Accomplishments

Buildings/Grounds

MLK Center of Arts & Humanities (opened August 2024) is expected to become LEED Gold
Peace Park area fully restored to include several native trees and over 120 native flowers and shrubs
Bowie State University was a winner of the Second Nature 2026 Climate Luminary Honors Award.
BSU receives annual Tree Campus USA designation for the fifth consecutive year
The ELLC Building is LEED Gold Certified as of fall 2022.
The LEED Platinum certified Center for Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Nursing was completed in April 2017 and received LEED platinum in March 2019. See the sustainable features of the building.
A green plaza referred to as the Student Center Quad was developed in place of the old Crawford Science Building.
Student Center achieved LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certification in spring 2014, the first campus building to receive such certification and the first Student Union/center with such certification among all HBCUs.
The Student Center features: a green roof and water gardens, a trayless cafeteria, and other energy saving measures.
The BSU football field was upgraded from natural grass to artificial turf, thereby saving in the cost of constant watering.
Close to 50 BSU volunteers planted a campus fruit tree orchard of 25 apple and pear trees donated by the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation as part of a collaboration with Vitafusion to plant 200k fruit trees worldwide by 2020. The trees were planted on the tract of land between Lot L and Loop Road (near the Student Center).
Several BSU volunteers planted a small grove of 20 native trees lining the path to Bulldog Stadium.

Energy Efficiency

First solar street light installed at Peace Park area in fall 2022
Energy dashboards installed in Student Center and CNMSMN. See real time data here.
University has retrofitted most water fountains on campus for bottle usage
BSU has a multi-year energy performance contract with Johnson Controls.

Transportation

BSU currently owns three (3) passenger electric vehicles.
University added fuel efficient multi-passenger vehicles to existing fleet of hybrid and electric vehicles
Electric vehicle charging stations are located in Parking Lots G,H, S, and K

Recycling & Waste Management

Between June 2022- June 2024, BSU had a total of 31.11 tons of paper shredded for recycling from the campus
2022 recipient of Prince George’s County Waste Diversion and Recycling Award
Recycle bins were added to lobbies of all academic buildings
Annual Shred Day events annually securely destroy paper documents and the paper is recycled (temporarily suspended for campus-wide event)
Implemented an university wide ink cartridge/toner recycle program.
BSU composts in its kitchen area.

Solar

BSU hosts the installation of the world’s first solar charging bus station called the SolGreen® Casini™ Power Hub located on campus between MLK and CBGS buildings
The University has installed a large-scale solar panel system with the help of WGL Energy which includes 4 site locations expected to generate 2 million kWh of electricity per year or roughly 10 % of the campus needs.
BSU has also worked with General Electric utility company to install additional solar panels on the rooftops of the Student Center and FPAC buildings which may add roughly 2% of the campus needs. The usage can be monitored on the solar energy dashboards.
Parking Lot I includes a large scale solar canopy that will account for about 7% of the campus energy needs.
University purchased Solar energy Smart Tables in various locations across campus for charging electronic devices using 100% solar energy.
A solar heating system was installed in the school’s swimming pool.
BSU has a fully solar operated street light in Peace Park.
Four Big Belly solar trash compactors & recycle units operating from 100% solar energy which condenses trash near capacity and alerts grounds staff when near full to save gas on unnecessary trips to empty them.
See more about BSU solar projects here: https://bowiestate.edu/about/sustainability/solar-projects/index.php

Students/Events

BSU has hosted an annual Climate Career Expo annually from 2022-2026.
Campus hosts an annual Climate Career Expo
Undergraduate students elected to implement a yearly sustainability fee in 2012. Learn more about the Green Fund.
Graduate students agreed to add a yearly sustainability fee in 2013.
BSU established an Earth Week Program with various green & sustainable events, which has now morphed into Earth Month.
Student Green Ambassador group was created to work with C4 in its efforts.

Other Notable Accomplishments

BSU has an MOU with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
BSU has an MOU with the Environmental Protection Agency
President signs the Climate Leadership Commitment (2016)
Served as a host institution for the 2016 AASHE Conference (Baltimore MD)
BSU Students assisted in collecting data for a major local climate study & survey (2016)
President signs Second Nature letter to Biden administration urging major reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 (2021).
BSU serves as annual host site for the Prince George’s County Student Environmental Alliance Summit (2023-present)
BSU is the only college that has regularly participated in Maryland Climate Teach-In kickoff events (2024-2026).
University Coordinator is appointed by Secretary of the Environment to co-chair of ECO Workgroup of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change
BSU student & staff reps participated in first ever Maryland Climate Teach-In kickoff celebration (2024)

Accomplishments & Recognition (2022-present)

2022 recipient of Prince George’s County Waste Diversion and Recycling Award
2023 Community Champion award for the ELLC Building by the U.S Green Building Council Maryland Community Leadership Award Council
University Coordinator received the Visionary Award from the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition (October 2023)
University Coordinator received the Individual Climate Leadership Award from the Climate Registry Organization (May 2024)
Bowie State University was a winner of the Climate Luminary Honors Award (2026). See story: Six Colleges and Universities Recognized with Climate Luminary Honors for Exemplary Climate Leadership - Second Nature
BSU Coordinator received the USM Board of Regents Staff Award for Extraordinary Public Service for the University or Greater Community mostly for his work in environmental sustainability & education (2026)