Called the Campus Climate Action Toolkit, the online package of software, information and instructions, links, and case studies "will help people interested in making their educational institution more 'climate friendly'," according to Ned Raynolds, who manages CA-CP's higher education program.
In development for more than two years, the toolkit includes a spreadsheet for taking an inventory of emissions, a guide to identifying emissions reduction targets and developing a campus climate action plan, case studies of projects and measures from other institutions, and a variety of links to resources for specific action steps.
CA-CP, which advises dozens of colleges and universities across the region on cutting greenhouse gases (GHG) through its Campuses for Climate Action program, is partnering with Middlebury College, Tufts University, the universities of Vermont and New Hampshire, and Harvard, among others, in creating the toolkit. The Northeast's leading nonprofit organization working to reduce the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, CA-CP also advises communities and corporations on action to prevent the build-up of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.
The inventory tool, developed for CA-CP by Adam Wilson, a graduate student in environmental studies at UNH, has been used on scores of campuses in the region and as far away as California and the Carolinas. It allows an institution to use a spreadsheet to capture emissions from a variety of sources, including heating, cooling, electricity, steam and transportation.
Institutions of all sizes, public and private, have been able to make significant reductions in emissions using the inventory tool to help them identify where changes can make the biggest difference, both in emissions reductions and money savings. Once an institution understands where their energy dollars are going, they can begin to prioritize the most cost-effective ways to reduce that, Raynolds said.
