A sustainable campus for the higher education institutions in the U.S.

Abstract

<p>The green and sustainable campus concept is not something new to US universities, but well-organized and coherent activities to effectively “green” campuses are not that common, and efforts are minor in comparison to the potential of these universities. This thesis investigates different approaches taken by higher education (HE) institutions that are considered successful in their objectives toward achieving a sustainable campus. It also examines the process of integration of sustainability into the higher education institution’s policy, pedagogy, and research process; approaches taken by HE institutions aim to impact students’ perceptions and their behavior toward the world that they will live with for the rest of their lives and those of their children. This thesis reviews different frameworks for sustainable higher education campuses by examining a set of major national and international declarations related to environmental sustainability in HE campuses. It investigates those declarations and learns from the initiatives taken by selected HE campuses through case studies; it also examines different issues related to the selection of goals and approaches to actually affect the advancement of sustainable HE campuses. This research also argues that an HE campus requires a willingness to adopt a diverse approach of physical modifications to buildings and infrastructure, as well as educational modification to achieve sustainability goals. Finally, some concrete initiatives are outlined as recommendations which may be undertaken by HE institutions in order to achieve their sustainability goals.</p>