Out of the United States’ and Canada’s colleges and universities, Linfield College was named one of the top 322 greenest schools in The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges.

The guide featured schools that were known to have a renowned dedication to practicing sustainability around campus. The organization chose schools based off of a 2011 survey that administrators took from hundreds of different universities and colleges around the nation.

“As a community of scholars committed to life-long learning, and with only one planet available to us all, instilling habits of both thought and action that promote living in a better balance [and] encouraging sustainability on an everyday basis is simply vital,” said John McKeegan, senior advisor and assistant to the president of the Advisory Committee for Environment and Sustainability.

A survey in 2012 in The Review concluded that out of 10 schools, seven college applicants stated that a college’s dedication to sustainability would help them decide which college to apply to or attend.

Linfield focuses on sustainability in many aspects around campus. Linfield offers students environmental studies courses and allows students to sponsor conferences and focus on environmental projects, such the a bike co-op. The school also restores buildings around campus, such as the Nicholson Library, in sustainable ways.

The library now has radiant ceiling fans, which are used for both cooling and heating. It is one of only four systems in Oregon to use this technique.

A few projects that are scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2012 include gaining a campus-wide optimal start control, the Human Health and Performance building receiving pipe insulation and variable frequency drive on natatorium exhaust fans and Dillin Hall receiving a control system upgrade. These projects are Linfield’s way of conserving energy around campus to ensure that it continues to be a sustainable school.

“These are very technical improvements to the college’s mechanical equipment control systems,” said John Hall, director of capital planning and development. “This is not very glamorous stuff, but very practical and greatly will improve the efficiency of many of our buildings.”

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Samantha Sigler/News editor