HEASC Resource Center

Sustainability Resources

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Quick links to resources from HEASC Member Associations

  • AACC - American Association of Community Colleges
  • AASCU - American Association of State Colleges & Universities
  • AASHE - Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
  • ACPA - College Student  Educators International
  • ACUHO-I - Association of College and University Housing Officers - International
  • APPA - Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers 
  • CSHEMA - Campus Saftey, Health, and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA)
  • CCCU - Council of Christian Colleges & Universities
  • NACUBO - National  Association of College & University Business Officers
  • NAEP - National Association of Educational Procurement
  • NAICU - National Association of Independent Colleges & Universities
  • NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation

Quick links to other Resources

AACC - American Association of Community Colleges

Publications

AASCU - American Association of State Colleges & Universities

Publications

AASHE - Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education

ACPA - College Student Educators International

Publications

ACUHO-I - Association of College & University Housing Officers-International

APPA - "Leadership in Educational Facilities"

Presentations & Webinars

  • Reducing Greenhouse Gases and Achieving Climate Neutrality 
    FREE!   Describes organizational ingredients necessary for building a successful campus energy program, emphasizing energy conservation, green building design, green power purchasing, and renewable energy generation. Other topics include energy policies, green computing, energy awareness, working with ESCOs, obtaining top level support, the key role of facilities managers, and developing climate action plans

Awards

CSHEMA - Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Associations

CCCU - Council of Christian Colleges & Universities

NACUBO - National Association of College & University Business Officers

Publications

Presentations & Webinars

NAEP - National Association of Educational Procurement

Previous Publications

NAICU -  National Association of Independent Colleges & Universities

NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation

The NIRSA Commission for Sustainable Communities (CSC), co-chaired by Pam Su, San Francisco State University and Tom Kirch, Oregon State University, was constituted in December of 2011. The Commission created a sustainability model and list of questions for collegiate recreation professionals about their sustainability habits and goals, and a "Why and Why Now" framework showing why NIRSA should be engaged in these issues.  The work of the commission continues to help NIRSA embed sustainability into the culture of the association and its professional, student, institutional and associate members.

Presentations, Webinars and Articles

Other Resources

HEASC Fellows Resources

These resources were created by HEASC Fellows

Sustainable Meetings and Events

These resources were collected to assist HEASC member associations in making their meetings and conferences greener.

Meeting Planning Support

Other Resources

  • HEASC Sustainable Meetings and Conferences Report (PDF) (October 2007)
    This report was written to help HEASC members understand the trends that are occurring in the green meeting industry and to provide the best resources for helping members implement sustainable practices in their own meetings and conferences.
  • Sustainable Meetings and Conferences Questionnaire (Doc) (June 2007)
    This document was created for ACUHO-I as a list of criteria that could be included in an RFP when seeking venues for meetings and conferences. It was assembled from several sources including the Convention Industry Council's "Green Meetings Report", CERES' "Green Hotels Resource Guide", and the National Recycling Coalition's "Green Meetings Policy."  Feel free to download this document and use in your own RFPs. It is divided into functional sections so you can use the portions that are applicable to your event and modify as needed.
  • Arizona State University Green Events Program 
    Arizona State University has a comprehensive program on greening events on their campus. Some of these practices can be adapted by your organization. Be sure to refer to the Green Event Checklist as well. 

Sustainable Conference Products

  • Enviro-Tote®, Inc. makes environmentally friendly promotional tote bags that can be used for meetings or conferences. They offer various types of bags made from unbleached and colored cotton, certified organic cotton, and The Bottle Bag™, a material made from 100% recycled soda bottles. Bags can be imprinted with your logo and a custom message.
  • GreatGifts4U.com offers many eco-friendly items for campus and conference events.
  • MayaWorks offers fairly traded, fabric products hand-made by Guatemalan artisans including conference items.
  • Rivanna Natural Designs creates environmentally and socially responsible recognition awards and gifts. These include gifts and plaques created from FSC-certified wood and from recycled materials. Rivanna is a small, woman-owned business based in Charlottesville, VA.  You can download their catalog (PDF).
  • Rebadge - recycled badge holder. Rebadge is a clear PLA (poly lactic acid) badge holder made from plants, not plastic, and is certified compostable by ASTM D6400 and DIN EN13432 standards.

Sustainable Purchasing

  • Assessing Supply Chain Emissions in Higher Education: Who, Why, and How? By Erin Stanforth, November 2013
  • Whistler 2020 Sustainable Purchasing Guidelines
    Developed by the Resort Community of Whistler (BC).  "Sustainable purchasing is about including social, environmental, financial and performance factors in a systematic way. It involves thinking about the reasons for using the product (the service) and assessing how these services could be best met. If a product is needed, sustainable purchasing involves considering how products are made, what they are made of, where they come from and how they will be used and disposed of."   These guidelines offer a glossary, tools, purchasing assessments for key product classes, and worksheets for assessing unique or infrequently purchased items.
  • AASHE Resources on Sustainable Purchasing
  • Responsible Purchasing Network
  • ACCED-I's e-Communique. The Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International's (ACCED-I) first installment of a two-part article on campus sustainability as it relates to greening conferences and events held on college and university campuses. Part one of Environmental Sustainability in Conference & Event Services, by Scott D. Doyle, residential and event services at Cornell University, appears in the April/May 2006 of ACCED-I's member publication e-Communique.

Climate and Energy

Climate

  • ACUPCC webcasts sponsored by HEASC Members

    • Creating a Greenhouse Gas Inventory – What Does it Take? (NACUBO)
      Explains general principles of conducting a GHG inventory, while providing contrasting examples from two campuses that have used different methods. Includes experts from Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP) and AASHE, and stories from the University of California, Berkeley and Unity College (Maine).
    • Commit to Change: Leading Your Campus Towards Climate Neutrality (NACUBO)
      Three CFO’s and a facilities director speak about the strategies they have employed to lead their campus team toward climate neutrality. They also provide an ACUPCC overview and implementation refresher, discuss the far reaching impact of the Commitment, and approaches for financing sustainability on your campus.
    • Reducing Greenhouse Gases and Achieving Climate Neutrality (APPA)
      Describes the organizational ingredients necessary for building a successful campus energy program, emphasizing energy conservation, green building design, green power purchasing, and renewable energy generation. Other topics covered include energy policies, green computing, energy awareness, working with ESCOs, obtaining top level support, the key role of facilities managers, and developing climate action plans.
  • Greg Craven, high school science teacher from Monmouth, Oregon, has created clever and informative presentations around the complex issue of climate disruption. Check out and share his wisdom by clicking here.

Energy

Professional Development

Journals

Presentations & Webinars

General Background

  • Story of Stuff - Annie Leonard
    A 20-minute look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns.
  • Sustainability 101 (1-hour) and Sustainability: Step by Natural Step (3-hour)
    Innovative e-learning experiences developed by The Natural Step that provide practical sustainability education to a broad base of business, government, and community organizations that are serious about moving towards more sustainable operations

Communications Support

Reports, Articles, Case Studies

Listservs and Blogs

  • Green Schools (GRNSCH-L) - the primary listserve for activities relating to sustainability on higher education campuses. Ask questions, post events, publications, etc..  
  • Inside Higher Ed: "Getting to Green" a blog by G. Rendell - an administrator pushes, on a shoestring budget, to move his university and the world toward a more sustainable equilibrium. Sign up for this daily blog
  • News Digests Archives - updates on HEASC activities, 2006-2009

Consortiums for Sustainability

HEASC Legislative Actions

  • Letter to Sec. Duncan, 2012
    "On behalf of the thousands of higher education leaders from across the nation who are committed to helping the U.S. find a pathway towards a more sustainable future, we write to urge you to include $50 million in the President’s FY2013 Budget Request for the University Sustainability Program (USP)..." 
  • Letter to Sen. Boxer and Sen. Inhofe, 2009
    "We, the undersigned leaders of higher education associations, write to urge you to recognize the vital role of education, at all levels, in preparing the American people to participate fully in a clean energy economy..."