Roadmap for Campus Environmental Sustainability

• Introduction
• Step 1. Obtain Senior Management Support
• Step 2. Establish a Campus Baseline
• Step 3. Establish Goals, Objectives, and Policies
• Step 4. Develop an Action Plan, Programs, and Projects
• Step 5. Implement the Plan
• Step 6. Track and Report
• Summary
• Endnotes
• Resources for Campus Environmental Sustainability

Introduction

The Climate Challenge

Fueled by the enormity and urgency of global climate change, society is being pressured to significantly reduce—in absolute terms—levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists tell us that we have just a few short decades to make a wholesale switch to an entirely new energy economy not dependent on fossil fuels.¹ Failure to act could result in large parts of the planet becoming uninhabitable—lacking water to sustain life, becoming submerged, or subjected to violent changes in weather and the onset of new diseases.

Meanwhile, communities and corporations are affected by uncertain economies and other financial pressures. In this stressed environment, colleges and universities also face a challenge in maintaining thought leadership with respect to the environment. But if higher education does not lead the sustainability effort in society, who will?

Thought leadership can translate into research and teaching of climate science and policy, and development of carbon capture and sequestration technologies and cutting edge sustainable design in buildings, vehicles, products, and industrial processes or investments to support innovation.

The American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC)² recognizes the unique responsibility that institutions of higher education have in training the people who will develop the social, economic, and technological solutions to reverse global warming.

Walking the Walk—Implementing Best Practices

Another form of leadership is to model climate neutrality on the campus. Anthony D. Cortese, co-director of the ACUPCC,³ believes that colleges and universities are arguably the most important institutions to address climate disruption because they can model climate neutrality on their campuses, and they can teach their students the skills and knowledge they need to address the climate crisis. In Aristotelian tradition, this means not only talking the talk but also walking the walk.

"Walking the walk" using existing knowledge can be as powerful as developing new technologies. Here is where the role of facilities management comes in.

There are already many recognized best practices will help to reduce and eventually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions on campuses. For example, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) provides a list of emissions reduction strategies.

Engaging staff, faculty, and students is also crucial. Implementing policies such as turning off lights, not leaving water taps running, and printing on two sides conserves resources. Transportation measures include the use of alternative fuels for fleet vehicles, provision of walkable/bike-friendly campuses, and incentives to use local transit. By showing leadership in terms of eco-purchasing, selecting locally grown foods, and implementing an environmental waste management program, colleges and universities can influence a generation that considers the life-cycle environmental impact of every product they purchase, including the environmental impact associated with disposal.

Each of these green campus actions is important, but addressing climate change must be our top priority. The green steps we take embody the kind of thought leadership in colleges and universities that will influence tomorrow's decision makers, help to redefine such traditional concepts as "quality of life"and "economic growth," and culminate in a powerful movement that can literally help to save the planet. However, given the checklist of "best practices" leading to carbon neutrality on campuses, the challenge is in the implementation. We know what to do. Actually doing it is something else.

Campus Operations Sustainability Action Plan

Colleges and universities embarking on the path to carbon neutrality and environmental sustainability need a roadmap that is streamlined, practical, and budget sensitive. Simply put, this process involves the following steps:

Step 1: Obtain senior management support

Step 2: Establish a baseline assessment of performance, features, and operations

Step 3: Establish goals, objectives, performance indicators, and targets

Step 4: Develop strategies and action plans

Step 5: Identify funding

Step 6: Implement the plan

Step 7: Monitor results

There are many different factors which affect how colleges and universities move toward sustainability. The orderly, rational, logical, and planned approach we describe here may be ideal and have advantages for systematically developing and implementing an effective and comprehensive sustainability action plan. Nonetheless, once personalities, campus culture, funding realities, organizational capacity, staffing constraints, and other idiosyncratic elements are thrown in, the process on any given campus may be more segmented and chaotic than envisioned here—but also potentially more creative. Despite the importance of working through the steps outlined here, inevitably the process on campus will be organic, fluid, and individualized. It will also be driven by the need to capture the goodwill and harness the energy of people who are chomping at the bit to get going and accomplish something. This will require identifying and acting on some initiatives likely to produce quick "victories" or accomplishments while the development of a more comprehensive sustainability action plan occurs on a parallel track.

Also, it is important to note that this discussion primarily defines campus sustainability in terms of campus operations and environmental sustainability, or reducing the environmental impacts of campus business functions. Campus sustainability may be defined more broadly to include the "greening" of academic, research, and public service missions. The concept of sustainability is broader than just environmental sustainability—although the latter, narrower definition is most often used by the green campus movement.