COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Though the Terrapins men’s basketball team didn’t pass the second round of the NCAA tournament, this university found success in a different kind of bracket.
This university was named the “Nation’s Greenest University” by SaveOnEnergy.com in its March Mania Bracket, taking on Kansas University, Duke University and the University of Virginia before defeating the University of Louisville in the championship.
In the spirit of March Madness, SaveOnEnergy.com — an online energy comparison website — created March Mania to mimic the NCAA Division I basketball tournament. The tournament included 16 of the nation’s top men’s basketball teams and ranked them based on their green efforts, according to the March Mania website.
“SaveOnEnergy is a big fan of sports in addition to saving energy. In an effort to encourage universities to continue to save energy and further expand their sustainability programs, the team took the top ranked basketball schools from across the nation and re-seeded them based on their sustainability,” SaveOnEnergy spokeswoman Garra Elizabeth Brown wrote in an email.
To determine each school’s seed, SaveOnEnergy used factors such as LEED-certified construction and waste diversion rates. Other criteria included sustainability initiatives, alternative transportation solutions and sustainable food dining services, Brown wrote.
This university entered the competition as the top seed, followed by Iowa State University and the University of Louisville. This university was recognized for its 90 percent diversion rate and for the field’s second-highest percentage of LEED-certified construction.
Though the diversion rate is high, this university’s institutional recycling rate — which comes from recycling by students, faculty, staff and visitors — totals 89 percent, which is up from last year’s total of 78 percent, said Sally DeLeon, the sustainability office’s project manager. While the national average diversion rate is significantly lower, this university could still improve, she said.
“We’re very good about recycling with construction, but now we have to work on dining, offices and dorms,” DeLeon said. “We have to be holding ourselves and each other accountable.”
This university is the only team in the tournament that received a gold ranking from the League of American Bicyclists. The organization’s Bicycle Friendly University program “recognizes institutions of higher education for promoting and providing a more bike-able campus for students, staff and visitors,” the League of American Bicyclists’ website states.