Azusa Pacific University Focuses on Making a “Greener” Campus

As businesses and individuals across the country focus on ways they can help the environment, Azusa Pacific University is doing its part and working to make the university campus as environmentally friendly as possible. The Department of Facilities Management maintains a special area devoted to environmental stewardship, encouraging individual university offices as well as the campus at large to engage in practices that conserve resources.

“In Genesis 1:27, God gave Adam the responsibility to rule and have dominion over the creatures of the earth,” said Toney Snyder, APU’s assistant director of environmental stewardship. “We are called to be good caretakers, even environmental stewards. In the last five years, APU has increased our recycling program, reduced waste, and kept our utility costs growing at a slower pace than our student growth.”

APU’s dedication to environmental stewardship produced the following achievements:

1. APU’s Administration West Building, which houses several offices, including University Relations, Human Resources, and the Graduate Center, was recently awarded an Energy Star rating by the Environmental Protection Agency. This honor recognizes buildings deemed environmentally friendly, after a thorough examination of gas, energy, and water usage compared to the number of people and computers.

2. The campus currently owns nine electric vehicles to conserve gas and reduce car emissions.

3. The Upper San Gabriel Water District Awarded APU a $50,000 grant to underwrite the installation of water-saving artificial turf on Adam’s Field in 2012. APU stands as the first university to benefit from the program.

4. In 2011, APU student workers recycled eight tons of bottles and cans.

5. The Segerstrom Science Center, APU’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building, serves as a campus model.

6. The university received a $193,364 grant for beverage recycling in its living areas from California’s Department of Conservation that heightened awareness.

APU’s Environmental Stewardship program exists to “to honor God by developing programs that promote conservation, recycling, and sustainability, and to provide efficient utility systems without compromising the needs of future generations.”

To learn simple ways to help the environment, visit www.apu.edu/facilities/environmental.

Posted: March 6, 2013