Sustainability

Updates from HEASC

NIRSA is a proud member of the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium

ACUPCC Update

The ACUPCC continues to grow; we now stand at 505! With the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign signed on, the ACUPCC now represents over 4 million students in 48 states!

• Honeywell has developed an extranet site for ACUPCC signatories who are interested in learning more about the ACUPCC / Clinton Climate Initiative program. The site includes performance contracting case studies, renewable energy briefs, and other materials. To request a password for the site, please contact Christina Theus or Mike Taylor.

Webcast: Creating a Greenhouse Gas Inventory—What Does it Take?

On April 9 at 1:30p.m. (EST) learn how to conduct a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory from your peers in this informative webcast. The American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) requires signatories to complete a comprehensive inventory of all GHG emissions within one-year of signing. This webcast explains the general principles of conducting a GHG inventory, while providing examples from two contrasting campuses that have used different methods.

You’ll engage with experts from Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP) and the Association of the Advancement of Higher Education (AASHE), and hear stories from the University of California, Berkley and Unity College on how they conducted their GHG inventories. Moderating the event is Georges Dyer, Senior Fellow of Second Nature, one of the supporting organizations of the ACUPCC.

Participants will learn about:

• ACUPCC and GHG protocols
• GHG inventory tools being used and what's available
• Processes and methods relating to conducting a GHG inventory
• Issues signatories face in conducting a GHG inventory
• Resources for implementing the ACUPCC and GHG inventories

The webcast team:

• Moderator: Georges Dyer—Senior Fellow, Second Nature and partner, Greenland Enterprises
• Julian Dautremont-Smith—associate director, Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
• Jennifer Schroeder Andrews—campus program manager, Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP)
• Fahmideh Ahmed—Sustainability Specialist, University of California, Berkeley
• Michael Womersley—Director of Sustainability, Unity College

Harvard Conference on Sustainability

This conference will be most effective at moving sustainability forward if people from a variety of areas in higher education attend.

The ACPA Institute On Sustainability will bring together a diverse group of professionals who serve higher education and are committed to sustainability. The goal of this institute is to invite individuals and teams from institutions to create an understanding, framework and actionable goals and tasks that can be taken back to campus and integrated into the core of the institution. Leading sustainability scholars and practitioners will discuss current trends, benchmark and promising practices, as well as afford participants with the opportunity to plan the beginning of or next institutional steps to their on-campus practice. The ACPA Institute On Sustainability will seek to create education and awareness for sustainability's triple bottom line: healthy social systems, healthy environment and healthy economy. More info

Fossil Fools Day

On April 1, young people from around the world are rising up to show that they refuse to fool around with climate change and our future. Led by the Energy Action Coalition, Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, and Rising Tide, the collective action aims to turn the tide away from fossil fuel dependence and towards a clean and just energy revolution. More info.