News and Information
GVSU Recognized as Top 9 Finalist for 2016 West Michigan Sustainable Business of the Year
February 14, 2017
Grand Valley State University has been recognized as one of the top 9 finalists for the 2016 West Michigan Sustainable Business of the Year by the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum. The award will go to the company or business that best represents the values of WMSBF’s “triple bottom line”. Past winners include Brewery Vivant and Organicycle. This years finalists include Amway, Aquinas College, Catalyst Partners, City of Grand Rapids, Disher Design & Development, Grand Valley State University, Herman Miller, Kent County Department of Public Works, and Rockford Construction.
Grand Valley values the guiding principles of sustainability in helping to meet the current needs of faculty members, staff members, and students without compromising the needs and resources of future generations. The University is committed to working with our community partners to create a sustainable future for the university, the community, the region, the state, the nation, and the world. The University also provides students with excellence in education for sustainable development by embedding theory, systems-oriented thinking, and service learning into curricular and extracurricular programs.
Listed below are some of Grand Valley's accomplishments as it relates to sustainability that made the University eligible as a finalist:
- For the sixth year in a row, Grand Valley was named one of the country’s Most Environmentally Responsible colleges by The Princeton Review in their 2015 “Guide to 353 Green Colleges.
- Grand Valley was named one the country’s Greenest Universities by the Sierra Club for the third year in a row. It was the highest ranked Michigan institution on the list.
- For the third year in a row, Grand Valley received a Gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). We’re one of 69 institutions nationally to achieve this certification, and the first in the state.
- Grand Valley ranked second in the national Game Day Challenge for diverting nearly 80% of waste at a football game.
- Grand Valley has received additional sustainability awards and recognitions from Kaplan College Guide, Sustainable Endowments Institute, and U.S. Green Building Council.
- During GVSU’s 2010 reaffirmation of accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission, officials noted: “The university’s award-winning sustainability initiative serves the missions of education and outreach and provides national leadership.”
- Peterson’s “Green Jobs for a New Economy: The Career Guide to Emerging Opportunities” listed Grand Valley and the University of Michigan as the two Michigan schools among what editors called “Top 50 Four-Year Schools with Great Green Programs.”
- Mark A. Murray Living Center was given an Energy Star designation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — the first university student-housing unit in Michigan to receive such a designation.
- Grand Valley ranked 24th nationally among all colleges and universities in the recent annual RecycleMania competition.
Congratulations to Grand Valley on this tremendous accomplishment. Read more about the 2016 West Michigan Sustainable Business of the Year finalists.