
Hanley Sustainability Institute
Passion and Purpose
STARS GOLD
UD ranks in the top 3 percent of all AASHE STARS-rated schools; first in Ohio and second among all U.S. Catholic colleges and universities
A 'SIERRA' COOL SCHOOL
UD for three straight years has been in the top 10 percent of Sierra Club's Cool Schools for sustainability and again is tops in the Midwest.

HSI and Sustainability Program working through the pandemic
The work of the Hanley Sustainability Institute and the Sustainability Program is continuing despite challenges posed by COVID-19. Click the link to see a message from HSI Executive Director Ben McCall and for instructions on how to contact us.
HSI and Sustainability Program working through the pandemic

The work of the Hanley Sustainability Institute and the Sustainability Program is continuing despite challenges posed by COVID-19. Click the link to see a message from HSI Executive Director Ben McCall and for instructions on how to contact us.

Climate Commitment
In 2019, University of Dayton President Eric Spina updated the University's sustainability goals to include taking meaningful action through our planning processes to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and to collaborate with other Miami Valley organizations in planning for climate resilience. The 15-member UD Climate, Action, Resilience, and Environmental Sustainability (CARES) Council will meet periodically.

Our role is not just to help implement projects. I like to think of us as providing strategic leadership in how sustainability can be approached on campus.
Student Involvement

Sustainability Club
The student-driven club is not part of the Hanley Sustainability Institute, but there is crossover among HSI leaders and representatives.
Sust. Club Instagram
Rivers Institute
The Rivers Institute's goal is to work alongside the Greater Dayton community to promote, preserve and protect our watershed.
Rivers Institute website
MEEC
The Marianist Environmental Education Center slogan is Restoring Communities of Land and People and hopes people live in communion with the land.
MEEC websiteSTUDENT INVOLVEMENT

ETHOS
The ETHOS Center provides service-learning experiences through technical immersions, student activities, research and hands-on projects.
ETHOS website
Human Rights Center
The HRC recognizes the link between a sustainable climate and human rights. The two centers work together in many ways.
HRC website
Campus Projects
Student-involved initiatives include the solar prairie at Curran Place, the green roof at Kennedy Union plus the Lincoln Hill and River Campus gardens.
Sust. Reps/LeadersGrowing Together in Sustainability
Along with campus partners, many any off-campus groups have and are working with the University of Dayton to achieve sustainability-related initiatives. Our thanks go to organizations which have been instrumental in the Solar Prairie, the Kennedy Union green roof, both the Lincoln Hill and River Campus gardens and other projects.
Community Partners
Growing Together in Sustainability
Along with campus partners, many any off-campus groups have and are working with the University of Dayton to achieve sustainability-related initiatives. Our thanks go to organizations which have been instrumental in the Solar Prairie, the Kennedy Union green roof, both the Lincoln Hill and River Campus gardens and other projects.
A University of Dayton research paper on the cost of carbon neutrality at the University earned an Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education 2020 Sustainability Research Award. Graduate assistant Ryan Shea was the lead author of the paper - “A life-cycle cost analysis of transitioning to a fully-electrified, renewably powered, and carbon-neutral campus at the University of Dayton,” - with co-authors Hanley Sustainability Institute Executive Director Ben McCall, UD energy efficiency and renewable energy manager Matthew Worsham, engineering professor Andrew Chiasson and former UD engineering professor Kelly Kissock.
Read moreHanley Sustainability Institute graduate assistants Lauren Wolford and Meg Maloney are leading the University of Dayton’s resilience assessment as part of UD’s Second Nature climate commitment to plan for climate resilience. They talked to 50-60 community stakeholders about resilience planning in and around Dayton. “Because of what we’re all currently living in, it was really easy to have these conversations specifically around the pandemic,” Wolford said. “It was inspiring to hear from different organizations.”
Read moreZachary Piso, an assistant professor in philosophy, and Roger Reeb, a professor of psychology and former Roesch Chair in the Social Sciences, were both recently named Hanley Sustainability Institute affiliates. Both already are HSI sustainability scholars.
Read moreHanley Sustainability Institute graduate assistant Jack Rees was part of a team that used temperature setbacks in most UD buildings this past summer to save energy. Along the way, he and UD energy efficiency and renewable energy manager Matthew Worsham learned things about the building systems that have made them more operate more efficiently.
Read moreCity of Dayton Sustainability Manager Mark Charles prefers the term sustainability specialist when it comes to Meg Maloney, a Hanley Sustainability Institute graduate assistant who is working with the city. “She’s not just following me around,” Charles said. “She’s actually got her own responsibilities and activities. She helped me with the final touches on the overall sustainability strategy.”
Read moreBefore University of Dayton students migrated back to campus during a pandemic, Hanley Sustainability Institute graduate assistant Christopher Baldasare saw the need for more composting. “With the emphasis on not going out, I expect more students to be cooking in their residences,” Baldasare said. “This will also give us a chance to pilot online composting education, which was planned in the spring to potentially expand the composting program by making it easier to reach all students that would want to participate.”
Read moreSustainability Events Calendar
Join our project teams, campus partners, invited speakers and more for engaging events that inform and inspire.
Upcoming sustainability eventsUD Achieves STARS Gold
The University of Dayton earned its first gold rating for its sustainability achievements in the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS).
Read full news story