Carbon Neutrality at Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study Analysis of Arizona State University

Campus sustainability and the goal of reaching carbon neutrality have become a major trend among many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) globally, and many of them have taken public pledges to reach carbon neutrality as early as 2025. Despite this push and apparent eagerness to make campuses greener, the simple fact remains that HEIs account for very little of the global carbon footprint, and achieving carbon neutrality does very little to combat climate change in the grand scheme of things. It is widely held that HEIs seek to use carbon neutrality goals to demonstrate their strong commitment to sustainability and also to educate the next generation of thinkers and leaders in the hopes that graduates from these institutions apply these methods to higher levels of society thereby decarbonizing communities’ level by level. However, since carbon neutrality took center stage in campus sustainability goals, it is imperative to scrutinize and audit the past and current energy portfolio and analyze any meaningful changes to see their year-by-year progress and what methods have been most successful in reaching carbon neutrality. Not only that, but carbon neutrality seemingly means different things to different institutions. This research asks what is the role of a campus energy portfolio in terms of achieving carbon neutrality? Using the Institutional Analysis and Development framework, this research utilizes a case study analysis of Arizona State University which was one of the first universities in the United States to achieve carbon neutrality. The results of this study suggest that a campus energy portfolio is integral in understanding the role of carbon neutrality and that becoming carbon neutral is not always the “green standard” indicator many HEIs want others to think it is.