By Josh Ballard

Despite a grading change emphasizing the University of Louisville’s greatest weakness, U of L surged forward 31 slots since last year on the 2010 list of America’s greenest campuses.

The Sierra Club, who compiled the list using its annual Cool Schools survey, evaluates colleges in 10 different categories to calculate their overall rank. In 2010, Sierra Club judges decided to give the greatest weight to the energy supply category, which assesses how a school generates electricity. At U of L, coal provides for 98 percent of the electrical needs. Out of the 162 colleges that participated in the survey, only four scored lower than U of L in the energy supply category.

By overseeing significant developments in energy efficiency and hatching a few new plans to reduce coal use, the sustainability council managed to improve U of L from 92nd to 61st place on the list. And they plan to continue the improvements in the years to come.

Justin Mog, assistant to the provost for sustainability initiatives, said that U of L has had great success with its $22 million performance contract aimed at retrofitting campus facilities. Joint efforts with the Siemens Corporation have replaced inefficient incandescent bulbs and old motors, as well as adding low flow water fixtures all around Belknap Campus. As a result of this major reduction in energy consumption, U of L scored above average in the energy efficiency category.

Mog also said he was currently in the process of completing U of L’s climate action plan. Due out Sept. 15, this is a roadmap to total carbon neutrality by 2050. According to Cool School survey data, Green Mountain College, the greenest school in America, generates 54 percent of its electricity by using the methane from cow manure. U of L’s plan includes provisions for utilizing a similar biomass model.

“The most likely thing we’ll do first is put in what’s called a biomass digester,” said Mog. He explained that the mechanism would allow U of L to partner with Parallel Products, a Louisville-based company that recycles waste liquids into ethanol, converting a sludge byproduct to methane for heating and generating electricity.

Brent Fryrear, director of the Partnership for a Green City, said there are also separate talks of piping methane from the Outer Loop landfill directly to campus.

“The university, under its performance contract, is shifting away from coal at the steam and chill plant,” said Fryrear. He believes that landfill methane would give the plant the lift it needs to leave the coal grid entirely.

Sustainability councilman Avery Kolers has a unique idea for making the shift from coal.

“Apart from the issue of methane coming from the landfill, I’ve been pushing for getting away from fossil-fuel-based landscaping,” said Kolers. “And, kick me if this sounds crazy, but one of the ways to do that is to have sheep eat the grass. They would produce manure that we could give away or sell cheap to local farmers, or use for biomass preferably.”

Kolers then recounted his vision for a future U of L, where flocks of the fluffy ungulates graze amongst campus lawns, students work as apprentice shepherds, and a stable occupies the Shelby grounds.

“It would catapult U of L into the public eye as one of the greenest schools in the country,” said Kolers. “Imagine this being a part of an urban agriculture program. The university would itself be a teaching environment. Teaching doesn’t have to happen only in a classroom with somebody lecturing, the entire environment is a teaching environment, and that would increase the value of the education and help put us on the map.”

And as crazy as Kolers thinks his idea sounds, it may become a reality. Sheep on campus has drawn the eye of several critical upper-level administrators, most notably Shirley Willihnganz.

“I love the idea,” said Mog, “and actually when I was interviewed for this job the provost said she loved it too. It sounds crazy, but hey, that’s the kind of vision we need to get out of this crisis.”