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Case Studies

Introduction

AASHE’s case study library contains hundreds of detailed case studies on a wide variety of higher education sustainability initiatives from faculty development programs to whole campus energy retrofits to community partnerships. All case studies are entered in the annual AASHE Awards Program.

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At a Glance

953
Total Resources
503
Organizations
21
Countries
48
U.S. States & Territories
7
Canadian Provinces

Bars in graphs can be clicked to view resources that align with a particular category. Because a resource may be listed under multiple topics and disciplines, graph data may include higher total counts than what is indicated in total resources above.

New Resources

953 resources
Senior Ally Esmond feeds a bottle into the glass crushing machine.

Glass Recycling at a Rural Georgia College Campus

  • Georgia College & State University (GA)

Glass has quickly become a hard to recycle material in many places in the U.S. and around the world. This is especially true for geographically rural areas with an already …

Senior Ally Esmond feeds a bottle into the glass crushing machine.

Glass Recycling at a Rural Georgia College Campus

  • Georgia College & State University (GA)

Glass has quickly become a hard to recycle material in many places in the U.S. and around the world. This is especially true for geographically rural areas with an already …

Common Agenda

Student Sustainability Coalition (SSC) Common Agenda

  • University of Michigan (MI)

Establishing a Common Agenda as a significant first step under a Collective Impact Framework for rapidly improving social justice and environmental sustainability conditions on campus; using the drafting process not …

Durham Tech Break Free From Plastics

  • Durham Technical Community College (NC)
  • The Student PIRGs (OR)

Student leaders at Durham Tech Community College, worked with the Student PIRGs in NC to run and win a campus campaign to Break Free From Plastics in order to protect …

Addressing Food and Housing Security among NC State University Students

  • North Carolina State University (NC)

Since February 2018, when a report on student hunger and homelessness on NC State University's campus was released, the campus community has generated increased resources for students, conducted ongoing research …

President's Sustainability Research Fellowship Cohort

Energy Efficiency Strategy

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Project Name: Energy Efficiency Strategy Name: Christian Stone Project Mentors: Elizabeth Drake, Domenic Porrini Project Board Members: Greg Brown, Jim Adams, Janet Semler, Andy Feick, Roderick Wolfson, Aurora Winslade Faculty …

President's Sustainability Research Fellowship Cohort

Crum Woods ROW Restoration

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Project Name: Crum Woods Sewer Line Right of Way (ROW) Restoration Name: Chelsea Semper Project Mentors: Jeff Jabco and Lars Rasmussen Project Board Members: Jake Grossman, Sue MacQueen, Chloe Klaus, …

President's Sustainability Research Fellowship Cohort

Indigenous Interconnections

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Project Name: Indigenous Interconnections Student Name: Daniel Torres Balauro Project Mentors: Aurora Winslade and Carr Everbach Project Board Members: Aurora Winslade, Director of Sustainability, Office of Sustainability Carr Everbach, Professor …

Brandeis' interactive dining sustainability dashboard

How Brandeis reduced our food carbon footprint over 20% in its first sustainable dining program

  • Brandeis University (MA)

This case study reviews how Brandeis harnessed the RFP and contracting process for a new dining vendor in 2019-2021 to make huge and first-ever strides in sustainability in our dining …

The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design – A Certified Living Building

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)

In September 2015, the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology received a commitment for $30 million from The Kendeda Fund to building what the partners expected to become the most environmentally …

Planting the Pond Aquaponics System

Planting the Pond

  • Western Dakota Technical College (SD)

For this project, Western Dakota Tech formed an interdisciplinary team comprised of Environmental Engineering, Controlled Environment Agriculture, Electrical Trades, Computer-Aided Design, and Farm and Ranch Management students to design and …

Logo

Project Reach, Reclaim, Revive

  • Seneca Polytechnic (ON)

Guided by academic advisors and business experts, student leaders of Enactus Canada create and implement community empowerment projects and business ventures in their communities. This experiential learning platform helps students …

Uniting for Organizational Change - Merging the Sustainability Office and Office of Inclusive Excellence

  • California State University, Monterey Bay (CA)

In July, 2020 the Sustainability Office and the Office of Inclusive Excellence merged to form the Office of Inclusive Excellence and Sustainability.

The fields of sustainability, inclusion and social justice …

Energy Efficiency Strategy

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Project Overview

We began by providing a platform for all key stakeholders, including faculty, facilities and capital planning managers, and administrations, to have their perspectives considered through the interviewing process …

A Bottom-up, Collaborative Approach to Campus Sustainability Planning

  • University of Delaware (DE)

The last Sustainability/Climate Report published by the University of Delaware was in 2009, following a commitment in 2008 to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050. The Environmental Sustainability Report (2021) was established …

The Climate Resiliency dashboard enables the MIT community to understand projected potential risk to the campus from flooding and heat (heat to be added in 2021) under both today's climate and a future changed climate.

MIT Climate Resiliency Initiative

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)

MIT’s Climate Resiliency initiative was launched in 2016 as a multifaceted, collaborative effort centered on preparing the campus community in collaboration with the City of Cambridge for the impacts of …

Campus Map

Bennington College Commons Renovation

  • Bennington College (VT)
  • Efficiency Vermont (VEIC) (VT)

Bennington College’s Commons building is the original center of its 1932 campus plan. This 45,120 square-foot renovation is the first substantial upgrade to the building since its inception. It reinforces …

SFU's Living Lab

  • Simon Fraser University (BC)

SFU's Living Lab is an approach that facilitates sustainability-themed research at SFU by creating structured collaborations between staff, faculty and graduate students to achieve University commitments and strategic priorities. The …

  • Posted April 30, 2021
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Up”cycling” - Creating a Biking Campus Culture

  • Furman University (SC)

In an effort to foster a biking campus culture, reduce our carbon footprint, encourage student health and wellness, and provide access and needed infrastructure for supporting a vibrant biking community, …

  • Posted April 29, 2021
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North Texas Food Policy Alliance

  • University of Texas at Arlington (TX)

What are Food Policy Councils/Alliances? The first Food Policy Council started 30 years ago in the city of Knoxville. In the last decade Food Policy Councils (also called food system …

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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Collection of produce, eggs that was part of the subscription box

UCCS Food Next Door | Farm Subscription Program

  • University of Colorado Colorado Springs (CO)

The Food Next Door Farm Subscription Program strives to help fight hunger, promote food access, boost food literacy, and support regional farmers and ranchers in our community.

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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Green Talks 2019 Presenters

Annual Green Talks Symposium

  • University of California San Diego (CA)

Green Talks is a TED-style talk symposium specifically geared towards environmental awareness. This annual event aims to engage and educate the UC San Diego student body and broader community about …

  • Posted March 8, 2021
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SUNY New Paltz Pivots from Plastic Bottles to Aluminum Cans to Move Beyond Plastics

  • State University of New York at New Paltz (NY)

In the fall of 2020, Campus Auxiliary Services (CAS), which contracts on behalf of SUNY New Paltz for beverages to be distributed through vending machines and the dining services contractor, …

  • Posted Feb. 24, 2021
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Figure 1. A boxplot categorizing all events into four types: “Passing through” events in which participants must be present in person but do not have to show up at a time and a place; “Partnered” events that occur in conjunction with another organization; “Virtual” events, occurring online; and “Time and Place” events, where participants must show up to a place at a specific time, sometimes requiring tickets. HEI on the y-axis.

“Just Sustainability” Environmental Justice Campaign Case Study

  • University of Vermont (VT)

The UVM Eco-Reps have long existed to encourage sustainable behaviors in UVM students, faculty, and community members. After a summer of Black Lives Matter protests, six months of a global …

Material Collected

Piloting Styrofoam Recycling in Research Facilities at Georgia Institute of Technology

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)

Georgia Tech has systems in place to collect and recycle everything from cardboard and office paper, to plastic and glass. But until 2019, there was no established process for recycling …

Flyer for the DIY fair

Fall 2020 Virtual DIY Fair

  • San Diego State University (CA)

With students being stuck at home due to COVID, I thought that a smart idea to keep students engaged in sustainability would be to have a week-long virtual DIY fair …

Reusable to-go Program at Northwestern Dining During a Global Pandemic

  • Northwestern University (IL)
  • Chartwells Higher Education (NY)
  • Compass Group (NC)

Northwestern University opened its dining commons during the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall of 2020 with an emphasis on reusable to-go service ware. This program used the O2GO OZZI containers …

The House at Cornell Tech

  • Cornell University (NY)

The House at Cornell Tech is the largest Passive House residential building to date, integrated within an 800,000 square foot campus designed to push the boundaries of sustainable city living. …

  • Posted Sept. 11, 2020
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Cost Savings and Carbon Reduction through DERs -- GridMarket Facilitated Project at Paul Quinn College

  • Paul Quinn College (TX)
  • GridMarket (NY)

GridMarket worked with Paul Quinn College to help them identify and maximize their unique DER opportunities.

GridMarket -- an energy consumer advocate and distributed energy resources project facilitation platform -- …

  • Posted Sept. 11, 2020
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ASU Gross and Net GHG Emissions FY 2007 - FY 2019

Achieving Carbon Neutrality at Arizona State University

  • Arizona State University (AZ)

In 2019, Arizona State University achieved carbon neutrality for scope 1 and 2 emissions. Through this accomplishment, ASU seeks to inspire immediate action to address the climate emergency. Despite reaching …

Planting in the CVC Butterfly and Edible Garden

Student's Club Revolutionized the Meaning of Green at a Community College!

  • Dallas College (TX)

There was a mayor change at Cedar Valley College’s (CVC) Sustainability Office this academic year. All the Sustainability Awareness events were developed and delivered by the Student’s Green Club. Over …

First-Place winning team of the Greenspace Sustainability Design Make-A-Thon with the Director of Landscape Architecture and Interim UCF President.

Greenspace Sustainability Design Town Halls and Make-A-Thon: A model for empowering campus communities to lead the design of sustainable spaces and places

  • University of Central Florida (FL)

A team of students at the University of Central Florida (UCF) (Orlando, Florida) led a partnership between UCF Student Government, the UCF Office of Sustainability Initiatives, and UCF Landscaping and …

Herbicide-Free LMU

  • Loyola Marymount University (CA)
  • Re:wild Your Campus (TX)

The project represented in this case study is Herbicide-Free LMU, a campaign I started at LMU under Herbicide-Free Campus. With a slow beginning as the sole campaign leader, I worked …

Chief Sustainability & Carbon Solutions Officer Kira Stoll, Plastic-Free Seas Coordinator Nicole Haynes, and Chancellor Carol Christ at the meeting where this policy was endorsed.

Committing UC Berkeley to the Strongest Plastic Ban in the Country

  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)
  • CALPIRG Students (CA)

CALPIRG Students, a student-run public interest nonprofit, ran and won their campaign to commit UC Berkeley to eliminate all non-essential single-use plastic by 2030. This is the strongest plastic ban …

Office of Sustainability Living Lab Case Study

  • Gonzaga University (WA)

The Gonzaga University Office of Sustainability is the living lab for testing renewable energy technologies on Gonzaga’s campus. The purpose of this student initiative is to push for renewable energy …

Creating a Digital Environmental Justice Toolkit

  • University of Connecticut (CT)

With the help of University of Connecticut (UConn) students, staff and faculty members, and local and national rights-based organizations, I created an environmental justice toolkit. This novel toolkit addresses what …

CMU's Housing Sustainability Assistants conducting a trash audit as part of the compost pilot

Housing Sustainability Assistants - Compost Pilot

  • Carnegie Mellon University (PA)

Carnegie Mellon University’s Housing Sustainability Assistants team supported a 4-week composting pilot within on-campus housing to ensure successful composting implementation in the future. The student team was tasked with promoting …

Me (left) and Maggie (right, who is taking over HFC UCSB next year) tabling at the UCSB Environmental Studies 50th Anniversary Event

Herbicide-Free Campus: UCSB

  • Re:wild Your Campus (TX)

This project sought to reduce synthetic herbicide use on the UC Santa Barbara Campus. There were three main aspects of this project: meeting with groundskeepers, passing resolutions in the student …

Sustainable Food and Dining: Swat2Go 2019-2020 Final Report

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

The Swat2Go reusable container pilot program was developed to avoid and reduce waste through the implementation of this reusable container pilot program. Over the course of the last year, this …

Green Café Pop-up buffet event

St. Lawrence University Green Café Farm To Table Course

  • St. Lawrence University (NY)

St. Lawrence University's student-run Green café class is a collaborative and multi-stakeholder venture with Dining Services, Seed to Table (student food justice club), undergraduates from across disciplines, and three generations …

Expanding Sustainability: University of California, Santa Cruz’s Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program featuring the “Intersections Between Diversity & Environment” course

  • University of California, Santa Cruz (CA)

The UC Santa Cruz Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program (DICP) educates staff, faculty, and graduate students to undertake in-depth examinations of how we, through recognizing and understanding of our differences, …

Final Project Report: Crum Woods

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Purpose of the Project: To increase student, faculty, staff, and community member engagement and safety in Crum Woods, as well as continue to implement the 10-year Crum Woods Restoration and …

An example of how Swarthmore's Ecosphere structure could be changed to add an Environmental Action working group, and mention the role of student groups

Swarthmore President's Sustainability Research Fellowship - Increasing Opportunities for Involvement with the Office of Sustainability

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Purpose: To increase engagement with sustainability on campus by thinking about ways to improve existing internships, imagining new ways for students and student groups to get involved, and utilizing our …

Leopold Lectures Colage

Engaging campus and beyond: The Aldo Leopold Distinguished Lecture Series

  • University of Northern Iowa (IA)

The Aldo Leopold Distinguished Lecture Series (ALDLS) was established in 2018 with the goal of engaging the University of Northern Iowa community, providing opportunities throughout the academic year to interact …

STARS: A Student Reports for Duty

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Project Name: STARS Name: Jasmine Xie Project Mentors: Carr Everbach, Brenna Leary Project Board Members, Faculty Advisor, and Sustainability Sage: Jason Martin, Andy Feick, Pattie Kim-Keefer, Sibelan Forrester, Heather Hassel-Finnegan …

Serve-Learn-Sustain's Affiliated Courses Program at Georgia Tech

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)

The Serve-Learn-Sustain (SLS) Affiliated Courses Program is the centerpiece of sustainability education at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The program launched in Spring 2016 along with the opening of the …

Figure 2

Priming the Sustainability Talent Pipeline: Indiana Sustainability Development Program

  • Indiana University Bloomington (IN)
  • Indiana University Kokomo (IN)
  • Indiana University South Bend (IN)
  • Indiana University Indianapolis (IN)

The Indiana Sustainability Development Program (ISDP) is a privately funded sustainability workforce development initiative led by Sustain IU (the Office of Sustainability at Indiana University), which pairs students with organizations …

PHEC Timeline

Multi-Campus Collaboration Kickstarts Solar Project to Cut 100% of GHG Emissions from Electricity

  • Dickinson College (PA)
  • Lafayette College (PA)
  • Lehigh University (PA)
  • Muhlenberg College (PA)
  • Coho Climate Advisors (MD)

Four independent colleges and universities in Pennsylvania collaborated to explore renewable energy solutions, develop a strategy, and implement a combination of onsite and large-scale offsite projects that will result in …

Community Garden Layout

Palo Alto College Community Garden

  • Palo Alto College (TX)

The Palo Alto Community Garden opened in October of 2019 as a space to grow food, cultivate community, and improve food security for the greater Palo Alto Community.

Retrofitted NX Building

First Net Zero Carbon Building certification for a retrofit in Canada: Humber College NX building

  • Humber Polytechnic (ON)

Located in the center of Humber’s North Campus in Toronto, Building NX has transformed from one of the campus’ most inefficient buildings, to an industry-leading example of zero carbon excellence. …

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