Sustainability

Campus-wide initiatives focus overall on planning and policy, education and action, and operations. Planning and policy streamline strategies in leadership and decision-making. Operations include the built environment and systemize the efficient use of resources. Education and research build understanding, deepen knowledge and inspire careers.

These three areas encompass ten domains: academics and research, energy, buildings and land use, health and wellness, food and dining, supply chain management, transportation, waste reduction and recycling, water, and community engagement.

The Sustainability Committee stewards the plan, guides the process and campus engagement, and holds the Bryant community accountable.

The Sustainable Campus Community Plan will outline a framework for advancing Bryant's sustainability agenda and improving rankings. The plan will:

• Review Past Efforts: Evaluate sustainability initiatives since 2015, noting successes and areas for improvement.
• Sustainability Plan: Develop a cohesive plan aligning all sustainability activities, with clear objectives, strategies, and monitoring metrics.
• Long-Term Sustainability Roadmap: Outline sustainable campus development options through 2030, with milestones towards net-zero emissions by 2050, integrating renewable energy, waste reduction, transportation, and green infrastructure.
• Priority Activities: Identify impactful initiatives for the next three years.
• Implementation and Monitoring: Establish timelines, responsibilities, and resources for priority activities, alongside a monitoring framework to track progress toward sustainability goals.

The recommended plan will be reviewed and approved by the cabinet and the president.

Timeline

• April 2024: Sustainability Vision Earth Day and Composting initiative launched
• September 2024: Sustainable Campus Working Group convened
• December 2024: Sustainable Campus Working Group delivers reports with recommendations for advancing Bryant University's sustainability agenda.

Bryant has partnered with Ecotone Renewables for a new composting system on campus. The system, which produces about 60% of its energy, composts food waste eight times faster than natural composting methods and creates a liquid fertilizer in 2-3 weeks. The system processes all types of food waste including meat, dairy, vegetables, and other compostables.

From geothermal to renewable energy credits and high-tech efficiency, we have made significant strides in curbing campus energy consumption. We constantly seek new energy-saving measures to add to our efforts.

Bryant University has signed a power purchase agreement with Kearsage Energy for renewable energy credits from multiple solar farms in Rhode Island. This agreement provides off-sets on the electricity invoices from National Grid. We are currently purchasing 36% of our total load.

Bryant is also investing in solar power through a collaboration with AICU of Rhode Island. Along with five other private higher education institutions of Rhode Island, there is a plan to purchase REC's from a solar farm in Newport, Rhode Island on the site of a former military installation.

Our 435-acre Smithfield campus is mostly wetlands, but it does include 54 buildings with 1.56 million square feet of conditioned space. We plan to develop a campus-wide green building study and increase our use of green cleaning products and organic fertilizers by 60%. We use green seal products as well as kelp-based organic fertilizers on our main campus landscape areas.

Food, athletics, gym use, and health care – each is a component of campus health and wellness initiatives. Our NCAA Division 1 athletic teams, club sports, and popular intramural program illustrate the importance the Bryant community places on exercise and athletic excellence. Sustainability is becoming ever more present with goals to increase the use of local food and fairly traded produce.

Bryant offers through its food service provider, AVI, the NutriSOURCE program. NutriSOURCE is a revolutionary Wellness Program developed by AVI to assist our community members in embracing a healthy lifestyle. It’s a multi-faceted approach to healthy foods, education, and awareness.

From RIPTA buses to car-sharing services and 10 electric vehicle charging stations on campus, sustainability within our transportation options is rising. We hope to reduce fuel use by 10 percent from a 2010 baseline by 2025, and increase ride-sharing by 10 percent from a 2010 baseline by 2025.

RIPTA is free for Bryant University students with a valid student ID.

Our waste reduction and recycling goals include curbing waste in the dining halls, proper disposal of electronics, instituting behavior change programs in the residence halls, and managing discarded materials from move-out at the end of the academic year.

We use more than 65 million gallons of water every year in campus buildings and to maintain grounds. Strategies for reducing water use range from fixing leaks and installing efficient appliances to efficient landscaping and behavioral change. The goal of our sustainability plan is to cut campus water use by 10 percent by 2025.

Student groups as well as faculty, staff and administrator involvement demonstrate and drive community engagement. The Chafee Center for International Business, the Executive Education & Career Accelerator, and the U.S.-China Institute promote our core mission and engage local and global communities.

Bryant organizations

• Sustain Us, a student club that promotes sustainability on and off campus through events, outreach, and collaborations

Academic and research opportunities

• Departments with faculty engaged in sustainability research: Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Marketing, History, Literature and the Arts, and Mathematics and Economics.
• Immersive programs. Past programs have included traveling to a Swedish university to conduct studies focusing on economic and technological climate change issues and coral reef studies in Australia.
• An annual outdoor field study, sponsored by the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences and supported by a NASA grant, takes students to environmentally significant locations in the United States. Past sites include redwood forests on the California coast and fossil sites in Idaho.
• Student internships with a variety of NGO and governmental organizations, including Save the Bay, Apeiron Institute, Nature Conservancy, U.S. Forest Services, and Reef Relief, in Key West, FL

Students:

• John Boccuzzi III '25
• Mike DiBenedetto '26
• Vincent Emery '26
• Kerrie Larson (Graduate Student)
• Sarah Monsini '24
• Owen Sawyer '24

Staff:

• Donna Ng (Chief Financial Officer and Vice President for Business Affairs)
• Henry Tracy (Administrative Sergeant)
• James Brown (Assistant Director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Strategy)
• Jason Ulak (AVI Dining Representative)
• Marjorie Robidoux (Director of Admission Operations)
• Paula Doyle (Assistant Director of Purchasing)
• Richard Zuscak (Director of Facilities, Facilities Representative)
• Shane McDonald (Budget Analyst)
• Sue Palacios (Accounts Payable Supervisor)
• Taylor Vahey (Sustainability Coordinator)

Faculty:

• A. Can Inci (Professor of Finance)
• Hong Yang (Charles J. Smiley Chair Professor)
• Mary Ann Gallo (Lecturer, Communication & Language)
• Srdan Zdravkovic (Professor of Marketing and International Business)

SustainUs is a vibrant student organization focused on sustainability issues, from raising awareness to changing the way we interact with our campus and the global community.

Follow SustainUs on Instagram.