Furman Named 2016 AASHE Sustainability Award Winner

Furman University has received top place in a juried competition for outstanding achievements and progress toward sustainability. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) made the announcement Oct. 9 during opening ceremonies of the AASHE Conference & Expo in Baltimore.

AASHE received a record 220 total entries for the competition, with seven winners announced in three categories.

Furman’s winning submission was “Carbon On-Setting: Community Impact through Home Weatherization in Greenville, SC.” Entries were judged on overall impact, innovation, stakeholder involvement, clarity and other criteria specific to each category.

Furman won top place in the category “Campus Sustainability Achievement at a four-year school with under 10,000 full-time students.” Furman’s enrollment is approximately 2,700.

The Community Conservation Corps (CCC) provides free home weatherization to low income homeowners in the greater Greenville community. The program celebrated a milestone this summer when it weatherized its 100th home.

From left, Furman’s Joey Espinosa, Kelly Grant Purvis, Wes Dripps, and AASHE Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser.

“Furman University and the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability are truly honored to receive this award from AASHE and be recognized nationally for our Community Conservation Corps (CCC) program,” said Weston Dripps, executive director of the Shi Center.  “We share this honor with our community partners and collaborators: Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County, Trees Greenville, Piedmont Natural Gas, and members of our campus and surrounding community who help to make this program the wonderful success it is today.”

Said AASHE executive director Meghan Fay Zahniser, “I am delighted to see such distinguished and hard-working sustainability leaders recognized as AASHE Sustainability Award winners. They are truly pioneering the campus sustainability movement and their achievements represent big wins for our community.”

In addition to receiving a sustainably-crafted plaque, awardees were recognized through a variety of formats. To date, more than 70 campuses have been honored through the AASHE award program since its inception in 2006.

About the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)

AASHE empowers higher education administrators, faculty, staff and students to be effective change agents and drivers of sustainability innovation. AASHE enables members to translate information into action by offering essential resources and professional development to a diverse, engaged community of sustainability leaders. AASHE works with and for higher education to ensure that the world’s future leaders are motivated and equipped to solve sustainability challenges. For more information, visit www.aashe.org.