Eastern Receives GreenCircle Award

WILLIMANTIC, Conn., June 20, 2007 — On June 5, Eastern Connecticut State University was presented with a GreenCircle Award from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The award was accepted by Executive Vice President Michael Pernal, William Leahy, chief operating officer of Eastern’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, and Nancy Tinker, director of facilities, management and planning.

“It is an honor to receive this award from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection,” said Leahy. “For the past six years, the University has been working diligently with state and municipal officials and other regional energy and environmental leaders to develop sound conservation practices while expanding the use of alternative energy solutions. It is gratifying to know that our contributions to a sustainable energy future for our state have been recognized.”

“The leadership provided by such Eastern faculty and staff as Bill Leahy, Professor Fred Loxsom, and Nancy Tinker has resulted in significant cost and energy savings on our campus and throughout the state,” remarked Eastern’s President Elsa M. Nuñez. “This award is another sign that Eastern’s collaboration with other leaders in Connecticut’s environmental community is being recognized. We are very pleased and honored by this recognition.”

Eastern is a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star program and has actively participated in the DEP’s Connecticut Sponsorship. The University also has taken direct action by initiating a Green Campus Initiative. Examples of this proactive approach include taking an obsolete heating system and replacing it with a geothermal system to heat and cool a residence hall; creating a 19-acre Arboretum maintained for educational purposes and public access; and installing five grid-independent photovoltaic solar panels on bus stops around campus.

The DEP award ceremony, which took place at Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, honored 70 Connecticut civic organizations, individuals and businesses for their efforts to improve the environment. Governor M. Jodi Rell commended the award winners, saying, they have “contributed to improving the quality of life for all residents of this great state.”

Eastern previously received the 2004 Energy Star Leadership in Energy Efficiency Award from the Department of Energy and the EPA for Excellence in Energy Education, and also received Environmental Merit Awards from EPA Region 1 in 2004 and 2005.

Since the program began almost 10 years ago, GreenCircle Award winners have made tremendous reductions and savings, resulting in the conservation of more than 643 millions gallons of water and 11 millions pounds of air emissions, and the reduction of more than one million pounds of hazardous waste, 800,000 gallons of spent solvents and several hundred tons of solid waste.

Caption: Green Circle Awards:  Michael Pernal, Eastern’s Executive Vice President; William Leahy, operating officer of the University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy; Nancy Tinker, director of Facilities Management and Planning at Eastern; and Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Gina McCarthy.

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