Toward Carbon Neutrality in Higher Education

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University campuses are part of the built environment, and in their role as educators and exemplars, college and university campuses are leading the way to a low-carbon future. Despite today’s immediate concerns, leaders in higher education are keeping their eyes on the horizon, and long-term net-zero planning and projects are continuing and finding ways to accommodate financial pressures resulting from COVID-19 related enrollment challenges.

Many campuses are considering the electrification of heating as a decarbonization pathway. Today’s status quo for heating – energy distributed through high-temperature networks – not only is over-designed and costly to maintain but also is basically incompatible with the low-carbon economy. Electrification is a proven route to enable lower-carbon buildings, led by heat pump strategies. Many have already been implemented throughout the province of Quebec.

This dynamic conversation will address the long-term planning and implementation of campus decarbonization, exploring actionable and cost-effective pathways to progress.

Panelists:

• Ruth Bennett, Director of Strategic Capital Programs at Tufts University
• Bert Bland, Associate Vice President for Energy and Sustainability at Cornell University
• JP Drouin, Project Development Director, Ecosystem Energy Services

Moderator:

• Tim Carter, President of Second Nature

Comments:

• Ms. Catherine Loubier, Delegate General of Québec in New York
• Marie-Claude Francoeur, Québec Delegate to New England

*Event not hosted by UCLA