George Washington University
PRE-2: Points of Distinction

As an institution of higher education in the heart of the nation’s capital, GW has both the opportunity and the responsibility to address these challenges. GW is committed to developing, piloting and demonstrating models for urban sustainability and resilience. The university provides the fertile space for learning and inquiry, the resources needed to innovate, and the platform to amplify what we learn and accomplish.

In 2017, GW celebrated its first full year of receiving half its electricity from three solar farms in North Carolina. At the time the project was announced in June of 2014, this solar contract was the largest ever signed by a U.S. institution and one that provided a groundbreaking new business model for other institutions seeking to expand their renewable energy options. The story of this remarkable achievement is a textbook example of how a university can demonstrate innovative solutions to major global issues.

The undergraduate academic Minor in Sustainability is a flagship program of the university — GW’s first interdisciplinary minor, which boasts more than 90 students enrolled. The program challenges students to explore pressing sustainability issues and to think about how to develop solutions at the local, regional and global level. Team-taught by faculty from five different schools within the university, the minor introduces students to the concepts, principles and issues that inform the sustainability paradigm. It integrates classroom instruction, community-based learning and research to prepare students to apply a sustainability perspective to their future endeavors and to make meaningful contributions as they enter the professional world.

More than 1,150 students have taken the interdisciplinary, team-taught course Introduction to Sustainability since it was first offered in 2012. In total, students can choose from 904 sustainability-related and -inclusive courses throughout the university at the undergraduate and graduate levels that address a range of subjects.

GW’s focus on sustainable buildings began in 2007 when the university pledged that all new buildings would meet the LEED Silver standard or better. Ten years later, GW has made good on the commitment: There are thirteen LEED-certified buildings and four LEED certified interiors on its campuses, including thirteen Gold and one Platinum level. These projects incorporate energy- and water efficient equipment, green roofs and rainwater reuse systems, among other sustainable features. GW's most recent major renovation at Thurston will be the university's 18th LEED project.

To demonstrate the university's expanding commitment to green buildings and use of LEED as a tool for sustainability performance, GW's 2022 Mount Vernon Campus Plan included a commitment to design and construct each new building to achieve, as a minimum, the equivalent of LEED Gold certification under the LEED-NC 4.0 rating system.