In Higher Education’s Efforts to Decarbonize, New Jersey Offers a National Model

In the United States, institutions of higher education are champions and facilitators of decarbonization research: They foster the next generation of climate scientists, build innovative technologies, and educate industry and the general public. Equally important, universities can become effective champions of decarbonizing their campuses.

College campuses are amongst some of the largest energy users in the country. Academic institutions, especially those that rely on large-scale computational systems and industrial machinery, still face many challenges when implementing decarbonization programs and curbing their carbon emissions.

Given their energy usage, functioning as small-scale cities, colleges and universities have a unique opportunity to act as natural test beds for a multitude of decarbonization strategies and provide case studies for peer institutions and larger citywide and statewide communities. Campuses are comprised of multiple different building types — dormitories, offices, classrooms — where the lessons learned can be applied to most of the nation’s residential and commercial building stock.

New Jersey colleges are building a blueprint for how academic institutions, alongside regional energy regulatory bodies, can collaborate across the country to make progress on shared carbon emission goals.

While many institutions have similarly committed to taking action on the climate crisis and achieving net zero emissions, it’s important to recognize there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Depending on the type of HVAC systems in place, each university will face unique barriers when it comes to implementation. Several common challenges include a lack of funding for decarbonization initiatives, a lack of experience in measuring and demonstrating the cost-benefit of campus decarbonization, and at some institutions, there may be a lack of stakeholder buy-in from top decision-makers or staff who are unaware of available incentive programs.

Thus far, the most significant barrier to campus decarbonization is the absence of reliable roadmaps for strategic planning. Here, knowledge sharing becomes a critical way to pool educational resources and proven experiences of how to design and implement a cohesive decarbonization strategy. Decarbonization policies become significantly more effective with access to academic resources, like the New Jersey Clean Energy Learning Center.

In New Jersey, new pathways for education and collaboration are being built through the Campus Consortium for Decarbonization, an initiative funded by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and the New Jersey Clean Energy Program, housed at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The state of New Jersey also benefits from the New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability, a volunteer organization housed at Rutgers University that focuses on student engagement, knowledge sharing and workforce development. It’s worth noting that most states don’t have these kinds of consortia.

The Campus Consortium for Decarbonization was organized to share knowledge across New Jersey campuses working on reducing their carbon footprint. Academic institutions gather to share funding strategies and practical approaches to decarbonization and collaborate to develop innovative solutions. For example, at a recent consortium event, Princeton University shared the use of cutting-edge electric heat pumps to supplement its low-temperature water heating system, encouraging others to gauge the feasibility of adopting heat pumps and introducing similar thermal storage and geo-exchange programs. 

New Jersey colleges and universities are also working together to share insights on installing electric vehicle chargers, heat and power systems, energy efficiency, beneficial electrification and carbon storage solutions. And they are looking at the feasibility of sending all organic waste to processing facilities, where it can be converted into renewable natural gas and used to power vehicle fleets or as carbon credits. Later this year, universities will explore the viability of carbon sequestration. 

Throughout this work, a recurring question we ask ourselves is: How do we prepare our campuses to be available 24/7 for students, faculty and staff, while also reaching ambitious renewable energy goals? Consortium partners are working together to coordinate assessments and responses to tackle these questions. For example, the New Jersey Institute of Technology will host a workshop alongside Rutgers University and Kean University with the goal of accurately calculating their respective transportation footprints — a major part of a university’s overall emissions — to find ways to reduce them. 

Since its inception, one of the consortium's primary concerns is the practicality of financing and tailoring these solutions. In New Jersey, state funding has been essential, especially through the Large Energy Users Program Higher Education Decarbonization Pilot, which provides up to $5 million for universities with diversified decarbonization plans. 

Yet, increased federal funding will be necessary to support regional efforts and deploy more solutions at scale. The Environmental Protection Agency, the federal agency responsible for maintaining environmental standards and issuing nearly half of its overall budget in grants to that end, divides the country up into 10 regions. Each represent a source of additional funding that could potentially be unlocked for campuses nationwide.

Another source of federal funds, tax credits from 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act, are allowing institutions to install renewable energy and make their campuses more vibrant. Regardless of the agency or initiative, we believe that directing federal funding to a well-structured consortium of colleges allows for more efficient utilization than funding marked for individual institutions.

This much is clear: If a group of large energy users makes simultaneous progress on decarbonization goals, the overall impact can be significant. New Jersey’s higher education community, and its active cooperation with the state’s public utilities authority, serve as a replicable model for how academic and regulatory communities can collaborate across the country. If America’s colleges want to practice what they teach, this kind of collaboration is not merely helpful — it’s a necessity.