New Bar Being Set for Higher Ed Sustainability

GVF currently partners with Montgomery County Community College, St. Joseph's University and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and provides our professional expertise by participating on MCCC's transportation committee, which was implemented when Dr. Stout signed the American College & University Presidents' Climate Committment, and SJU's transportation committee, which was implemented after President Lannon created the Committee on Sustainability.  It is exciting to be a part of these committees and assist MCCC and SJU to become more sustainable and setting benchmarks for future initiatives.

Below is an article from the Keystone Edge regarding Chatham University, located in Pittsburgh, which has taken on a decidedly green approach to education.

That has become evident in recent years with the establishment of its School of Sustainability and the Environment, the hiring of its first sustainability coordinator and the addition of an Environmental Biology track to its Master of Science in Biology program.

Chatham recently announced its latest and most ambitious sustainability initiative yet: the nation's first university campus to integrate sustainable development, living and learning.

Chatham's Master Plan to develop the Eden Hall Campus in nearby Richland Township calls for the School of Sustainability and the Environment - the second of its kind in the U.S. - to be housed there on a 388 acre site north of the school's Shadyside Campus.

The new campus will be able to handle 100 students, which is expected to increase to 1,500 in the next decade, and will include four districts:



Mueller Center Campus-Restoration and preservation of existing facilities, construction of academic and residentail facilities and landscape restoration, with long range plans for an EcoCenter, commons building, greenhouse, agricultural fields, amphitheater, sports complex, constructed wetlands and art studio.

Elsalma Center-Interaction with the public on northwest corner of campus through a conference center, teaching kitchen, classrooms/workshops, orchard, farm market, aquaponics and wellness center.

Stanford Hill- Includess academic and residential buildings set in forest, streams and meadows.

Elizabeth Meadows- Includes parking facilities, townhomes for faculty, students and staff and additional constructed wetlands.

GVF is excited to launch its new program Commuter Challenge BINGO!

Looking for a fun and interactive way to change your commuting habits, and win some great prizes doing it? Sign up today for GVF’s Commuter Challenge Bingo, which we launched on January 3rd and goes until March 31, 2011!


Below GVF Project Manager, Carissa Bobenchik explains that the purpose of the Commuter Challenge is to improve mobility and sustain the environment by utilizing commuting alternatives. GVF encourages all residents of the Delaware Valley to walk, cycle, take transit, carpool, telecommute and/or utilize relevant commuter resources to make commuting easier and more sustainable.



Here’s how it works:


When you log onto Phillytraffic.com, click on 'How to Play' to register today!  Each participant will receive an electronic bingo card in the form of a PDF that shows different commuting alternatives and ways to improve commuting overall. Once a participant “gets bingo” (completes all of the challenges in straight or diagonal line) they will submit the completed card to GVF. The first 10 participants to submit a completed card will win a prize.

We hope this Challenge exposes all participants to commuting alternatives, as well as different resources avaialble.  Remember – you can make a difference in improving air quality, reducing congestion and enhancing mobility by making small changes in your daily commute!

Getting Back on Track - Climate Change & State Transportation Policy

With a comprehensive climate bill stalled at the federal level, many are turning to the states to make progress toward reducing carbon emissions. Are the states ready? To succeed, many sectors will need to reduce their carbon emissions. In Getting Back on Track, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) examines what states are doing to curb emissions caused by transportation. As such, it is the first report to compare state transportation policy as it affects greenhouse gas emissions and compare performance across the states.


State transportation policy has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also effectively meeting the nation's wide-ranging mobility needs. Few studies have specifically sought to evaluate how states' transportation policies impact greenhouse gas emissions. The NRDC evaluates how well state-level transportation decisions are aligned with efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by examining a selection of key transportation policies currently in place in the 50 states. The findings suggest that there is tremendous potential to make progress on reducing transportation-related carbon emissions. The recommendations in this report suggest ways states can improve their climate performance while meeting their mobility needs.

Evaluating States' Policies to Curb Emissions from the Transportation Sector


This analysis evaluates each state based on 17 policy and spending criteria that have been compared by expert analysis to achieve transportation sector greenhouse gas reductions. States can also implement these criteria independent of local or federal action and each criterion has successfully been adopted in one or more states. The selected evaluation criteria fall into three categories:
1. Infrastructure Policies
2. Investment Decisions
3. Touchstone Policies

The total score and individual Policy, Investment, and Touchstone subtotals for each state can be found in the table. To give additional context to these numbers, each state is further categorized into three scoring tiers as defined below:


Tier 1 (75 - 100):
Most alignment between transportation policy with climate change goals. These states are leading the way in setting transportation policies that support greenhouse gas emissions reduction. However, even these states must strive to do more to support a truly sustainable transportation system.

Tier 2 (25 - 74):
Some alignment between transportation policy and climate change goals. These states are taking some actions that will support greenhouse gas reduction goals, but there are many actions they are not taking. They must do more to get on the right track.

Tier 3 (0 - 24):
Limited or no alignment between transportation policy and climate change goals. Though these states' transportation policies may support climate change goals in some very limited ways, this is countered by many of their other policy choices. Most of the potential to reduce emissions through transportation strategies remains underutilized.

To view the entire article by NRDC and see where Pennsylvania ranks, click here.