Greenhouse Gas Reduction Planning

Nathan Gauthier
Assistant Director
Harvard Office for Sustainability

Thursday, March 12, 7 p.m.
Richardson Memorial
Room 201
Tulane School of Architecture

Tulane is one of 614 signatories of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment who have pledged to develop a plan for becoming climate neutral by reducing and/or offsetting their greenhouse gas emissions. While a handful of immediate next steps have been identified for the signatories, there is yet to be a completed institutional action plan to be shared with the group. Nathan Gauthier, assistant director of the Harvard Office for Sustainability, will present his thoughts on how to begin development of a greenhouse gas reduction plan and share some of the lessons learned from his experiences at Harvard. He will identify the challenges the Office for Sustainability has faced during their planning efforts and explain how they are working to reduce carbon emissions from their 25 million square foot campus in a the most fiscally responsible manner. Nathan will present a step-by-step methodology to developing a greenhouse gas reduction strategy while engaging stakeholders and saving the University operating expenses.

Nathan Gauthier is assistant director of the Harvard Office for Sustainability, the department leading the sustainability efforts within Harvard University. The Office for Sustainability is currently focused on developing and implementing a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the University's 25 million square feet of buildings by 30% from 2006 levels by the year 2016, further complicated by the need to completely offset more than 2 million square feet of growth during that period. Nathan leads the efforts to provide sustainable building design, construction and operations guidance while co-managing a sustainability organization with a two million dollar annual operating budget, 24 full-time employees, 38 part-time student employees, and a $12 million revolving loan fund for energy efficiency projects. The Office for Sustainability consults on more than 50 Harvard new construction and major renovation projects, including the $1 billion dollar First Science Center in Allston.

As founder and principal of Sustainable Design and Construction Solutions, Mr. Gauthier provides similar services to public and private clients outside the University, in the United States and internationally.

Sponsored by the Tulane School of Architecture