Articles
Nearly 4 million people participated in worldwide climate strikes last September, in solidarity with 17-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who made the trek to New York City across the Atlantic by boat. It’s no coincidence that teenagers are some of the most engaged climate activists today. How are their schools rising to the challenge?
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Campus operators know when a heating system is inefficient. But what happens when we humans are inefficient? Here are four ways to address productivity challenges in the workplace.
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Massachusetts may enact the first state-wide legislation requiring that buildings comply with minimum energy performance standards. Find out if your institution's buildings are affected.
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The much-anticipated new version of STARS—Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System—has launched, and there are some new opportunities for points by reviewing the data before submitting to AASHE. A panel discussion at the AASHE conference in Spokane that GreenerU moderated helped participants figure out how to tackle one of the most important tools available for measuring sustainability on college campuses.
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AICUM and GreenerU launch GreenerMass, a finance program for schools, health centers, and other nonprofits to kickstart savings from energy-efficiency measures requiring no upfront capital costs. Past program participants are saving upwards of $100,000 annually on energy costs following payback period. Here's how to find out if your institution is eligible.
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Does the word “networking” boost your energy level? Or does it give you social anxiety? When it comes to large conferences, people’s comfort levels with socializing can vary. No matter where you land on the conference trepidation scale, we have a few tips to help you get the most out of AASHE—and any other networking events you might have on your calendar.
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Many campus sustainability offices are challenged with the urgency of climate change against the pace of academia. So why are so many sustainability efforts still trapped in meetings that resemble the undead?
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Large-scale sustainability action doesn’t happen by accident. It takes collective action and organized effort to make an impact.
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Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) doesn’t just happen. It has to be intentional. It has to be embedded. It has to be given space to thrive. But without actively embedding it in our day-to-day interactions, we won’t be able to solve the sustainability challenges we face.
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Rebates for energy-efficiency projects can be just the financial boost schools need to take them on. But discerning which ones will yield the greatest savings—not to mention which projects will have the best return on your investment—can be time-consuming, confusing, and downright frustrating.
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GreenerU has recently partnered with utility company Con Edison to offer custom energy savings solutions through electric and gas discounts at colleges, universities, and independent schools in conEd's service area.
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The City's ambitious effort to fight climate change includes incremental emissions reduction mandates. Strategies and utility incentives are available to help educational institutions meet targets for 2024, 2030, and beyond.
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Navigating social disruption is the bulk of my work—and very likely a major component of the work some of you do on your campus, too.
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Great ideas fail because they lack the strong foundation of diverse perspectives, troubleshooting, and idea testing that only conflict can unearth.
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What’s your greatest energy-savings opportunity?
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The program offers $60 million by way of a 30% cost-share incentive to support building energy analysis and control, using software that draws data from building automation systems and programmable to a building’s custom settings.
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This article is a summary of a discussion by AASHE community members who collaborated to host an extended session on advancement at the 2018 AASHE Conference in Pittsburgh (Advancement & Sustainability: Partnering for Fundraising and Alumni Engagement).
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You’ve got all kinds of ideas about making change at your institution. Maybe you’ve had some preliminary planning sessions with key stakeholders in a room and talk about how to move forward together. Maybe you see the big picture, but no one else is there with you. Or frankly, you just have limited bandwidth.
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Right now is a particularly exciting time in the lighting industry—one that is about as revolutionary as when Dorothy stepped outside her door to the Land of Oz into brilliant Technicolor.
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Truly serious efforts to get to zero recognize that the obligation starts with lowering demand. Buildings alone use 42% of the nation’s energy. Without tackling excessive building energy use, campuses are only going to glance around the target.
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Remote meetings require the help of a slew of supporting players, technologically speaking. To make remote meetings productive for your office, you need to have the right tools available.
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This article focuses on just one aspect of curbing Scope 3 emissions: business travel. Based on our experience at GreenerU, teleconferencing or remote meetings, when done well, can supplant a great many greenhouse emissions from road or air travel—and save you time and money in the process.
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Solar thermal, ground source heat pumps, and air source heat pumps among renewables included in Alternative Portfolio Standard at higher certificate prices, backdated to January 2015.
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As we continue to march through the 21st century, schools are increasingly turning an eye on being greener and saving green.
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STARS reporting is a bit like filing joint taxes in your first year as a newly married homeowner…with a business…and a baby. Sure, you could probably figure it out. But you could also hand it over to someone who knows how to maximize your refund.
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