Sustainability practices honored by Sierra Club

Baylor University has received more national recognition for its commitment to campus sustainability, this time from the Sierra Club, which named Baylor to its seventh annual list of Cool Schools.

The list ranks 162 universities on their campus sustainability practices based on responses to the extensive STARS survey (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System), developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Among the university's noted sustainability practices:

Baylor is a Styrofoam-free campus, including athletic events. In university restaurants and dining halls, to-go resources are made out of bamboo or paper products.

In 2012, Baylor set a new recycling record, finishing with 440.71 tons of recycling. To show Baylor's improvement in this area, in 2007 the university recycled a total of 160 tons.

The Baylor University Shuttle (BUS), which is operated in partnership with Waco Transit, reported a record ridership of 315,000 students, faculty and staff during 2012-2013.

The university installed a new irrigation system that currently covers about one-third of the Baylor campus. The new system already has generated 20-25 percent in water savings.

Two buildings are on track for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Marrs McLean Science Building has completed an extensive $23 million renovation and is on track for LEED Gold certification. Baylor's just-opened $73 million East Village Residential Community is expected to be LEED certified at the Silver level. Baylor's additional LEED certified buildings are George W. Truett Theological Seminary, the Jay and Jenny Allison Indoor Football Practice Facility and the Alwin O. and Dorothy Highers Athletics Complex, including the Simpson Athletics and Academic Center.