Upcoming GreenerU webinars

Check back soon for more upcoming GreenerU webinars!

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Past webinars

A plan within a plan: getting specific about waste

Tuesday, September 30, 2025
1–3 p.m. ET

While they are excellent guiding documents, climate action plans (CAPs) sometimes fall short of providing the detail necessary to achieve a particular goal. When this is the case, an important next step is to dive deeper into that topic and create a plan—as Bentley University did to complement materials management goals in their CAP.

Engaging stakeholders and experts is crucial to the success of a waste minimization implementation plan. Involving the folks that will be implementing the plan in its development increases the likelihood of success. 

This free virtual workshop focused on how to leverage existing waste goals to create a detailed and actionable implementation plan. The presenters shared guidance for assembling a team, running a successful planning meeting, and successfully shifting from planning to implementation. Participants came away with a clear plan for who they can ask to be part of their team, what to cover in their first meeting, and how to smoothly guide the team through the planning process into implementation work. We also interspersed presentations and insights from Bentley’s process with activities to help participants start the process of creating their own waste implementation plans.

Workshop presenters:

• Jordyn Garrett, Sustainability Manager, Bentley University
• Meghan Weeden, Business Development Manager, Casella Waste Systems
• Madeline Rawson, Planning Project Manager, GreenerU

Thank you to our co-sponsors Second Nature and CURC!

Watch the presentation.

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Reconciling lab safety with decarbonization

Thursday, September 25, 2025
1–2 p.m. ET

Laboratories are energy- and resource-intensive spaces with a host of important safety and environmental requirements that are necessary for their success. Given the ever-increasing need for energy-efficient buildings, lab administrators and researchers are confronted with the challenge of how to build and operate these complex spaces to protect occupants and the planet.

The good news is that there are proven solutions out there that are adaptable, replicable, and scalable. In this webinar, Quentin Gilly, Director of Campus Sustainability at Indiana University Bloomington, will cover strategies that have proven effective at increasing energy efficiency in labs. A couple of these strategies include:

• Occupant engagement programs such as “Shut the Sash” for fume hoods and “ULT Temperature Tuning” for ultra-low-temperature freezers
• Creating and using a culture of lab safety to demonstrate risk reduction via more effective management of building ventilation systems

Meeting updated energy codes and ordinances without sacrificing safety, security, or environmental control is a crucial balance, and this webinar will provide guidance on how to effectively walk that line.

Watch the video.

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Preparing for decarbonization: higher education institutions

Preparing for decarbonization: Boston-based organizations

Thursday, May 29, 2025
1–2 p.m. ET

An institution’s decarbonization options can depend heavily on location. Boston and its neighboring cities Cambridge and Newton have some of the most progressive climate initiatives and legislation in the country, requiring building owners to invest in decarbonization measures to meet building ordinances. We understand that decarbonization is a complex topic made even more complicated by location-specific opportunities and regulations and hope to use our experience working on decarbonization in Boston to provide a stripped-down explanation of what decarbonization is and how to make progress.

This webinar peeled back the engineering jargon that frequently clouds decarbonization discussions to get to what this all really means—all with a Boston-area-specific lens. This webinar will go over the following topics:

• Navigating and understanding BERDO/BEUDO policies and regulations
• Guidance on the type of external expertise you need during the decarbonization process
• Explanation of decarbonization pathways 
• High-level summary of engineering and implementation for decarbonization solutions
• How to pay for decarbonization in the Boston area

Thank you to our co-sponsors the Building Electrification Accelerator, Massachusetts Interfaith Power and Light, and the Boston Green Ribbon Commission!

Watch the video.

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Climate Assessment Tool office hours

Thursday, May 21, 2025
1–2 p.m. ET

You can’t decide where to go next without knowing where you are. This is why GreenerU is introducing the Climate Assessment Tool (CAT)—a simple, effective way for K12 schools to evaluate their sustainability efforts and identify opportunities for improvement. CAT provides school leaders with insights on energy use, sustainability initiatives, and environmental curriculum.

GreenerU will be holding office hours for K12 schools on May 21 at 1 p.m. ET focused on sustainability baselining at your institution. Drop by to learn more about how to leverage CAT to create a baseline and advocate for change at your institution.

Check out the tool here!

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Preparing for decarbonization: K12 schools

Thursday, April 24, 2025
1–2 p.m. ET

If you only have time to do three things to push climate action and decarbonization forward at your school, what should you do? That’s the type of question we hope to shed some light on in this webinar. We understand that the folks doing sustainability work at K12 schools usually do so as a part-time job or volunteer work. With limited time and resources, we want to help you find the most impactful actions you can take. That starts with understanding decarbonization itself.

Decarbonization is a complicated topic, and this webinar will peel back the engineering jargon to get to what this all really means, and what you can do about it. This webinar will go over the following topics:

• Organizing energy data in a tool like EnergyStar Portfolio Manager
• Using energy data to roughly calculate building emissions
• Explanation of decarbonization pathways and what they mean
• Guidance on the type of external expertise you need during this process
• Summary of the high-level steps to engineering and implementing a decarbonization solution
• Guidance on financial resources

Come spend an hour with us in April and we promise you will leave with a better understanding of decarbonization than you came in with.

Thank you to our co-sponsor the Building Electrification Accelerator!

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Climate action planning with a historic preservation mindset

Friday, November 22, 2024
3–4 p.m. ET

Historic New England (HNE) is the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive historic preservation organization in the United States. In 2023, they completed an institutional Climate Action Plan and made a commitment to addressing “the global climate crisis through actions that will reduce or eliminate our greenhouse gas emissions, promote the resiliency of our properties, engage our communities, and advance climate justice and energy equity.” But with 41 historic properties they needed to start somewhere. The first site climate action plan was developed for Casey Farm (1702), a working farm in Saunderstown, R.I. HNE embarked on a pilot climate action planning process that involved members of the community in developing a set of goals and strategies that weave the principles of historic preservation with a modern understanding of sustainability. Today, Historic New England continues this journey with a climate action planning effort for an historic urban property, Pierce House (1683), located in Dorchester, Mass.

In this webinar, Historic New England joined GreenerU to discuss their climate action planning journey and what that means for historic preservation efforts at some of the nation’s oldest properties. They also shared how planning efforts have helped strengthen and prioritize their fundraising efforts. Guest panelists included:

• Joie Grandbois, Sustainability Coordinator, Historic New England
• Ben Haavik, Property Care Team Leader, Historic New England
• Katy Pomplun, Institutional Giving Officer for Preservation, Historic New England

Watch the video.

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Greening your house of worship with GreenerU

Tuesday, October 29, 2024
7–8:30 p.m. ET

GreenerU’s Eruc Grunebaum and Simon vonNieda presented during an online gathering hosted by Green Newton. Eric and Simon shared insights on how congregations can implement energy projects, with real-world examples from nonprofits and houses of worship that have significantly reduced their energy use.

This free webinar was hosted by Green Newton, the Climate Action Task Force of the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton, and the Boston Catholic Climate Movement.

Click here to watch the recording of the GreenerU presentation.

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Green energy incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act: how the final regulations shaped up

Wednesday, September 25, 2024
1–2 p.m. ET

President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022, creating unprecedented opportunities and incentives for businesses, individuals, and institutions to invest in electrification, renewables, and efficiency measures—from electric vehicles to EV charging stations to solar PV. New with this legislation is the opportunity for nonprofit organizations to get a cash refund for the value of tax credits ordinarily out of their reach. Now, regulations have been developed for direct pay to nonprofits, and green energy tax expert Jerome L. Garciano is here to share his thoughts and take your questions.

Guest speaker Jerome L. Garciano, senior counsel with elite global law firm Akin, is an attorney and certified public accountant with an extensive background in real estate development, tax incentive transactions, and tax credit project financing.

Watch the video.

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Getting buy-in for your big ideas

Thursday, June 22, 2023
2–3 p.m. ET

Vibrant. Exhilarating. Complicated. Messy.

We’re not talking about your love life. We’re talking about working in an institutional setting, where getting things done is no simple task. If you’re looking at launching a major initiative, an interdepartmental project, or moving forward with your climate action goals, you need to draw from a different toolkit than your job description outlines—you need to be persuasive.

The ability to communicate an idea effectively is as important as the idea itself. This webinar is about getting buy-in for your ideas through discovery and effective communication, with a focus on benefits (the why). Join the conversation to discover how you can navigate complicated relationship structures and find ways for everyone to win through your ideas.

Norm Young is the former Associate Vice President of Facilities Planning and Management at the University of Hartford. He is currently an independent consultant advising on all aspects of facilities operations, management, and business development in primarily higher education.

Watch the video.

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New green energy benefits for nonprofits in the Inflation Reduction Act

Thursday, March 2, 2023
2–3 p.m. ET

Passage of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act created unprecedented opportunities and incentives for businesses, individuals, and institutions to invest in electrification, renewables, and efficiency measures—from electric vehicles to EV charging stations to solar PV and more. New with this legislation is the opportunity for nonprofit organizations to get a cash refund for the value of tax credits ordinarily out of their reach.

Jerome L. Garciano of Polsinelli Law Firm is an attorney and certified public accountant with an extensive background in real estate development, tax incentive transactions, and tax credit project financing. He joined GreenerU’s Eric Grunebaum for a presentation and discussion to share his insights and the latest updates on the Inflation Reduction Act, and what types of incentives higher education, independent schools, and the nonprofit sector can pursue in 2023.

Watch the video

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Looking ahead: beyond BERDO

Thursday, November 10, 2022
9:30–10:30 a.m. ET

Boston’s BERDO—the Building Energy Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance—was developed to help the city achieve its climate goals of all buildings reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Building owners need to reach significant reductions to meet five-year incremental goals or face fines.

But some building owners are finding BERDO requirements challenging to meet from a financial standpoint. How will building owners plan for updated standards as they become more stringent down the road? What is the best way to deal with deferred maintenance? What financing opportunities are available? What are the additional benefits that can help justify first costs?

This open discussion featured guest Brian Palm, Assistant Head of School at Catholic Memorial School. Mr. Palm’s background includes a facilities management approach that encourages the development of a durable campus with sustainability at its core. He has served as chairman of the science departments at both Brooks School and Maimonides School. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College with a degree in environmental biology and geography, and also earned a Master of Science from Oxford University in environmental policy and management with a focus on energy policy.

We were also pleased to welcome Bill Nickerson, Executive Director of the Boston Industrial Development Financing Authority (BIDFA). BIDFA promotes economic growth and employment in the City of Boston by issuing bonds that finance the capital needs of the city’s businesses and institutions. It is guided by Boston residents with professional expertise in real estate development and finance.

Watch the video

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Running effective meetings (that are also productive and—yes—fun)

Wednesday, November 15, 2022
2–3 p.m. ET

Many of us have run dozens, even hundreds, of meetings for years. But how many of those meetings advanced your agenda or produced actionable results?

This educational webinar offered a series of basic guidelines for best practices in running consistently effective meetings. Establishing good meeting etiquette, being thoughtful about preparing your agenda, and developing an action-oriented mindset are all tools that can turn your meetings into opportunities to advance your goals.

In this webinar, we shared the anatomy of a great meeting, from preparation to facilitation to following up. There was an exercise on developing an internal agenda to help you think through an effective meeting from start to finish. Participants also received meeting templates and other resources.

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Leveraging STARS to advance your sustainability goals

Wednesday, September 28, 2022
2–3 p.m. ET

AASHE STARS inventorying, analysis, and submission is a lengthy and complex process—one that can be all-consuming for an institution. But one of the purposes of STARS is to provide a baseline of data to help your institution understand the next steps toward implementing sustainable solutions.

Meghna Tare, chief sustainability officer at the University of Texas at Arlington, joined us to talk about how UTA took STARS reporting to the next level to make the data accessible and clear to campus stakeholders.

Watch the video

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Ramping up sustainability in K12 schools

Thursday, September 15, 2022
3–4 p.m. Eastern

Featuring:

• Cameren Cousins, Director of Sustainability, The Fenn School
• Allison Guerette, Campus Sustainability Coordinator, Phillips Academy Andover
• Emily Umbarger, Sustainability Director, Interlochen Center for the Arts

A recent study published in the Lancet from a survey of 10,000 young people (ages 16-25) in ten countries, including the U.S., showed high levels of climate anxiety among respondents. K12 schools are responding with more sustainability curriculum, greenhouse gas emissions and other sustainability inventories, climate action planning, and energy-efficiency measures. This insightful discussion featured sustainability representatives from three schools that have taken different steps toward sustainability and climate change mitigation efforts at their campuses. Find out how they got started.

Watch the video

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