As you will learn from our links and menus on this page, our university community has adopted a Statement on Sustainability. We are a signatory to the Climate Leadership Commitment, the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and the Talloires Declaration, and we are a charter school member of the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS).  We have integrated sustainability into our Unit-level Strategic Plans and are installing a 47-building Geothermal District Heating and Cooling System to reduce our Greenhouse gas emissions.

We have hosted nine international Greening of the Campus (GOC) Conferences and our Council on the Environment (COTE) is the longest-standing such committee among colleges and universities in Indiana.  We offer a broad range of academic programs that engage sustainability, and we sponsor student groups such as the Ball State Energy Action Team (BEAT), Emerging Green Builders (EGB), the Natural Resources Club (NRC), and Students for Responsible Consumerism (SRC).

Finally, we encourage you to survey and/or use our STARS reporting tool: Mapping Sustainability at Ball State.

For further information, please contact:

Ball State University Council on the Environment

Telephone: 765.285.1135
Fax: 765.285.5622
Email: cote@bsu.edu

Featured News Items:

  • The David Letterman Building received a Merit Award from the USGBC Indiana Green Building Award program.  The award recognizes outstanding achievement in the realm of green building design and construction for projects located in Indiana.
  • Ball State is serving as a sponsor and a district use case partner in the 2020 USDOE Solar District Cup collegiate design competition.
  • Students from the Construction Management program became the first student team in the Midwest and one of only three student teams nationally to ever receive LEED certification for a building through the LEED Lab program.  The Letterman Building received LEED Certification under the Existing Buildings Operation and Maintenance LEED system.
  • Ball State University made the new "The Princeton Review's Guide to 399 Green Colleges: 2018 Edition". (partial report)
  • Ball State received a Second Nature Marks of Distinction award for it's efforts towards achieving climate neutrality.
  • Ball State's Student Government Association (SGA) voted to add a "green council" to the student senate.
  • 2018 - 50 Great Affordable Eco-Friendly Colleges - Best Choice Schools lists colleges considered leaders in sustainability that have an estimated net cost of under $25,000 per year (less than the expected average cost for a year in college). Included colleges are ordered from most expensive to least expensive. Ball State was listed in the 30th position.
  • U.S. Secretary of Education Names Burris Laboratory School a 2017 USDOE Green Ribbon School.  Burris was nominated by the Indiana Department of Education as a model school for sustainability.  Read the USDOE press release.
  • Ball State is one of only 24 schools out of 629 to make the 2018 Princeton Review Green College Honor Roll.
  • New Ball State arboretum earns national accreditation from global network ArbNet.
  • View a trailer for the student-produced documentary "The Greening of Middletown."
  • Ball State University made The Princeton Review's new "Top 50 Green Colleges" ranking list in the organization's publication, "The Princeton Review's Guide to 353 Green Colleges: 2015 Edition".
  • The Chevrolet Clean Energy Campus Campaign (with Ball State University as the Pilot institution) received a "Top Project of the Year Award" in the third annual Environmental Leader Product and Projects Awards.  The program has also earned an Innovative Partnerships Certificate from the Climate Leadership Award Program of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The Chevrolet Campaign engaged hundreds of stakeholders spanning the education, energy, carbon, auditing, and nonprofit sectors to develop a way for campuses to draw on a new source of funding – carbon credits from the voluntary carbon market – to help further their large-scale energy efficiency efforts.
  • Ball State University will tackle energy conservation and "Embrace the Dark Side" by competing in the 2015 Ball State Energy Challenge. For three weeks, students, faculty and staff in residence halls and academic buildings will participate in the challenge by taking steps to reduce Ball State's carbon footprint by turning off lights, unplugging appliances and attending fun events such as Dinner in the Dark.  For more details about these events and the competition, visit www.bsubeat.com
  • Read a feature Ball State Newcenter article on LEED certifications for new buildings on campus.
  • Ball State President Emerita Jo Ann M. Gora is a founding signatory of Second Nature's "Alliance for Resilient Campuses" program.
  • President Emerita Jo Ann M. Gora received the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Center for Green Schools 2013 President's Award.  Watch President Emerita Gora's acceptance speech.
  • Progressing Campus Sustainability:  Ball State University joins the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN).  The ISCN provides a global forum to support leading colleges, universities, and corporate campuses in the exchange of information, ideas, and best practices for achieving sustainable campus operations and integrating sustainability in research and teaching.
  • Presidential Voices Interview Series: Jo Ann M. Gora, Ball State University.  AASHE's "Presidential Voices"  interview series features conversations with heads of higher education institutions who are inspiring sustainability leaders.
  • Ball State received a gold rating from the AASHE STARS program.  Learn more about the gold rating.

Read more news items.