New Book (free): Accelerating Campus Climate Initiatives: Breaking Through Barriers

• If you have an interest in this book, you may also have an interest in the SCUP regional one-day event happening April 7, in Houston, TX - "Sustaining Higher Education in an Age of Challenge."

This book, Accelerating Campus Climate Initiatives: Breaking Through Barriers, is the product of more than a year's research on a dozen campuses by the Rocky Mountain Institute. Download it here.

It is organized into five chapters:

• Climate Action Planning,
• Buildings & Utilities,
• Renewable Energy,
• Transportation, and
• Carbon Offsets & Associated Opportunities.

Subchapters each represent a "barrier" within the context of that chapter. So, for example, within Buildings & Utilities, there are subsections like "lack of capital," "Insufficient in-house expertise," and "Whole-system approach seems impossible." The book "explores a wide range of challenges committed campus planners are facing, including the real and perceived barriers. Real-world examples from campuses around the country help readers determine and drive projects based on a different way of thinking about buildings, utilities, perceptions, institutional structures, and all the other components comprising energy systems and campuses."

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Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA - "Strengths and Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats"
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA - "Smart Planning in an Era of Uncertainty"
• April 7, Houston, TX - "Sustaining Higher Education in an Age of Challenge"

Colleges Map Hazy Routes to Limiting Emissions

Scott Carlson, who is the main writer covering sustainability for the Chronicle, reported recently on the first deadline for submitting climate action plans, by signatories to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). His reporting includes brief vignettes of some of the campus plans.

For many colleges, reaching the lofty goal of climate neutrality is less important than other benefits the process yields. Ms. Nelson, of Second Nature, says that colleges in the climate commitment are prepared for mandatory restrictions in greenhouse-gas emissions, a possibility that has generated buzz recently in Washington. "You're changing the culture around energy consumption," she says, "so when legislation comes down, you're ahead of the curve."

Mr. Henry, of Richland College, says signing the commitment and now preparing a plan has helped change attitudes at his campus—and helped push projects that save money: "You don't know what kind of creativity and resources and colleagues are there until you need them."

Master Planning for Sustainability

Ben Eisen explores the relationship between sustainability initiatives and campus planning:

Call it a sign of the times. For decades, sustainability initiatives in higher education were conceived and executed through grassroots, bottom-up efforts, from sustainable investments to campus recycling programs. But as stakes and publicity rise, and sustainability initiatives like the American College and University President's Climate Commitment take center stage, higher education is witnessing the growth of a top-down institutionalized approach to sustainability.

One of the clearest signs of this paradigm shift is the prominence that sustainability initiatives are receiving in university-wide strategic master plans. Green initiatives are now taking their place alongside more established campus issues in the long-term vision process.

Cool Campus! A How-to Guide for College and University Climate Action Planning

Walter Simpson is a major force in campus sustainability. Working from content on a Wiki set up via the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), he has produced a how to planning manual in book format, Cool Campus! A How-to Guide for College and University Climate Action Planning. It's free, a downloadable PDF of about 120 pages in length: "But who will lead the CAP effort? The leader or chair could be your sustainability director or energy officer, if he or she has enough experience and the right credentials, or a prestigious faculty member who is given release time to take on this project, It could be a special assistant to your school's president. . . . An undertaking this large could have co-chairs. Whoever is selected to lead should be enthusiastically committed to climate action, have strong technical background in relevant areas, be engaging, fair, well-liked, and be able to motivate others and build a strong team."

Getting the Green Roof Right

We thought this was a nice summary of some of the planning constraints on building successful green roofs:

"The first common dilemma in the construction of living green roofs, and other landscapes over structure, is that, in conventional building, the execution and completion of site work are often subordinated to the completion of the building."

Read the full article from Architecture Week, here:
http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2009/0527/building_1-1.html

Climate Action Planning Wiki from AASHE

We've been waiting for this to be launched, as it offers experienced SCUPers the opportunity to contribute integrated planning knowledge in a way that can be easily accessed by the [mostly] young people who are trying to catalyze sustainability-related change on their campuses by climate action planning. Maybe it's the perfect time for you to learn how to contribute to a Wiki (essentially an online, shared editable access, collaborative document). The core of the wiki was written by Walter Simpson, a sustainability expert who has presented during SCUP webcasts and has previously written for Planning for Higher Education.

Climate Action Planning Wiki

AASHE and ACUPCC have recently begun a Climate Action Planning Wiki, wwith initial textual content from Walter Simpson, formerly of the University of Buffalo and UB Green. This Wiki enables anyone to enter changes to the current content.

It would be very helpful to the sustainability movement and to climate action planning, if SCUPers with deep experience in institution-wide planning were to go over there and check it out. If you've always wondered how it would be like to use a Wiki, this is a good chance to find out.

We haven't had a chance to read through it yet.