IIMB Sustainability Initiatives

Based on the existing scientific evidence, the decade of 2020-30 offers us the last window of opportunity to secure the future of mankind. If all of us individually and collectively change our behaviors and adopt more ecofriendly lifestyles and business practices, we might still be able to abate climate change and leave our planet intact for our future generations. And if we don’t act immediately, not just the future of humanity, but all life on planet earth is at risk of extinction. 

Realizing the need of the hour, IIM Bangalore has been adopting ecofriendly practices and energy saving and water conservation initiatives for more than a decade now. These initiatives have garnered new impetus in recent times through IIMB’s Sustainability Taskforce, which was set up in April 2022.

Energ

On the energy front, IIMB has been generating solar energy through Rooftop Solar (RTS) installations and solar water heaters in hostels, faculty and staff quarters etc., which helps us meet more than 10% of our electricity needs today. In addition, there have been several other initiatives to save energy, through installation of motion sensor-based lights, more energy efficient lighting and air-conditioning solutions etc. Behavioral interventions through various pilot studies are also underway to nudge campus population and the visitors to adopt ecofriendly practices to minimize energy consumption on and off campus.

Wate

On the water front, several Re-charge wells were dug across the campus, Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting tanks were built in multiple buildings and a Sewage Treatment Plant that provides 2.5 lakh liters of water every day for gardening purposes, was built in 2013. All these efforts have resulted in not just increasing the water table of IIMB, but also covering 20% of our domestic water needs from water generated from within the campus..

Wast

The collaboration with Saahas Zero Waste has led to a waste segregation plant on campus in 2017, which not just segregates waste, but also composts wet waste and sends dry waste to multiple recyclers. There are efforts to bring these recycled products back into the campus, to complete the circle and to create a circular economy within IIMB campus. The cooked food waste from staff mess is fed into a Biogas Plant and the gas generated is used in the kitchen, another initiative to create circularity in resource consumption on campus.

Carbon Sequestratio

Out of the 105 acres of IIMB campus, 62 acres is under tree cover that has been nurtured and grown over the last five decades with tender loving care. As a result, IIMB campus today boasts of approximately 20,000 trees and more than 200 species of plants including horticultural trees and flowering plants. Remote sensing images in fact indicate that these trees not just provide a green cover over IIMB community, but also have created a green oasis and act as an oxygen generator for the neighboring communities that are engulfed in a sea of buildings and roads surrounding the campus. In order to ensure that this greenery is not lost due to additional construction and expansion plans on campus, to create a green belt all around the Institute and to enhance the existing greenery by increasing the biodiversity and vegetation density, IIMB has created a strategy for sustainable management of its greenery, which is under execution since 2021.

Recent Green Initiatives

To pursue sustainability more aggressively, IIM Bangalore has set up a Sustainability Taskforce (STF) in April 2022. The STF has carried out several initiatives to make IIMB campus a more sustainable campus. A few key initiatives are listed below:

Initiatives taken up in 2022-23

• Awareness creation regarding waste segregation, across various categories of campus population, including students, staff, and faculty members

• A community project involving campus children, to identify root causes for mixed waste and appropriate solutions for minimizing the same within IIMB community.

• Clothes, Toys & Book collection drive to minimize waste and maximize reuse and recycling

• Case study competition amongst students to generate various sustainability solutions for within and outside campus

• Pilot study in NSRCEL to change the behavior of people towards more mindful usage of electricity

• Plastic and paper usage has been minimized in IIMB’s executive education programs, after a careful study and focused intervention  

• In order to reduce paper consumption in IIMB’s degree granting programs, several nudge based interventions were carried out amongst faculty and students. Thanks these efforts, paper consumption in course packs is being reduced and text books are being collected back by the students and being reused

•  Pilot interventions are being carried out in IIMB’s neighborhood schools to create awareness about mindless resource consumption and how it impacts global warming and climate change amongst school children and their families.

• Motion sensor-based lights and fans are being installed in IIMB’s restrooms

• A carbon footprint study has been carried out and IIMB’s per capita Carbon Footprint is estimated to be 1.37 as against India’s 2.4