
The Princeton Review's Green Honor Role recently named the University of Maine one of the nation's most environmentally friendly colleges in the country, with Bar Harbor's College of the Atlantic also making the list, NBC affiliate WCHS reports.
According to the news source, UMaine has reduced its carbon footprint by 16 percent since 2005, after the university began reducing energy usage in several buildings on campus, from its oldest facilities to its newest.
The steam plant found on campus, built at the turn of the 19th century, has been outfitted with a generator that produces heat as well as electricity, providing the school with two energy forms from a single source, the media outlet stated.
The AEWC research facility, the newest building on campus, now has large ceiling fans used to circulate heat and reduce the amount needed to warm the building. Solar walls were built into the structure, with natural solar light fixtures illuminating the building inside without any electricity.
The U.S. Green Building Council, an agency devoted to raising sustainability awareness in structures, recognized the school as Gold Leed Certified, its highest honor.

