The EPA recognized SU as the top green power user in the Big East conference by the U.S. for the fourth year in a row, and Princeton Review included the university in the new “Guide to 286 Green Colleges.”

Since 2006, EPA’s College and University Green Power Challenge has ranked U.S. colleges based on green power purchases from utilities, on-site generation of green power and purchase of renewable energy certificates that offset carbon emissions, said Blaine Collison, an EPA spokesman.

SU is the largest green energy purchaser in the Big East conference. SU also ranked No. 15 for largest purchaser of green energy in the country. Twenty percent of the university’s electricity is New York State certified low-impact hydroelectric, according to SU’s website.

The challenge is a part of EPA’s Green Power Partnership, started in 2001, to help people learn about green power. Green power is electricity produced from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and low-impact hydro, according to the EPA website.

The program aims to provide colleges with peer-to-peer comparisons and benchmarks for green power usage, Collison said.

“Our goal is to see our partners buy green power, use green power, install green power and drive more green power,” he said.

The Princeton Review, a group that releases “Best Colleges” guides for prospective students, has released a guide to the nation’s most green colleges for the first time. The 286 colleges were chosen based on a ‘green rating’ that took into account a number of sustainable practices, including energy use, transportation and recycling, according to the guide.

Though SU has invested in sustainable practices since the 1990s, recognition helps educate people about everything the university does and gets them involved in behavioral changes like saving electricity and recycling, said Timothy Sweet, director of SU’s energy and computing management department.

Green power, like SU’s hydroelectricity, costs more than power generated from burning fossil fuels, but the university sees itself as investing in sustainability, rather than spending on it, Sweet said.

“This is an investment. We can foresee a positive cash flow in coming years as fossil fuels go up in price and green power stays the same,” he said.

The university demonstrated its interest in sustainability when Chancellor Nancy Cantor signed the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment in February 2007, which committed the university to producing zero net greenhouse gas emissions, according SU’s website.

SU also received a good “green rating” from Princeton Review for following the LEED rating system, use of local and organic foods by Food Services, and transportation initiatives such as Zipcars and carpooling.

Some students said they agreed with the rankings and SU is doing a good job of being environmentally friendly.

George Fredickson, a junior political science major, said he knows SU uses hydroelectric power and that Syracuse operates hybrid Centro buses.

“All global populations are over-consuming like crazy right now, and it’s great that we can do something to help,” he said.

Other students said while SU may have green initiative, it is not doing enough for people to change their personal behaviors.

Lin Wang, a junior international relations major who works at Bird Library, said she has seen people at the library who disregard the recycling containers for paper, bottles and cans, and batteries, which the library collects to recycle at a special facility.