How green is your university?

The University of Northern British Columbia’s moniker “Canada’s Green University” is trademarked. And for good reason. In the age of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and David Suzuki’s near-sainthood, universities will certainly be competing for “green students” as environmental studies becomes more and more popular. But as universities move towards sustainable campuses and expand environmental studies programs, some experts worry that the greening is only skin-deep.

In Ontario, applications for environmental studies programs spiked by 37 per cent compared to the same time last year, according to numbers released by the Ontario University Applications Centre in February. The number of students who cited environmental studies as their first choice jumped by 48 per cent.

Whether because of the popularity among students or the genuine viewpoint of university administrators, Canadian universities seem at first glance to be enthusiastically embracing sustainability. Most have made some kind of public written statement about climate change and are members of groups such as the Canada Green Building Council or the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Most also employ full-time sustainability coordinators (UBC’s sustainability office is considered a North American leader).

But signing up for membership doesn’t necessarily mean that universities are implementing the necessary changes, according to an article to be published next week in the environmental issue of Academic Matters magazine. The article, written by architect Brian Wakelin and environmental scientist Kathy Wardle, presents findings from a survey of 20 universities that gives an idea of what actions they are doing to slow climate change.

“Universities, since they are focused on teaching their students to be professionals, have done a pretty good job of embedding sustainability in their curriculum,” Wardle said in an interview. “But they are not necessarily applying the technologies to their own buildings. We would ask them: if they are supporting [sustainability] research, how can they lead by example by applying it on campus?”

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Read Wakelin and Wardle’s article as well as more green university coverage in this month’s issue of Academic Matters, a publication of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations.

The various projects at Canadian universities show that there are many ways to implement the research. “Universities can be viewed as small cities in that they manage their own water, garbage and some generate their own energy,” Wardle explained. For instance, the University of Calgary is looking into exchanging heat between buildings. Also, Laurentian University has a building with heating and cooling designed to adapt to warmer weather as the climate changes.