Penn approves working draft of climate neutrality plan | Interactive feature

Penn's colors may be red and blue, but green has been gradually joining that group.

The University recently completed the first working draft of Penn's action plan for climate neutrality, which is being reviewed by the Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee and upper-level members of the administration, including University President Amy Gutmann.

The document marks the next step of Penn's participation in the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, which Gutmann signed in February 2007 to combat global warming. The pledge requires Penn to develop a concrete plan to achieve climate neutrality by September.

ESAC was formed in 2007 to meet that goal. In addition to faculty and administration, several students also sit on ESAC, including members of the Undergraduate Assembly and Penn Environmental Group.

The committee is composed of six subcommittees - academic, built environment, energy and utilities, waste management and recycling, transportation and communications - organized around the topics most critical to reducing Penn's carbon footprint, according to Facilities and Real Estate Vice President Anne Papageorge.

"When I went to college, there was one outlet on either side of the wall," said sustainability coordinator Dan Garofalo. "Our office equipment is so much more dense than what it used to be." He added that small actions, like not keeping electronics plugged in after they're fully-charged, make a big difference.

Penn is among those at the forefront of the 500 schools that have signed the commitment. Its draft includes recommendations to manage energy more efficiently through monitoring real-time campus consumption at a centrally-located command center, to continue to plan new buildings and renovations that meet LEED standards - a national benchmark to determine environmental friendliness - and to increase use of renewable energy like wind power, of which Penn is a lead purchaser in the nation.

In addition to the plan, the school is looking at everything from installing light sensors in libraries to save energy, to insulating underground pipes to finding ways to encourage people to use alternative sources of transportation.

Penn is also working to make many of the changes more opaque - students shouldn't have to feel a drop in temperature when a room is using less energy, Garofalo said.

"When I got to Penn several years ago, none of this was happening," said College senior and PEG member Michael Poll, who currently sits on ESAC. "To see that the University has taken a stance that prioritizes this important issue is really encouraging."

"No matter what we do as humans, the earth will eventually be fine - it may, however, kick us out in the process," Poll said, explaining why students should care about the issues. "We as a generation are establishing our own fate by our decisions, and particularly as members of a university, it's our responsibility to lead."

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