Lois Rodriguez of the Prairie Research Institute's Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) presented the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) with the Governor's Sustainability Award at the Dec. 4 MTD Board of Trustees meeting.
Since 1987, ISTC has presented Governor's awards to organizations in Illinois that have demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence through outstanding and innovative sustainability practice.
MTD was one of 27 Illinois companies and organizations honored this year for their significant achievements in protecting the environment, helping sustain the future, and improving the economy. Winners were selected through a rigorous process of review and examination by ISTC technical assistance experts.
MTD Board of Trustees Chairman Donald Uchtmann accepted the award from Rodriguez. MTD has long been a champion of sustainability and environmentally-friendly practices and formalized this commitment with an Environmental Policy approved in March 2011. MTD's sustainability program was certified to ISO14001:2004 standards on Sept. 23, only the sixth transit provider in the country, and the only transit provider in Illinois, to have its program certified. MTD has completed many projects contributing to sustainability including, but not limited to:
- Installation of a 1,212 panel solar array atop MTD's Maintenance Facility (underway)
- LED lighting retrofit inside and outside Illinois Terminal (underway)
- A commitment to hybrid buses with 54% of the fleet currently diesel-electric hybrid
- Geothermal heating and cooling system at the Administration and Operations building
- Permeable pavers at the Administration and Operations building's parking lot
- White roof installation at MTD's Administration and Operations building
- Wash bay replacement
All of these projects have saved considerable expense and have contributed significantly to improving MTD's environmental impact. MTD's certified Environmental and Sustainability Management System ensures that MTD will continue to improve future operations and procedures to minimize any negative environmental impact.
