As a student at Austin Community College, I have witnessed the school adopt many environmental programs and truly set a great example to its student as to how be good stewards of our environment.
The college has been recently featured in the Times magazine to recognize its new Renewable Energy Program,
When Austin’s semiconductor industry started tanking in 2000, ACC quickly stripped down its chip-development courses and soon repurposed clean rooms for emerging green technologies. These days, it generally takes about six months of weekend classes to get qualified to be a solar installer, a job that can pay up to $16 an hour. But starting in August, a compressed weekday program — catering to the recently unemployed — will allow students to cram the same courses into just two months.” – Times Magazine
The college also just celebrated the opening of its first green building. The parking garage of the Rio Grande campus was recently opened to provide five hundred more parking spots for student, staff, and faculty. The building has received a 3-star green building rating from Austin Energy recognizing the
building’s design, construction, and operation. The school also provides parking spots for energy-efficient cars. If you are a student who drives one of these cars, you get to park closer to your class.
ACC also encourages its students to recycle. I have yet to be in an ACC facility that didn’t have a blue recycling bin or many of them. I see most students and staff recycle.
At the beginning of the Spring semester of 2010, the college will supplement its commitment to cutting emissions by handing out bus passes to every student, faculty, and staff member. The pilot of the ACC Green Pass program will begin on January 5th, 2010.
The libraries at the college also encourage students to print PowerPoint documents in handout format, save documents on external devices such as jump drives, and to preview before printing in order to avoid wasting paper and ink.
ACC sets a great example for many other institutions in Texas and across the United States to adopt such sustainability programs that will have a positive impact on our environment.
To learn more about the ACC Sustainability initiatives, visit the Sustainable ACC website.
