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NACUBO members tour campus sustainability features

Plant Operations’ Mitch Lampley discussed the Vanderbilt Power Plant’s recent conversion to using natural gas exclusively during a campus tour for NACUBO members July 20.
Plant Operations’ Mitch Lampley discussed the Vanderbilt Power Plant’s recent conversion to using natural gas exclusively during a campus tour for NACUBO members July 20. (Steve Green/Vanderbilt)

Vanderbilt University played host Monday to about 100 members of the National Association of College and University Business Officers, which held its annual meeting in Nashville July 18-21. NACUBO represents more than 2,500 colleges, universities and higher education service providers across the country and worldwide.

NACUBO members toured The Commons Center and Hank Ingram House at The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons, the Vanderbilt Power Plant, Sarratt Student Center, Alumni Hall and Warren and Moore Colleges to learn about the structures’ green features as well as overall sustainability efforts on campus. The tours were organized and led by the Sustainability and Environmental Management Office’s Andrea George, Chelsea Hamilton and Steve Gild and Campus Planning and Construction’s Paul Marshall and Robert Waits.

NACUBO’s 2015 annual meeting convened nearly 2,000 college and university business officers for the purpose of initiating provocative discussions, showcasing solutions and sharing effective strategies for managing the challenges faced by campus administrators. Among the topics discussed at this year’s meeting was “Enhancing the Built Environment,” which explored how university leaders must act as stewards of their campuses in terms of both business and environmental imperatives. University business officers specifically are charged with guaranteeing the long-term financial sustainability of an institution by increasing its efficiency of operations and space utilization, promoting behavioral change, avoiding risks and generating cost savings.

To learn more about Vanderbilt’s sustainability efforts and features, visit the SustainVU website.