Triangle colleges hope 'green' look attracts students

A rooftop at Duke University Medical Center sports a new lush ground cover: hardy succulent plants called stonecrop that tolerate heat and need little water.

This diamond-shaped patch of green, covering the hospital entrance, absorbs much less heat than a traditional asphalt shingle roof, reflects less heat and filters rainwater runoff. It's a test project to help medical center leaders decide whether to include a more extensive green roof over part of the planned $596 million hospital expansion.

It's also a major statement -- the kind of environmentally friendly touch that universities are trying to incorporate as they design, build and renovate buildings under the critical eye of students.

"We have quietly been working on sustainability issues at Duke for about a decade," said Greg Warwick, architect for Duke University Medical Center. "The students expect it now."

Such expectations are now part of the annual college rankings sweepstakes. This week the Princeton Review, publisher of a college selection guide, debuted its green rating, a measure of how environmentally friendly campuses are based on policies, building practices and academic offerings. The green rating will join other scores the review publishes about financial aid, academic selectivity and quality of life to help applicants choose among colleges.

Good 'green' ratings

"Students really care about these issues," said David Soto, college rating director for The Princeton Review. "It's going to be a yearly rating. We're hoping to rate more schools."

Soto said more than 60 percent of students surveyed said they were interested in a school's environmental track record and some would use it as a factor to help pick a college.

In The Princeton Review's rankings, Duke, N.C. State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill all scored 90 or higher out of a possible 99 -- placing them in the top fifth of more than 500 colleges and universities ranked.

"The largest institutions within the state scored well," Soto said.

The three have made conscious efforts.

This spring, NCSU opened an office of sustainability to promote "green" practices. In April, university leaders announced that all new construction would meet U.S. Green Building Council voluntary guidelines, which include energy and water conservation and use of recycled building materials, among others.

The university has installed low-flow shower heads and flow controls on faucets throughout campus, reducing its water consumption per square foot by 29 percent in seven years.

The university is also trying more energy-efficient LED lighting in a dormitory and parking deck.

"The best way to foster environmental stewardship is to expose our students, faculty and staff to a campus that models these principles," said Tracy Dixon, sustainability coordinator. "I think everybody is interested in it, not just students."

Elements of green construction such as efficient lighting and low-flow showers are included in many buildings across the UNC-CH campus. The university is currently building or renovating about 7.5 million square feet of buildings.

The School of Nursing Carrington Hall addition, completed in 2005, is the first building in the 16-campus UNC system to receive certification from the green building council. Like the Duke Hospital experiment, the building has a green roof to capture rainwater and reduce runoff.

The Rams Head Center, built on the site of a former parking lot near Kenan Stadium, includes a 700-space parking deck, a grocery, a dining hall, a recreation center, and a green plaza on top.