Related Blog Posts - Climate

Farewell for Now, Climateers!

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By Walter Simpson, AASHE Senior Fellow and Retired 26-Year University at Buffalo Energy Officer and Director of UB Green

Hello and Goodbye Campus Climateers!


U.S. EPA Partnership Programs: Helping to Support ACUPCC Implementation

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By Nicole Villamizar, Environmental Protection Specialist, U.S. EPA Office of Resource Conservation & Recovery

As colleges and universities across the US are making commitments to become more environmentally friendly, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can serve as a partner to help institutions reach their goals.


Piecing Together the CAP Puzzle

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By Marcus Renner, Environmental Center Coordinator, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO

Fort Lewis College is a public liberal arts college of just under 4,000 students in Durango, Colorado. Our president, Brad Bartel, was a charter signatory of the ACUPCC, and his signature kicked off a two-year odyssey of climate and sustainability planning on our campus that still has a ways to go. Like many schools we’ve had to piece our plan together on a shoestring budget, really just enough to buy a lot of elbow grease, and pull together disparate and hard to find pieces of information.


New Construction and Green Building Design

Walter Simpson, AASHE Senior Fellow and retired 26 year University at Buffalo Energy Officer and director of UB Green, is working with AASHE and the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment to develop climate action planning resources. You may read Walter's previous articles here.

Over the years I gave many lectures to architecture students at the University at Buffalo. Via slide shows, I took them on a tour of our two campuses, readily pointing out design flaws in many campus buildings and explaining how we retrofit them for energy efficiency. At some point during these lectures – after learning about a great many design flaws and energy retrofits -- insightful students would raise their hands and ask, “Well, instead of doing all this retrofitting, wouldn’t it make more sense to design buildings right in the first place?!”

And I would answer, “Exactly!”

I’d add, “UB’s buildings are an object lesson. Please don’t replicate the mistakes of the past. Instead, go out in the world and design buildings right. Prioritize life cycle analysis and construct the most energy efficient sustainable buildings you can.”


Campus Renewable Energy Advocates: Be Aware of Attempts to Expand the Definition of 'Renewable'

I suppose it really shouldn’t come as a surprise but I was still caught off guard by a recent article, (“With billions at stake, trying to expand the meaning of ‘renewable energy’ ”) which describes industry lobbying groups seeking to expand the definition of renewable energy to cover everything from waste coal and methane from coal mines to the burning of used tires. I laughed, until I realized that those two examples are actually legitimate in certain states that currently have renewable energy mandates (PA and NV respectively).

The article is important for campuses to be aware of for a couple of reasons. First, it strikes to the heart of the ongoing debate regarding renewable energy credits (or RECs) and the validity of these for reducing GHG emissions. (For background on RECs see section 5.4 of the AASHE Climate Action Planning Wiki)
It also provides further justification for examining what it is exactly your campus is buying before signing up for a large REC purchase through a utility or other party.


Installing Renewable Energy Technologies on Campus

Walter Simpson, AASHE Senior Fellow and retired 26 year University at Buffalo Energy Officer and director of UB Green, is working with AASHE and the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment to develop climate action planning resources. You may read Walter's previous articles here.

Hello Campus Climateers!

It’s no secret that I think energy conservation and efficiency must be a – or rather “The” -- priority in college and university carbon emissions reduction efforts. But conservation and efficiency can’t take us all the way to the promised land of very deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions or climate neutrality. Even after we have reduced our energy load to a bare minimum through conservation, we will still need to meet that load with something. As much as possible that “something” should be clean renewable energy – either from purchased green power or on-campus renewables.


Greening Your Campus Power Plant

Walter Simpson, AASHE Senior Fellow and retired 26 year University at Buffalo Energy Officer and director of UB Green, is working with AASHE and the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment to develop climate action planning resources. You may read Walter's previous articles here.  


Planned Geothermal System Will Allow Ball State University to Shut Down Coal Plant

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By Robert Koester, Professor of Architecture and Director of the Center for Energy Research/Education/Service, Ball State University

Ball State University continues to expand its efforts to meet its commitments under the ACUPCC, which was signed by President Jo Ann Gora, one of the twelve founding members of the leadership circle. Most recently, the Board of Trustees has approved installation of a campus-wide geothermal heating/cooling system, which will allow the university to shut down its coal plant that currently produces 85,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. The installation of this system when complete will reduce Ball State’s greenhouse gas CO2 equivalent impact by nearly 50 percent in on-campus energy conversion. This project—the largest in the country—will commence installation on May 11, the Monday following spring graduation, and will take five to ten years to complete.


Academic Guidance for ACUPCC Institutions Now Available! Introducing Education for Climate Neutrality and Sustainability

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By Amy Seif Hattan, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Second Nature

The 623 signatories of the ACUPCC recognize that, while it is important to demonstrate climate neutrality through emissions reductions and changes in institutional and individual behavior, the greatest long term impact of the ACUPCC will be the extent to which it reforms the educational experience to assure that all graduates can help society reverse serious climate disruption and achieve social, economic and environmental sustainability. As President Michael Crow of Arizona State University reminds us, higher education has “100% of the educational footprint.”


The University of Maryland Climate Action Planning Process: Lessons Learned and Best Practices for Emission Reduction Strategy Development

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By Heather Lair, Project Manager, Office of Sustainability, University of Maryland

In early April, the University of Maryland, College Park released its draft Climate Action Plan for campus comment. The draft plan is the product of a 50-member work group that included students, faculty, and staff representing 35 different schools, departments, and offices. The University's Office of Sustainability helped to facilitate the work group and paused to reflect on the University's experience in preparation for the workshop on Developing Your Institution's Climate Action Plan- Evaluating the Carbon Reduction Efficacy of Different Mitigation Strategies, co-hosted by the ACUPCC and Honeywell at the Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference. Of the lessons learned, many center around relationship building and collaborative problem-solving. From Maryland's experience, climate mitigation strategies need to be as diverse and diffuse as energy usage on campus. Therefore the climate action planning process needs to mirror the mitigation strategies and be as inclusive and far-reaching as possible.


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