The path toward carbon neutrality is a campuswide effort at Appalachian State University. Photo by Marie Freeman
A year after the adoption of App State’s latest climate action plan, AppCap 1.0, multiple carbon mitigation strategies are underway
“We are making headway toward decarbonization thanks to our strong universitywide commitment to climate action. Our ultimate goal is to reduce carbon emissions in ways that minimize any negative effects on people and places.”
Dr. Lee Ball, App State’s chief sustainability officer
BOONE, N.C. — Just over a year after releasing AppCAP 1.0: A Vision for Climate Neutrality — Appalachian State University’s latest climate action plan — the university reports progress toward its goals through energy and sustainability improvements across campus.
“We are making headway toward decarbonization thanks to our strong universitywide commitment to climate action. Our ultimate goal is to reduce carbon emissions in ways that minimize any negative effects on people and places.”
Dr. Lee Ball, App State’s chief sustainability officer
Dr. Lee Ball, chief sustainability officer at App State, said, “We are making headway toward decarbonization thanks to our strong universitywide commitment to climate action.”
“Our ultimate goal is to reduce carbon emissions in ways that minimize any negative effects on people and places,” Ball added.
AppCap 1.0, serving as a roadmap to guide App State toward climate neutrality, identifies and tracks progress for 81 action items identified as part of the university’s response to the climate crisis. Action items are grouped into three areas of focus:
During the past year, the university reported notable sustainability achievements in each of the three focus areas.
App State is increasing the number of charging stations on campus for the expanding use of electric vehicles — both those that are privately owned and those that are part of the university-owned fleet. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Boosting the university’s percentage of electricity supplied by renewables from 2% to 18%, through hydroelectric and solar power purchases via App State-owned New River Light and Power (NRLP) and Blue Ridge Energy (BRE), respectively. NRLP is purchasing emissions-free, renewable hydropower from the 375-megawatt Smoky Mountain portfolio, consisting of four hydropower facilities located along the Little Tennessee and Cheoah rivers in Tennessee and North Carolina. App State also has an agreement with BRE to convert the purchased electricity for Levine Hall of Health Sciences — the university’s largest building in Boone — to 100% solar, avoiding the use of approximately 1,500–1,600 megawatt-hours of electricity per year, said Jonathan Pierson ’06 ’08, energy manager in App State’s Facilities Operations.
Decarbonizing App State’s purchased electricity footprint, which accounts for approximately 40% of campuswide greenhouse gas emissions, is a key strategy identified in the climate action plan. App State and NRLP continue to explore additional options for renewable energy, including solar.
App State’s Renewable Energy Initiative (REI) — a student-led organization that seeks to install renewable energy and energy efficiency projects on campus — voted to fund the purchase of solar for additional university facilities serviced by BRE, including the App State Water Plant, Howards Creek Pump Station, Dark Sky Observatory and Blackburn Vannoy Farm. The university will avoid the use of about 425 megawatt-hours of electricity per year as a result of the conversion, Pierson said.
“This initiative is just one way App State students are helping create and implement the vision for sustainability on our campus and in our community,” Ball said.
In 2021, App State crossed the $30.3 million mark in avoided energy cost savings — contributing to more than $1 billion in avoided energy costs between 2002 and 2019 by University of North Carolina System institutions. The utility savings goal was set in 2012 during the Appalachian Energy Summit and the expectation is that the System will realize $2 billion in avoided costs by 2025, Ball said.
The three-day annual summit, envisioned and hosted by App State since 2012, will meet June 8–10, gathering faculty, staff and students from colleges and universities, as well as energy managers and government and industry leaders. The event offers “solution-oriented content to help the university progress toward its climate action goals,” Ball said.
New residence halls are constructed according to Green Built Alliance standards. Sustainable features include automated systems, LED lighting, tree planting, energy- and water-efficient appliances, air sealing and insulation and sustainable materials that meet stringent indoor air quality standards.
The construction of the new residence halls — Thunder Hill, Raven Rocks, Laurel Creek and New River, the latter of which is slated to open this fall — has allowed App State to add green space on campus. The university maintains more than 900 acres of land that serve as carbon sinks — areas that absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release. Renovations to existing buildings also include energy efficiency improvements as a standard consideration, Ball said.
REI funded an LED lighting retrofit project in the ROTC offices in Varsity Gym. Fauna Jorgensen, a sophomore from Cameron majoring in sustainable development-agroecology and sustainable agriculture, led the project. Working with Pierson, Jorgensen performed a lighting assessment and calculated the return on investment, estimating that the cost of conversion would be recouped in approximately five years.
Jorgensen expressed her enthusiasm for her work with REI, which contributed to reducing the university's energy consumption by an estimated 20,000 kilowatts per year. “It has been an incredibly meaningful experience to do my part as a human living on our beautiful planet,” Jorgensen said. “I can now say I helped lessen the environmental impact of App State.”
Installing ceramic window film in Chapell Wilson Hall and the Reich College of Education building, funded by REI and the House Bill 1292 program, respectively. The window film blocks out 99.9% of ultraviolet rays and about 80% of the infrared heat coming through the windows during the summer, resulting in lower air conditioning costs and longer life for carpets and furniture, which are damaged by the sun’s rays.
Hermes Flores Fernandez, from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, is an App State senior sustainable technology major and REI’s project management co-chair. He said his team of students analyzed contractors’ quotes to project the return on investment for the window film installation, estimating a two- to four-year payback.
“It feels amazing to be part of energy efficiency improvement projects on our campus and to get closer to our carbon neutrality goals,” Fernandez said.
REI is evaluating additional window film projects — in Kidd Brewer Stadium and in McKinney Alumni Center — for potential installation later this year.
Establishing purchasing guidelines to promote procurement of environmentally preferred and socially responsible products. The Office of Sustainability is partnering with the Materials Management Division in the Finance and Administration Departments and with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to continue training office staff across campus in sustainable purchasing strategies.
“We are committed and actively working to improve the university’s sustainable purchasing practices,” Ball said. “We are also actively working to support more local businesses — including those owned by women and by people who identify as being from underrepresented populations — which is in line with statewide efforts to promote economic opportunities for historically underutilized businesses.”
“App State is passionate about our ongoing sustainability initiatives, and we are driven to build upon our progress and continually improve,” Ball said. “In the coming year, we will identify additional strategies that are both cost-effective and impactful. Individually and collectively, we can make real and powerful differences for our campus today, and in the future.”
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The entire campus community has a responsibility for carbon neutrality, and App State’s established and evolving GreenSuite programs help the Mountaineer community incorporate sustainable practices into their everyday lives.
University Communications’ own Dave Blanks journeys to the Office of Sustainability to discover how App State students are participating in sustainability on campus and to find out their favorite ways to make a positive environmental impact.
Sustainability at Appalachian State University is not a trend, it is a tradition. We are active stewards of our state’s interconnected financial, cultural and natural resources. Through engaged scholarship, we balance critical, creative and global thinking in a living laboratory, transforming theory into practice and fostering responsible citizenship.
Under a new power provider, App State’s percentage of electricity supplied from renewables will increase from 2% to 18% in early 2022 due to purchases of hydroelectric and solar power.
Q&A with Jim Dees
Participating in the Carbon Neutral Commuter (CNC) program — administered by App State’s Office of Sustainability — is a step Mountaineers can take to reduce global warming and make a positive difference in climate change.
Student Sustainability Ambassadors serve as peer educators in App State’s Office of Sustainability, planning and operating outreach events, zero waste initiatives and educational programs.
Appalachian is creating a “roadmap to climate neutrality” with its 2020 Climate Action Plan. The new plan will be released April 22, 2020 — the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Appalachian State University’s leadership in sustainability is known nationally. The university’s holistic, three-branched approach considers sustainability economically, environmentally and equitably in relationship to the planet’s co-inhabitants. The university is an active steward of the state’s interconnected financial, cultural and natural resources and challenges students and others think critically and creatively about sustainability and what it means from the smallest individual action to the most broad-based applications. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate academic degree programs that focus on sustainability. In addition, 100 percent of Appalachian’s academic departments offer at least one sustainability course or course that includes sustainability, and all students graduate from programs that have adopted at least one sustainability learning outcome. Learn more at https://appstate.edu/sustainability.
As the premier public undergraduate institution in the state of North Carolina, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls more than 20,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.
“We are making headway toward decarbonization thanks to our strong universitywide commitment to climate action. Our ultimate goal is to reduce carbon emissions in ways that minimize any negative effects on people and places.”
Dr. Lee Ball, App State’s chief sustainability officer
The entire campus community has a responsibility for carbon neutrality, and App State’s established and evolving GreenSuite programs help the Mountaineer community incorporate sustainable practices into their everyday lives.
University Communications’ own Dave Blanks journeys to the Office of Sustainability to discover how App State students are participating in sustainability on campus and to find out their favorite ways to make a positive environmental impact.
Sustainability at Appalachian State University is not a trend, it is a tradition. We are active stewards of our state’s interconnected financial, cultural and natural resources. Through engaged scholarship, we balance critical, creative and global thinking in a living laboratory, transforming theory into practice and fostering responsible citizenship.
Under a new power provider, App State’s percentage of electricity supplied from renewables will increase from 2% to 18% in early 2022 due to purchases of hydroelectric and solar power.
Q&A with Jim Dees
Participating in the Carbon Neutral Commuter (CNC) program — administered by App State’s Office of Sustainability — is a step Mountaineers can take to reduce global warming and make a positive difference in climate change.
Student Sustainability Ambassadors serve as peer educators in App State’s Office of Sustainability, planning and operating outreach events, zero waste initiatives and educational programs.
Appalachian is creating a “roadmap to climate neutrality” with its 2020 Climate Action Plan. The new plan will be released April 22, 2020 — the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Share your feedback on this story.
Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.
The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:
Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.
The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:
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