The possibility of Saint Louis University “going green” seems more likely after a meeting of the President’s Coordinating Council on Tuesday, Sept. 23. After a 15-minute presentation on sustainability by Student Government Association President Sam Howard and several other SGA members, Vice President of Student Development Kent Porterfield, Ed.D., a member of the PCC, said he could “feel a strong commitment in the room.”

“[The push for sustainability] is perfect a issue to bring administrators and students together for a common goal that can save money and make a positive social impact simultaneously,” Howard said.

The materials presented to the PCC covered possible campus sustainability strategies, as well as the costs and benefits of making campus more environmentally friendly.

Information was also available on other universities’ sustainability efforts. For example, Washington University in St. Louis is in the process of retrofitting all their buildings to be certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit organization committed to expanding sustainable building practices, developed LEED certification.

Marquette University has invested $7 million into energy efficiency and reduced its energy use by .547 million-kilowatt hours, which equates to some $350,000 in savings.

“Going [green] probably means some short-term costs with long-term benefits,” Howard said. “It means an analysis-and more than likely some reworking-of how we’re functioning now and a shift in mind-set and practice in respect to the environment.”

Many at the meeting also felt that SLU’s philosophical mission mandates that the University become more environmentally responsible.

Porterfield finds that “[the sustainability initiative] is very mission-centric; it’s all about social responsibility and falls under our Jesuit mission.”

As a result of the PCC meeting, Howard will recommend members for a sustainability task force that will acquire data and make recommendations to the PCC.

This group will likely be composed of faculty, staff and students. Once formed, the group will begin to prepare a master sustainability plan before next spring which will include a phased schedule for greater environmental responsibility. Howard said that the first issues addressed will probably be an all-encompassing recycling plan and energy-saving policies, as well as a statistical analysis of SLU’s current energy use and waste output.

This is not the first time a call for “going green” has been brought up at SLU, but it is the first time it has garnered so much attention.

John Kelley, who presented with Howard at the PCC meeting, has been on the SGA Environmental Task Force since fall of 2006 and said that he hasn’t seen this level of enthusiasm on campus for going green until now.

After last week’s meeting, Kelly said that he feels “very optimistic. Everything seems to be coming together for this. This is the first time I have seen [the senior administrators of SLU] this supportive.”

One aspect of sustainability presented to the PCC was that, while it would require short-term investment, it could also result in long-term savings.

Many of the suggestions Howard’s group made concerned control systems on computers, as well as air conditioning and heating systems, to make them less wasteful. Porterfield said that he is confident that efforts to go green will not put any extra financial pressure on students.

“I don’t think [sustainability] alone will force a rise a tuition. . Sustainability presents many opportunities for savings in the budget,” Porterfield said.