Description:
Sustainability is woven into the fabric of Warren Wilson College and central to its mission. Among the many ways the College provides outreach and fosters sustainable practices is through the Environmental Leadership Center’s (ELC) Mountain Green Initiative, which engages the region in an exploration of best community practices.

Executive Summary:

Warren Wilson College (WWC) believes in the importance of sustainable decision making. Community well-being depends upon decisions that account for short and long term environmental, social/cultural and economic consequences. Its Mountain Green Initiative provides expert resources to foster sustainable decision making throughout the region; builds partnerships that galvanize significant action; and utilizes the Green Walkabout program to educate participants about best practices by showcasing them right here on campus. The following programs deliver these outcomes:

1. Networking and Education:
Mountain Green© is a year-long initiative that educates and inspires sustainable practices for targeted sectors of the business community. Regional and national experts in fields such as architecture, development, land use, energy, and construction are enlisted to teach best practices that demonstrate viable and profitable sustainable alternatives. With guidance from a steering committee consisting of AdvantageWest, Asheville Chamber of Commerce, Asheville Board of REALTORS, Asheville Home Builders Association, Ambient Design Group, Build it Naturally, Builder Architect Magazine, Community Foundation of WNC, Convention Visitors Bureau, Council of Independent Business Owners, Civil Design Concepts, Economic Development Coalition, Equinox Environmental, Robert J. Deutsch and Associates, Asheville Tourism Development Authority, Western NC Green Building Council, Yurko Architecture, and leadership from the College, Mountain Green provides the following public activities:
- Annual conference and vendor expo to promote sustainable community practices for the mountain region for more than 200 attendees each year;
- Monthly expert seminar series that can result in a Sustainable Community Certificate of Participation, for up to 120 attendees per session;
- Annual training for a Home Energy Rating System Certificate and Building Performance Institute Certificate for up to 16 per session.

2. Demonstration and Inspiration:
The Green Walkabout© - an experiential sustainability education program – features best practices for green buildings, waste management, landscaping, stormwater, land use, and agriculture found on the campus of Warren Wilson College; and examines the impacts of these practices upon environmental, social and economic systems. The Green Walkabout employs the practices of Warren Wilson College to educate participants about positive benefits that result when intentional consideration of sustainability criteria drive choices about the built environment, land and water resources, and waste and food systems. Mountain Green attendees are invited to a Green Walkabout, and such visitors as hospital teams, retirement communities, architectural firms, public works teams, schools and nursing homes have been inspired to adopt campus practices at their own sites (www.warren-wilson.edu/~ELC/New_ELC_Website_/Green_Walkabout.php).

3. Action and Service:
INSULATE!© galvanizes higher education, federal and state agencies, private partners and municipal leadership to respond to the dire need to weatherize homes of elderly homeowners living below the federal poverty level to provide warmth and cooling, reduce their utility bills, and lessen the region’s carbon footprint. Managed by WWC, this program partners with existing programs of The Council on Aging of Buncombe County, Inc. and Community Action Opportunities, and with the resources of the Asheville Homebuilders Association, the City of Asheville, Mountain Housing Opportunities, and Progress Energy Carolinas (www.warren-wilson.edu/~ELC/New_ELC_Website_/insulate/index.php).

What specific results have been achieved?

The following results demonstrate broad positive impact, sustained effort and effective leveraging of resources:
- Three consecutive Mountain Green conferences totaling 588 participants and 111 vendors representing over 400 regional businesses;
- Three special issues of Builder Architect Magazine have been dedicated to the Mountain Green conference reaching a total 10,500 readers;
- Regional talk radio show, “Take a Stand with Matt Mittan,” has dedicated 9 broadcast hours including a live three-hour broadcast from the 2009 Mountain Green conference;
- The national magazine, Natural Home Magazine, dedicated a full page to the 2009 conference;
- To date over 2000 people have participated in The Green Walkabout© including Jimmy Carter’s Friendship Force, NC State Parks, Mission Hospital, REI, City of Asheville, Asheville Board of Realtors, City of Asheville Sustainability Committee, National Wildlife Federation, NC Grantmakers Association, NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching, Eastern Band of the Cherokee, Leadership Asheville, UNC Asheville, Asheville Buncombe Technical College, Western Carolina University, Highland Farms Retirement Community, Society of Engineers, Lenior Rhyne College, and many regional k-12 schools;
- The INSULATE! program weatherized thirteen homes from September 2008 to September 2009 engaging 136 WWC students, Community Action Opportunities staff, 34 members of the Asheville Home Builders Association, 12 staff of the Pisgah Valley Retirement Community, and 5 members of Asheville Green Opportunities;
- INSULATE! has reduced carbon emissions by approximately 2 tons per home per year, totaling 26 tons annually.

In what ways are the efforts of this organization/individual unique and innovative?

Sustainability is grounded in WC’s rich history of place and purpose, embedded by generations of community members who have modeled our fundamental commitment to connect values to action. The practice of sustainability flows from the College mission, which serves as our compass for responsible citizenship, and from our unique liberal arts model of engaged learning.

This innovative engaged learning methodology, uniting real-world work, community service and academics, combined with institution-wide sustainable practices positions WWC as a unique organization with the capacity to demonstrate effective solutions to pressing environmental, social and economic issues. This distinctiveness has earned WWC much recognition including 2009 Top 20 Sustainability Colleges nationally by Sierra Club, 2008 nation’s Leading School for Waste Reduction and Recycling by National Wildlife Federation, 2006 Most Sustainable Small College by the Associations for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, and many more (www.warren-wilson.edu/~elc/awards.php).

The College’s unique and innovative approach is leveraged by its ELC to demonstrate sustainable action, educate about sustainable solutions and inspire sustainable decision making to the greater region. The goal of the Center’s Mountain Green initiative is to foster best, innovative, sustainable “thinking and doing” thereby strengthening the sustainability capacity of businesses, industry, government, higher education, non-profits, retirement communities, etc. This is achieved by convening these groups on-campus and facilitating tangible experiences that prove sustainable alternatives are the long-term environmentally, socially and economically responsible, prudent, and wise choice.

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How has the broader community been impacted?

"Thanks to networking at the Mountain Green conference, we are working with a prospective client considering our facility for manufacturing his natural products. In addition, through the live radio interview we participated in at the conference, we were able to publicly promote our Community Supported Agriculture program, resulting in more subscribers." -Mary Lou Surgi, Executive Director of Blue Ridge Food Ventures, a job creation initiative of AdvantageWest

“Taking The Green Walkabout tour will inspire new ideas, encourage broad discussion and motivate you to empower better stewardship of the community you effect.” -Matt Mittan, 570 am WNCW Radio Host

“Anyone interested in learning – not just learning but actually seeing – what can be done in the sustainability field should visit WWC. We will implement a Green Team committee at Highland Farms to explore how we can replicate WWC’s sustainable practices” -Ed Neves, Executive Director, Highland Farms

"Working with INSULATE! reaffirmed my belief that although is essential to live within our means, it is imperative that we live beyond ourselves. It was great to work with a group of people who were dedicated to making a difference in someone else's life! Working with INSULATE! was as fulfilling for me as it was productive for the homeowner!"-Sean Sullivan, AB CGP Past President of the Asheville Home Builders Association

"Insulate is a catalyst for the weatherization efforts in our community. This innovative model, just may be THE model all communities have been needing." -Maggie Ullman, Energy Coordinator, Sustainability Office, City of Asheville