Publications

Introduction

AASHE’s publications library is the leading repository of reports, journal articles, books, and student research on sustainability in higher education. Certain publication types are entered in the annual AASHE Awards Program.

At a Glance

3944
Total Resources
1903
Organizations
99
Countries
58
U.S. States & Territories
12
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.

275 resources

A Novel Approach For Evaluating The Impact Of Fixed Variables On Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Installations Using Enhanced Meta Data Analysis Among Higher Education Institutions In The United States

  • University of Texas at El Paso (TX)

The global demand for electric energy has continuously increased over the last few decades. Some mature, alternative generation methods are wind, power, photovoltaic panels, biogas and fuel cells. In order ...

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2020
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Better Buildings Challenge Learnings: 3 Ways to Reduce Energy Use on Campus

  • Evolution Energy Partners (PA)

Universities across the country are committing to reduce their energy usage to save money, create jobs, and avoid significant emissions of CO2. By joining the Better Buildings Challenge, universities commit ...

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2020
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Methods and Effects of Mechanical Ventilation, Ultraviolet Light and Bipolar Ionization on Airborne and Surface Borne Pathogens

  • Evolution Energy Partners (PA)

The advent of SARS-CoV-2, the strain of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, has changed the way building owners and operators must look at treating the air in their buildings. In ...

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2020
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Energy efficiency actions at a Brazilian university and their contribution to sustainable development Goal 7

  • University of Passo Fundo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse recent actions of energy efficiency implemented by University of Passo Fundo, a higher education institution located in the south of Brazil ...


Framework proposal for the environmental impact assessment of universities in the context of Green IT

  • Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG) (GO)

The concept of Green IT refers to sustainable technologies and information systems as well as environmentally friendly IT practices. Universities, which hold responsibility for propagating and applying knowledge, play an ...


Application of international energy efficiency standards for energy auditing in a University buildings

  • Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design
  • National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv)

This study seeks to provide insights on understanding the contemporary problems of energy efficiency in Ukrainian universities by developing a comprehensive energy efficiency management framework that encompasses its participating subjects ...


A Machine Learning Based Tool for the Assessment of Energy Consumption in K-12 Schools

  • Florida Institute of Technology (FL)

Energy costs are the second highest operational expense for K-12 schools in the United States. Improving energy efficiency and moving towards sustainable school buildings not only result in substantial cost ...


Solar Microgrid Investment in the US: Financial Modelling Challenges for a University Based Project

  • California State University, San Marcos (CA)

Unlike economies that are still experiencing growth, established markets like the United States have a difficult time generating returns with large upside potential for investors. If an exceptional return is ...


A comparative study of approaches towards energy efficiency and renewable energy use at higher education institutions

  • University of Beira Interior
  • University of Passo Fundo
  • Universidade Federal Fluminense
  • University of Campinas
  • Manchester Metropolitan University
  • Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) (Perak Darul Ridzuan)
  • American University of Central Asia
  • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • Hamburg University of Applied Sciences

The potential for energy efficiency and for the deployment of renewable energy at universities is substantial, and they represent promising ways to meet an institution's energy needs on the ...


Understanding facility management decision making for energy efficiency efforts for buildings at a higher education institution

  • University of Washington, Seattle (WA)
  • Institut Teknologi Bandung (Jawa Barat)

Education buildings, as the third highest consumer of energy in the United States, provides significant opportunities to lower greenhouse gas emissions by increasing energy efficiency (EE). Higher education institutions (HEIs ...


A study of energy literacy among nursing students to examine implications on energy conservation efforts in Taiwan

  • National Taiwan Normal University
  • Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology
  • Ming Chi University of Technology

Nurses' energy literacy should be developed during schooling to ensure their involvement in sustainable healthcare. In this study, we explored nursing students' energy literacy and the relationships among knowledge, affect ...


UI GreenMetric and campus sustainability: a review of the role of African universities

  • Ural Federal University (Sverdlovskaya Oblast')

The desire to combat the negative externalities of climate change and its variability has gained a lot of ground over the last few decades. This has resulted in the development ...


Estimation of energy efficiency for educational buildings in Hong Kong

  • City University of Hong Kong
  • Dalian University of Foreign Languages (Liaoning)

In this paper, we estimate the energy efficiency of educational buildings with the case study of buildings in City University of Hong Kong by constructing an energy demand stochastic frontier ...


Benchmarking Energy Use at University of Almeria

  • Universidad de Almería (Almeria)
  • Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR) (la Rioja)

Several factors impact the energy use of university campus buildings. This study aims to benchmark the energy use in universities with Mediterranean climates. The University of Almeria campus was used ...


Insertion of Photovoltaic Solar Systems in Technological Education Institutions in Brazil: Teacher Perceptions Concerning Contributions towards Sustainable Development

  • Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
  • Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte
  • Electric Energy Research Center (CEPEL)
  • Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN) (RN)

Teaching spaces are seen as institutions presenting relevant power to promote sustainability. Thus, in addition to knowledge (re)producers, they must also assume ethical obligations to incorporate daily sustainability-oriented actions ...


Contribution of University to Environmental Energy Sustainability in the City

  • Universidad del Pais Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (Bizkaia)

The environmental energy sustainability of universities has aroused great interest in recent years. In this study, environmental impact assessment tools are used to analyse the environmental impacts of the University ...


‘Doing good science’: The impact of invisible energy policies on laboratory energy demand in higher education

  • Cardiff University
  • Lancaster University

Education is the second largest consumer of energy in the service sector, however, little research to date has focused on the link between education policy and energy demand. Using a ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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Solar Energy on Campus (Part II: Solar Purchasing Options and Communicating Renewable Energy Use)

  • Center for Resource Solutions | Green-e (CA)

This report examines the solar purchasing options available to higher education institutions, and the fundamental components of each deal that affect renewable energy certificate (REC) ownership, claims, and the environmental ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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Barriers, potentialities, and actions for implementation of sustainable energy procedures in Brazilian federal universities

  • Universidade federal de Santa Maria

Many universities around the world have served as active centers for research on climate change. However, there are several barriers to their activities, stemming from the nature of research, resources ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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The Effects of Energy Dashboards and Competition Programming on Cyclic Electricity Consumption on a College Campus

  • Western Michigan University (MI)

This report examined issues pertaining to the efficacy and cost effectiveness of energy dashboards in the effort to influence electricity-related behavior change on college campuses. Given the increasing popularity of ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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The Workability of Dominican University of California (DUoC) Transitioning to a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Program Energy Supply

  • University of San Francisco (CA)

For almost 10 years Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), or community based energy programs, have been developing and or providing clean energy resources to both commercial and residential customers in various ...

  • Posted March 6, 2020
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Developing a Framework to Assess Renewable Energy Options for Higher Education Institutions: Values-Based Recommendations for Portland State University

  • Portland State University (OR)

Voluntary renewable energy projects offer organizations like Portland State University (PSU) the opportunity to address climate action-related goals and address other environmental, economic, and social values. To achieve the goals ...

  • Posted March 6, 2020
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The relationship between energy use and space use of higher educational buildings in subtropical Australia

  • Griffith University (Queensland)

With an aim to understand the impact of a variety of space usage on the building energy consumption in university campuses, this study selected 122 university buildings located in subtropical ...

  • Posted March 5, 2020
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Opportunities and Benefits of a University-Based Weatherization Assistance Program: The Case of Furman University's Community Conservation Corps

  • Furman University (SC)

Weatherization assistance programs have been in existence in the United States for decades, but they are commonly managed and implemented by local government organizations. Furman University, a small liberal arts ...

  • Posted March 4, 2020
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Quantifying potential savings from sustainable energy projects at a large public university: An energy efficiency assessment for texas state university

  • Texas State University, San Marcos (TX)

At Texas State University (TSU) in the United States, “sustainability” is pursued within the context of (1) a non-binding declaration in the University’s plan, and (2) a State legislative ...

  • Posted Feb. 10, 2020
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A lifecycle cost analysis of transitioning to a fully-electrified, renewably powered, and carbon-neutral campus at the University of Dayton

  • University of Dayton (OH)

This paper analyzes the cost-effectiveness of converting the University of Dayton (UD) to a fully-electrified, renewably powered, carbon-neutral campus by 2025. The greenhouse gas (GHG) impact and 30-year lifecycle costs ...

  • Posted Feb. 10, 2020
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Canada's colleges and universities among the greenest in the world

  • University of Saskatchewan (SK)
  • Dalhousie University (NS)
  • Thompson Rivers University (BC)
  • AASHE (PA)
  • Nova Scotia Community College (NS)
  • Mohawk College (ON)

CBC News shares the news that college and university campuses across Canada are some of the greenest schools in the world according to the 2019 Sustainable Campus Index.

  • Posted Sept. 30, 2019
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Institutional Emissions and Energy Planning: A Practical Guide for Administrators, Managers and DecisionMakers on the Interactions Between Carbon Accounting, Institutional Goal Setting and Energy Procurement

  • Princeton University (NJ)

This report provides a practical guide about institutional emission and energy planning for administrators, managers and decision-makers. A key finding of this report is that institutions require an awareness and ...

  • Posted July 19, 2019
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Knowledge, agency and collective action as barriers to energy-saving behaviour

  • University of Plymouth (Devon)

Energy saving is becoming a rising priority as a response to climate change and fossil fuel depletion in recent years. However, despite energy-related behaviour change being an important part of ...

  • Posted July 19, 2019
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Plug Load Metering Pilot at Swarthmore College

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

This report goes over the research and beginning stages of starting a pilot at Swarthmore college aimed to test a new technology, plug load meters. These have the ability to ...


Reducing Energy Waste via Occupant Behavior: The Role of the Individual in Climate Change Solutions

  • University of Colorado Boulder (CO)

This study aims to achieve energy waste reductions via the rewiring of human habits as opposed to using technology. In public spaces like university campuses, individuals often remove themselves from ...


An Economic Perspective on a Carbon Management Program at the University of Michigan

  • University of Michigan (MI)

The recent UN IPCC special report stated that, in order to stay at or below 1.5 degrees of warming, greenhouse gas emissions will need to be reduced by 45 ...


Solar PV as a mitigation strategy for the US education sector

  • Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (CA)

Solar photovoltaic (PV) is an important strategy to de-carbonize the energy sector in the United States and to reduce the health, environmental, and climate change damages associated with the production ...


Design and Life Cycle Cost of a Vertical Ground Source Heat Exchange System for the Smith College Field House

  • Smith College (MA)

Committed to becoming a carbon neutral campus by 2030, Smith College is transitioning towards geothermal energy for campus heating and cooling. Energy consultants have been hired to conduct an economic ...


Sustainability Demonstration House Project

  • Michigan Technological University (MI)

The goal of the Sustainability Demonstration House (SDH) project is to retrofit the former president’s residence, built in 1953, titled the Kettle-Gundlach Building, into a sustainability demonstration house. The ...


Development and evaluation of a method to estimate the potential of decarbonisation technologies deployment at higher education campuses

  • University of Limerick

This paper describes a method for the quantitative estimation of the potential of decarbonisation technologies deployed on Higher Education Campuses (HEC). This was developed to fill the need for a ...


Ireland’s Transition towards a Low Carbon Society: The Leadership Role of Higher Education Institutions in Solar Photovoltaic Niche Development

  • University of Limerick

Ireland is currently considered a laggard within Europe in relation to decarbonisation of its society, with future projections estimating increases in greenhouse gas emissions up to and beyond 2030. To ...

  • Posted April 29, 2019
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Piloting Sustainability in UVA Research Labs

  • University of Virginia (VA)

A one-year, comprehensive study in three campus research labs illustrates the benefits of small-scale infrastructural improvements paired with occupant engagement techniques . Lighting upgrades, equipment timers, and freezer set-points were targeted ...

  • Posted April 29, 2019
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Aggregating Higher Education Demand for Renewables

  • APPA: Leadership in Educational Facilities (VA)
  • AASHE (PA)
  • Coho Climate Advisors (MD)

Cohorts of colleges and universities are aggregating energy loads to achieve economies of scale when sourcing renewable energy. This article highlights the benefits of this aggregated approach by examining several ...

  • Posted April 4, 2019
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Parametric analysis for cost-optimal renewable energy integration into residential buildings: Techno-economic model

  • Illinois State University (IL)
  • Hanyang University

Determining the optimum penetration of renewable energy systems and their associated aggregated technical and economic benefits is a growing concern for both researchers and policy makers. The purpose of this ...

  • Posted March 31, 2019
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Examining the effect of an environmental social marketing intervention among university employees

  • University of Birmingham
  • Queen Mary University of London
  • University of Sheffield
  • Global Action Plan

This paper examines the impact of an environmental social marketing intervention on employees’ energy saving intentions in a higher education institution (HEI) in the UK. The study examines the influence ...

  • Posted March 30, 2019
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Potential of integrating power generation with solar thermal cooling to improve the energy efficiency in a university campus in Saudi Arabia

  • King Abdulaziz University

Along with the rapid ongoing developments and expansions of the King Abdulaziz University campus, it is sensible to rethink the way electrical and cooling energy is generated and to explore ...

  • Posted March 30, 2019
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Competing priorities: lessons in engaging students to achieve energy savings in universities

  • De Montfort University
  • Imperial College London
  • National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

This paper aims to present findings from an EU-funded international student-led energy saving competition (SAVES) on a scale previously unseen. There are multiple accounts of short-term projects and energy saving ...

  • Posted March 4, 2019
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Offsets and RECs: What's the Difference?

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (DC)

In encouraging organizations to choose green power for their electricity, the Green Power Partnership frequently explains renewable energy certificates (RECs) - what they are, why they are needed for green power ...

  • Posted Feb. 25, 2019
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Universities as Models of Sustainable Energy-Consuming Communities? Review of Selected Literature

  • Texas State University, San Marcos (TX)

Given the prominent position of academia in sustainability studies and sustainability science, it is natural to want to look to universities as models of (or keepers of knowledge about) sustainable ...

  • Posted Dec. 11, 2018
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Aggregating Higher Education Demand for Renewables: A Primer

  • AASHE (PA)
  • Edison Energy (CA)

Campuses are increasingly looking to renewable energy as the most financially attractive strategy for achieving dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions while reducing long-term energy costs and minimizing energy price ...


Teaching decision-making for sustainable infrastructure: a wind energy case study module

  • Virginia Tech (VA)

Purpose This paper aims to introduce a case-based module teaching sustainable engineering, linking the Envision rating system with behavioral decision science. Three complete modules are publicly available in a repository ...

  • Posted Nov. 13, 2018
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California State University East Bay Climate Action Plan 2018

  • California State University, East Bay (CA)

Cal State East Bay made a commitment to climate neutrality when President Morishita signed the Carbon Commitment (formerly the American Colleges and Universities Presidents’ Climate Commitment) in January 2015. Once ...

  • Posted Aug. 30, 2018
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Pathways to carbon neutral energy systems at the University of California, Davis

  • University of California, Davis (CA)

To achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 the University of California, Davis (UCD) seeks to eliminate its dependence on fossil energy sources. This study outlines a methodology to identify optimal equipment ...


Electricity and Water Conservation on College and University Campuses in Response to National Competitions among Dormitories: Quantifying Relationships between Behavior, Conservation Strategies and Psychological Metrics

  • New York University (NY)
  • Oberlin College (OH)

“Campus Conservation Nationals” (CCN) is a recurring, nation-wide electricity and water-use reduction competition among dormitories on college campuses. We conducted a two year empirical study of the competition’s effects ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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