The College Opportunity and Affordability Act (H.R. 4137) passed last week by the House contains two measures that could significantly spur sustainability practices at colleges and universities across the country.
The primary function of H.R. 4137 is reauthorizing and revising federal financial aid programs in an attempt to address the increasing costs of higher education. However, the new legislation also creates a grant program to help colleges and universities design and implement sustainable practices, and calls for the first-ever higher education summit on sustainability.
Under the new legislation, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings would be required to convene a summit of higher education experts, federal government agencies, and business and industry leaders, no later than September 30 of this year.
The purpose of the summit will be to encourage faculty, staff, and students to establish administrative and academic sustainability programs on campus; enhance research in sustainability practices and innovations; encourage cooperative programs in the community and workplace; and charge participants to submit a set of recommendations for addressing sustainability through institutions of higher education.
The Sustainability Planning Grants, as defined by the bill, would make matching funds available for programs to design and implement sustainability practices in the areas of greenhouse gas emissions reductions, green building, waste management, purchasing, transportation, and other aspects of sustainability that integrate campus operations with multidisciplinary academic programs.
Grant funds could be used to:
– establish sustainability literacy as a requirement for undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
– integrate sustainability curriculum in all programs of instruction, particularly in business, architecture, technology, manufacturing, engineering, and science programs.
– establish or support multidisciplinary education, research, and outreach programs that address the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability.
– develop and implement administrative and operations practices that test, model, and analyze principles of sustainability.
Grants would also be available to non-profits working in partnership with colleges, and a funding requisite is that the schools must collaborate with business, government, and nonprofit sectors in the development and implementation of their sustainability plans.
"Promoting green colleges is a smart investment," says Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. "They’ve been shown to improve the student experience and will help shape the generation of Americans who will bring the clean-energy revolution to fruition."(
Inslee also introduced an amendment to the bill, requiring all colleges and universities that receive funding for Perkins Loans to meet standard 90.1 of the America Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) with all new construction or major renovations. ASHRAE Standard 90.1 is "minimum code" as specified by the 2005 Energy Policy Act.(
The House approved the College Opportunity and Affordability Act by a bipartisan vote of 354 to 58. The bill has yet to be taken up by the Senate.
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