Report Number 10
Strategies for Institutionalizing
Sustainability in Higher Education
Report on the Northeast Campus Sustainabliity Consortium 3rd Annual Conference
and International Symposium, November 2–4, 2006
Julie Newman and Lisa Fernandez, editors
Office of Sustainability, Yale University
Yale School of Forestry
& Environmental Studies
publication series
205 Prospect Street
New Haven, Connecticut 06511
USA
www.yale.edu/environment/publications
yale school of forestry & environmental studies
The Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium (NECSC) was established in October 2004
to support the growing network of campus sustainability professionals from the Northeast
U.S. and maritime Canada. The NECSC is committed to advancing the goals of education
and action for sustainable development at colleges and universities in the region.
For more information go to www.yale.edu/sustainability/consortium
Yale F&ES Publication Series
Report Number 10
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April 2007
Julie Newman and Lisa Fernandez
Jane Coppock
Conference photos, Michael Marsland
Bryan Gillespie, Yale RIS
Dorothy Scott, North Branford, CT
Yale RIS
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Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
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© 2007 Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
The Yale University Office of Sustainability is responsible for facilitating the integration
of sustainability principles and practices into the operational functions and educational
framework of the institution. This is manifest in the development of policies, practices
and standards that lead to decisions which prioritize ecosystem health and human health in
the context of economic viability.
For more information go to www.yale.edu/sustainability
Strategies for Institutionalizing
Sustainability in Higher Education
Report on the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium
3rd Annual Conference and International Symposium
November 2-4, 2006
Julie Newman and Lisa Fernandez, Editors
Office of Sustainability, Yale University
Table of Contents
1
acknowledgements
introduction
3
Julie Newman, Director, Yale Office of Sustainability
5
welcoming address
Richard Levin, President, Yale University
NORTHEAST CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY CONSORTIUM (NECSC)
CONFERENCE
keynote address
Climate Change in Institutions of Higher Learning
J. Gustave Speth, Dean, Yale School of Forestry
& Environmental Studies
11
workshop summaries – focal area i:
accomplishing organizational change for
sustainability at academic institutions
Strategies for Institutionalizing Sustainability in Higher Education
Julie Newman, Yale University
Matthew St. Clair, University of California
15
Building a Business Model for a Climate Neutral Campus
Leith Sharp, Harvard University
Robert Pratt, Henry P. Kendall Foundation
21
Sustainability Indicators Working Session
Gioia Thompson, University of Vermont
Sarah Hammond Creighton, Tufts University
27
Tools for Smart Growth and Sustainable Campus Development
Richard Miller, University of Connecticut
Michael Dietz, University of Connecticut
33
yale school of forestry & environmental studies
Sustaining Environmental Justice on and around the Campus
Eliezer Cruz, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
Vernice Miller-Travis, Groundwork USA
Mark Mitchell, Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice
Colleen Murphy-Dunning, Yale University
39
workshop summaries – focal area ii: sector-specific
approaches within the university
1. People
Engaging Students in Sustainable Behavior
Caroline Howe, Yale College ‘07
Daniel Worth, National Association of Environmental Law Societies
Emily Biesecker, Yale College ‘08
45
Does the Faculty Care? Engaging Faculty across Campus on Sustainability
Issues
Kim Marsella, Skidmore College
Sandra Wachholz, University of Southern Maine
Jack Byrne, Middlebury College
49
2. Food Service
University-based Models for Sustainable Food Systems
Thomas Kelly, University of New Hampshire
Kelly Brownell, Yale University
53
3. Procurement
Best Practices in Green Purchasing Services
Jacob Park, Green Mountain College
Chantal Line Carpentier, North American Commission for
Environmental Cooperation
John Turenne, Sustainable Food Systems, LLC
Corinna Lowe, Green Mountain College ‘07
57
4. Service Learning
College-Community Environmental Sustainability Initiatives:
Local and State Partnerships in Pennsylvania
Richard Bowden, Allegheny College
yale school of forestry & environmental studies
63
workshop summaries – focal area iii: reducing the
impacts of the university
1. Comparative Analysis of Carbon Sequestration Models
Building a Credible Carbon Offsets Portfolio
Bradford Gentry, Yale University
James Heath, Ecosecurities Group
Katherine Hamilton, Katoomba Group
Derek Murrow, Environment Northeast
69
2. Developing Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories and Reduction Targets
Measurement Equals Management! Conducting a Greenhouse
Gas Inventory
Jennifer Schroeder, Clean Air-Cool Planet
Ryan Levinson, World Resources Institute
73
Appropriate and Practical: Setting Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets
on Campus
Steven Lanou, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
John Bollier, Yale University
Jennifer Schroeder, Clean Air-Cool Planet
79
3. Energy Systems
Energy and Climate Change: Risk and Opportunity
Sarah Hammond Creighton, Tufts University
William Leahy, Eastern Connecticut State University
85
4. Green Building and Low-Impact Design
Setting the Bar High in Design and Clearing It in Construction
Kurt Teichert, Brown University
Paul Stoller, atelier ten
91
5. Recycling on Campus
Recycling and Sustainability: A Practical and Theoretical Pairing
Mary Jensen, Keene State College
Mark Lennon, Institution Recycling Network
Robert Gogan, Harvard University
99
yale school of forestry & environmental studies
strategies for institutionalizing sustainability in higher education
workshop summaries – focal area iv:
broadening the perspective internationally
An International Exchange of Campus Sustainability Experiences
Bernd Kasemir, Novatlantis and sustainserv, inc.
Leith Sharp, Harvard University
Keisuke Hanaki, University of Tokyo
103
The Movement towards Sustainable Campuses in Canada:
Processes and Experiences
Melissa Garcia Lamarca, Concordia University
Christopher Caners, University of Toronto
Mélanie McDonald, University of Sherbrooke
Anjali Helferty, Sierra Youth Coalition Canada
109
Sustainable Development in Higher Education – A Swedish Perspective
Nils Brandt, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden
113
concluding plenary of the necsc conference
Challenges to Institutionalizing Sustainability on Campus
117
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON SUSTAINABILITY
IN HIGHER EDUCATION
opening presentation
123
The Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index and the Role of Higher
Education in Advancing Sustainability around the Globe
Daniel Esty, Yale University
plenary and roundtable discussion
127
The Role of International Alliances to Advance Sustainability Objectives
on University Campuses
appendix
131
Workshop Organizers
about the editors
yale school of forestry & environmental studies
135
acknowledgements
acknowledgements
The work and vision of the steering committee members of the Northeast Campus
Sustainability Consortium were invaluable in the development of the 2006
conference. Over the past two years we have fostered a working relationship steeped
in good humor and intellectual exchange. Thanks to Richard Bowden, John Cusack,
Sara Hammond Creighton, Melissa Garcia Lamarca, Mary Jensen, Thomas Kelly,
Steven Lanou, Kim Marsella, Jennifer Schroeder, Leith Sharp, Kurt Teichert, Gioia
Thompson, Shana Weber, and Norman Willard.
My appreciation as well to the workshop organizers and speakers from Yale and
elsewhere who volunteered their time and expertise and inspired much valuable and
sometimes heated debate in the workshops they organized. All workshop organizers
are listed in the Appendix.
My gratitude goes to Lisa Fernandez, Conference Coordinator, who worked
diligently to create and support the vision of the conference. Lisa brought a
wonderful sense of professionalism and experience combined with a gentle sense of
humor and an uncanny ability to go with the flow.
The conference itself was made possible by the Yale Office of Sustainability with
support from the Yale University Green Fund.
Jane Coppock, Editor of the Yale F&ES Publication Series, worked hard to print
this report by a challenging deadline and was wise and generous in sharing advice
early on that made the production of this report as smooth as possible. Thanks also
to Dorothy Scott, the indefatigable page setter for the Publication Series. Many thanks
to Jane and the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies for agreeing to
publish this report.
Last but not least my tremendous gratitude goes out to the student volunteers,
without whom the conference, symposium and this report would not exist. They
dedicated themselves to making sure the conference ran smoothly and brilliantly
rapporteured the workshops and wrote most of the summaries of this report. My
profound thanks to Matthew Eckelman, Michael Davies, Benson Gabler, Katherine
Gasner, David Gottesman, Meleah Houseknecht, Caroline Howe, Rosi Kerr,
Christopher Kral, Sarah Percy, Jason Rauch, and Sara Smiley Smith.
Many thanks to all who made possible the NECSC 2006 Conference and
International Symposium and this report.
Julie Newman, Ph.D.
Director, Yale Office of Sustainability
yale school of forestry & environmental studies
1