SCI-2018

Air & Climate
Highlights
American University took a major step toward
its 2020 carbon neutrality goal by investing in
a project to offset study abroad-related travel
emissions. 7,000 Metric Tons of CO2 equivalent
carbon offsets were purchased in FY17 to
offset AU’s scope 3 study abroad emissions. AU
invested in the Paradigm Project, which benefits
communities in Africa by empowering and
providing jobs for women, and reducing emissions
through reduced deforestation due to more
efficient cook stoves. This project was chosen, in
part, as it is one of AU’s premiere study abroad
locations. Students studying at the Nairobi Center
now have the opportunity to see AU’s commitment
to sustainable development first-hand.
American University invested in cookstoves in Nairobi, Kenya for the Paradigm
Project to offset study abroad-related travel emissions.
University of New Hampshire and University of
Virginia are among the first campuses to calculate
their nitrogen footprints, and have collaborated to
help other campuses measure their own carbon
and nitrogen footprints through development of
the integrated carbon and nitrogen footprint tool,
SIMAP (Sustainability Indicators Management
and Analysis Platform). SIMAP combines the
functionality of University of New Hampshire’s
Campus Carbon Calculator, which has been used
by thousands of institutions for tracking their
campus carbon footprints. The Nitrogen Footprint
Tool was first created at University of Virginia and
piloted by 18 U.S. institutions. SIMAP was formally
launched in September 2017.
Virginia Commonwealth University students measure the diameter of the tree
canopy in the Carver neighborhood as part of the Urban Forestry Initiative.
The Urban Forestry Initiative at Virginia
Commonwealth University is a community-based
research project designed to meet the community
identified need of increasing urban tree canopy
cover and the university identified need of
producing carbon offsets in order to achieve
the university’s climate action goals. Through
this initiative, students conduct an inventory
of existing street trees and plant new trees in a
neighborhood adjacent to the VCU campus. This
project provides measurable outcomes in the
increased ecosystem services newly planted street
trees provide for the neighborhood, carbon credits
produced for VCU, and service hours provided by
students and volunteers.
2018 Sustainable Campus Index Table of Contents
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