FAQs Archive - Page 5 of 19 - Penn State Sustainability

Q: Does Penn State apply building standards to minimize water use?

Yes, Penn State has a policy that requires all new buildings to be LEED certified, which is a rating system developed by the United States Green Building Council for sustainable building development. To achieve a LEED certification, buildings must meet high standards for indoor air quality, energy efficiency, and water conservation. Please read more HERE .

Q: Does Penn State have processes to prevent polluted water entering the water system, including pollution caused by accidents and incidents at the university?

Yes. Penn State has processes in place to prevent polluted water from entering the water system. Policy SY40 , Disposal of Pollutants in Sanitary Systems (created 2011, revised 2023), prohibits the disposal of materials that could potentially harm the public to be drained into the Penn State Sanitary System. Additionally, Penn State OPP has a stormwater management plan that minimizes the amount of pollutants that enter stormwater drains, and has MS4 permits across most campuses. Penn State University Park has its own wastewater treatment plant to prevent polluted water from entering the water system.

Q: Does Penn State have a process in place to treat wastewater?

Yes, Penn State has a process in place to treat all waste water produced on all campuses. The University Park campus has its own waste water treatment plant. which provides service to the UP campus and a portion of the State College Borough. The plant has a liquid treatment train, which uses grit removal, coarse screening, primary settling tanks, a trickling filter, and an activated sludge process to treat liquid waste. The plant also has a solid treatment train that uses anaerobic digestion system to treat solid waste. A unique aspect of the Penn State WWTP is that instead of discharging treated effluent to a river or stream, which is common among PA water treatment plants, it instead discharges treated effluent to an agricultural land system called the “Living Filter.” Irrigation to the Living filter recharges the region’s water table by about 475 million gallons per year, and is believed to be the reason why local streams and rivers are in better conditions than the past 100 years. Read more about the PSU WWTP here. Other campuses in the Penn State system are connected to local municipal waste water treatment systems.

Q: Does Penn State have current collaborations with local, national or global health institutions to improve health & well being outcomes?

Yes, the Penn State College of Medicine currently has the Center for Advancing Health Equity in Rural and Underserved Communities . (CAHE-RUC), which is an academic, community level partnership dedicated to improving health outcomes in rural and underserved community health outcomes.

Q: 11) Does Penn State provide assistance for start-ups that foster and support a low-carbon economy/technology?

Yes, Penn State has a facility called "Invent Penn State," which provides mentoring, funding, and networking opportunities to students with a potential business idea, which involves low-carbon technology. Through this service, students with low-carbon energy ideas can develop them through the support of the university.