Campus Sustainability: Where We Go from Here

In August 2021, HDR hosted three university facilities and sustainability leaders from three different countries in a Virtual Adaptations panel to discuss the growth, strategies and challenges of sustainability efforts on their respective campuses and in higher education as a whole. Their thoughtful insights shed light on a topic that has risen to the forefront of university issues as climate change becomes an ever-increasing reality.

Meet our Panelists: 

• Greg Power, head of capital projects and planning, estates and facilities, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin
• Merry Rankin, director of sustainability, Iowa State University
• Ron Saporta, chief operating officer, property services & sustainability, University of Toronto

The Evolution of Campus Decarbonization Efforts 

Ten to fifteen years ago, climate action planning was in its infancy at universities. These plans were often for compliance or PR purposes, sometimes without substance or a plan for execution. Panelists addressed how plans have evolved and expanded due to new drivers, new interested parties, and other factors on and off campus.

“Culture change, in the last 30 years, has shifted climate action … towards having some genuine context for saving the planet for generations to come. Now [institutions] can really clip onto the idea that ‘you are saving money, and you are saving the planet together.’ So that's the shift … it's been the culture.” — Greg Power

“There have been advancements in technologies that make [climate strategies] more affordable, more reliable, and easier to integrate with other best practices. [These advancements have helped] to justify [climate strategies] on an economic basis, certainly, but also on an environmental and cultural basis.” — Merry Rankin

“When I first started my position about a decade ago, around 40% of students said, 'Yeah, an institution's commitment to sustainability is a defining factor for me [for deciding what college to attend]…' Now it's over 60%. This is only rising. It's our responsibility to show what we are doing [to meet our commitments to sustainability].” — Merry Rankin

Challenges in Meeting Aggressive Decarbonization Targets

While UN climate scientists are saying carbon emissions need to be drastically reduced by 2030, many campuses have decarbonization plans targeting 2040 or 2050. Panelists discussed milestones leading up to those dates and what barriers potentially prevent reaching campus goals by 2030.

“We're moving away from the conversation of reducing carbon to net zero, and taking it almost a step further and asking ourselves, 'How do we flip that equation and instead of talking about our campus as a carbon source, we consider what would need to happen to make our campuses carbon sinks?' [If we can do that], we end up in a climate-positive situation.” — Ron Saporta

“It has been crucial for [Iowa State] to consider how we can have that long-term vision, but also to identify realistic opportunities that can be piecemealed together moving forward … Even if we are unable to make the giant leap, we must keep moving forward and not sit and wait for the perfect financing or for the perfect technology. But we must make a difference wherever we can.” — Merry Rankin

Effective Strategies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Institutions can have very different approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions on campus. To meet GHG emission goals, panelists shared strategies that have helped in the past and what strategies will have the biggest impact, or “bang for your buck.”

“I think it's important to note that [these strategies] need to be contextualized based on geography. There are places in North America where if you buy an electric car, you actually are going to increase your carbon emissions because the electric grid is just dirtier than burning fossil fuels … So it's very contextual based. In Toronto, one of our primary goals is to move away from fossil fuel-based heating and to move to electric heating. Hopefully, a lot of that will be through things like geo-exchange, heat pumps. But ultimately, at least over the next five or ten years, it's in essence a fuel-switching strategy to something that is lower in carbon intensity, coupled with our desire to generate our own electricity.” — Ron Saporta

“Get rid of my job by actually having no buildings to build. Replace me with a strategist who says 'everybody should just move over in the bed a little bit when you have a new research program or a new bunch of administrators or a new cohort of students.' Make the space utilization better … From an environmental perspective, the best building I can build is the one I don't build. [That is a perspective] I think everybody should be taking on board...” — Greg Power

Planning for Future Resilience and Climate Adaptation

As illustrated by climate trends, there is a stark reality that climate adaptation will be a factor to consider moving forward regardless of decarbonization and reducing GHG emissions. Panelists elaborated on what future resilience plans they have related to climate change, natural disasters, social insecurities, etc.

"As a society, if we're going to create an environment within the universities that's pluralistic, that's inclusive, that's sustainable ... that ultimately benefits Trinity, and Dublin, and Ireland, and the world, we have to be able to make these adaptations very quickly in the events of flood, fire, and other extreme weather events. We have to adapt, not just as an institution covering our bottom line and requiring our own measures; but we also have to open our doors and be ready to manage this climate change within our towns and our nation...” — Greg Power

“We realize there are likely to be more adverse events, weather events, and blackouts, things of that nature … We have to look at multiple sources, making sure we diversify where the electricity comes into campus so that we hopefully don't ever encounter a blackout across all boards. But we went a bit further and started to declare pockets as resiliency zones within our campus: spaces where we could partner with the city if we needed to have a cooling zone for whatever reason, not just for our own campus, but for the broader community. Spaces where we could provide a couple hundred people a place to sleep for a couple of days if there's a natural disaster. — Ron Saporta

"Being agile is essential — having enough flexibility within your decision portfolio and your strategic planning process that as new opportunities [for climate or resiliency strategies] become available, you can look at how to incorporate those … The best laid plans need to go from plan A to plan W in a pretty quick fashion. Part of that process is reflecting back on what infrastructure you do have in place. Is it as efficient and resilient as possible? As you move into the future, commissioning and systems restructuring and testing, those sorts of things, should be considered." — Merry Rankin

Town-Gown Collaboration to Meet Climate Action Goals

Local, city and national governments all have different regulations and positions on climate issues and creating working relationships with these entities is key for institutions. Panelists shared their insights and experiences from working with their surrounding communities and how efforts can be furthered. 

“It's about … finding those opportunities for students to become connected and considering our collective community a living laboratory. We talk about campuses being living laboratories and places where we can explore operational challenges … But really, if we look at the entirety of our community as that learning laboratory, I think that makes an incredible connection [for students and community members alike].” — Merry Rankin

“If universities want a hardcore, carbon emissions saving issue that they can deal with the city on, it's travel. At Trinity, of the 51% reduction in carbon emissions we are targeting by 2030, half of that is travel-related. Even though we should have a walkable city, we don't. So I pound the pavement to the corridors in the city hall, looking for help on travel and traffic and transport. Even though we're now working remotely, I see a return to some [bad] habits in the future, and I want to get those out of the way.” — Greg Power

“We’ve developed experiential learning opportunities. So students studying energy modeling have an opportunity to practice with a small-scale landlord that otherwise couldn't afford to hire an energy modeler. [For example] we had people from our policy schools and in the humanities and business, partnered with local NGOs investigating “How do you develop a sustainability policy for a local NGO? Or an engagement policy?” It was a win-win: an opportunity to reinforce what we want to do collectively.” — Ron Saporta

Strategies for Engaging Students, Faculty, & Admin in Climate Action Efforts

Climate action plans can have many benefits for different stakeholder groups, both financially and socially in terms of health, wellness, recruitment, satisfaction, and community benefits. Panelists discussed their thoughts on how involved stakeholders are in achieving climate goals.

“Oftentimes, the first thing that comes into mind when people think about sustainability is, 'Oh, recycling, or reducing energy.' Those sorts of things. And we've really tried to make a lot of connection to that social piece of sustainability. The impacts on your community. 'What is it that you enjoy in your community? What is it you enjoy, and you really want to ensure that you have, in your lifetime, and you are able to share with your children?'” — Merry Rankin

“There are many indications to us that leveraging quality of life as a major reason to change your habits in terms of the environment is going to be another culture shift for us. We're really going to focus on that as part of our climate action plan to say, 'If you help us make these changes, and if you do individual changes yourself, your life will get better. It's not just about your granddaughter, and your great-grandson. This is about your life getting better, imminently.'" — Greg Power

“We're contemplating pathways that end up on your transcript. Things like a sustainability leader, or if you can then partner and do something from a co-curricular perspective, you get recognized for that, even if your field of study is not directly sustainability related. Our long-term goal is to have every graduate have some form of sustainability curriculum, even in those things you would consider non-traditional.” — Ron Saporta