Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge.
![](https://sustainability.emory.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/better-buildings-320x320.jpg)
Emory University has been recognized by the City of Atlanta for its commitment to energy and water conservation through the 2016-2017 Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge.
Emory University’s sustainability initiatives illustrate the University’s long-standing commitment to sound environmental policies. Built around development of a model for healthy living on campus that translates to communities around the globe, Emory’s initiatives set an example for an ethical approach to creating a healthy and productive place to live, learn and work.
Emory students participating in the “Don’t Dump It — Donate It” recycling program as they moved out of residence halls last month turned their used books, clothing, furniture and housewares into support for a local charitable non-profit, re:loom.
Scientists, researchers and environmental experts from across the state convened at Emory last week to draft the “Georgia Climate Research Roadmap” — a set of targeted research questions that could help Georgia better understand and address one of the century’s defining challenges.
Emory’s 2025 Sustainability Vision identified four main action arenas, including utilizing Emory’s landscape, buildings, and operations to model best practices. This past year, campus departments made important strides toward realizing Emory’s Sustainability Vision goals
The Division of Animal Resources (DAR), headquartered in the Whitehead Biomedical Research Building, made strides in sustainability when they turned to recycling and composting laboratory materials and was recently recognized for its efforts.
Emory University ranked fifth nationwide in a “Campus Score” to measure the “urbanism, greenness and on-campus living” of 103 research-intensive universities in the US. Emory ranked first for the most greenspace of the campuses surveyed.
In the summer of 2016, the Office of Sustainability Initiatives (OSI) announced the recipients of its inaugural Green Offices at Emory and Green Labs at Emory Incentives Fund programs, created to encourage students, faculty, and staff to contribute innovative ideas for achieving the goals outlined in Emory’s 2025 Sustainability Vision.
During the 2016 fiscal year, Emory successfully diverted 55 percent of waste materials from the landfill. With an almost 5 percent increase from 2015, the University is making progress toward achieving the goal of 95 percent diversion by 2025.
More than 40 species of elm are native to the Netherlands, the birthplace of Emory President Claire E. Sterk. As part of Sterk’s formal inauguration program Wednesday, she planted the Ulmus Americana, or American elm, on the Quad.