Stevens Recognized as a National Leader in Sustainability with New Honors
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education has recognized Stevens as a top performer in transportation and water, further cementing its role as a leader in sustainability amongst colleges
(Hoboken, N.J. – Nov. 23, 2020) -- Stevens Institute of Technology has been recognized by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) as a top performer amongst colleges across the country in the transportation and water categories. This comes on the heels of Stevens’ successful effort to achieve the AASHE STARS Gold Rating and further affirms its role as a leader in sustainability.
Stevens has undertaken initiatives to improve the sustainability of systems and facilities, produce a greener campus environmental footprint, and advance leading-edge research addressing pressing global issues such as energy efficiency, climate change and forest preservation.
“These changes have not only established Stevens as a leader in sustainability, but have benefitted our entire community,” said Robert Maffia, vice president for facilities and campus operations and co-chair of the STARS Steering Committee. “Our students, faculty and staff have better commutes, healthier and more comfortable facilities, and a beautiful, green campus that also serves as a living laboratory.”
The university has made significant strides in creating green solutions for water and transportation, which contributed to these recognitions. Stevens constructed a bioswale, bioretention planters, and several rain gardens on campus which are designed to collect storm water runoff and prevent flooding, allowing the water to be naturally filtered by vegetation and gradually absorbed into the earth. Stevens also implemented a commuter club and created a transportation demand management manager position to promote the use of carpools, public transportation and other environmentally-friendly transportation options such as campus shuttles and bikes.*
Stevens’ commitment to sustainability has recently garnered additional national recognition as well, including billing in The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges and on The Sierra Club’s Cool Schools ranking. The new Gateway Academic Center was awarded the U.S. Green Building Council’s prestigious LEED Gold Certification.
“ The recent honors reflect the great progress Stevens has made with integrating sustainability across campus and our curriculum,” said Dibyendu "Dibs" Sarkar, professor of environmental engineering, founding director of the sustainability management program and co-chair of the STARS Steering Committee. “We will continue to build on our programs and efforts to ensure our students will be the next generation of leaders in sustainability.”
*Several of the transit initiatives are currently on hold due to COVID-19.
-- Stevens --
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology is a premier, private research university situated in Hoboken, New Jersey overlooking the Manhattan skyline. Since our founding in 1870, technological innovation has been the hallmark of Stevens’ education and research. Within the university’s three schools and one college, 7,300 undergraduate and graduate students collaborate closely with faculty in an interdisciplinary, student-centric, entrepreneurial environment. Academic and research programs spanning business, computing, engineering, the arts and other disciplines actively advance the frontiers of science and leverage technology to confront our most pressing global challenges. As Stevens celebrates its 150th anniversary, the university continues to be consistently ranked among the nation’s leaders in career services, post-graduation salaries of alumni, and return on tuition investment.
Stevens media contact: Katie Koch, [email protected], 201-216-5139