Muhlenberg College Sustainability

On April 29th the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce's Sustainability Committee to presented the 2025 Non-Profit Sustainability Award to the Fahy Commons at Muhlenberg College.

“Every detail of Fahy Commons reflects Muhlenberg’s bold commitment to environmental stewardship and innovation in education, not just locally, but across the world." - Tori Morgan, a member of the chamber’s energy and environment committee.

Meet the student behind the Muhlenberg Safe Bat initiative! 🦇 😄.

Do you have a sustainability initiative for campus? Let us know how we can help!

We’re excited to announce that Muhlenberg College has been named one of Princeton Review’s Top 50 Green Colleges in The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2025 Edition! Scoring an impressive 98 out of 99, we’re thrilled to see our commitment to sustainability recognized at this level.

“At Muhlenberg, we demonstrate our commitment to sustainability in a variety of ways, from the academic programs we offer to the food we serve in the Wood Dining Commons to the decision we made to construct the new Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation to the highest green-building standards,” shares President Kathleen Harring.

Together, we’re working toward a cleaner, brighter future! 🌱💚

Nice article about the Community Garden and Beekeeping at Muhlenberg.

College Farms Help Plant for the Future - Edible Lehigh Valley When 19-year-old college students hear the word farmer, they might not picture themselves. But that’s slowly changing

In the Senior Capstone Course in Sustainability Studies at Muhlenberg College students spend the semester exploring complex sustainability-related problems and solutions, and post their work on their own web-page through a program called "BergBuilds". Their work incorporates systems thinking, stakeholder identification, and problem analysis as they explore, assess, and write about sustainable solutions. In this past year (spring 2024) students were asked to take a place-based approach to identifying sustainability related problems in a location or region of their choice through cultural, social, political, and scientific lenses and how those problems are being addressed across sectors. Each student also created a sustainability asset map for their location as means to identify sustainability related strengths, opportunities, and weaknesses.

Linked below is a gallery of student domains from the past 6 years where you can access and view their work.

Sustainability Problem Solving – Student Web Pages | Sustainable Solutions Sustainability Problem Solving – Student Web Pages From Giulia Forsyth According to Audrey Waters in her article The Web We Need to Give Our Students , providing students with their own digital domain is a radical act. It gives them the ability to work on the Web and with the Web. This is particul...

Muhlenberg College was named a recipient of the the Green Building United Groundbreaker Award for Sustainable New Development for its new building, Fahey Commons! Fahy Commons puts to practice deep green design strategies so students can touch, see, and understand the impact of both architecture their actions to generate positive impact. It is the first building in the world to reach the ambitious goal of Living Building Challenge (LBC) Core Ready certification, incorporating myriad features that positively impact the local campus ecology while showcasing the College’s commitment to environmental stewardship and a vibrant and inclusive community.

2023 Groundbreaker Awards Nominee: Fahy Commons (Muhlenberg College) Through education, advocacy, and strategic initiatives Green Building United informs and engages individuals and organizations to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built, and operated.

A great story about the community engagement work of Muhlenberg Sustainability Studies major Harli Strauss-Cohn

Q&A: Harli Strauss-Cohn ’24 Discusses Her Community-Building Internship in Allentown She has supported the Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley’s Promise Corps program, which provides opportunities for young people in the city by connecting them to environmental justice service opportunities in the Lehigh Valley.

A celebration of the planet as well as a way to inspire action toward a more sustainable future, the Muhlenberg EcoFest featured more than 35 tables with College and community offerings including a clothing swap, plant-based foods, a bike-powered smoothie station, sustainable products and local climate and sustainability nonprofits sharing information. Student dance and a capella groups performed throughout the festival.

Muhlenberg in Photos: EcoFest Promotes Awareness, Inspires Change The festival was a celebration of social and ecological sustainability for Earth Month.

Take a look inside Muhlenberg's newest building --
one of the first buildings in the world expected to achieve a rigorous sustainability certification for buildings that give more than they take.
Take a look inside

'Like we're outdoors when we’re indoors': Take a look inside Muhlenberg College's newest building The first new building on Muhlenberg’s campus in more than a decade, the Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation, 2400 W. Chew St., opened in January. The 20,000-square-foot, three-floor building cost $13.2 million and is one of the first buildings in the world expected to achieve a rigo...

Join us at this weekend's Earth Day Events!
April 21st Friday:
2-4pm at Fahy Commons Makerspace EnvironMENTAL Journal Binding: learn how to make recycled journals (and stay to receive a voucher for a guaranteed free reusable straw at 4pm)
4-6pm on Academic Row Chalking + Free reusable straw giveaway (plus a free Java's drink with a coupon!)
April 22nd Saturday:
12-4pm at Allentown Arts Park Earth Day Fair! Students will be taking the LANtaBus to the fair at 1:30pm from Chew St. Return buses are at 2:20, 3:10, and 3:55pm.