Brookhaven College
Climate Action Plan
2012
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Executive Summary
The Brookhaven College Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2012 is the first CAP produced at
our college. The CAP will serve as a guide in our work toward sustainability throughout
the college. The plan addresses Brookhaven’s commitment to sustainable practices;
education of our students, faculty and staff; community outreach; and promotion of
climate neutrality and the triple bottom line of sustainability.
Introduction
In fall 1978, Brookhaven College, the last of the seven Dallas County Community
Colleges, opened with 3,503 credit students. In fall 2011, Brookhaven College had more
than 13,571 students registered. Even as early as the college's 10th anniversary, the
enrollment figures eclipsed the original 10-year goal for the college by 13 percent, with
more than 7,900 students enrolled in credit courses. The college has grown
incrementally in student enrollments, employees and physical plant to support the
achievement of the college’s mission to provide a variety of educational opportunities to
the surrounding community.
Brookhaven College is situated on a 200-acre site in northwest Dallas County and
features a wooded area and creek along with a 2-mile jogging path. The campus is
comprised of 17 buildings totaling 642,441 square feet which includes a dedicated
building for the Brookhaven College Early College High School program for eligible
ninth through twelfth grade students from the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. The
college and Head Start of Greater Dallas entered into a contractual agreement whereby
Head Start built a 20,000 square foot building on ground leased from the college. The
campus includes 71 lecture classrooms, 85 labs, 42 computer labs, and 24 conference
rooms (14 used as classrooms).
In 2004 the Dallas County voters approved a $450 million district-wide bond program.
For Brookhaven, the bond program provided $61 million for the addition of two new
buildings, expansion of a third building, adaptive remodel of a fourth building and
renovations to the college entrances. The college added 184,372 square feet to the
physical plant.
Climate Commitment
Brookhaven College became a signatory of the Association of College and University
President’s Climate Commitment in 2009. Dr. Thom D. Chesney, president of
Brookhaven College since August 2011, is a strong advocate of sustainability practices
and brings a focused leadership the steady work being accomplished throughout the
college.
As the concept and definition of sustainability have become more familiar within the
general population, Brookhaven College employees and students have recognized the
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scope of work covered beneath this umbrella wording. In 2009 the college strategic
direction’s included sustainability only in terms of physical plant operations. Currently,
with the imminent adoption of sustainability as a priority goal by the Board of Trustees of
the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD), Brookhaven College, in spring
2012, also formally adopted sustainability as a significant priority that will have a direct
impact on planning across all departments within the college.
The District and College goal states:
Promote practices supporting sustainability including social, environmental and
economic vitality.
Education, Community Engagement and Employee Development
Education
Sustainability as a college value has been implicit in Brookhaven College’s mission
since its inception. The college’s logo of an abstract windmill blade referenced the
farming tradition of the area in which the college was built and the unique design of a
windmill that was to be installed in the Commons Courtyard to power the college’s water
fountains. From that day through the current annual Earth Day celebrations, faculty
have been involved in efforts to educate about the importance of an awareness of our
“carbon footprint.”
Several faculty have designed units of instruction into their curriculum on a regular
basis, e.g. Geographic Information Systems and Geology. After attendance at a
“Sustainability in the Curriculum” workshop in Spring 2010 led by Dr. Geoffrey Chase of
San Diego State University, a number of other disciplines became involved. This
workshop served as a catalyst that encouraged faculty from the discipines of English,
Speech Communication, Government, Art Appreciation and English as a Second
Language to integrate assignments and examples into the curriculum. Faculty invited
Dr. Stephen Brown of Cedar Valley College to Brookhaven to present his QTIPS
Certification program (Quality Teaching in Practical Sustainability). This series of
PowerPoint slides concludes by soliciting a commitment by the professor to the
concepts of sustainability in teaching. As evidence of their participation, a number of
faculty have received certification.
Additional activities of faculty to promote and enhance sustainability include

Long-term, strong participation in Brookhaven’s service-learning program.
Faculty have endorsed student volunteerism and service-learning since the initial
PRAXIS program was introduced in the mid-1980s. Over the years, the program
has grown in size, quality and reputation. Brookhaven College was the only
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

community college to receive the President’s Higher Education Community
Service Honor Roll’s 2008 Presidential Award.
A pledge on the college website that students can sign on-line to be conscious
of sustainable practices
A survey sent to 9256 student email addresses to assess student interest in
sustainability instruction
The “Sustainability Survey for 2012” received responses from 328 students. The survey
reflected students’ highest interests being “finding out more about ‘green’ careers,”
“learning more about sustainability in my college classes” and “voting for environmental
candidates.” It also indicated that students believe the College should provide more
instruction about “environmental issues” with 39.74% “strongly” agreeing and 36.32%
agreeing.
Community Engagement
Brookhaven College is actively involved in the local community through various
community outreach initiatives as well as course offerings.

Hosted three Earth Day Celebrations beginning in 2010 at which governmental
agencies, non-profits and other vendors represent the scope of sustainability:
economy, society and environment.

Hosted a college speaker’s series entitled: Living Sustainably in North Texas.

Service Learning and community engagement – participated in a city-wide
service project to clean up the Trinity River Urban Forest

Collaboration with Town of Addison to develop a Bike Trail linking the Town of
Addison through the college to the City of Dallas.

Brookhaven College serves as a drop off point for the City of Dallas “Cease the
Grease” program that encourages community members to recycle used cooking
fats, oils and grease (FOG).
Employee Development
The Green Team is a college committee with membership open to all Brookhaven
College employees. The Green Team is the primary discussion point for sustainability
projects, plans and ideas throughout the college. Building awareness among
employees of sustainability practices has been an important part of the Green Team’s
efforts in recent years. The team has coordinated awareness campaigns for a new
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campus recycling program, “Green Up! Power Down,” energy conservation measures,
the Sustainability Pledge and Recyclemania. Additionally, the committee initiated a
professional development session about “tips for a paperless classroom,” and the
speaker series “Living Sustainably in North Texas.” College employees are encouraged
to attend district and college sustainability activities, such as the 2011 and 2012
DCCCD Sustainability Summits and the meeting of North Texas higher education
sustainability coordinators, held at Brookhaven in May 2012. We acknowledge there is
a great deal more to do toward greater institutionalization of sustainability in employee
professional development.
Campus Emissions
In order to develop strategies for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at our
college, it is first necessary to understand the magnitude and types of emissions
associated with college operations. The Clean Air Cool Planet (2010) Campus Carbon
Calculator, version 5, was used to calculate GHG emissions. We have completed GHG
reports for both academic year 2008-2009 and 2010-2011.
Data collected using the Clean Air Cool Planet Campus Carbon Calculator:
electricity usage
natural gas usage
fleet fuel usage
student and faculty commuting
fertilizer usage
solid waste production
The International GHG Protocol created the idea of Scopes to classify the source of
emissions. Classifications of emissions include:
Scope 1: emissions directly produced by activities on campus and include natural gas
use, fleet vehicle use and fertilizers
Scope 2: emissions include emissions from energy produced off-campus. For BCC, this
is from purchased electricity
Scope 3: emissions are made up of commuter travel emissions and those from solid
waste
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Carbon Footprint – 2008-2009
Total
Per Full-Time
Enrollment
Per 1000
Square Feet
% Offset
Gross
emissions
(Scopes 1 +
2)
4,573 metric tons of
CO2e
0.9 metric tons
of CO2e
10.4 metric tons
of CO2e
0%
Gross
emissions
(Scopes 1 + 2
+ 3)
17,834 metric tons of 3.4 metric tons
CO2e
of CO2e
40.7 metric tons
of CO2e
0%
Net
emissions
17,834 metric tons of 3.4 metric tons
CO2e
of CO2e
40.7 metric tons
of CO2e
N/A
Carbon Footprint – 2010-2011
Total
Gross
emissions 2,783 metric tons of
(Scopes 1 + CO2e
2)
9,478 metric tons of
Gross
emissions CO2e
(Scopes 1 +
Per Full-Time
Enrollment
Per 1000 Square %
Feet
Offset
0.2 metric tons of
CO2e
4.4 metric tons of
CO2e
0%
0.8 metric tons of
CO2e
14.9 metric tons
of CO2e
0%
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2 + 3)
Net
emissions
9,478 metric tons of
CO2e
0.8 metric tons of
CO2e
14.9 metric tons
of CO2e
N/A
Since the 2008 GHG report was submitted, the college has opened new buildings and
additions that total approximately 184,372 sq. feet. We speculate that bringing these
buildings online (as opposed to contractors' running utilities) combined with lighting
retrofits, installation of a new main chiller in spring 2010, and college-wide efforts to
conserve electricity have helped to reduce electricity use. Air travel by employees has
been dramatically curtailed since 2008; study abroad opportunities have almost been
eliminated. Implementation of single stream recycling in interior campus spaces, offices
and work areas may have contributed to lowering solid waste statistics. Differences in
the two inventories also indicate that our inventory team is still learning how to gather,
estimate and convert data statistics.
Emission projections
According to Brookhaven’s GHG inventories, the emissions reductions between 200809 and 2010-11 are dramatic. College leaders, facilities staff and the GHG inventory
team will continue to assess the data. Although we assume emission reductions will
continue, improved data collection methods and tracking, as well as additional GHG
inventories are necessary to determine true trends.
An interim emission reduction target is a 10 percent reduction in Scopes 1, 2, and 3 by
2015 based on the 2010-2011 GHG data.
Mitigation Actions and Plans
Brookhaven College’s use of the GHG emissions calculations has provided a broad
picture for consideration and implementation of projects related to carbon emission
reduction.
Energy Efficiency and Conservation
The college will continue to engage in retrofits of lighting and other appliances that
increase efficiencies and reduce cost and use of energy and water. And the efforts so
far:

The college adopted a policy for purchasing products that adhere to the “Energy
Star” program.

Computer labs are programmed to power down in no use times.
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
Automated lighting controls are used in classrooms, offices and some corridors.

Physical plant staff monitor annual and ongoing energy use of all campus
building spaces to assess their energy efficiency.

The HVAC team provides daily monitoring of 75 degree F set point and readjust
as needed for all campus building spaces.

The Student Services Building hours are reduced. The building is closed nightly
at 7 p.m.

Replaced the college’s original HVAC chiller in 2011 with a new energy efficient
700 ton HVAC chiller. This produced an estimated 10-12% increase in energy
efficiency.

Completed a Lighting Retrofit Project for the Automotive Shop Building with an
estimated 10-12% saving in the utilities cost for that building.

Completed a Lighting Retrofit Project for interior walkway lighting across the
entire campus – with an anticipated 10-12% savings in the utilities costs.

Completed a Lighting Retrofit Project Energy Audit for Building S – Student
Services; new fixtures have been identified; installation of the new units will begin
the summer of 2012. The anticipated savings of these new fixtures is projected at
a 20-30% reduction in electricity usage.

Completed a Lighting Retrofit Project Energy Audit for all the campus parking lots
and new fixtures are being ordered. The anticipated savings of these new fixtures
is projected at a 20-30% reduction in electricity usage.

Completed a restroom renovation project that consisted of 47 restrooms. The
project included lighting retrofits, light sensors, water facet sensors, and
automated paper towel dispensers. The water usage was reduced with addition
of low-flush technology and facet sensors. The electrical savings of these actions
will be in the range of 15-20% and water will be saved in the range 20-25%.
Landscape Plan
Beginning in September 2011, the college entirely outsourced landscape maintenance.
The new contract eliminated winter grass application, and thus reduced watering and
mowing frequency.
Distance Learning
Since fall 2004, Brookhaven College has seen an increase in distance learning student
enrollments. Students are counted as distance learners as long as they are enrolled in
at least one distance learning course in that semester. Distance Learning student
enrollments have increased from 27.2% of the total student body in fall 2007 to 40.8% in
fall 2011. Distance learning has provided expanded educational opportunities for our
students and at the same time, reducing commuting-related GHG emissions.
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Recycling and Waste Reduction
The Dallas County Community College District implemented a district-wide paper
recycling program over 15 years ago, encouraging all campuses to participate.
Brookhaven College upgraded its plan in 2009 when the new recycling vendor, Waste
Management, offered single stream recycling. Brookhaven joined the Recylemania
competition program in 2012. The college currently is collecting over two tons of
recycled materials a month.
Transportation
Employee and student commuting is the greatest contributor to Brookhaven College
green house gas emissions, and it will be the most difficult segment to reduce.
However, the initiatives for reducing the transportation impact on Brookhaven College’s
carbon footprint are underway.
Brookhaven College is served by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system of buses, and
the new light rail Green Line station is within four miles of the college, with a direct bus
line to the college. The DCCCD annually negotiates reduced fare prices for employees.
In addition, Brookhaven College, along with the other six DCCCD colleges, subscribes
to AlterNet Rides, a web-based rideshare service for students and employees of the
Dallas County Community College District. In spring 2010 Brookhaven College
students, along with students from Richland College, Cedar Valley College and North
Lake College, participated in the Student Transportation Initiative created through the
Rocky Mountain Institute and funded through a “seed” grant from the Kohlberg
Foundation. Social network marketing was studied as a method of reaching students
and increasing their awareness of public transportation, ridesharing and the impact of
commuting on harmful emissions and air quality.
With Brookhaven’s collaboration with the Town of Addison to expand and integrate the
college and town jogging/bike trails, the Green Team is hopeful that a way may be
found to work with the City of Farmers Branch to route a bicycle lane from the light rail
Green Line station to the college.
Challenges and Barriers
Brookhaven College has a strong commitment to sustainability demonstrated by our
college president, his senior cabinet, a dynamic Green Team of faculty and staff, and
countless employees and students. We all recognize there is a great deal to
accomplish on the journey toward carbon neutrality. Included among the challenges
and barriers ahead are:

Multi-level administration Brookhaven is one of seven separately-accredited
colleges in the DCCCD, so we are independent for some purposes and part of
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the larger organization for others. Such a complex structure can add to the
challenge of effectively sharing information, reviewing processes, reaching
consensus and ultimately taking action. Brookhaven College is represented on
the District Green Team which takes recommendations to the District on
sustainability issues.

Funding Brookhaven’s Vice President for Business Services supports projects
that maintain the quality, beauty, cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency of
campus buildings and grounds. Our Facilities Services Department is innovative
and resourceful. However, the current economy has slowed project
implementation not only for facilities, but across all divisions and departments.

Strong but diffuse support Brookhaven College leaders are committed to
sustainability and the long-range goal of climate neutrality; our Green Team is a
small dedicated group of employees buoyed by a short list of annual
accomplishments. Both at the top and across campus, multiple priorities
compete for time, attention and funding. Additionally, support throughout the
college is mixed: as in the general population, not everyone accepts the precepts
of climate change or other points of controversy such as the seismic impact
surrounding natural gas fracturing.

Communication Finding the most effective means of communicating with our
diverse, transient student body has long been a problem for the college. In an
age when individuals are bombarded by unsolicited email, many college
employees delete or divert even this once predominant messaging tool.
Progress Tracking
In order to measure our progress toward reducing our carbon footprint we will rely upon
GHG emissions data collected on a bi-annual basis. Improved metrics for college
energy consumption, recycling and commuter trends are necessary for accurate data
reporting.
Conclusions
Overall, Brookhaven College is in a positive position to continue its journey toward
carbon neutrality. With a new president, a new strategic plan on the horizon and with
sustainability clearly included as a District and college strategic priority, momentum for
carbon reduction will accumulate. The college is making significant changes in
sustainability practices through the commitment of students and employees.
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Community Outreach
Brookhaven College is actively involved in the local community through various
community outreach initiatives as well as course offerings.
1. Hosted three Earth Day Celebrations beginning in 2010-2012 hosting various
non-profit and governmental agencies with a focus on Green Jobs and represent
the scope of sustainability. Economic, Social and Environmental.
2. Hosted a college speaker’s series entitled: Living Sustainably in North Texas.
3. Service Learning and community engagement – hosting a district wide service
day where students will work in the Trinity River Urban Forest
4. Collaboration with Town of Addison to develop a Bike Trail linking the Town of
Addison through the college to the City of Dallas.
5. Brookhaven College is participating in a “Cease the Grease Program” which
allows community members to recycle used cooking fats, oils and grease (FOG).
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