AASHE Competition Highlights 20 Sustainability Semi-Finalists

Sponsored by Kimberly-Clark, the competition will award one higher education institution a $50,000 prize to be used toward a new or existing sustainability project on its campus.

AASHE (The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) and Kimberly-Clark Professional have announced the 20 semi-finalists for the 2016 Sustainable Campus Competition LIVE!. Launched in July 2016, the competition will award one higher education institution a $50,000 prize to be used toward a new or existing sustainability project on its campus.higher education

Sponsored by Kimberly-Clark Professional, the competition features three rounds. This year, 226 entrants have submitted their ideas in 500 words or less about a campus initiative that is related to energy, waste, food, water, or climate change. From there, the 20 semi-finalists submitted a two-minute video and one-page financial overview of their projects. Three finalists will be selected to present their projects in front of a panel of judges and a live audience at the 2016 AASHE Conference & Expo in Baltimore, MD. The grand prize winner will be selected on stage at that event on October 10, 2016.

“We are proud to support this competition and the opportunity it provides higher education institutions who are eager to advance sustainability goals. A prize of $50,000 has the potential to make a longstanding impact toward the advancement of sustainability for one lucky college or university,” said AASHE executive director, Meghan Fay Zahniser.

The competition semi-finalists are:

  • Clarkson’s University’s “Reducing resource consumption in student housing through feedback and motivation.”
  • Concordia University’s “The Dish Project.”
  • Everett Community College’s “Energy Education Project.”
  • Georgia Institute of Technology’s “Urban Agriculture Greenhouse and Composting Initiative.”
  • Howard University’s “Composting Initiative.”
  • Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis and Butler University’s “University Collaboration to Scale Food Waste Collection on Campus and in the Community.”
  • Johnson County Community College’s “Zero Waste to Landfill Compost Expansion.”
  • Luther College’s “Electricity Metering at the Residence Hall Room Level: An Integrative Approach to Electricity Consumption Reductions.”
  • Mills College’s “Farm-to-Fork-to-Farm.”
  • NC State University’s “Zero Waste Workplace Expansion.”
  • North Lake College’s “Project Matrix: Sustainability Education, Operations and Reinvestment Platform.”
  • Northern Arizona University’s “Incorporation of Phase Change Material to dramatically reduce fossil energy use.”
  • Oberlin College’s “Local Composting Solution,” and “Visualizing Whole-Campus GHGs: Effecting Behavior Change with Real-time Feedback.”
  • Pacific University’s “Food Waste and Climate Change–An integrated Solution.”
  • Purdue University’s “Recovery of Water, Energy and Nutrients from Municipal Wastewater to Support Urban Agriculture.”
  • State University of New York at Geneseo’s “Comprehensive Composting Project.”
  • State University of New York at New Paltz’s “Does the USGBC’s LEED Framework Lead to Climate-Friendly Buildings? A Study of Thermal and Electrical Energy Usage of New LEED Buildings at SUNY New Paltz.”
  • UCLA’s “Water Innovation at UCLA Recreation.”
  • University of Washington’s “Digital Bins: An Animated Waste Installation.”

“We are very happy to work with AASHE to provide an opportunity for an institution to receive $50,000 toward a sustainability project on their campus. This competition and its grand prize could change the course of sustainability efforts for one institution, and I can’t wait to see who wins,” said Ben Jarrett, North America sustainability leader at Kimberly-Clark Professional.

Update, September 27, 2016: Today, AASHE competition sponsor, Kimberly-Clark Professional, announced the three finalist schools that will come together on October 10 at the AASHE Conference & Expo to compete for $50,000 to fund their campus sustainability project. Videos on these projects are below.

Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis and Butler University’s Collaboration to Scale Food Waste Collection project


Oberlin College’s Visualizing Whole-Campus GHGs: Effecting Behavior Change with Real-time Feedback project


University of Washington’s Digital Bins – An Animated Waste Installation project