Detailed Table of Contents

1. Introduction  

• 1.1 Defining Campus Climate Action
• 1.2 Why Do a Climate Action Plan (CAP)
• 1.3 About this Guide
• 1.4 Where to Find Campus Examples of CAP-Related Projects   

2. Creating the Institutional Structure for Your Climate Action Plan

• 2.1 Your CAP Team and Leadership
• 2.2 CAP Committee Structure
• 2.3 Transparency and Stakeholder Participation
• 2.4 Getting Started
• 2.5 Energizing the CAP Process
• 2.6 CAP Communications
• 2.7 Staffing and Resources Issues
• 2.8 CAP Institutionalization
• 2.9 Some Guidelines for Hiring a CAP Consultant

3. Prioritizing Education, Research, and Public Engagement

• 3.1 Climate Change and Sustainability in the Curriculum
• 3.2 Climate Change and Sustainability Research
• 3.3 Public Engagement on Climate Change

4. Determining Your Carbon Footprint and Emissions Trajectory

• 4.1 Conducting a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory
  • 4.1.1 Data Collection and Calculation Method for Commuting and Air Travel
  • 4.1.2 Data Collection for Campus Forest Offsets
• 4.2 Clean Air-Cool Planet GHG Inventory Tool
• 4.3 Your Carbon Footprint and Trajectory – What to Expect
• 4.4 Who Should Conduct Your Inventory?
• 4.5 Rolling Out Your GHG Inventory
• 4.6 How Much GHG Emissions Number-Crunching Should You Do?
• 4.7 How Geography or Your Power Provider Can Affect Your Carbon Footprint

5. Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Strategies

• 5.1 Energy Conservation and Efficiency
  • 5.1.1 The Power of End-Use Energy Conservation
  • 5.1.2 Energy Conservation Program Elements
  • 5.1.3 Energy Awareness
  • 5.1.4 Energy Conservation Measures
  • 5.1.5 Performance Contracting
  • 5.1.6 Aiming for “Deep Conservation”
  • 5.1.7 Key Role of Facilities Management in Energy Conservation
  • 5.1.8 Evaluating Energy Conservation Projects
  • 5.1.9 Avoid the Short Payback Trap
  • 5.1.10 Revolving Funds
• 5.2 Appropriate Heating or Power Plant Fuel Choices
  • 5.2.1 The Problem with Coal
  • 5.2.2 Alternatives to Coal
  • 5.2.3 Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Oil Burning
• 5.3 Install Renewable Energy Technologies on Campus
  • 5.3.1 Photovoltaic Solar Electric Arrays
  • 5.3.2 Other Solar
  • 5.3.3 Wind Energy
  • 5.3.4 Biomass
  • 5.3.5 Geothermal
  • 5.3.6 Fuel Cells
  • 5.3.7 Renewable Energy Educational Displays
  • 5.3.8 Paying for Campus Renewable Energy Systems
• 5.4 Buy Green Power
  • 5.4.1 Benefits of Buying Green Power
  • 5.4.2 What You Are Buying -- RECs or Green Tags
  • 5.4.3 Maximizing the Benefit of Green Power Purchases
  • 5.4.4 Complementing Green Power Purchasing with Conservation
• 5.5 Maximize Space Utilization to Minimize or Avoid New Construction
  • 5.5.1 Wasting Space on Campus
  • 5.5.2 Strategies for Addressing Poor Space Utilization
• 5.6 Design and Construct Only the Greenest, Most Energy Efficient New Buildings
  • 5.6.1 LEED Green Building Rating System
  • 5.6.2 Labs21
  • 5.6.3 Green Design Strategies and Measures
  • 5.6.4 Green Design Process
  • 5.6.5 LEED Silver is Not Good Enough!
  • 5.6.6 Addressing the Cost of Green Design
  • 5.6.7 Some Potential Achilles Heels -- Ventilation, Lighting, Windows
• 5.7 Transportation Solutions
  • 5.7.1 Fleet Vehicles and Campus Busing
  • 5.7.2 Commuting
  • 5.7.3 Air Travel
• 5.8 Other GHG Mitigation Strategies
  • 5.8.1 Waste Disposal
  • 5.8.2 Embodied GHG Emissions in Products
  • 5.8.3 Food Service and Food Choices
• 5.9 Carbon Offsets
  • 5.9.1 The Role of Carbon Offsets
  • 5.9.2 Projects that Can Create Carbon Offsets
  • 5.9.3 Defining High Quality Carbon Offsets
  • 5.9.4 Buying or Creating Carbon Offsets
  • 5.9.5 Campus Forest and Lands as Carbon Offsets?

6. Project Evaluation and Ranking

• 6.1 Calculating Project GHG Emissions Reductions
• 6.2 Decision-Making Criteria
• 6.3 Carbon Reduction Efficacy

7. Setting Emissions Targets and Measuring Progress

• 7.1 GHG Emissions Reduction Goals
• 7.2 Using Forecasting and Backcasting Methods to Develop Scenarios
• 7.3 Finalizing Your GHG Emissions Reduction Proposal
• 7.4 Additional CAP Components and Tools
  • 7.4.1 Establishing Your Glide Path – Trajectories and Interim Targets
  • 7.4.2 Relative Measures of Progress
  • 7.4.3 GHG Mitigation Wedges

8. Financing Campus Climate Action

• 8.1 Dealing with Sticker Shock
• 8.2 Funding Sources

9. Structuring Your Plan and Getting It Approved

• 9.1 Sample CAP Table of Contents
• 9.2 Improving the Likelihood of CAP Approval

10. Implementing Your Campus Climate Action Plan

• 10.1 Increasing the Chances of Implementation
• 10.2 Hold an Annual Climate Summit
• 10.3 CAP Flexibility and Revisions
• 10.4 What if Your President Leaves?

11. Concluding Remarks

12. Campus Climate Action Planning Resources