Bunker Hill Community College Wins Green Building Grant

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May 06, 2010, 04:27 ET

BOSTON, May 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bunker Hill Community College has won a $2,000 technical assistance grant from Second Nature, BHCC President Mary L. Fifield announced this week. The grant, one of 15 awarded nationally, focuses on helping under-resourced colleges and universities accelerate progress toward sustainability. It will provide the College with new ideas to reduce energy consumption and waste, maximize recycling and improve operations.

Paul Righi, manager of Buildings and Grounds, was selected by the College to receive training offered under the grant. He will participate in workshops, webinars and online courses about operating sustainable campuses. Righi plays a key role in the College's green building operation and maintenance. "We are confident that the schools receiving these grants will quickly turn their training into results that will benefit their entire campus community," said Ashka Naik, manager of Second Nature's Advancing Green Building in Higher Education program. "We awarded grants based on an assessment of the institution's level of need, statement of interest and campus sustainability capacity."

Bunker Hill Community College President Fifield is a charter signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. Member institutions are committed to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and supporting efforts in the United States to achieve energy independence. On March 23rd, the College dedicated its new Health & Wellness Center, which is expected to receive LEED Gold certification.

Second Nature was founded in Boston in 1993 by Senator John F. Kerry, Teresa Heinz Kerry and others to work for a just and sustainable future. Since then, Second Nature has helped expand the concept of education for sustainability into a major national movement.

Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The College enrolls more than 11,700 students on two campuses and at five satellite locations. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Six in ten students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls more than 690 international students who come from more than 95 countries and speak 75 different languages.

SOURCE Bunker Hill Community College