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Clean Air-Cool Planet is the Northeast's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming.
 Read about our current partners’ leadership efforts: Profiles in progress: College of the Atlantic Eastern CT State University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Roger Williams University Saint Joseph College
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Clark University Profile Clark University is a teaching and research institution founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts, the state’s second largest city. About 2000 undergraduate students at Clark study 29 majors, including Environmental Science and Policy and Global Environmental Studies. Graduate programs include four Masters through the International Development, Community, and Environment (IDCE) program in Environmental Science and Policy, International Development and Social Change, Community Development and Planning, and Geographic Information Sciences for Development and Environment. Clark entered into a partnership with Clean Air-Cool Planet in the spring of 2004.
Past Initiatives The university updated a chiller system in its library over the summer of 2004. In January of 2005, the Cathy ’83 and Marc ’81 Lasry Center for Bioscience opened to students. The project has been designed using best practices for sustainable labs, and may qualify for LEED Gold. Among many features, an energy-efficient mechanical system will consume 40% less energy than comparable laboratory buildings. In the spring of 2005, students at Clark petitioned the Student Council to add $3 per semester to the student activities fee for the purchase of clean energy to power the school. The administration is now considering adding clean energy options to its electricity mix.
Current Initiatives Clark is continually working to strengthen its recycling program, which dates back to 1990 and was student-led for over a decade. In January 2004 a staff person was brought on; since then, Clark has increased its amount of recycled material by 57%. This fall marks the pilot year of a new “Sustainable University” class as well, designed to address a variety of issues in sustainability. Students in the fall 2005 course are working on energy, recycling, food (including composting and the purchase of local foods), and navigating the structure of the University (learning how best to connect with those who can be helpful in implementing sustainable practices); future versions of the class may have different interest work-groups. Clark is in the process of calculating its greenhouse gas emissions using Clean Air-Cool Planet’s inventory tool. Recently, the University also began to focus on developing a comprehensive effort to reduce wasteful energy use on campus.
Future Initiatives Looking forward, Clark plans to continue to improve upon its recycling, energy efficiency and water conservation efforts. Clark supports one staff member to organize the student-run recycling program and other campus conservation efforts.
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