History and Evolution of Sustainability at Rice
Rice University students, faculty, and staff began collaborating on campus environmental initiatives during the 1997–98 academic year through an environmental studies course that connected campus greening with the classroom. This cooperative partnership remains the hallmark of Rice's campus sustainability program. Students from that same environmental studies course worked with the university administration to draft a sustainability policy, which was adopted by the Board of Trustees in March 2004. Later that year, Rice hired its first campus sustainability planner. In 2007, the position was expanded to Director of Sustainability. In 2011, the position changed again to Director of Energy and Sustainability as the campus sustainability program was incorporated into the newly created Office of Sustainability.
Rice’s campus sustainability program was founded in 2004 with the adoption of a campus sustainability policy and the hiring of a campus sustainability officer. This effort grew into an Office of Sustainability and, in 2011, was rebranded as the Administrative Center for Sustainability & Energy Management (ACSEM), a collaborative organization dedicated to providing direction to Rice for short-term management and long-term planning of energy and other natural resources. The ACSEM was rebranded and repositioned as the Office of Sustainability in 2023, reflecting the university’s significant enterprise-wide strategic commitment to sustainability.
As the university’s sustainability efforts have expanded, so has the Office of Sustainability. The team now includes an Associate Director for Sustainability, an Energy Manager, a Senior Energy and Water Conservation Analyst, an Energy and Water Conservation Manager, and a Senior Project Manager. This growth reflects Rice’s deepening commitment to sustainability and its strategic focus on managing resources efficiently across campus.
Current Initiatives and Strategic Focus
The Office of Sustainability leads and provides support for a broad range of campus sustainability initiatives spanning the entire university enterprise. A sampling of this work includes planning for sustainability, green building, energy and water conservation, climate action, composting, recycling, environmental education, public lectures and events, student environmental projects, research partnerships, fundraising, and classroom engagement. The Office’s initiatives and actions are guided by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, providing a holistic view of sustainability aligned with solving some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Rice students have played a central role in many of the university's sustainability success stories, from the commitment to achieving LEED certification for new construction, to recycling of construction waste, to tray-less dining, to establishing a successful community gardening program, just to name a few.
Memberships and Resources
Rice University is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). Any member of the Rice community may access AASHE’s members-only resources by using an email address that ends in @rice.edu.
Rice University is also a member of the US Green Building Council. Any employee of the Rice community can receive USGBC member discounts and access USGBC resources by contacting sustainability@rice.edu and requesting Rice’s member ID.
Contact Us
If you have questions, comments, or would like to provide a gift in support of sustainability at Rice, please contact the Office's Senior Executive Director, Richard Johnson, at sustainability@rice.edu or 713-348-5003.