Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe challenges and lessons learned in the design and development of a comprehensive, flexible environmental management system (EMS) in a real university setting; also to inform development of similar systems elsewhere and provide a modular, extensible software architecture for such efforts.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to argue that Richard Register's ecocity model offers a strategic framework to help guide sustainability initiatives in North American higher education (HE) institutions. Design/methodology/approach: This conceptual paper examines the theory of the ecocity and investigates the implications for its proposed…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to establish necessity and methods for considering greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation policies at a system-level. The research emphasizes connecting narrowly focused GHG mitigation objectives (e.g. reduce single occupancy vehicle travel) with broader institutional objectives (e.g. growth in student population) to…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare the life cycle environmental impacts of the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and Applied Sciences' current printed annual report to a version distributed via the internet. Design/methodology/approach: Life cycle environmental impacts of both versions of the report are modeled using…

Purpose: Sustainability initiatives typically operate for a limited time period, but it is often unclear whether they have lasting effects. The purpose of this paper is to examine a laboratory fume hood campaign, in order to identify factors that might contribute or detract from long-term change persistence. Design/methodology/approach: The…

Purpose: The authors led an interdisciplinary team that developed recommendations for building a "culture of environmental sustainability" at the University of Michigan (UM), and the purpose of this paper is to provide guidance on how other institutions might promote pro-environmental behaviors on their campuses. Design/methodology/approach: The…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze those US colleges and universities that are participating in the Green Power Partnership (GPP). GPP is a voluntary environmental program initiated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2001 to help increase the use of green power (electricity produced from solar, wind,…

Purpose: This paper aims to detail the design of a campus climate change strategy, transport strategy and paper reduction strategy at the University of Technology, Sydney (Australia). Design/methodology/approach: The approach to strategy development used desktop research and staff/student consultation to inform the development of objectives,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on the results of an Massachusetts Institute of Technology Chemistry Department campaign to reduce energy consumption in chemical fume hoods. Hood use feedback to lab users is a crucial component of this campaign. Design/methodology/approach: Sash position sensor data on variable air volume fume…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the carbon dioxide emissions associated with electric, HVAC, and hot water use from a US university. Design/methodology/approach: First, the total on-campus electrical, natural gas and oil consumption for an entire year was assessed. For each category of energy use, the carbon associated with…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to expand on the development of university and college sustainability metrics by implementing an adaptable metric target strategy. Design/methodology/approach: A combined qualitative and quantitative methodology is derived that both defines what a sustainable metric target might be and describes the path a…

Purpose: The ecological footprint represents a simple way to assess the amount of materials consumed and waste produced by a given entity. The approach has been applied to countries, towns, households, and more recently university campuses. One of the challenges of using the ecological footprint at a university is the difficulty of determining how…

Purpose: To explore the barriers and motivations to the construction of green buildings at the University of Waterloo (UW) by documenting and analysing the UW building process. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted 13 semi-structured in-depth interviews with key UW individuals as well as analyzing numerous internal reports in order to…

Purpose: In residential buildings, personal choices influence electricity and water consumption. Prior studies indicate that information feedback can stimulate resource conservation. College dormitories provide an excellent venue for controlled study of the effects of feedback. The goal of this study is to assess how different resolutions of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of the purchase power of the higher education system to catalyze the economy of scale necessary to ensure market competitiveness for solar photovoltaic electricity. Design/methodology/approach: The approach used here was to first determine the demand necessary to construct "Solar City…