page_title: University of Georgia
section_title: Sustainability
hierarchical_section_title: University of Georgia / Sustainability
caption_attribution_description: English: The current home of the UGA School of Art as of 2007.
context_page_description: The University of Georgia is a public research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia. Founded in 1785, it is one of the oldest public universities in the United States.
  The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity," and as having "more selective" undergraduate admissions, the most selective admissions category, while the ACT Assessment Student Report places UGA admissions in the "Highly Selective" category, the highest classification. Among public universities, the University of Georgia is one of the nation's top three producers of Rhodes Scholars over the past two decades.
  In addition to the main campuses in Athens with their approximately 470 buildings, the university has two smaller campuses located in Tifton and Griffin. The university has two satellite campuses located in Atlanta and Lawrenceville. The university operates several service and outreach stations spread across the state. The total acreage of the university in 30 Georgia counties is 41,539 acres.
context_section_description: In 2007, the Odum School of Ecology became the first-stand alone college or school within a university dedicated to the study of ecology and environmental science. The school was named after UGA professor and ecologist, Eugene Odum, who pioneered the modern study of ecology.
  The university has since made several advancements in sustainability. Under the UGA Facilities Management Division, the Office of Sustainability was initiated in 2010 as part of a strategic directive to enhance conservation of resources and long-term sustainability at the university. Through long-term environmental initiatives, under President Michael F. Adams the university established the office after support from students and faculty and residents of the Athens area. The Office of Sustainability's mission is to continue to improve environmental sustainability in many different areas on campus.
  The initiative was a result of a 2009 Report of the Working Group on Sustainability at the University of Georgia and the Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) student-led campaign. The Green Initiative Fund modeled their funding campaign after a similar campaign by students at the University of California-Berkeley. As of 2016, the Office of Sustainability has awarded a total of $170,000 to fund 47 student-initiated sustainability projects at UGA The Campus Sustainability Grants Program has helped foster several student initiatives, including water bottle refilling stations in the Zell B. Miller Learning Center, "Dawgs Ditch the Dumpster" residence hall move-out donation program, Tanyard Creek Chew Crew prescribed grazing project for invasive plant removal and Material Reuse Program, which uses salvaged items to construct school and community gardens.
  The university and Athens-Clarke County established a bicycle master plan to improve the mobility of students on campus while remaining environmentally consciousness.
  In 2009 the University of Georgia earned LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council with high marks for the expansion of the Tate Student Center. The renovated Tate Student Center became the sixth building on a university campus in the state of Georgia to be certified at the gold level and the second to be so designated in Athens. In 2012, Building 1516, a University housing complex constructed in 2010, became the first LEED-certified housing complex at the University of Georgia.
  In 2012, the College of Environmental Design's Visual Arts Building (now known as the Jackson Street Building) after a $9.9 million renovation became the first UGA building to incorporate a water reclamation system and the first to utilize solar harvesting technology through solar panels.
  In 2013 the university hosted the inaugural SEC Symposium in Atlanta. The topic is the Southeast's impact on the future of renewable energy, and the participants are the 14 universities of the SEC, as supported by its new academic initiative, SECU.
  In the same year, the university was named by the National Arbor Foundation as a designated Tree Campus USA for the third time in a row as a result of the university's continued commitment to maintaining and adding new foliage. The University of Georgia has more than 9,000 trees on campus, according to an ongoing tree-mapping project being conducted by the University Grounds Department. The number will continue to grow due to a partnership between Select Sustainable Tree Trust and UGA. In 2009, the Select Sustainable Tree Trust selected the university to receive a $1 million tree donation to "re-green" and impact the university campus with large-scale, sustainable shade trees.
  As of April 2019, UGA has entered into a contract to add up to 19 new electric buses. The 19 buses were put into service on campus in February 2020. In December 2019, as the university was awarded $7.46 million under the Federal Transit Administration's Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program, it was announced that 13 additional electric buses would be added to the fleet, which will bring the total number of electric buses on campus to 33. The electric buses will 
caption: The College of Environment and Design building at the University of Georgia is a LEED certified structure that features 72 solar panels and water reclamation technology.
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