For Immediate Release
July 19, 2013
Contact Information

Donna Brock
404-880-8337
dbrock@cau.edu

Larry Calhoun
404-880-6040
lcalhoun@cau.edu

(BPRW) CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY (CAU) SIGNS MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WITH ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND ON BUILDING GREEN INITIATIVE

- CAU to lead sustainability movement among minority-serving institutions -

(BLACK PR WIRE) "" ATLANTA (July 16, 2013) "" Clark Atlanta University officials announced today that the university has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Environmental Defense Fund to transfer a primary grant with funds from Wells Fargo that promotes conservation, environmental protection and restoration from the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) Special Programs Corporation to CAU.

The Building Green Initiative was established at UNCF in 2010 to advance sustainability at minority-serving institutions (MSIs). With the program transition, CAU will now lead the charge to transform 20thcentury campus infrastructures into living, learning laboratories that foster academic excellence and technological innovation needed to solve complex social, economic and environmental problems.

Also, the Initiative is working with the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Interior and other governmental agencies to educate MSIs about doing business with the federal government, producing and promoting webinars on energy efficiency, renewable energy technology and various environmental sustainability topics.

CAU President Carlton E. Brown said, "We are excited about the opportunity for Clark Atlanta University to lead this transition to a green economy. The Building Green Initiative promotes interdisciplinary approaches to environmental studies and curriculum, while cultivating students to become global sustainability leaders. Already, major environmental organizations such as Eco-America and Momentus look to this collaboration for participation with historically black colleges and universities."

A proposal is under review to create a state-of-the-art living, learning energy lab at CAU that would house the Clark Atlanta Center for Alternative, Renewable Energy, Technology and Training (CARET2). Under CAU's principal investigator, Dr. Olu Olatidoye, the Center would serve as an energy hub where engineers and scientists can engage in cutting-edge research, an incubator that contributes to commercialization, and a faculty network that supports collaboration between the Atlanta University Center and national laboratories.