Learning Resources

Abstract: Learn about the University of Louisville’s (UofL) journey toward carbon neutrality, navigating challenges such as aging infrastructure, substantial deferred maintenance, dependence on city utilities, and financial constraints. UofL’s Planning, Design, and Construction Office strategically used campus planning efforts to collect data, analyze the built environment, and foster robust stakeholder engagement with the campus community and city agencies. This approach raises carbon neutrality awareness, aligns goals, and establishes a financially viable pathway to success—all to position UofL to achieve a 60 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and attain full carbon neutrality by 2050.

Abstract: The constraints that universities face in terms of capital, declining enrollment, and surplus capacity in campus facilities causes escalation of deferred maintenance costs. The University of Kansas (KU) master plan focuses on the value and impact of right-sizing the campus through change management and the implementation of a data dashboard. This session will share a sustainable path to establish a culture of transparency in decision making, stakeholder engagement, and environmental stewardship. We'll outline a data-driven process and lessons learned for leveraging resources, enacting policies that enable change management, and meeting the challenges of implementing a bold cultural shift.

Abstract: Climate commitments and carbon neutrality are becoming top priorities for many campuses. Since building engineering systems account for seventy-to-eighty percent of carbon production, all campus stakeholders are contributors to the future success of emissions goals. Despite established infrastructure, reliance on city utilities, high deferred maintenance, and financial constraints, the University of Louisville (UofL) is pursuing carbon neutrality and is on track to achieve a sixty percent reduction by 2030 and one hundred percent by 2050. This session will share necessary master planning strategies for pursuing carbon neutrality at the campus level, emphasizing the need for rigorous, multi-disciplinary stakeholder engagement.