On- and Off- Campus Solutions

On- and Off-Campus Solutions: Sustainability Accelerator Program
Launched in early 2017, this project tests solutions to challenges related to climate change, water and energy interactions within the built environment.

Compelling evidence reveals that washing hands in hot water in all instances is unnecessary and does not significantly reduce bacteria. However, this remains a common practice in many cities worldwide. Evidence points towards the potential for energy savings, since cold water usage requires less energy than warm or hot water, and the need for policy change supporting energy savings and carbon emissions reductions.

The project is testing the removal of hot water from university buildings in three GCSO locations: King’s College London (London, UK); Dublin City University (Dublin, Ireland); and, Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ, USA). It is a transdisciplinary collaboration including operational experts, researchers, students, regulatory officials, policymakers and other members of society. In addition to quantifying energy and cost savings, the project analyzes perceptions and attitudes around the use of hot water for hand washing, in order to design strategies to promote behavior change leading to more sustainable outcomes.

The project has three goals: (1) successfully pilot the innovative experiments in three locations that measure energy savings and behavior change; (2) promote the adoption of evidence-based policy, changing outdated and ill-informed regulations that require provisioning of unnecessary hot water in public buildings; and, (3) develop a toolkit of good practices and methods that can be applied to other waste-water-energy issues in a broader societal context.

In year two, the tried and tested solutions in the pilot locations will be transferred and adapted to other universities and beyond the campus setting to municipalities. Participation will be scaled out via the GCSO member institutions and their respective city administrations. The solutions ‘toolkit’ will continue to be improved through an iterative process of additional testing and evidence-based modifications.

Read more in the GCSO—On- and Off-Campus Solutions Yr. 1 Short Report and the detailed Final Report.

GCSO Participants:
Arizona State University (ASU)

  1. Mick Dalrymple, University Sustainability Practices, ASU
  2. Jo Ellen Alberhasky, University Sustainability Practices, ASU

Dublin City University (DCU)

  1. Samantha Fahy, Office of the Chief Operations Officer, DCU

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)

  1. Davis Bookhart, Division of Environment and Sustainability, HKUST

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

  1. Richard Beecroft, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, KIT
  2. Kaidi Tamm, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, KIT
  3. Andreas Seebacher, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, KIT

Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM)

  1. Francisco Lozano, Department of Engineering Sciences, ITESM
  2. Alberto Mendoza, Department of Engineering Sciences, ITESM

King’s College London (KCL)

  1. Nick O’Donnell, Real Estate and Facilities, KCL
  2. Susie Tomson, Real Estate and Facilities, KCL

Leuphana University Lüneburg (LUL)

  1. Guido Caniglia, Institute for Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, LUL
  2. Niko Schäpke, Institute for Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, LUL
  3. Beatrice John, Institute for Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, LUL

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

  1. Mireya Imaz, Department of Physics, UNAM