Air & Climate
Introduction
Global climate change is having myriad negative impacts throughout the world, including increased frequency and potency of extreme weather events, sea level rise, species extinction, water shortages, declining agricultural production, and spread of diseases. The impacts are particularly pronounced for low-income communities and countries. In addition, institutions that inventory and take steps to reduce their air pollutant emissions can positively impact the health of the campus community, as well as the health of their local communities and regions.
Featured Resources
New Resources
Making College and University Green Space More Resilient to Climate Change – Gardens, Landscaping, Habitat Restoration, and More
- National Wildlife Federation (VA)
Colleges and universities are more than a collection of buildings and paved roads. Many campuses have a tree-lined quad or other park-like areas. Wilder corners on campus protect wetlands, woods ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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How Colleges and Universities Can Use Their Forested Holdings for Carbon Offsets and Other Sustainability Opportunities
- Sewanee - The University of the South (TN)
Forests are indisputably essential to the health of the planet, yet globally face intense pressure. They not only provide everyday products such as timber and paper, but also other critical ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Flexible Urban Water Systems for the Adaptation of Campuses to Future Change Pressures
- University of South Florida (Tampa) (FL)
Water systems for new campuses or the major extension of existing campuses are designed for long operational life span of up to 50 years. However local change drivers such as ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Using Decision Pathways to Adapt Coastal Areas to a Changing Climate under Uncertain Risk: a Study of Three Australian Local Governments
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (TN)
Risks associated with climate change are generally considered to increase as time progresses, but the degree to which this correlation holds for a specific coastal area is uncertain. When developing ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Financial and Physical Climate Change Resilience: Are Your Facilities Ready?
- URS Corporation (MD)
The slow but steady pace of climate change is producing rapid and drastic weather changes worldwide. These changes are challenging the ability of facilities to perform their most basic function ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Beyond Sustainability: Resilience Thinking in Sustainability Education
- Warren Wilson College (NC)
Sustainability can be thought of as the ability of human communities to persist over the long term through equitable sharing of natural, economic and cultural resources within and across generations ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Novel Alternative to Purchasing Carbon Off-Sets
- Utah State University (UT)
Nearly one-fifth (19%) of Utah State University's (USU) carbon emissions result from faculty, staff and students traveling on business. Travelers logged over 17 million miles in air travel and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Mining Our Collective Experience: A New Tool for Illuminating and Prioritizing High-Impact, Cost-Effective Carbon Reduction Strategies
- Northern Arizona University (AZ)
- Clean Air-Cool Planet (NH)
With significant and growing collective institutional experience in "greening" our campuses, it seems it should be relatively simple to determine where to start in our climate action plans-the "likely suspects ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Determining the GHG Emissions from Composting at The University of Arizona
- University of Arizona (AZ)
This study uses leading industry standards to quantify the net greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) associated with Compost Cats, a student-run composting program at The University of Arizona. The Climate Action ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Climate Change, Agriculture, and Rural Communities: The Central Great Plains Climate Education Partnership
- Kansas State University (KS)
The Central Great Plains Climate Education Partnership is a National Science Foundation funded collaboration between Kansas State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to develop climate change education programs for ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Yale Community Carbon Fund; Reducing Emissions and Increasing Economic Security in Local Communities
- Yale University (CT)
The Yale Community Carbon Fund seeks both to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to increase economic security for low-income people living in New Haven. Funds are raised through a combination ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Preparing Tomorrow's Leaders with Improved Climate Literacy through AMS Climate Studies
- American Meteorological Society (DC)
It is of utmost importance that tomorrow's leaders are climate literate. That responsibility falls on institutions training today's students. But many colleges and universities still do not offer ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Tracking the Campus Carbon Footprint through Student Engagement
- University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (WI)
Since signing the President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in 2007, our university's Greenhouse Gas Emission (GGE) inventory reports have been completed by students enrolled in a course now in ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Measuring and Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Campus Dining Using the CHEFS Tool
- Delta College (MI)
- Clean Air-Cool Planet (NH)
The movement and level of sophistication surrounding sustainable dining is growing, yet few institutions have as yet been able to measure their total "baseline" climate change impacts from dining services ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Case Study of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Requirements for Higher Education Institutions
- University of California, Davis (CA)
Greenhouse gas (GHG) registries have been established in a number of states and several countries to provide organizations with a way to track their GHG emissions and develop long-term measures ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Campus Carbon Inventories
- Gordian (SC)
- Clean Air-Cool Planet (NH)
Clean Air-Cool Planet and Sightlines partnered in 2011 to redevelop the Campus Carbon CalculatorTM as a dynamic, web-based tool in order to streamline the transition from greenhouse gas analysis to ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Campus Carbon Calculator Transformed: A New Era in Campus Climate Action
- University of New Hampshire (NH)
- Gordian (SC)
- Clean Air-Cool Planet (NH)
Over a decade of standardized measurement and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions has played a critical role in advancing the ability of higher education to provide leadership in climate action ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Drought Conditions in Texas and Oklahoma: Rethinking University Water Consumption
- Texas Tech University (TX)
The La Niña weather pattern has caused severe drought conditions in Oklahoma and Texas, especially in West Texas since late 2010. As a result, communities as well as universities have ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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YERT - Your Environmental Road Trip
- Blue Lens, LLC (PA)
Bill McKibben says about YERT, "Here's a trip you'll wish you'd taken, and you'll be glad you get to watch!" Join us for the 60-minute educational ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Building Trust with Agricultural and Rural Decision-Makers through Climate Change Education in the Rural U.S. Central Great Plains
- Kansas State University (KS)
The Central Great Plains Climate Education Partnership is developing climate education programming for agricultural producers, rural communities, and rural schools throughout Kansas and Nebraska. It is a National Science Foundation ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Getting a Handle on Your Campus Carbon Footprint: A Workshop for Minority-Serving Institutions
- Clean Air-Cool Planet (NH)
Attendees (up to 12) will be asked to come with data from on their campuses and will be walked through the process of putting that data into the new, online ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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AMS Climate Studies: A Great Primer for Green College Programs
- American Meteorological Society (DC)
As a greater number of educational institutions unveil green degree programs and reduce their environmental footprint, basic climate literacy is of utmost importance. To meet that growing demand, the American ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Mastering the Climate Action Plan: Managing Implementation Strategies from Diverse Campus Perspectives
- University of Maryland, College Park (MD)
In the last two years, over one-third of those institutions that signed the American Colleges and University Presidents Climate Commitment have submitted their Climate Action Plan (CAP). These plans range ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Climate Neutral Research Campuses: Center of Excellence Provides Resources to Achieve Climate Neutrality
- Cornell University (NY)
A new climate action resource center illustrates the full range of campus climate action options with technical resource links and leading examples of implementation. Climate Neutral: Research Campuses has been ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Climate Action Research Teams: An Academic and Operational Partnership to Enhance Institutional Climate Action
- Ithaca College (NY)
This presentation details an ongoing academic and operational partnership in which a select research group of students partner with an interdisciplinary and cross-functional team of faculty and operational leaders to ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Planning Campus Climate Action in a Service Learning Course
- Dickinson College (PA)
In spring semester 2011, students in the Sustainability Practicum course offered at our college were charged by our President's Commission on Environmental Sustainability with reviewing the college's climate ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Semester Immersion in Climate Change Science, Ecological History and Human Dimensions
- Dickinson College (PA)
We are team teaching an interdisciplinary program in fall 2011 in which a dozen students and three faculty members will immerse themselves in explorations of the science, human and ecological ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Focus on the Near-term: Analysis and Prioritization of Actionable Carbon Reduction Strategies
- Carleton College (MN)
XYZ College's Climate Action Plan was the product of an enthusiastic committee effort involving students, faculty and staff. The CAP goal was to prioritize actions for the near-term that ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A New Approach to Offsetting: The College of William and Mary Carbon Offset Program
- College of William & Mary (VA)
Carbon offsets are a means by which individuals or groups (i.e. corporations) compensate for their carbon footprint. These parties donate a calculated proportion to a project that reduces carbon ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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GHG Inventories and the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment: Benchmarking and Analysis
- Agnes Scott College (GA)
The higher education field lacks benchmarking methods in the area of greenhouse gas emission inventories. This study establishes useful benchmarks by examining the measurable characteristics of climate zone, size, and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Down to Zero: a 5-part strategy to achieve your GHG reduction goals at any scale
- Arup (NY)
A "green" reputation is increasingly seen as a differentiator for schools to attract funding, faculty, staff and students. 66% of college applicants search for information on a prospective school's ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Pittsburgh Climate Initiative In Review
- Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
The Pittsburgh Climate Initiative (PCI) is a collaborative effort designed to lead Pittsburgh's residents, businesses, government, and institutions of higher learning in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A New Era in Campus Climate Action: Dynamic Online Inventory and Planning Tools
- Clean Air-Cool Planet (NH)
Standardized measurement and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions has played an important role in advancing the ability of higher education as a sector to provide leadership on the issue of ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Corporate Climate Responsibility and the Race to the Top: Why Competition Will Save the World
- Climate Counts
Benefiting from worldwide media coverage, the Climate Counts Company Scorecard has rapidly emerged as a credible measure of corporate climate responsibility. The Scorecard is driving stakeholder dialogue and soul-searching in ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Pittsburgh Higher Education Climate Consortium: A Partner in Community Climate Action
- Duquesne University (PA)
The Pittsburgh Higher Education Climate Consortium (HECC) is one of the four sector-based elements of the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative (PCI) formally adopted by Pittsburgh City Council in August 2008. PCI ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Achieving Climate Neutrality by Building Local Partnerships: Local & High Quality Offset Purchasing
- Green Mountain College (VT)
Green Mountain College provides its students with opportunities to explore the meaning and significance of climate neutrality and encourages students to be engaged in the process of helping the College ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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eCO2village Solutions: A Model for Local Carbon Mitigation
- Living Routes, Inc. (MA)
Colleges and universities are key players in responding to global warming, but we are not reaching our full potential as agents of sustainable change. As educators, we need to move ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Climate Neutrality, Zero Net Energy Campuses, and Climate Action Plans - OH MY!
- Mount Wachusett Community College (MA)
As the number of signatories to the American College and University President's Climate Commitment increases and Sustainability Teams effectively strengthen the trend for Climate Action Plans that target Carbon ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Participating in a Learning Community for Solutions to Climate Change
- Global Council Science and the Environment (DC)
Participating in a Learning Community for Solutions to Climate Change
CAMEL
Climate, Adaptation, Mitigation, E-Learning
Goals:
CAMEL is a FREE, COMPREHENSIVE, INTERDISCIPLINARY, ONLINE RESOURCE for educators to enable them to ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Taking stock of iCAP: promises, promises, promises
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (IL)
Most member institutions of AASHE are also signatories of the American Colleges and Universities President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). ACUPCC requires signatory institutions to conduct a climate assessment, prepare a ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Integrated Climate Action Planning on a Budget
- University of Missouri (MO)
Of the close to 700 signatories of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), less than half have completed their Climate Action Plans. Those that have submitted plans ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Comparing Methods of Estimating GHG Emissions from Air Travel
- University of Arizona (AZ)
This talk presents the results of different methods used to estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from official air travel by the University of Arizona, and discusses improving estimates through improved ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Key Ingredients for Institutional Success in Implementing Climate Change Solutions
- University of California, Irvine (CA)
The goal of achieving carbon-neutrality within institutions of higher learning is clear and measurable. In accordance with ACUPCC guidelines, climate action plans describe priorities, milestones, and the scale of the ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainable Building Energy Systems: Independent Evaluation for Improved Decision-Making
- EarthLinked Technologies (FL)
- Southern Research Institute (NC)
Southern Research Institute - an affiliate of UAB - operates the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Technology Center for the U.S. EPA. The GHG Center evaluates technologies that provide improved energy efficiency, GHG ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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goBEYOND: Student-led Initiatives to Bring Campuses Beyond Climate Neutral
- University of British Columbia (BC)
How can we do more to solve the problems of climate change than we do to cause them? This is the question that inspired a small group of students to ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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How Institutional Factors are Related to Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- University of Illinois Chicago (IL)
Increasingly, institutions are reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a measure of sustainability. Higher education institutions are taking a leadership role as demonstrated by the American College and University Presidents ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Implementing a Climate Action Plan with a Campus-wide Committee
- University of Wyoming (WY)
The University of Wyoming Campus Sustainability Committee (CSC) was established in 2006 by President Tom Buchanan after students from the Campus Sustainability class (ENR 4600/5600) garnered support and proposed ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Building Climate Action Plans from Existing Plans, Targets and Laws
- University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (WI)
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh submitted its first Climate Action Plan (CAP) to ACUPCC in 2009. The Director of Sustainability (author) was asked to develop the CAP in approximately one ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Portland Community College-Measuring Progress of Climate Action Plan Implementation
- Portland Community College (OR)
Portland Community College (PCC) developed a Climate Action Plan (CAP) adopted in September 2009. The PCC CAP sets forth broad objectives and specific strategies for achieving the college's greenhouse ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Connecting Students and Communities through Climate Change Support Internships
- Strategic Energy Innovations (CA)
Local governments are increasingly compelled to take action on climate change, but are extremely challenged to respond as a result of limited resources, staff capacity and technical knowledge. In the ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.
All responses reference content from reports under the latest version of STARS, version 2.2. AASHE membership and log-in is required.
OP 1: Emissions Inventory & Disclosure
- Description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory
- GHG emissions inventory (upload)
- Brief description of the GHG inventory verification process
- Brief description of the methodology for completing an air emissions inventory
OP 2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user, performance year
- Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year
- A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives
- Website URL where information about the institution's GHG emissions is available
Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.