UM has made big strides toward becoming a sustainable campus. The UM Office of Sustainability opened its doors in 2009, and Sustainability Coordinator Cherie Peacock hit the ground running to bring administrators, employees and students together with local technical experts, community members and others to complete UM’s first Climate Action Plan.

The long-range plan outlines strategies campus will take in its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2020. It will be updated as technology and conditions change. Public meetings, Internet social networking, stakeholder meetings, media announcements and an all-campus survey were designed and implemented to involve the community in the planning process. Students, particularly those from the student organization UM Climate Action Now, were influential in the final plan outcome.

Peacock and Associated Students of UM Sustainability Coordinator Erica Bloom wrote the plan with input from the Technical Working Group that met every two weeks during the development phase.

The Education Working Group convened to write the section of the plan that detailed goals and strategies to incorporate sustainability into curriculum, research and community outreach. The Sustainable Campus Committee, composed of UM staff, students, faculty and administrators, provided guidance and served as advisory authority. University executive officers were the final decision-making authority.

“The spirit of collaboration that emerged through the planning process will be integral to the plan’s successful implementation,” Peacock says.

She now will work with others on campus and in the community to implement the Climate Action Plan’s strategies for energy conservation and efficiency in existing buildings, renewable energy generation, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for new construction and alternative transportation options to lower UM’s carbon footprint.

The full Climate Action Plan is available at http://www.umt.edu/greeningum/documents/CAPFinal.pdf. Also see the Greening UM website at http://www.umt.edu/greeningum.