As you will learn from our links and menus on this page, our university community has adopted a Statement on Sustainability. We are a signatory to the Climate Leadership Commitment, the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and the Talloires Declaration, and we are a charter school member of the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS).  We have a Geothermal District Heating and Cooling System to reduce our Greenhouse gas emissions.

We have hosted nine international Greening of the Campus (GOC) Conferences and our Council on the Environment (COTE) is the longest-standing such committee among colleges and universities in Indiana.  We offer a broad range of academic programs that engage sustainability and we have student groups such as the Community & Environmental Affairs Committee of the Student Government Association, the Emerging Green Builders (EGB) and the Natural Resources and Environmental Management Club (NREM).  

Featured News Items:

  • Ball State won first place in the 2023 US Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon Build Challenge. 
  • The David Letterman Building received a Merit Award from the USGBC Indiana Green Building Award program.  The award recognized outstanding achievement in the realm of green building design and construction for projects located in Indiana.
  • Ball State served as a sponsor and a district use case partner in the 2020 USDOE Solar District Cup collegiate design competition.
  • Students from the Construction Management program was the first student team in the Midwest and one of only three student teams nationally to ever receive LEED certification for a building through the LEED Lab program.  The Letterman Building received LEED Certification under the Existing Buildings Operation and Maintenance LEED system.
  • Ball State University made the new "The Princeton Review's Guide to 399 Green Colleges: 2018 Edition". (partial report)
  • Ball State received a Second Nature Marks of Distinction award for it's efforts towards achieving climate neutrality.
  • Ball State's Student Government Association (SGA) voted to add a "green council" to the student senate.
  • 2018 - 50 Great Affordable Eco-Friendly Colleges - Best Choice Schools lists colleges considered leaders in sustainability that have an estimated net cost of under $25,000 per year (less than the expected average cost for a year in college). Included colleges are ordered from most expensive to least expensive. Ball State was listed in the 30th position.
  • U.S. Secretary of Education Named Burris Laboratory School a 2017 USDOE Green Ribbon School.  Burris was nominated by the Indiana Department of Education as a model school for sustainability.  Read the USDOE press release.
  • Ball State was one of only 24 schools out of 629 to make the 2018 Princeton Review Green College Honor Roll.
  • Ball State arboretum earned national accreditation from global network ArbNet.
  • Student-produced documentary called "The Greening of Middletown."
  • Ball State University made The Princeton Review's new "Top 50 Green Colleges" ranking list in the organization's publication, "The Princeton Review's Guide to 353 Green Colleges: 2015 Edition".
  • The Chevrolet Clean Energy Campus Campaign (with Ball State University as the Pilot institution) received a "Top Project of the Year Award" in the third annual Environmental Leader Product and Projects Awards.  The program also earned an Innovative Partnerships Certificate from the Climate Leadership Award Program of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The Chevrolet Campaign engaged hundreds of stakeholders spanning the education, energy, carbon, auditing, and nonprofit sectors to develop a way for campuses to draw on a new source of funding – carbon credits from the voluntary carbon market – to help further their large-scale energy efficiency efforts.
  • Ball State University tackled energy conservation and "Embrace the Dark Side" in the 2015 Ball State Energy Challenge. For three weeks, students, faculty and staff in residence halls and academic buildings took steps to reduce Ball State's carbon footprint by turning off lights, unplugging appliances and attending fun events such as Dinner in the Dark.  
  • Ball State President Emerita Jo Ann M. Gora was a founding signatory of Second Nature's "Alliance for Resilient Campuses" program.
  • President Emerita Jo Ann M. Gora received the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Center for Green Schools 2013 President's Award.  Watch President Emerita Gora's acceptance speech.
  • Progressing Campus Sustainability:  Ball State University joined the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN).  The ISCN provides a global forum to support leading colleges, universities, and corporate campuses in the exchange of information, ideas, and best practices for achieving sustainable campus operations and integrating sustainability in research and teaching.
  • Presidential Voices Interview Series: Jo Ann M. Gora, Ball State University.  AASHE's "Presidential Voices"  interview series features conversations with heads of higher education institutions who are inspiring sustainability leaders.
  • Ball State received a Gold rating from the AASHE STARS program.