Green Columbia: Can Columbia Become an Eco-friendly University?

On the fourth floor of a quiet brownstone on 115th Street, Columbia's environmental future is beginning to take shape.

This is the office of Nilda Mesa, the University's newly hired environmental stewardship coordinator. The office looks spacious now, but Mesa says she expects it to become more crowded as she hires new staff members and launches some of her many ideas into action.

The appointment of Mesa and the official launch of Columbia's Environmental Stewardship Initiative last Wednesday point to a potentially dramatic change for the greener at Columbia. While student environmental groups and the Earth Institute were active before Mesa's arrival, the heightened level of coordination between them is new.

"That event could not have happened without all of these different components of the University community just pitching in and pulling it off," Mesa said of Columbia's Campus Sustainability Day, which took place last Wednesday. "I'm hoping that's the kind of model that we'll use from here on out."

Yet student leaders and community activists have expressed doubts about the University's commitment to sustainability in Morningside Heights and in constructing the new Manhattanville campus. Though Mesa has her own office, it is not in Low Library, and some worry that she will lack the support to accomplish her goals.

UNDER THE GREEN UMBRELLA

Mesa has already met with leaders of the undergraduate student environmental groups that make up the campus coordinating body the Green Umbrella, and said she plans to stay in "pretty much constant contact" with them throughout the year.

"They've all been really positive," Coogan Brennan, CC '08 and a founder of the Eco-Rep program, said of his interactions with Mesa. "She's been so supportive of all the student efforts."

She said she intends to host a recycling competition between teams of students and custodial staff which will be organized by residence hall. She also discussed plans to revamp the Environmental Stewardship Web site to include a regular blog and information for students.

"I want to make it sort of one-stop shopping for environmental information within the Columbia community," Mesa said. "I'd love to have students involved with it, absolutely."

The group which Brennan helped launch last semester is responsible for implementing many of the practical and cultural changes that Mesa hopes to bring about. There are 15 student Eco-Reps now, each one responsible for a floor in the Living and Learning Center. Students apply for the advisory positions, which Brennan said will be more public next year.

Right now LLC residents are participating in the Be Green Living Challenge, which includes many aspects of residential life, from recycling to the use of florescent light bulbs and eco-friendly dish soap. The idea behind such programming, according to Brennan, is that it will facilitate a deeper understanding of what sustainability means to Columbia students.

"I think that's the goal of Eco-Reps-to change attitudes and people's approach to sustainability, letting people know that even though they're in an urban environment, the choices that we make have impacts all over the world," Brennan said. "So sustainability is not just about the 'out there' effect, but the 'here.'"

Amanda Rook, BC '08 and a leader of Barnard Earth, says that Barnard is "tagging along behind" Columbia in environmental policies. The group, which was created two years ago, has pushed for facilities changes, a residential recycling program, and local food in Hewitt, with mixed success. There is also a pilot program in the works for Barnard Eco-Reps.

Rook said that coordination with Columbia groups is intermittent but that Mesa could provide a more consistent link between the schools. She said Mesa has discussed working with the heads of environmental science and other departments at Barnard.

"I don't think we do it as extensively as we could," Rook said of Barnard-Columbia cooperation. "There's a potential for collaboration on environmental issues that hasn't really happened yet."

BEYOND THE GATES

For Mesa, the collaboration need not end at Columbia's gates. She said she wants to involve the off-campus community in recycling and compost programs, as well as other projects. Mesa lives on the opposite side of Morningside Park, unlike many high-level administrators who live in University housing along Broadway and Riverside.

"My commute is five blocks down 115th Street, so I think that gives me a different perspective," Mesa said. "For me it's not separate at all, it's just part of where I live. I have a lot of friends and neighbors there, so it's more informal."

University officials have said that they are taking environmental issues into concern in planning the Manhattanville campus, but they have yet to specify their plans.

"We are currently talking amongst ourselves about a wide range of options [for environmental buildings]," Senior Executive Vice President Robert Kasdin said at a University Senate meeting Friday. "We are going to want to talk to the people of West Harlem who have real ... and very legitimate concerns about the health profile. This is the thing to do, and I'd rather not get into the specifics of green roofs or this or that."

Anhthu Hoang, general counsel for West Harlem Environmental Action, expressed concern that Columbia has not committed to meeting the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard. These guidelines established by the U.S. Green Building Council award points for things like use of natural lighting, green building materials, proximity to public transportation, and methods of minimizing heat effects, pollution, and waste.

"The plans don't indicate that the University is going to use any of those principles in the new buildings," Hoang said.

McVickar, a Columbia-owned building on 113th Street, was recently LEED-certified, Mesa said. She said that the standards are "on the table for pretty much any project the University is thinking about doing in the next few years."

Hoang also raised questions about Columbia's plans to build an underground cogeneration power plant as part of the Manhattanville campus. The plant would be able to simultaneously produce many types of energy.

"Cogeneration plants may or may not be energy efficient depending on the fuel that you use," she said. "If the University were really committed to sustainability they could build solar panels and use different [methods] to cut down on energy consumption rather than build a power plant."

Hoang added that the University had not committed to using clean fuels in its construction vehicles or shuttle buses. Mesa has suggested using biodiesel, or cooking oil, to power the vehicles. She said she discussed the possibility with bus companies and Housing and Dining services.

OPENING THE EARTH INSTITUTE

"A University like this has people all over the institution thinking about environmental issues," University President Lee Bollinger said at the initative's launch on Wednesday.

At Columbia, some of the most prominent people thinking about those topics are at the Earth Institute, founded in 1996 and currently headed by sustainable-development icon Jeffrey Sachs. The institute coordinates and handles research issues on sustainability to be applied across the globe.

Researchers there are involved in microbiological studies on the Hudson River, research on the historical effects of global warming on sea level, and the Millennium Villages Project, a joint initiative with the United Nations. Bollinger has made the institute one of the supporting planks in his platform for making Columbia a "global university."

Bollinger's focus on the institute has raised its profile and in September, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the Department of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability had entered into an agreement with the Earth Institute by which the institute will aid the city on a pro bono basis.

"New York's premier global university is home to an unparalleled collection of scientists, health experts, planners, and thinkers who can provide the solid scientific advice on which any responsible sustainability plan must be based," Bloomberg said announcing the agreement.

Mesa also said she will work closely with the institute, adding that she envisions her office collaborating with the Earth Institute on community research projects by getting students involved in the research and by developing policy proposals based on the findings.

The institute has also increasingly opened its doors to student involvement, creating a student advisory council comprised of 16 students nominated from departments across campus. Rook, who sits on the council, described it as "putting out feelers in the student body." She said she sees the council as an opportunity for the Earth Institute to reach out to the Columbia community.

"The Earth Institute has the potential to get involved in a practical way more than they have been," she said.

The Institute is in discussions with Kathryn Yatrakis, dean of Academic Affairs for Columbia College, to create a concentration in sustainable development.

Frontiers of Science may also see some changes. Segments on global warming have been part of the curriculum since the program was started in 2003, and David Helfand, department head of astronomy, who is largely responsible for creating the program, said that Columbia's current sustainability initiatives could find their way into problem sets next year.

IS CHANGE SUSTAINABLE?

Standing on Low Plaza moments before Bollinger and Kasdin took the stage at Wednesday's Campus Sustainability Day, Hannah Lee, SEAS '09 and one of two organizers with the Green Umbrella, said that the future success of the initiative is still up in the air.

"I think the state of sustainability at Columbia is exactly for students, faculty, and administrators to decide," she said. "That is what today is about."

Kasdin agreed that widespread understanding of environmental concerns is the only way to achieve long-term success.

"This kind of initiative, if it is to work, has to be embraced by people throughout the University," Kasdin said. "It's not the kind of initiative that can be fulfilled by simply a declaration from Low Library."

Yet the creation of a centralized office devoted solely to issues of sustainability in many ways marks a significant step forward for Columbia. At the Environmental Stewardship kickoff, Kasdin said students had previously driven the University to look at sustainability. Some students said the fact that Mesa's office exists takes the burden of lobbying the administration off of student activists.

"It seems like people are starting to get it," Rook said.

Indeed, for those who have been involved with sustainability issues, the support of Kasdin and Bollinger in institutionalizing sustainability gives weight to Columbia's stated goals.

"I think that one of the things that's different is that now, as a result of Kasdin really addressing this thing as an issue ... there are going to be a lot of activities that are going to take place," Rosen said. "It's going to be very, very exciting for these things to happen."

It remains to be seen whether Mesa will have the funding and support from the University to push through long-term goals such as looking at Columbia's energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

"As we get a better understanding for the challenges and needs, we will then design the staff appropriately," said Kasdin, who oversees Mesa's office. "We have no experience doing this at Columbia, so it is hard to identify how big a staff will be appropriate, but as appropriate, it will be added."

Some students are frustrated with the mentality they see in the Columbia administration. New titles and speeches by administrators often use the term "environmentalism" instead of "sustainability." Discussions of "sustainability" usually indicate a broader social and economic perspective that looks at things like environmental justice and income disparity. This language led some to believe that Columbia's new approach is not as progressive as it seems.

"People are saying that it's a new era for Columbia," Six Silberman, CC '07 and one of the co-founders of the Eco-Rep program, said. "Yeah, it is, but we're still two or three eras behind. We have arrived at Earth Day, 1970."

Others, like Brennan, are more optimistic.

"I think there has been a change to the way we approach environmentalism. The word 'stewardship' is used and the word 'sustainability' is used. I think they do get it," he said of the administration. "I think it's just a matter of figuring out what that means for Columbia."

Erin Durkin, Joshua Franklin, and Taylor Napolitano contributed to this article.