Auburn's Climate Action Plan
Background and Rationale
The Office of Sustainability is beginning its work for the Auburn Climate Action Plan -- the process of developing specific approaches to address the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, which Auburn President Jay Gogue signed in fall 2008 (for more information about the ACUPCC, see the FAQ below). By joining this national project, he committed Auburn University to significantly reducing its carbon footprint.
The campus community will decide how to do it and what a reasonable target goal and date will be for Auburn. Some universities have set 2012 as a target, others 2050; and they have set different target goals. The Climate Action Plan, or CAP, will be a campus-wide, inclusive process similar to the strategic planning process that occurred in 2007.
The 10 working groups outlined below will have 10-15 members representing the campus community. Each working group will have a chair who will serve on the CAP task force that will summarize the working group recommendations in a final report to President Gogue and the Board of Trustees.
General Resources
| Auburn's Climate/Carbon FAQs | AASHE Climate Action Planning Guide | American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment FAQs | Clean Air Cool Planet CAP outline |
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AASHE Climate Links Additional resources can be found under each of the working group pages by clicking on the group name below. |
Climate Action Plans for other schools as examples |
Working Groups
If you are interested in vounteering to be part of one of the working groups please email: sustain@auburn.edu.
Members of the working groups will generally attend 1-2 meetings per month, with further discussions using the email listservs established for each working group. The first part of the semester will be used to identify the areas that need attention, followed by a discussion of which solutions are best for Auburn, and what the time frame will be. We envision that each working group will have a draft by the end of Fall 2009.
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Energy Develop recommendations for long term energy reduction and renewable energy production |
Information Technology Develop recommendations for reducing energy consumed by campus computing and explore IT as carbon-reduction solutions in other campus areas |
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Purchasing Develop recommendations regarding all campus purchasing that will support the core value of sustainability |
Transportation Develop recommendations for efficient use of transportation resources and ways to enhance opportunities for non-traditional transportation |
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Buildings Develop recommendations to carry forward the strategic planning goal of LEED rating for new buildings and renovations and consider ways to go beyond LEED |
Grounds Develop recommendations for opportunities for the campus landscape to contribute to solutions |
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Food and Dining Develop recommendations to reduce waste, increase efficiencies, and reduce food miles |
Campus and Community Engagement Develop recommendations for strategies to communicate the importance of carbon reduction and climate change |
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Waste Reduction and Recycling This group will coordinate with the standing campus recycling committee to expand on general waste reduction and integrate existing programs into the Climate Action Plan |
Students This group will provide a vehicle to incorporate the student voice into the Plan, student members from the other groups will attend meetings of this group |
If you have any questions about Auburn's Climate Action Planning process, please feel free to email sustain@auburn.edu
Main calendar showing all working groups
This calendar provides a tentative timeline for the planning process. As we advance through the process there will undoubtedly be changes made to the timeline that will be reflected here.