Grand Valley ranked a greenest school by national environment group

Grand Valley was named one of the country’s greenest universities by Sierra Club, the largest national grassroots environmental organization in the U.S. The university placed 16th out of 96 schools, and is the highest-ranking Michigan institution on the list, ahead of universities such as Harvard and University of California, Berkeley.

This is the first time Grand Valley is included in the Sierra’s Club’s annual list of “Coolest Schools,” a list that ranks schools that have a strong commitment to environmental improvement, are helping to solve climate problems and are making significant efforts to operate sustainably.

The ranking was based on scores given to universities that completed a questionnaire on measurable environmental goals and achievements, presented by Sierra Club, Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), Sustainable Endowments Institute (SE) and Princeton Review. Grand Valley completed the survey in 2011 and scored high in areas of diversity and affordability, coordination and planning, human resources, water conservation, grounds and dining services.

Sierra Club has more than 1.4 million members and supporters nationwide.

Grand Valley was also recently featured in AASHE’s Higher Education Sustainability Review, a guide that celebrates successes and challenges in sustainability in higher education. Grand Valley is featured on pages 55 and 56.