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Duke Schools ‘Battle’ For Sustainability

Faculty and staff improve sustainable status of classrooms, offices, labs

Randy Smith, departmental manager in the Department of Biology, and Debra Murray, a research scientist in the department, work through a checklist of items involved in Green Lab Certification. The pair have been taking part in the “Battle of the School
Randy Smith, departmental manager in the Department of Biology, and Debra Murray, a research scientist in the department, work through a checklist of items involved in Green Lab Certification. The pair have been taking part in the “Battle of the Schools” sustainability competition to increase the number of “green” work spaces across Duke. Photo courtesy of Casey Roe.
By Bryan Roth

This fall, faculty and staff from several of Duke's academic schools are showing off their sustainable strength.

The Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment and Pratt School of Engineering are participating in the "Battle of the Schools," a friendly competition between the academic groups to see who can earn the most sustainability certifications. From Oct. 9 to Dec. 4, each school has been competing to earn various certifications from Duke’s sustainability office:

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  • Staff - Green Workplace Certification
  • Staff and faculty - Green Lab Certification
  • Faculty - Green Classroom Certification

Currently, the Nicholas School is in first place, having earned 36 out of a possible 104 total certifications, a success rate of 34.6 percent. Trinity College is second, certifying 62 of 918 spaces and Pratt is third with 11 out of 262.

The school with the highest overall percentage of certified workplaces, labs and classrooms will receive two Duke men's basketball tickets to be randomly awarded to faculty or staff who submitted a certification. The school with the largest percentage increase in certifications from the start of the competition to the end will receive $500 for a sustainability-themed victory celebration.

"It is great to know that you can change your daily work habits and make a difference, especially when there are some intrinsic motivation as well as extrinsic motivation for a contest like this," said Laurie Patton, dean of the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. "In Arts & Sciences, most folks we already leaning in the right direction and so I was proudest of the fact that it didn't take our office much time at all to push to the next level of green."

Casey Roe, outreach coordinator for Sustainable Duke, said one of the biggest changes seen because of the "Battle of the Schools" has been the number of certified courses offered for the upcoming spring semester. Sixty classes have been certified so far, which includes aspects like allowing electronic submission of assignments, providing online readings and turning off lights and electronics in classrooms when not in use. Previously, the highest number of green certified courses for any semester was 11.

"We're getting to the point where we have the ability to work closely with people from across each school to individualize sustainability efforts in offices, classrooms or labs," Roe said. "It's exciting to showoff all the different things we can do."