Weber State gets 'Cool School' designation by Sierra Club

OGDEN — Weber State University has been named one of the Sierra Club's 2012 "Cool Schools," a designation that recognizes sustainability efforts at college campuses.

The ranking was listed in the club's Sierra Magazine, part of an annual survey that ranks institutions of higher education based on criteria such as "waging war" on emissions, serving sustainable foods and teaching green curricula.

Some of WSU's sustainability efforts recognized by the survey include converting university vehicles to natural gas, insulating the university's piping network, upgrading lighting to high-efficiency fluorescent and installing solar panels on a number of buildings.

"The Energy and Sustainability Office, which has led these initiatives, has been aggressively implementing energy- and water-savings projects over the past few years, and they are starting to save WSU a significant amount of money," Jennifer Bodine, a WSU sustainability specialist, said in a prepared statement. "This past fiscal year, which ended June 30, WSU saved $939,575 through reduced electricity, natural gas and water consumption."

The survey is a collaborative effort of four organizations: the Sierra Club, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, the Sustainable Endowments Institute and the Princeton Review.