SLIPPERY ROCK — Green isn’t just the color of Slippery Rock University’s logo and sports uniforms.

SRU was recently recognized for its ongoing efforts to make its campus more green through environmentally-friendly buildings and initiatives.

SRU was one of two institutions to receive the Association of Physical Plant Administrators’ 2015 Sustainability Award in Facilities. The other was San Diego Community College District.

Since 2005, SRU has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent and has reduced its energy consumption by 22 percent, despite the campus growing by 32 percent in that period, said Paul Scanlon, the man behind many of SRU’s green efforts.

In 2008, SRU formalized its commitment to being environmentally conscious when SRU President Robert Smith signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment.

The commitment, which has 685 signatures of college presidents and chancellors, states the undersigned are “deeply concerned about the unprecedented scale and speed of global warming and its potential for large-scale, adverse health, social, economic and ecological effects” and pledges actions to reduce the release of greenhouse gases.

It was around that time Scanlon was hired as special assistant to the president for sustainability planning and operations.

Scanlon, who lives in Center Township, holds a degree in architectural engineering from Penn State University. Before coming to SRU he was a former director of engineering at the Butler architecture firm Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann and Associates, where he spent 20 years.

After coming aboard, he worked to develop a climate action plan for the university, which President Cheryl Norton signed in 2012.

According to its executive summary, “SRU’s Climate Action Plan forms the foundation of sustainability that the University will build upon in order to raise awareness of the local and global issues associated with climate change and reduce its own environmental impacts.”

The plan set a goal of the campus being carbon neutral by 2037, meaning it would have net-zero emissions.

It took stock of every aspect of the operations of campus, ranging from use of fertilizer to its central heating plant that burns coal.

“The theme of all this is reduce. Reduce the buildings if you don’t need them, reduce waste if you don’t need it, re-use stuff rather than buying new stuff and recycle when you can,” Scanlon said.

Since his hiring Scanlon has assisted with the design and construction of seven new buildings, six residence halls and the Smith Student Center, all of which received LEED certification.

LEED is a federal program that certifies buildings for using recycled materials, having minimal waste from construction and having energy efficient design.

Working to reduce the campus’ energy consumption while it is also growing has been a challenge.

“The world is the same way. As our population increases there is a need for more housing, more clothing, more food, more consumables, and those all take energy.

“So as we expand our campus we have to redouble our efforts to reduce energy use. It makes it hard for us to meet our goal,” he said.

The Robert A. Macoskey Center, first established in 1990, is located on 83 acres and is dedicated to demonstrations and education about sustainability.

The Harmony House, a repurposed 1920s farmhouse at the Macoskey Center, also received a LEED certification for existing buildings in 2011.

Even students whose majors have little to do with the environment seem to be engaged with the campus’ efforts and concerns, Scanlon said.

“Students are becoming aware and being concerned,” he said.

One big piece of the LEED certifications has been the implementation of green roofs, a flat roof containing soil planted with grass or other plants.

A green roof is beneficial because it extends the life of the roofs by protecting it from the elements, it insulates the building and it soaks up stormwater that could potentially contain pollutants.

The long-term projects in the action plan include converting the heating plant to be able to burn biomass, such as woodchips or buckwheat, and erecting canopies over some of the commuter parking lots that would be covered with solar panels.

One way the campus has already become more efficient is by burning natural gas for heat some of the time as opposed to coal, though neither is a renewable resource.

Certain plants, like buckwheat, can be grown so quickly it makes them ideal to be used as a renewable energy, Scanlon said.

For more information about what SRU is doing to reach its goal of carbon neutrality, visit www.sru.edu/sustainability.