Colleges & Universities in New England

The Best Management Practices (BMP) Catalog: Case Studies

The BMP Catalog was designed to enhance EPA's Environmental Management System (EMS) Guide for Colleges and Universities. The case studies included in the BMP Catalog are intended to assist colleges and universities achieve compliance and beyond compliance goals such as pollution prevention, resource conservation, and environmental stewardship.

With the BMP Catalog we have sought to identify best management practices that tell stories of leading edge activities uniquely applicable to the higher education sector and applicable to many colleges and universities. While these case studies are examples of a certain activity, implementation must be tailored to each institution - with different resources and demands, a BMP for a small, rural, public institution might look quite different from that BMP at a large, public metropolitan university.

An institution with the elements of an Environmental Management System (EMS), and the momentum to sustain environmental leadership into the future, will have implemented a variety of BMPs similar to those in the Catalog. The institutions developing and implementing these practices are building the elements of a strong environmental program. BMPs can bring sustainable institutional excellence when they're part of a comprehensive integrated Environmental Management System, or EMS, that includes "plan, do, check, and act" components. For more information about EMS.

The case studies are organized according to the following general categories:

Building Sustainable Programs
Energy
Preparedness & Security
Sustainable Design & Building
Transportation Solutions
Waste Management
Water Management

You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more about PDF, and for a link to the free Acrobat Reader.

Building Sustainable Programs Bowdoin College Campus Sustainability Report (PDF) (2 pp., 212 KB) Harvard University Dedicated Revolving Loan Fund for Environmental Projects (PDF) (4 pp., 109 KB) University of Connecticut Sustainability Coordinator Position (PDF) (5 pp., 128 KB) University of Vermont AND University of North Carolina AND Yale University Environmental Performance Reporting (PDF) (4 pp., 72 KB) Energy Eastern Connecticut State University Geothermal Energy System (PDF) (3 pp., 112 KB) Southern Connecticut State University Sub-Metering Campus Buildings (PDF) (4 pp., 71 KB) Preparedness and Security Berklee College of Music AND University of Maine-Orono Tabletop Exercises (PDF) (7pp., 235 KB) Cornell University Event Management (PDF) (5 pp., 130 KB) Harvard University AND Massachusetts Institute of Technology Leveraging Expertise through the LEPC (PDF) (8 pp., 80 KB) Harvard University Getting the Message Out in an Emergency: the Harvard University Emergency Notification System (PDF) (5 pp., 151 KB) University of New Hampshire Chemical Environmental Management System (PDF) (6 pp., 120 KB) University of North Carolina Management of a Confirmed SARS Case on Campus (PDF) (7 pp., 160 KB) University of Washington Conducting a Vulnerability Assessment (PDF) (6 pp., 101 KB) Vanderbilt University Counter Terrorism Planning and Response Efforts: Training for University Hospital Medical Staff (PDF) (5 pp., 130 KB) Sustainable Design & Building Middlebury College Using Green Certified Wood (PDF) (5 pp., 151 KB) Ohio University Management of Construction Debris (PDF) (4 pp., 110 KB) University of Maine-Farmington Green Design: Building a Better World at a Small Public Institution (PDF) (5 pp., 162 KB) Transportation Solutions Cornell University If You Build It They Will Come (and other tales of how free-fare transit saved $40 million at Cornell) (PDF) (5 pp., 90 KB) Indiana University Internet-Based Videoconferencing: Connect Globally to Build Locally (PDF) (6 pp., 109 KB) Waste Management Bates College Dining Services Composting Program (PDF) (5 pp., 85 KB) Catholic University of America Integrated Pest Management (PDF) (4 pp., 104 KB) Colby College RESCUE-Recycle Everything Save Colby’s Usable Excess (PDF) (4 pp., 121 KB) Rhode Island School of Design Pollution Prevention Management in the Arts (PDF) (4 pp., 76 KB) University of Massachusetts-Amherst UMass Amherst is in the Business of Recycling (PDF) (4 pp., 76 KB) Water Management Boston University Parking Lot Storm Water Control Program (PDF) (4 pp., 127 KB)