Triple Pundit
Summary
In the United States, institutions of higher education are champions and facilitators of decarbonization research: They foster the next generation of climate scientists, build innovative technologies, and educate industry and the general public. Equally important, universities can become effective champions of decarbonizing their campuses.
College campuses are amongst some of the largest energy users in the country. Academic institutions, especially those that rely on large-scale computational systems and industrial machinery, still face many challenges when implementing decarbonization programs and curbing their carbon emissions.
Given their energy usage, functioning as small-scale cities, colleges and universities have a unique opportunity to act as natural test beds for a multitude of decarbonization strategies and provide case studies for peer institutions and larger citywide and statewide communities. Campuses are comprised of multiple different building types — dormitories, offices, classrooms — where the lessons learned can be applied to most of the nation’s residential and commercial building stock.
The Campus Consortium for Decarbonization was organized to share knowledge across New Jersey campuses working on reducing their carbon footprint. Academic institutions gather to share funding strategies and practical approaches to decarbonization and collaborate to develop innovative solutions. For example, at a recent consortium event, Princeton University shared the use of cutting-edge electric heat pumps to supplement its low-temperature water heating system, encouraging others to gauge the feasibility of adopting heat pumps and introducing similar thermal storage and geo-exchange programs.
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