Colorado Mountain College is one of only nine postsecondary institutions in the nation and the only institution in Colorado to receive the 2017 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Postsecondary Sustainability Award. Read CMC News Story
Welcome to Sustainable CMC
Be a partner in helping create a sustainable setting for higher education
CMC is committed to sustainability. This means we intend to reduce the college’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 12.5% every 5 years until carbon neutrality is reached in the year 2050.
Here are just a few of the sustainability efforts initiated collegewide:
- Recycle newspaper, magazines, office paper, cardboard and commingled containers.
- Replaced incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent or LED bulbs.
- Replaced conventional thermostats with programmable.
- Conducted a professional energy audit.
- Recycle phone books, printer cartridges, cell phones, hazardous waste, building materials, plastic bags and batteries.
- Establish and maintain employee green team.
- Adopt and use green cleaning products and paper products made from recycled fibers.
- In addition, the Leadville and Rifle campuses generate 1/3 of their power from 100 KW solar farms.
- Check out our newest certificate, Sustainability Leadership.
CMC Sustainability Action Plan Recommendations Report
Colorado-based Natural Capitalism Solutions was selected to envision, develop, and implement sustainability at Colorado Mountain College.
"NCS was honored to be chosen to lead this initiative, and gratified, as we began working with the College community, to find that it is already a leader in this realm."
-L. Hunter Lovins, President, Natural Capitalism Solutions
Download/view the CMC Sustainability Action Plan Recommendations Report PDF/36mb
- CMC Sustainability Action Plan
- Appendix20-EMS_System_Examples-Resources
- Appendix19-Sustainability_Tuition
- Appendix18-Student_Engagement_Examples
- Appendix17-Sustainability_Revolving_Fund
- Appendix16-Sustainable_Purchasing_Procedure
- Appendix15-Real_Food_Initiative_Toolkit
- Appendix14-Sustainable_Food_Procedure
- Appendix13-Groundskeeping_Procedure
- Appendix12-Waste_Diversion_Plan
- Appendix10-Green_Buildings_Standards
- Appendix09-Vehicle_Emissions_Assessment_Toolkit
- Appendix08-Vehicle_Fleet_Purchasing_Procedure
- Appendix07-AASHE_STARS_rating_checklist
- Appendix06-Recommendations_Prioritization_Toolkit
- Appendix05-Energy-Buildings
- Appendix04-GHG_Inventory
- Appendix03-GHG_Inventory_Calculations
- Appendix02-Sustainability_Survey_Results
- Appendix01-University_Best_Sustainability_Practices
Track Energy Use and Spending at Colorado Mountain College Buildings
The Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER) Building Energy Navigator tracks energy use and energy spending on an hourly, daily, monthly and yearly basis. The site displays data for 19 CMC buildings including our three residence halls. Follow and compare CMC usage of:
- BTU Energy Use
- CO2 Emissions from Energy Use
- Cost of Energy Use