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ATLANTA - Two significant grants awarded to Agnes Scott College -- one national and one regional -- underscore the college’s commitment to becoming carbon neutral and provide resources to help reach that goal.
An $80,000 grant from The Kresge Foundation Green Building Initiative is funding planning to ensure renovation of Campbell Hall, Agnes Scott College's former science building, to the highest level of green building possible and to its optimal purpose. A second grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta’s "Grants to Green" program is in-kind contribution to evaluate of the energy and water efficiency of the Robert W. Woodruff Physical Activities Building.
"These grants represent recognition that Agnes Scott is making decisions that are endorsed by a growing national sustainability movement not just by the college -- and by regional and national foundations," said Agnes Scott College Director of Sustainability Susan Kidd, who earned a bachelor's degree in history at Agnes Scott in 1978 and a master of arts in teaching degree in 2007. "Kresge is one of the top national foundations dedicated to sustainability and The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta is one of the most prominent local foundations committed to these issues.
“In addition, this support sets Agnes Scott on a path of evaluating all of its structures to ensure that they are retrofitted to be more efficient,” Kidd said. “By doing this, we will eventually contribute significantly to not only the college’s bottom line by saving utility costs, but also to the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
From 1951 to 2002, students at this independent, liberal arts and sciences college for women studied biology, chemistry and physics in Campbell Hall's classrooms, lecture halls and labs. Plans for Campbell's renovation call for its transformation to contemporary and innovative learning spaces, art studios, television and radio studios and faculty offices, as well as home to the new Center for Women's Global Leadership.
"The purpose of this green planning project is to ensure that the renovation is completed with the greatest number of sustainable features possible, given the building’s age, the proposed uses and potential additional costs," Agnes Scott College President Elizabeth Kiss noted when making the proposal to Kresge.
Located on the west side of the college's science quadrangle, Campbell Hall has been closed since the $36.5 million Mary Brown Bullock Science Center opened nearby in January 2003. The rehabilitation of Campbell began late last year when construction began to reinforce the main pillars on the exterior wall to ensure the building’s structural integrity.
"It's significant that Kresge was one of our first funders," said Susan Constantine, director of corporate and foundation relations at Agnes Scott.
"What really struck me is what we learned through the process of applying to Kresge’s Green Building Initiative," Constantine said. "This foundation is one of the leaders and mentors on green buildings in the country. We learned a lot about the process of renovating an older building into a much more efficient structure just by applying."
The Community Foundation's Grants to Green program is a collaborative partnership launched early in 2008 with Southface Energy Institute and Enterprise Community Partners. The in-kind grant to Agnes Scott provides an initial evaluation of the college's Woodruff Physical Activities Building, which will generate valuable information to develop plans for retrofitting the building to a higher level of efficiency.
Agnes Scott launched its commitment to sustainability in September 2007 when Kiss signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Key components of this process have included completion of a full greenhouse gas emissions inventory in September 2008 and, within the next year, finalizing a plan with a target date and interim milestones for becoming climate neutral. The college has also made a commitment to seek LEED certification with all new construction and renovation projects
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Agnes Scott College educates women to think deeply, live honorably and engage the intellectual and social challenges of their times. Students are drawn to Agnes Scott by its excellent academic reputation, exceptional faculty, and metropolitan Atlanta location – offering myriad cultural and experiential learning opportunities. A diverse and growing residential community of scholars, this highly selective liberal arts and sciences college is known for its dynamic and challenging intellectual community. Encouraging students to engage the wider world through study abroad and presenting its curriculum with international context, Agnes Scott College delivers on its promise: The World for Women.