The Sustainable University: Advancing from Academia to Action
By Katie Shewfelt
April 30, 2018
University campuses have historically been the vanguard of progress in the United States. The tradition that began most notably during the Civil Rights and Anti-War movements persists today, as students and faculty work to push the country towards a better future. However, on some key fronts, universities have much work to do if they want to be more than just intellectual spaces, but also agents of change – namely, on the issue of clean energy. Most universities offer a robust curriculum in sustainability and encourage environmental discourse. While these are important first steps, they are not enough; larger-scale cooperation by the administration and less eco-inclined corners of campus is essential for universities to live up to the environmental message they preach. Our whole nation has a responsibility to adopt more sustainable sources of energy, and our universities must lead by example. The campus of the future is one that not only explores sustainability from an academic lens, but also champions it by fostering a commitment to the environment and embracing clean energy.
The energy overhaul of an entire university is no light undertaking - it demands commitment and sacrifice from everyone. While some students and faculty would rally behind such a cause, others would cling to the comfort of the status quo. That’s why changing attitudes and norms is crucial. Professor Gregg Sparkman of Stanford has discovered that people embrace change when they “begin to think that change is possible, that change is important and that in the future, the norms will be different.” For example, his study at a Stanford café found that customers who read statements describing how people are “starting to limit how much meat they eat” were twice as likely to select a vegetarian option.
Although eating dining hall meat may seem irrelevant to clean energy, the livestock industry contributes to fossil fuel demand and accounts for 14.5 percent of global emissions. A university truly committed to clean energy must be responsible in its direct and indirect energy consumption. Norms surrounding meal choice, transportation, water use, electricity use, and others are key targets, and we can apply Sparkman’s findings to influence them. The core base of environmentalists on a campus must be vocal about improving their own behaviors, and others will be encouraged to adapt to the changing norm.
The administration also has a role to play in fostering a campus commitment to the environment, but this may prove challenging. Pressure from both the top and bottom will be critical in convincing an administration to support a costly (though valuable) undertaking. A spectrum of support that ranges from boards of trustees to students themselves can help secure university funding, resources, and commitment.
If the goals of students, faculty, and administration align, I envision a campus ripe with innovation and collaboration. I envision students lobbying successfully for a wider variety of vegan food options, relationships with local farms, and bike-renting and ride-sharing programs. I envision faculty partnering with students to design mobile sources of clean energy, cultivate farms and gardens, and spearhead environmental projects in the surrounding community. These initiatives can serve to unite diverse groups behind a common cause. They can also evolve to have considerable impacts on a university’s carbon footprint – imagine, for example, lush, sprawling gardens and fields that revitalize the campus landscape, provide students with hands-on experience in sustainable agriculture, and supply dining halls with all the responsibly grown produce they require. It’s important for a campus to actively choose change, and creating a culture of sustainability in all areas of student life can facilitate this.
Once a productive and dynamic environment is developed, the university can implement broad clean energy technologies. In fact, some universities have already come close to carbon neutrality through such approaches. A study by MIT researchers analyzed these campuses’ strategies and found that seeking out “local opportunities” for renewable energy was consistently effective. No university’s renewable energy needs will look exactly the same, but the versatility of options allows every campus access to a clean alternative. For some campuses, energy sustainability will look like rows of solar panels lined proudly along a green or mounted from every rooftop. For others, it may be underground geothermal systems - bringing heat from the earth for millions of dollars less than coal boilers - hydroelectric plants on nearby bodies of water, local wind farms, biomass, or even natural gas.
Diverse sources of energy can be engineered to power a campus at multiple scales. Larger operations are practical for meeting high energy demand, but scaled down operations allow students to engage educationally with the apparatus. For example, mobilized solar power units are certainly not sufficient to power an entire building, but a few 100W panels generate enough energy to power speakers at a concert or laptop charging stations. Students who use them can learn how the solar panels and battery systems work, and then carry that knowledge with them after graduation, making it easier for them to use renewable energy in future living situations.
In addition to transitioning to responsible sources of energy, universities can modify their infrastructure and systems to curtail growing energy demand. Targets include campus transportation, waste management, and lighting, but the greatest beast to tackle is energy inefficiency in old buildings. Universities can retrofit buildings to upgrade their utilities, install motion-sensor lights and high-performance windows, and construct cool rooves. Synergistic development can even design new buildings that are inherently greener and also serve an academic mission in the environmental sciences. For example, energy efficient laboratories and halls can support further research into campus sustainability and clean energy technologies.
The ideal clean university, one that considers its carbon footprint in every aspect of physical and academic development, is not too far in the future. Many are already progressing in that direction, but we need the staunch advocacy of campus communities to propel them forward. A green university is certainly a goal worth striving towards: it reduces costs in the long run, unites students behind a shared conviction, beautifies campus environments, and sparks further progress. If universities across the country throw their unmitigated support behind clean energy, it will mark a seminal moment in the environmental movement. A new age will begin, in which our country’s future lies in the hands of those committed to responsible, sustainable innovation.
We asked College Students across New England what they imagine a clean energy campus of the future would look like. We received submissions from multiple colleges, including Brown University, The University of Connecticut, Colby-Sawyer College, and the University of Southern Maine. After much deliberation, we are proud to announce first place of the New England Clean Energy Campus to Katie Shewfelt of Wesleyan University. This competition was made possible by funds from the Clean Energy Fund of the University of Vermont.
