Higher Education Climate Consortium (HECC) of Pittsburgh
STRATEGIC PLANNING, CARBON ACTION PLANNING AND TECHNICAL OVERSIGHT.
The City of Pittsburgh and the higher education institutions that call it home share people, infrastructure, research, goals, and more. Since 2008, the Higher Education Climate Consortium (HECC) of Pittsburgh has played a critical role in bringing the Pittsburgh region’s higher education institutions together around climate action, while also putting intentionality behind advancing campus goals individually and collectively, to take advantage of our city-wide scale and opportunity.
In early 2022 HECC was awarded a grant from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation to support the continued advancement of this collaboration on climate action. Green Building Alliance is the grant managing organization and Steven Baumgartner of BUSS has been brought on as a consultant to GBA to lead this planning effort.
For over five years Steven has been supporting HECC pro bono with various data, convening, research and advocacy. Of late, working with co-chairs Aurora Sharrard (Pitt) and Mary Kate Rani (Duquesne) he helped HECC rebrand and launch their new website (HECCPgh.org) as well as position this important grant.
The 2022 HECC Strategy and Action Plan for Equitable Climate Action will focus on creating a strategic direction for the 14-year-old Pittsburgh Higher Education Climate Consortium (HECC) collaboration, while simultaneously providing the missing support to individual institutions with less capacity to move into imperative climate action. This effort will be also developed with an intentional equity lens, understanding how individual and collaborative investment can work for all scales of universities, Pittsburghers, and their wider communities.
HECC’s mission is to actively collaborate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Pittsburgh’s higher education institutions; its vision is to strengthen this region’s position as a leader in climate action by achieving carbon neutrality. Current HECC members are Carlow University, Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham University, Community College of Allegheny County, Duquesne University, Pennsylvania State University’s Pittsburgh Center, Robert Morris University, and University of Pittsburgh. This process will aim to reengage LaRoche University and Point Park University in the HECC collaborative as well.
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Client: HECC Steering Committee Date: 2022-23
Collaborators: Green Building Alliance
