We are pleased to announce that today AASHE has launched a new Campus Solar Photovoltaic Installations Database that provides technical details on hundreds of on-campus solar pv projects, giving a clearer picture of higher education's adoption of solar pv technology than has previously been possible. The database reveals dramatically accelerating deployment of on-campus solar pv in recent years, including dozens of megawatt scale arrays installed as part of institutions' overall strategy to insulate themselves from ever-increasing utility rates while simultaneously reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

In this Article

1. Findings and Charts
2. Design and Goals of the Database
3. How to Contribute to the Project
4. Appreciations

Findings and Charts

A key finding revealed by the database is that installed solar capacity has grown 450 percent over the last three years in the higher education sector, as institutions have taken advantage of dropping solar prices, state and federal incentives and innovative financing mechanisms:

The median project size has soared six fold since 2009 as institutions have increasingly been deploying solar pv arrays that are large enough to provide a significant portion of their overall electricity needs:

Two examples of this trend are University of San Diego and Butte College. In its first on-campus solar deployment, USD took advantage in 2010 of federal and state incentives through a Solar Power Purchase Agreement to install 5,000 panels on 11 campus buildings, providing up to 15 percent of the campus’ electricity at below market rates and with little upfront cost. Butte College completed its third and largest solar array in 2011, making it the first institution in the US to generate more electricity from solar than it uses. Butte's President, Diane Van Der Ploeg, explained in a June 2011 AASHE blog article how Butte got to "grid positive" and why it was a wise investment for the institution, generating an estimated $50-$75 million for academic programming while establishing Butte as a leader and model for others.

The addition of larger projects to the higher education solar base has produced significant annual additions to higher education's installed capacity, with more growth on the horizon:

As one might expect, the increasing economies of scale and falling price of solar pv modules in recent years have brought down the median cost per Watt of higher ed installations. The magnitude of the decline, however, is a breathtaking 35% since 2009. Any institution that might have ruled out a solar system in 2009 because it didn't "pencil out" might want to sharpen their pencils and reexamine the business case in light of today's pv prices.

Institutions have been taking advantage of the dropping cost per Watt by installing larger systems. That means higher education's contribution to the green economy and green jobs creation via solar purchases is on the rise:

Other interesting revelations made possible by the database include:

• The 137 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity installed on higher education campuses to date is equivalent to the power used by 40,000 homes in the U.S.

• Higher education solar installations in 2010 made up 5.4 percent of the total 956 MW installed that year in the U.S.

• Only five states installed more solar in 2010 than the 52 MW installed on U.S. campuses in 2010. (It could be fewer states if the higher ed installations in those 5 states were backed out of their state's totals.)
• 30 out of the 45 largest higher education installations are on AASHE Member campuses
• 64% of the campuses with solar installations are AASHE members

Design and Goals of the Database

AASHE's goal in creating this database is to drive further solar development on higher education campuses. In order to do that, we examined common barriers to the successful implementation of solar pv projects on campuses and designed the database to address them. In order to address several significant barriers, AASHE recruited the sponsorship and participation of AMSOLAR, a San Diego-based developer of solar projects that specializes in solar projects at educational institutions nationwide.

• Belief Barrier - The dynamically generated Top Ten Lists that show the largest projects in a number of categories are designed to raise expectations for what is possible in a variety of settings.
• Availability of Information - AMSOLAR's sponsorship of the database has allowed us to make the treasure-trove of data contained in it free and available to everyone, not just AASHE members.
• Identifying Peer Models - Many institutional decision-makers want to see that one or more peer institutions have experienced success deploying solar before green-lighting a solar RFP for their own campus. The database makes it easy for campus solar advocates to browse or search for institutions in their region or of similar type.
• Early Technical Guidance - Evaluating the solar potential of a campus can be a complex process of weighing sites and technologies. As part of its sponsorship, AMSOLAR has agreed to serve as a technical resource, fielding questions from the campus sustainability community.
• Making the Business Case - The database contains specific details about the cost, financing mechanisms and annual savings associated with a given project. While this can be helpful in understanding recent and more distant market conditions and trends, evaluating current market trends in a given region, identifying state and federal incentives and understanding the various financing mechanisms commonly used for solar projects in higher education can be tricky. As part of its sponsorship, AMSOLAR has agreed to serve as a resource on these types of questions as well.

We hope that our careful planning to address common barriers to the implementation of solar projects will result in this database being a tool for action as well as analysis and that no viable solar project will die on the vine for lack of information.

How to Contribute to the Project

Check Your Institution's Database Records
If your institution has one or more solar arrays, check to see that they are correctly listed with complete information. Anyone can submit an update for a listing by clicking the "Update this Information" link on an installation's detail page in the database. If you know of an installation that is missing from the database altogether, please submit it via our Add a Solar Installation form. All submissions are reviewed by AASHE staff before going live.

Conduct Additional Analysis
There are more additional ways to analyze the data in the Campus Solar Photovoltaic Installations Database than we had the capacity to do here. We are interested in finding a partner in higher education that would like to take the analysis closer to the level of sophistication found in the Tracking the Sun reports produced by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. If you are a student and would like to make it your senior thesis or a graduate school project, or you are a faculty member and would like to make it a class project, please contact us at resources@aashe.org.

If you conduct and publish any analysis based on data drawn from the database, please let us know about it. We may link to it from the database or tweet it.

Help Document Higher Ed Installations Outside the US

Users of the database today will notice that there are only a handful of installations documented outside of the US. We would like the database to better reflect solar installations at higher institutions around the world. We will be putting out a call for participation in the Global Edition of the AASHE Bulletin, but we would appreciate your assistance spreading the word as well.

Appreciations

This database would not have been possible without the hard work and contributions of a number of people outside of AASHE. First, we'd like to thank the hundreds of campus and solar industry contacts that responded to our request for detailed information about their on-campus projects. AASHE would like to thank John Whitney of the Clean Energy Action Project for his help compiling the data. (And we'd like to wish him a happy birthday!) Finally, thanks to AMSOLAR for enabling the database to be made available to all for free and for their on-going support as a technical resource to the campus sustainability community.

With the arrival of two new staff members this summer, the STARS team has taken on the task of identifying new ways to utilize data submitted by over 125 STARS Participants to date. Beginning in October, we’re excited to share our findings through regular blog posts and updates on facts, trends, best practices, and areas for improvement. By sharing this information, we hope to recognize a job well done and also share ideas and inspiration on areas of sustainability that may be more difficult to attain.

October’s factoids and best practices focus on two topics within the Operations and Planning, Administration, & Engagement categories: OP Credit 5: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction, and PAE Credit 11: Sustainable Compensation.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction
Did you know?
Out of all institutions that submitted for a STARS rating, over 82 percent have reduced their net greenhouse gas emissions per weighted campus user compared to a 2005 base year. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement. Only seven institutions have reported cutting greenhouse emissions by at least 50 percent.

• The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (STARS Silver, August 2011) reduced Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 12.6 percent between 2005 and 2010. The reduction results from many efforts including an aggressive building recommissioning program, It All Adds Up energy conservation campaign, and greater emphasis on district cooling strategies.
• The University of California, Los Angeles (STARS Silver, August 2011) has been an early actor in achieving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Since 1990, emissions have stayed relatively flat despite a 40% growth in campus square footage. This translates in a 26 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions per square foot since 1990.

Sustainable Compensation
Did you know?
Out of all institutions that submitted for a STARS rating, nearly 90 percent have taken proactive steps to ensure that their lowest paid workers earn a sustainable compensation.

• Eastern Iowa Community College District (STARS Silver, June 2011) conducted a wage assessment for employees using the Living Wage Calculator. Through this tool, the college determined that all fulltime employees were earning above the living wage in the area.
• At Middlebury College (STARS Gold, January 2011), staff conduct salary surveys on a regular basis to ensure that, on average, jobs pay at the 80th percentile of the labor market. In addition, employee share of medical and dental premiums is calculated on an income-sensitive basis, with lower-paid employees receiving the largest employer-subsidy.
• Pace University (STARS Bronze, 2011), pays employees a prevailing wage that is above the minimum wage based on analysis of job type and classification. In the midst of an economic downturn, Pace University provided a one-time lump-sum payment to employees identified as lower-wage earners to offset losses from a freeze on the annual merit award.

November’s factoids and best practices will highlight STARS credits in the Innovation and Education & Research categories. In the meantime, we hope to get your feedback on future STARS data analysis updates! Send your ideas to stars@aashe.org.

The Tidal Basin in Washington, DC is perhaps best known for the cherry blossoms that attract many visitors in the spring. But during the past few weeks, the park has served as the staging ground for the 2011 Solar Decathalon.

A project of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Solar Decathalon consists of various collegiate teams from around the world that compete to construct realistic, marketable houses with a twist - they need to be powered by solar energy.

In addition to an overall winner based on various categories from architecture to affordability to home entertainment - this year, the University of Maryland - visitors have a chance to vote on their favorite entry.

I had a chance to meet with this year's People's Choice Award winner, Appalachian State University. Video cameras captured live interviews all around us as I sat with with two students at a chic table on the porch of their competition entry, the mix of excitement and apprehension that is indicative of an international competition in the air. More than anything, though, the giddy pride of the students shone as they described the work they had completed.

“You have to think, how do you construct something and make it livable? You have to be careful, because it’s no longer a conceptual dream. It’s reality,” Jacqueline Stewart, an undergraduate in Appalachian State’s design program, described to me.

Reality it is, indeed. Appalachian State’s Solar Homestead has four different outbuildings that are connected by one outdoor living space called the Great Porch. The porch houses 42 solar panels that are bifacial, meaning they collect sunlight from both the top and the bottom of the panel.

Stewart said that the idea was to demonstrate how the future of solar energy is integrating solar energy into the house, not just adding the panel to the house. “We did this because we wanted to marry the engineering and the architecture,” Stewart said, “instead of just tacking solar panels on the roof.” The Homestead was inspired by the design used by settlers in North Carolina’s mountain region.

According to Kenric Hartman, the construction manager for the Homestead, the project was entirely student-designed and led. “A lot of people were starting from the beginning and a lot of people have not designed something to this scale, so it’s been a huge learning process,” said Hartman.

If the house were put on the market today, the students estimate it would go for around $350,000.

There is no engineering or architecture program at Appalachian State, and the bulk of the students come from either a construction or design background. Still, the design curriculum has a large focus on renewable energy technologies and building efficiency.

“Appalachian is always pushing the envelope on sustainability,” said Stewart, “and I think this is why, though we have no engineering or architecture program, we were able to do this.”

Ged Moody, sustainability director at Appalachian State, views the Solar Homestead as “a great rallying point for sustainability.” According to Moody, the Homestead has “built tremendous awareness, particularly around student involvement and renewable energy.”

Appalachian State is still trying to find a home for the solar house on campus, but there are some ideas in the pipeline. For instance, it could be used for long-term testing or used as a teaching tool for students on campus. Regardless, the Solar Homestead will certainly be an emblem of the students’ tenacity, creativity and dedication to renewable energy.

The staff, directors and membership of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) mourn the passing of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai who died yesterday in her home country of Kenya. Dr. Maathai, who was scheduled to give the opening keynote at AASHE 2011: Creating Sustainable Campuses and Communities, had been hospitalized for ovarian cancer in the preceding weeks. We are deeply saddened by the loss of this world leader of sustainable development who worked for decades on eradicating poverty, improving the environment, championing women’s rights, exposing climate injustice and fighting government corruption. She has brilliantly woven together the many strands of sustainability so that we can see and understand the ways that these elements are all necessary for a better future.

After becoming the first east African woman to earn a doctorate (in veterinary anatomy) and while serving as a faculty member at the University of Nairobi, she started the Green Belt Movement which has resulted in more than 40 million trees being planted in east Africa. Her efforts at environmental conservation were coupled with the alleviation of poverty of Africa’s women and led her into Kenyan politics where she was a voice for democracy and the elimination of corruption. Her efforts led to her jailing in more than one instance. She was courageous and determined in all her work.

AASHE had asked her to keynote our conference because her life embodied the conference theme of ‘Creating Sustainable Campuses and Communities.’ One portion of her legacy is the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi. She refers to the mission of the institute in her latest book, Replenishing the Earth: Spiritual Values for Healing Ourselves and the World. The mission reads: To transfer knowledge and skills on sustainable use of natural resources from academic halls and laboratories to the citizenry in villages and rural communities throughout Africa and beyond, and in doing so encourage transformational leadership grounded and focused on improving peoples livelihoods and sharing cultures of peace.

For all of us at AASHE, we mourn Wangari Maathai in her passing but we celebrate all she has done for all of us, for the world, and for future generations. She has left a legacy that gives us great reason to be thoughtful and joyful and thankful.

I just finished a conference call where more than a dozen NGO leaders were holding a discussion with representatives from the US Departments of State, Education, and Labor. The meeting was entitled, “Rio+20 Social Pillar Stakeholder Consultations.” (You may have noticed in the recent AASHE Announcements that we have established a website for collecting input from the higher education sustainability community for the Compilation Document for the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development known as Rio+20.) Toward the end of the call one of the participants asked whether RIO+20 would make any difference. I believe the answer is “YES” to much of world and “POSSIBLY” to those areas where Agenda 21 (the outcomes document of the original Rio conference 20 years ago) was ignored.

The two main themes of Rio+20 are Green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication and Institutional framework for sustainable development. In the conversation this morning we were reacting to statements/priorities drawn up by Education and Labor that focused on the green economy theme. Education’s priorities were for K-12, a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education as it relates to human activities, health, ecosystems and sustainability. Labor’s priorities focused on worker skills, worker rights, and social safety nets for displaced workers.

First, let me commend the interagency group (which includes 15 departments/agencies) for inviting the NGOs to provide their input to the US position. The discussion was robust and indicated a need to expand the understanding of a green economy to to look at not just the STEM disciplines but all of education. There were also comments about protecting not only individual workers but also the health of the communities that might be impacted by a green economy.

All of these are important ideas when thinking about a green economy but they work from the assumption that such an economy is either in existence or inevitable. What seemed to be missing was a discussion about how we CREATE the green economy. And this is where we all come into the discussion. The green economy (defined by the UNEP as: an economy that results in “improved human well-being and social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcity”) is what we all need to be envisioning as we think about how we create a sustainable world. And it’s not just about us – we need to do this as a global community, i.e. a global green economy.

Rio+20 has the potential to develop (part of) the blueprint for the creation of a global green economy. What will happen to that blueprint? Twenty years ago, the creation of Agenda 21 led to many nations accepting the document as a guide for national practices. I was impressed when I was in South Korea earlier this year about the extent to which they use Agenda 21 as a framework and benchmark for their progress. The US is one of the more conspicuous “ignorers” of Agenda 21. We ought not let that happened again. Rio+20 can matter to all of us if a) we engage in providing input to shape it and b) we ask our governments, educational institutions, NGOs, and the business and labor communities to pay attention to a blueprint in which we all have a stake. The green economy will not “just happen.” The green economy needs all of us working to shape it, define it, and make it whole. Join with us by providing your thoughts today!

Paul Rowland, AASHE Executive Director

This has been a busy year for the STARS Program and with back-to-school efforts in full-force, I wanted to take a moment to share some updates from the STARS Team. This summer, AASHE welcomed two new staff to support the STARS Program. Chris Pelton, STARS Program Assistant, will coordinate details for Technical Advisor Work Group meetings, manage improvements to the STARS Reporting Tool, and support research efforts for STARS credit improvements. Monika Urbanski, STARS Program Analyst, will be researching specific ways to improve the STARS credits and analyzing the data that has been submitted thus far. Monika will also play an important role in developing the STARS Annual Review.

The timing of our new staff joining couldn’t be better since AASHE now has over 125 STARS Reports submitted. This represents a lot of valuable information about campus sustainability happenings. Monika will be digging through this data and identifying trends, best practices, and areas for improvement that Chris and the STARS Technical Advisors will work to address. Stay tuned for future blog posts on some of these findings and areas for improvement.

We’re all looking forward to the AASHE 2011 Conference this October in Pittsburgh, PA. AASHE will be hosting two STARS Workshops and there is still spots left so register today! The STARS Introductory Workshop will be geared towards those that are new to STARS, and the STARS Advanced Workshop is for those that have been using the system. In addition, there will be several sessions addressing STARS throughout the conference including a STARS 101 session and a Town Hall meeting that will be very participatory and aims to collect feedback on the program. Stay tuned to the conference website for more information regarding conference details and don’t forget to visit the STARS Team at the AASHE networking area in the exhibit hall if you are attending the conference.

• Meghan Fay Zahniser, STARS Program Manager

Antioch University New England (AUNE) recently achieved participation from 100 percent of its employees in the Green Guru program, an initiative to make office spaces at the University more sustainable. Abigail Abrash Walton (image to the right), Assistant to the President for Sustainability & Social Justice, and Rachel Brett (image to the left), the current Green Guru, talk to AASHE about the inner-workings of the program. Learn more about AUNE's Green Guru program here.

To see AASHE's list of other school's green office programs, click here.

What are the primary goals of the Green Guru program? How large of a focus is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and specifically those from electricity usage?

The Green Guru program was developed based on a recommendation by Antioch University New England’s 2006 Energy & Climate Action Task Force, which set the target for AUNE to reach 100% carbon neutrality by 2020. The purpose of the program is to conduct outreach and education to our campus community and the general public about effective strategies for greenhouse gas reduction. The Green Guru program highlights initiatives that AUNE is taking at an institutional level as well as ways that individuals can reduce their own carbon footprint, both on campus and at home.

The Green Guru program uses one-to-one Office Energy-Efficiency workspace audits as a primary outreach and education method. Through this approach, the Green Guru meets personally with every faculty, staff and administrator who has workspace on campus. Electricity usage is a major focus of the audits, but is only one part of our efforts; the audits also deal with other elements like campus composting and resource recovery (a.k.a. recycling!). Additionally, as Green Guru, I've also been working extensively to help reduce our emissions from transportation and commuting, again by one-on-one outreach but also through general education programs and carpooling/biking initiatives on campus.

As this article mentions, AUNE achieved an impressive rate of participation (100%) of which many campuses are surely envious. How did you motivate and get such high levels of participation? What suggestions do you have for other campuses working to increase engagement?

The primary way that we have achieved such high levels of participation is one-to-one outreach. The Green Guru contacts each faculty, staff or administrator directly, either through a personal email or by visiting offices in person, to arrange each audit. The audits are usually brief (although some have turned into extensive conversations!), and people generally have been responsive and happy to participate. University employees are very busy people, so the key has been to make it as easy as possible to be involved. During the start-up phase of the program, the Green Guru also awarded prizes to those who participated in the initial education and outreach survey we did, as well as to “early adopter” participants in the audits. The key is taking a personal approach, keeping it light, and simply going to people one at a time and on an individual level. It's not hard work—in fact, it's fun and it gave me the chance to get a much more diverse perspective and meet many people whom I otherwise would never have met. It does take time, but the impact, results and built social capital are definitely worth it.

In what ways are the members that enrolled during the first or second Green Guru’s term being kept up to date with information and encouraged to continue participating in the program?

We keep the campus community informed about our progress via our internal campus communications bulletin. We also organize an ongoing community-building education & action series called Carbon Counts: You Can Too, which features speakers from our campus community (including alumni). The series raises awareness about dimensions of climate change and what actions individuals and institutions can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate-change impacts. These events, which are open to the public, also provide us with an ongoing forum to report back to the campus community about our progress.

Now that we've just reached 100% participation with the office energy-efficiency audits, the next step is to update our “audit checklist,” because over the past few years (and even the past few months), certain aspects have changed. I plan to send it to every faculty, staff member and administrator, along with an individualized email thanking them for participating, offering check-ins if they would like, and attaching the checklist as a way that they can keep informed of the changes and updates. We will also continue to use our campus community bulletin to keep faculty and staff informed of the strides AUNE is taking and the ways in which they can be involved or contribute in their own actions.

How is the Green Guru at AUNE selected? Is there an application or training process for the Green Guru? If so, who administers these trainings and what kind of information does the Green Guru receive?

The Green Guru is a position that is always filled by a current AUNE graduate student. AUNE’s Assistant to the President for Sustainability and Social Justice hires, trains and supervises each Green Guru. There is a checklist for the office energy-efficiency audits that guides those one-on-ones and that is updated by each successive Green Guru, as needed. There is also a master list of all employees with campus work spaces, which the Green Guru uses for tracking outreach. One thing I will be doing before graduating in May is to put together a handbook of additional resources and tips for future Green Gurus after I'm gone.

Are there additional individuals as part of the Green Guru program that help to track the progress of the program (e.g. reduction in energy use, etc)?

As Green Guru, I report directly to the Assistant to the President for Sustainability and Social Justice, who works with me, other staff of AUNE’s Sustainability and Social Justice Committee, and campus facilities and administration staff to track AUNE's overall energy use on a quarterly basis. Through this tracking and analysis, we know, for example, that after peak campus electricity usage in FY 2006, AUNE has achieved a cumulative 34% reduction in electricity usage for the successive four fiscal years through the Green Guru office energy-efficiency audits as well as via other institutional changes as well, such as installing motion/sound-sensing lights in the restrooms.

Has the Green Guru program worked with university leadership in terms of institutionalizing certain office practices that the Green Gurus have been encouraging (e.g. buying 100% recycled papers, instituting an e-waste recycling policy)?

AUNE’s Assistant to the President for Sustainability and Social Justice is the primary point person on campus for facilitating institutionalization of the campus’s sustainability and social justice goals and action steps. She reports directly to AUNE’s campus president and serves on the president’s cabinet. AUNE’s sustainability initiatives are guided by the campus’s 2006 whole-systems Social Justice Audit and our 2010-2020 Climate Action Plan. Since developing these foundational plans, our campus community has achieved significant and concrete progress in terms of institutionalizing purchase of 100% recycled paper, instituting an e-waste recycling procedures, reducing campus paper printing, and a host of other sustainability measures. Campus leadership is committed to supporting and implementing these initiatives. One example among many others: in 2009, AUNE’s president adopted a comprehensive, cutting-edge Responsible Purchasing Policy that incorporates both sustainability and social justice dimensions. We’re really proud of the progress we’ve made together as a campus community.

While this article is written for students, AASHE invites faculty, staff and administrators who are committed to producing graduates to lead the transition to a sustainable economy to join the conversation. For this audience, the article can read: “Create the Green Economy You Want BEFORE You Graduate Your Students.”

Dear Student,

You have at your disposal a tool that can create the “green economy” of your dreams. What’s more, you can use that tool to put yourself in an excellent position to win a job in that green economy after you graduate. How do you find and use this tool? By acting before you graduate to change how institutions like yours buy products and services!

The Potential

Higher education institutions in the United States spend tens of billions of dollars annually procuring an extraordinary range of products and services, according to a 2010 report (pdf) produced by AASCU & NAEP. If sustainability criteria were incorporated into all procurement decisions made by higher education institutions, it would drive the innovation of sustainable products and services in a profound way. Think about it. Higher education purchases a share of nearly everything consumed by the greater society. Institutional purchases include vehicles, cleaning services, food, apparel, lab equipment, televisions, whole buildings, financial services, medical supplies, shower heads, insurance, you name it!

Higher education buys these things from the same large companies and small local businesses that the rest of us buy from. When higher education makes sustainability a key part of its purchasing decisions, it has the opportunity to influence what is sold to everyone else. That is why getting involved in how your institution buys products and services will give you a hand in creating the green economy you want!

Some of you may be aware that public institutions often have to purchase things through state negotiated contracts, which means it isn’t as easy to insert sustainability criteria into purchasing decisions as it might be at a private institution. You can let that discourage you, or you can see that as an opportunity to influence the hundreds of billions annually spent through state contracts! While changing state contracts can be a longer process, the impact will be multiplied many times. Imagine the impact if your advocacy resulted in your entire state government upping the post-consumer recycled content of all the paper it purchases.

The Urgency

In the U.S., the green economy is sputtering along with the whole economy. Green jobs stimulus funding is coming to an end. Tax breaks are expiring. New environmental regulation that would drive investment in sustainable technologies is scarce. Not surprisingly, new investment by companies in green product development is slowing in kind. (See Searching for the Good News in the Sputtering Green Economy on GreenBiz.com)

The good news is that we’ve been here before. By “here” I mean the point at which supply-side solutions falter and we have to switch our attention to “closing the loop” through the creation of demand-side solutions. The recycling movement originally took off on the supply side with materials collection programs in communities and at institutions. It wasn’t long, however, before the supply of reclaimed materials far outstripped the demand for them. Many manufacturers were comfortable using virgin materials and didn’t see a need to change to reclaimed materials. Thus, programs had to be created to foster buyer demand for products made from recycled materials. Public awareness campaigns to “buy recycled” were launched, along with labeling schemes to help customers identify and patronize products from manufacturers that used reclaimed materials. It worked. The buyer-demand convinced manufacturers to give reclaimed materials a try. Today, manufacturers are so comfortable using reclaimed materials that sometimes they don’t even bother labeling them or charging a premium for them.

It’s time to move from closing the recycling loop to closing the loop in the green economy as a whole. Every day, companies, cooperatives and nonprofits are bringing to market products and services that are more sustainable than the ones we already use. Some of them make it. Some don’t. One of the biggest reasons they don’t make it is because they can’t find buyers that are willing to break from the comfortable familiarity of the product or service they have always used in order to adopt a more sustainable alternative. Is your institution one that is willing to consider products and services that are more sustainable than the ones it is used to? Is it proactively asking vendors to find more sustainable alternatives? To close the loop on the green economy, we need it to be.

For big companies, it isn’t so much a matter of whether they survive or not as it is whether they continue to invest in green product development. According to GreenBiz.com, big companies report that the largest factor in their environmental strategy is customer demand. When buyers demand sustainable products, big companies create teams or divisions devoted to providing sustainable products and services. When buyers purchase those products, that team or division grows - as does its clout in corporate strategy meetings. When buyers don’t show up, the teams are disbanded, the products sidelined and the customer demand deemed a passing fad. Is your school using its customer relationship with large vendors to expand the clout of the “green teams” in those companies? If it isn’t asking for green products and services in every Request for Proposal (RFP), there’s no incentive for vendor representatives to seek out the green team within their corporation and bring their work to the forefront.

The Opportunity

Your institution, and higher education in general, is in a perfect position to be an early adopter that catalyzes sustainable products and services. Here’s why.

• Ability to prioritize sustainability
  Higher education decision-makers often have more leeway to consider sustainability factors in purchasing decisions than do their peers in business and government. This is due in no small part to the buyer demand being exerted on higher education buy it’s customers - you! Sixty-nine percent of college applicants say information about a school’s sustainability will influence their decision, according to the 2011 Princeton Review Hopes & Worries Survey.

• Serves the educational mission
  You, your faculty and your future employers all want you to engage “real-world problems” during your studies. From life-cycle assessments to user behavior studies to market research, there are ample opportunities in a wide range of disciplines for you to engage real-world problem solving via procurement. And the learning opportunities don’t have to stop when the purchase decision is made. Educational opportunities can be incorporated in implementation, verification and even future innovation. This is particularly true when your institution's procurement contracts require vendors to facilitate student engagement or even incentivize it through internships.

• Prepares students to get jobs in the green economy
  Valuable real-world problem-solving experience doesn’t have to be sustainability-oriented. But for those of you who want to go into green careers, getting experience working on real-world sustainability issues can be a big leg up in a highly competitive green jobs market. In 2009, Bright Green Talent, a green talent recruiter service, reported to GreenBiz.com that “supply and demand for green jobs are wholly out of whack” because green jobs are scarce relative to the supply of job seekers. The anecdotal evidence I have suggests that is still the case two years later. When it comes time for you to get a job, the professional contacts created through collaborating with vendors can be invaluable. I’ve seen a number of students get hired upon graduation by higher ed vendors they worked with on campus projects while still a student.

• Ability to combat greenwashing
  When I was working post-graduation with Duke University’s procurement services division to implement the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guidelines we’d drafted while I was a student, I saw vendors pitch plenty of greenwash at our procurement staff. In a number of cases, students were able to assist the already-busy procurement staff by researching the environmental claims being made. It was a win-win for both sides. Only higher education procurement departments can enlist eager students in evaluating the green claims and cost/benefit of various copier paper products - as a class project!

The Myth

You may have heard the myth. The one that says green products and services always cost more. People who’ve been told the myth can be forgiven for thinking that green procurement initiatives won’t get far in a down economy. Fortunately, they’re misinformed.

The Truth

• Many green products don’t require any additional funding
  Your institution is already spending money buying essentials like paper, cleaning supplies, etc. If your institution asks vendors to help it re-direct the money it is already spending to better alternatives, it will quickly find there is plenty of low-hanging fruit that doesn’t cost a penny more!

• Many green products save money
  Some green products save money because they simply cost less upfront, while others save money by reducing associated costs, such as energy use, waste hauling fees, and labor.

• Investigating green products can lead to new sources of funding!
  For example, many people think solar panels are frightfully expensive, but Butte College worked with solar vendors to find grants and secure financing that will allow their solar farm to eliminate the school’s electricity bill and generate revenue for the school to spend on improving academic offerings and expanding student enrollment.

What You Can Do

• Reach out to the procurement professionals on your campus to see how you can help.
  There is a good chance they are already working on green procurement. According to a 2010 survey (ppt) conducted by the National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP), 53 percent of higher education procurement professionals reported that green procurement is an official part of their school’s sustainability initiative.

• Read Kevin Lyon’s book Buying for the Future: Contract Management and the Environmental Challenge.
  This short book is written for procurement professionals, but it is written in approachable language that can introduce you to the tools of the procurement trade and how they can be used to advance sustainability - in a higher education setting, no less.

• Check out AASHE’s extensive Sustainable Purchasing Resources.
  There you will find dozens of green procurement policies adopted by all sizes and types of schools (maybe even your own school) and real-world green purchasing case studies. You’ll also find discounts offered to AASHE member institutions.

• Contact vendors of products and services that excite you!

  • Ask them to help you make the business case for bringing their product or service to your school.
  • Ask them to help you identify who the traditional decision-makers are for purchases of their product or service so you will know who you need to start with on your campus.
  • Invite them to speak to your student group. (It’s free professional development for your group members and an opportunity for the vendor to learn about your campus. If you are really excited about their product or service, you can even take it another step and invite relevant staff and faculty to meet with them while they are on campus.)
  • Ask them if they can arrange a field trip for your student group to see their product or service in action or to visit their factory. Invite staff and faculty to come along!
  • Contact several vendors offering products or services that address the same problem, so you get a sense of the range of solutions available and pricing in the marketplace.

Two great places to find higher education vendors that are prepared to talk sustainability with you are the AASHE Business Member Product and Service Directory and the Expo that accompanies AASHE’s annual conference.

• Help build user acceptance. One of the things you’ll probably hear from your institution’s procurement professionals is that sometimes campus community members will reject innovative new products and services in favor of what’s familiar. It’s a real problem, and one that students are especially well equipped to help with. For example, students have the time, energy and political leeway to run around campus talking to office staff about stocking their supply closets with more sustainable office products.

• Don’t forget to share what you accomplish in the area of sustainable purchasing! Changing how the entire higher education sector spends money is going to require working together and sharing successes and lessons learned.

  • If you develop some great RFP language, share it on the AASHE forum.
  • If you have a procurement-related case study to share, submit it to AASHE’s Campus Sustainability Case Studies Database.
  • If your institution develops a sustainable purchasing policy, submit it for inclusion in the AASHE Resource Center by sending it to resources@aashe.org.
  • If you do a class project or conduct independent research related to sustainable purchasing, submit it to AASHE’s Student Research Database.
  • Submit a proposal to present your sustainable purchasing work at AASHE’s annual conference.
  • Share your experience and invite peer feedback by writing an AASHE Student Diary. Diaries are featured in the AASHE Bulletin, which reaches nearly 11,000 students, staff, faculty and administrators involved in campus sustainability.

I hope you found this article inspiring and useful. Sustainable purchasing was a very effective and meaningful part of my activism as an undergraduate. That work led me into a green career. I hope it can do the same for you.

Sincerely,

Sam Hummel
AASHE

This week’s interview is with Terry Calhoun, the Director of Media Relations, Social Media and Publications for the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), which is a member institution of the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC). Terry, a graduate from University of Michigan with a Master's in Biological Anthropology and JD, talks to AASHE about how SCUP is promoting sustainability.

If you are interested in participating in the AASHE Interview Series or wish to nominate someone to participate please email Niles Barnes (niles@aashe.org). To read past interviews, click here.

What campus sustainability initiatives are you working on at the moment?

My highest priority right now is assisting HEASC staff and volunteers to broaden the scope of activities and program providers for Campus Sustainability Day 9, October 26. Until recently, SCUP managed this day alone, but HEASC has taken it on as a consortium-wide initiative.

What resources and training do you offer your members specifically on sustainability issues?

Our members and constituents offer our programming as volunteers. We cover sustainability regularly in our journal, Planning for Higher Education. The society has the full gamut of association professional development opportunities: webcasts, one-day events, conferences, blogs, publications. A healthy segment of that is sustainability in name.

How does being part of the HEASC network provide opportunities for learning and collaboration?

Even before HEASC, NWF’s Campus Ecology Program and other groups held a summit for higher education association professionals, and the opportunities coming out of that to collaborate or support were immediately powerful. HEASC has broadened that scope and put a name onto it.

What are some benefits from working to advance sustainability at your organization?

To SCUP there are enormous benefits from all sustainability work, because of its systems nature, and the requirement that in order to do it right, it has to be fully integrated across boundaries. And it is more obvious in sustainability than it is in other aspects of higher education planning. The “integrated planning” message and the sustainability message are the same.

How did you get started in campus sustainability, and what campus sustainability success are you most proud of?

I always had an interest in systems and ecology. My insight into its value for my employer came during the summit I mentioned before, to which I had been invited by Julian Keniry of the NWF’s Campus Ecology Program. I heard a student describe how a campus master plan had been a barrier in students’ request to implement a green project. Not intentionally, but because it had not reached out and integrated with other planning and change processes enough to accommodate the students’ request.

At the same time, Bill McDonough spoke to a plenary session of SCUPers at a regional event. In the audience were several then-current board members, who were very impressed. The conversations came together at our next board meeting and we just moved on from there.

I’m proud that SCUP not only recognized the importance of sustainability, but took a leap and a leadership role in promoting sustainability. SCUP members not only made sustainability a constant theme on hundreds of college and university campuses, but it also became an inherent theme within SCUP. SCUP supported and had leadership roles in the creation of AASHE, ACUPCC, HEASC, and STARS, as well as Campus Sustainability Day.

In what area(s) do you see the biggest room for growth in the campus sustainability field?

As the cadre of young leadership that moved things forward on campus during the past decade take on more and more leadership roles in academia, they will infuse principles of sustainability into everything they manage.

How are you incorporating the social dimensions of sustainability into your work?

Whenever I can. Much of what liberal arts stands for is in many senses related to sustainability. The more social the dimensions of sustainability, however, the more complicated the politics of senior leadership and governance decisions.

Are you involved in efforts to advance sustainability in curriculum? If so, how?

SCUP was of assistance to Deb Rowe in starting the DANS organization. Although there are no SCUP initiatives to advance sustainability in curriculum, there are SCUP members working in sustainability curriculum areas.

How do you spend your free time?

Disc golfing, reading science fiction, inhaling large torrents of incoming information streams, and nurturing trees.