MIT Virtual Tour

MIT's Environmental Virtual Campus Draws Crowd

Contact: James T. Curtis, P.E., LSP, MIT Environment, Health & Safety Office, (617) 452-2508 For Immediate Release: December 1, 2003

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. MIT's Environmental Virtual Campus, an award-winning web-based tool designed to aid colleges to comply with federal environmental regulations and implement "green" practices, has attracted more than 10,000 visitors from 71 countries since it went public six months ago.

The Environmental Virtual Campus is free to users and employs an engaging and intuitive format to provide information about campuses' environmental compliance and "green" environmental practices, such as recycling, pollution prevention, and energy savings. The tool allows users to "navigate" a virtual campus and identify the federal regulatory requirements and best management practices applicable to nine generic areas on a typical campus that are subject to federal environmental regulation.

The areas featured include an arts/theater facility, a cafeteria, a dormitory, drains/sewers, a grounds/vehicles maintenance facility, a laboratory, a medical area, a power plant, and a waste storage facility. By organizing the information by campus area or department, the EVC allows users to quickly focus on those issues and regulations most applicable to them.

"Our biggest surprise has been the amount of international traffic," said James T. Curtis, MIT's EVC Project Leader. "The site was created with an American audience in mind, with its focus on U.S. laws and regulations, but the data indicate that we have hosted visitors from every continent and many areas of the world. This is truly a remarkable result and clearly demonstrates the power of the Internet to foster environmental awareness."

The EVC was developed by MIT's Environment Health & Safety office with assistance from Cambridge-based Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. (www.cdm.com) and Myriad Inc. of Boston (www.myriadweb.com). The EVC is a Supplemental Environmental Project that stemmed from an enforcement action brought by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Justice Department as part of EPA's wide-ranging college and university initiative. MIT has gone beyond what is required in the settlement to demonstrate that its long-held commitment to environmental research and teaching applies equally to MIT's operations.

In accepting the Environmental Business Council of New England's 2003 Achievement Award in Environmental Education for the EVC, Jamie Lewis Keith, MIT's Managing Director for Environmental Programs and Senior Counsel said, "MIT intends the EVC to be a reflection of MIT's commitment to environmental education, innovation, and stewardship."

The site is hosted by the Campus Consortium for Environmental Excellence (C2E2), a consortium of colleges and universities dedicated to improving their campuses' environmental performance through environmental professional networking, information exchange, the development of professional resources and tools, and the advancement of innovative regulatory models.