About

Founded in 1815, Allegheny College ranks among the oldest 1 per cent of colleges and universities in the United States. Allegheny is situated in Meadville, which was established in 1788 in the French Creek Valley, astride the route traversed by George Washington on his journey to Fort LeBoeuf a generation earlier. In 1815, Meadville was still a raw frontier town of about 400 settlers, of whom an unusually large number had come from Massachusetts and Connecticut. They dreamed of a college that might bring the educational opportunities of New England to the frontier. The Rev. Timothy Alden was recruited to take on the task, and two months after his arrival in April 1815, Allegheny was established-with Alden as its first president.

Allegheny's 20th president, Richard J. Cook, took office in August 1996 and under his leadership the College has launched New Century Connections, a set of basic planning principles designed to guide the College's development from 1998 though 2003.

Strategy

Climate Action

As a charter signatory of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, Allegheny has acknowledged the need for global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and is developing a comprehensive climate action plan to strategically reduce their impact. A first step was purchasing 15 per cent of thier energy from wind sources.

Energy Efficiency

In the summer of 2008, Allegheny College completed an energy audit in collaboration with Siemens Energy Company and the Clinton Climate Initiative. The subsequent campus-wide energy retrofits will not only increase their efficiency and decrease their greenhouse gas emissions, but also save money. The college also invests in ENERGY STAR appliances and VendingMisers.

Green Building

Allegheny College has committed that all new construction will be certified at the LEED® Silver level. In addition, renovations of their historic buildings are also considered for LEED certification and managed to prioritize efficiency and environmental responsibility.


Environmental Guiding Principles

Allegheny College strives to be a community in which the earth's natural resources are used and sustained in manners that safeguard the health and survival of present and future generations. They acknowledge that as a learning community, they have an obligation to demonstrate their commitment to environmental stewardship. They affirm their commitment to protect and enhance the environment through their teaching, research, service, and operations. They seek to foster a community that educates itself on environmental awareness, local action, and global thinking. Environmentally sound practices are core values of the College.

Seeking to be a campus community:

• In which the College is an environmental leader in all aspects of institutional functions, including planning, operations, purchasing, and maintenance;
• In which environmental leadership is seen as a continuous, participatory process of learning;
• In which environmental efforts encourage interdisciplinary ties and collaboration in teaching;
• In which we acknowledge our obligation to live responsibly as part of a forested ecosystem rich with aquatic and terrestrial resources; and
• In which College leadership and expertise contribute to local and regional environmental efforts.

Advancing goals:

• Incorporate environmental concerns as a priority in College decision making;
• Consider social and economic impacts of Allegheny's environmental policies and practices;
• Use participatory processes in developing Allegheny's policies and practices; and
• Seek practices and procedures that protect the environment.

Their decisions and actions will be guided by the Allegheny College mission statement, reflective of the College's resources and informed by the Campus Master Plan. As a learning institution, Allegheny College recognizes that achieving environmental sustainability will be an evolving practice.

With grant funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Allegheny College environmental science professor Jennifer DeHart and a group of environmental studies students have begun a two-part project to help the City of Meadville reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

DeHart has collaborated and directed similar projects on a variety of scales including institutions (Allegheny College), multiple counties (the Global Change in Local Places NASA research project) and states (North Carolina). In her past work she has collaborated with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives support staff and used the council’s software for inventorying, projections and modeling mitigation strategies. Since 2001, DeHart has been an active member of the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium (PERC) energy and climate committee.

What will happen

Part one of the project, which began this month, involves completing a greenhouse gas inventory, including the development of emissions projections for the city. In part two, DeHart will work with stakeholders in the community to develop a climate action plan, which will help the city move toward a mutually agreed upon emission reduction target.

Andrew Pfeifer, a senior from Wyckoff, New Jersey, with a major in environmental science and minor in German; Brendan O’Leary, a junior from Birmingham, Mich., with a double major in environmental science and environmental geology and a minor in religious studies; and Sam Elliot, a junior from Henrietta, New York. with an environmental science major and English minor, will work with Chriest and DeHart to complete a baseline inventory of such contributors to greenhouse gas emissions as vehicle emissions, waste water, solid waste, natural gas, electricity and refrigerants.

“Our intention is to create an inventory that is comprehensive, covering to the greatest extent possible, all of the energy expended by the City of Meadville,” said Pfeifer.

The second part of the project, developing an emissions reduction target and climate action plan, will take place in concert with the inventory work.

“As we begin to see some of numbers and get a sense of where the most easily achieved energy savings can occur, both at the municipal level and community wide, we’ll work with area stakeholders to start to create consensus with respect to goals and strategies,” DeHart said. “Putting it all together, from inventory data and goals to strategies and tactics, into a climate action plan that engages our citizens in creating effective solutions is the ultimate objective of the project.”

As a member of the Pennsylvania Environmental Research Consortium (PERC), Allegheny College will collaborate with PERC and the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives to complete this project.

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