Abstract

The campus of a modern university has in essence all the challenges of a small community in terms of achieving reductions in carbon for all of its inhabitants and infrastructure. This paper describes detailed elements of one public university's plan to achieve carbon neutrality in the coming two decades through aggressive implementation of alternative energy, conservation and efficiency, new building policies, campus transportation strategies and parking and cycling plans to bring its carbon footprint to zero in the coming years. The authors have developed and submitted this plan in order to assure the campus is in compliance with their president’s commitment to the ACUP Climate Commitment made in 2007. These strategies, while specific to Rowan University, will also be of interest and use by other universities across the world. It is projects like those proposed below that will assure reaching campus carbon neutrality across the globe, while a daunting challenge, can be achieved while maintaining cost competitiveness in public higher education.