University of Northern Iowa
The University of Northern Iowa is a public university with approximately 13,000 students. Founded in 1876, UNI is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and offers more than 120 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences and Social and Behavioral Sciences and the graduate college.
The University of Northern Iowa is committed to sustainability through reducing carbon emissions, conserving energy, engaging and educating the university community to establish lifelong behaviors, and promoting the general public interest.
Energy conservation and sustainability were on the radar at UNI as early as 1915 when UNI offered one of the nation's first collegiate-level courses in conservation. Now UNI offers more than 180 sustainability-related courses; leads outreach programs in K-12 classrooms across the state; researches new and refines old methods for energy conservation; provides speakers and education for community and business leaders; and works to establish efficient and energy-saving measure across campus.
Highlights include:
- In 1990, then President Constantine Curris was one of the 20 original signers of the Talliores Agreement, the first official commitment to environmental sustainability in higher education.
- In 2006, current President Benjamin Allen appointed a Sustainability Council and created an Energy Conservation Committee to lead and promote the university's sustainability efforts.
- UNI programs such as the Center for Energy & Environmental Education (CEEE), Iowa Waste Reduction Center (IWRC) and Recycle and Reuse Technology Transfer Center (RRTTC) have taught K-12 students and business owners the importance of reducing waste, recycling and using renewable sources of energy and provided tips on how to incorporate them into life and work. During the last fiscal year, CEEE education programs reached approximately 9,800 K-12 students and more than 1,100 K-12 teachers; 47 companies and organizations received assistance from RRTTC projects and services; and the IWRC provided technical assistance and on-site reviews to 253 small businesses.
- Research within the physics, chemistry and industrial technology departments and at the Tallgrass Prairie Center and National Ag-Based Lubricants Center is moving energy conservation forward by improving hydrogen-storage and solar cell capabilities, exploring biomass-energy production and using biolubricants to reduce the use of fossil fuels. UNI undergraduate students participate in many of these research projects.
- The UNI Speakers Bureau features several well-regarded experts in energy conservation and sustainability fields. These UNI faculty and staff members are available to community organizations, businesses and industries that want speakers for meetings, summits, conferences and more. Many of these presentations are made free of charge.
- The UNI power plant is 70 to 80 percent more efficient than typical power plants, and produces 40 percent of the university's energy. UNI Power Plant staff and Cedar Falls Utilities have and continue to explore alternative energy sources. UNI also continues to explore ways to decrease non-renewable energy consumption by monitoring current energy costs compared to wind energy, replacing incandescent lights with LED lights, working Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards into new and existing buildings, making electric hybrid vehicles available in the motor pool and purchasing produce and products from local vendors when available.
- In 2009, UNI Dining Services spent more than $700,000 of its budget on produce and products from Iowa vendors, growers and farmers.
- Over the past decade, about 40 acres that were once mowed are now natural vegetation, requiring little maintenance and providing a learning opportunity for UNI students.
- UNI and the city of Cedar Falls established a joint recycling-reuse center on campus, which continues to collect increasing amounts of material for recycling.
- This year UNI will install photovoltaic panels on the new Multimodal Transportation Center to harness the suns energy and make the building a net-zero-energy facility, meaning it will produce its own power needs.
Increased energy savings and sustainability efforts have become a major priority for local, state and federal governments. UNI will continue to promote sustainability through reducing carbon emissions, conserving energy, engaging and educating the university community to establish responsible lifelong behaviors, and promoting the general public interest. Working as an institution, UNI is helping to build and promote a secure future for Iowa and its citizens.