Claim OwnershipCampus Energy and Sustainability Podcast
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© (C) 2025 Brailsford and Dunlavey
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In each episode, we will talk with leading campus professionals, thought leaders, engineers and innovators addressing the unique challenges and opportunities facing higher ed. and corporate campuses. Our discussions will range from energy conservation and efficiency to planning and finance, from building science to social science from energy systems to food systems. We hope you are ready to learn, share and ultimately accelerate your institution towards solutions.
50 Episodes
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Electrifying vehicle fleets is no longer a distant goal—it’s happening now in school districts, cities, and campuses across the country. In this episode, we explore what it takes to transition large fleets to all-electric, from financing to infrastructure and community impact. Our guest shares lessons the K-12 perspectives, highlighting challenges and opportunities. Listeners will gain practical insights into how electrification can reduce emissions, improve health outcomes, and reshape the future of community transportation.
Energy public-private partnerships (P3s) have moved beyond the pilot phase. They’re now a serious, scalable strategy for institutions facing aging infrastructure, decarbonization targets, and budget constraints. But a maturing market also brings complexity — in procurement models, financing tools, and internal alignment. In this episode, we talk with three experienced voices from across the P3 deal table about what’s working, what’s changing, and what institutions need to understand before jumping in.
What does it take to embed sustainability across an entire university—from academic buildings to athletic arenas? In this episode, we sit down with Andy Berki, Director of the Office of Campus Sustainability, and Paul Dunlop, Associate Director of Facility Operations for Michigan Athletics, to explore how the University of Michigan is turning ambitious climate goals into everyday action. From high-impact energy and waste reduction strategies to zero-waste game days at the Big House, Andy and Paul share how Michigan is leading the way in higher education sustainability. Whether you're focused on campus operations, athletics, or institutional strategy, this episode offers real-world insights for creating a culture of sustainability that sticks.
This episode was recorded live during a session at the 2024 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit co-sponsored by Second Nature and the Intentional Endowments Network in Long Beach, California, in February 2024. Guests from higher education and the private sector discuss the evolving nature of climate action planning and the emergence of decarbonization planning on college and university campuses. If you are a higher ed. sustainability professional trying to make sense of the alphabet soup of plans, strategies, roadmaps, and reports, this episode is for you!
In this episode, we feature guest host and recent Lewis & Clark graduate Lena Essak. Lena interviews regular host Dave Karlsgodt and two other guests: Dr. Lisa Benjamin, Associate Professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, author and climate negotiator, and Tim Swinehart, a social studies teacher from Lincoln High School in Portland, OR. The topic is climate communication.
1In this episode, you'll hear a session recorded earlier this year at the 2023 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit hosted by Second Nature and the Intentional Endowments Network. The next frontier in campus decarbonization is the transition of thermal systems away from fossil fuels. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. This expert panel shares experiences in decarbonizing campus thermal systems - from antiquated steam to efficient low temp hot water, from fossil fuels to the stable temperature of the ground. The panel will feature how to engage and collaborate with institutional constituents in the beginning stages all the way through complete projects covering planning, financing, implementation.
In this episode, you'll hear a session recorded earlier this summer at the 2023 Appalachian State University energy summit in Boone, North Carolina. This panel included my B&D colleague, Kevin Mara, and two industry experts, Chris DePodesta and Carolyn Arida, from the infrastructure investment group at Harrison Street. The topic evolving Energy public-private partnerships or energy P3s for higher education.
In this episode we interview two professors and researchers discussing a recently published paper in the journal One Earth entitled: “Carbon neutrality should not be the end goal: Lessons for institutional climate action from U.S. Higher education.” You’ll hear lead author Alex Baron of Smith College and co-author Aaron Strong from Hamilton College. We also want to recognize key collaborators and co-authors the who each made significant contributions the paper we discuss including Maya Domeshek and Lucy Metz who were students at Smith at the time of publication and Laura Drauker from the Boston-based non-profit Ceres.Link to the paper: https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(21)00472-3Alexander R. Barron, et al. "Carbon Neutrality Should Not Be the End Goal: Lessons for Institutional Climate Action From U.s. Higher Education." One earth, v. 4 ,.9 pp. 1248-1258. doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2021.08.014
In this episode we will talk with journalist, author, and energy consultant Peter Kelly-Detwiler. Our topic: Cutting Edge Campus Climate Tech.Our mission: help campus decision makers and stakeholders understand "cutting edge" campus decarbonization / reliability / resilience technologies. How can they take advantage of new and emerging technologies while avoid wasting time on ideas that are either empty hype or operationally irrelevant for their campus context?
In this episode, we talk with with Dr. Katrina Kelly-Pitou, Energy Systems Strategist at SmithGroup. The discussion focuses on what higher education can expect from federal, state and local governments in the near term, but also a broader discussion about the politics and business model of higher ed. itself. She both challenges conventional ideas and paints a compelling vision for a sustainable future for higher education and the communities in which they operate.
In this episode, we talk with Kenny Seeton, central plant and energy manager at California State University Dominguez Hills. The wide-ranging conversation spans everything from LED retrofits to solar powered golf carts. Kenny talks about how to safely take risks and how to connect systems seeking continuous improvement. He offers up sound advice for energy managers on metering, sensors, occupancy controls, valves, dampers, trend analysis and even phase change materials. This engaging episode is perfect for anyone looking for creative energy solutions for their campus, whether this is your first introduction to energy management or, like Dave and Kenny, you geek out over topics energy efficiency, storage, and more.
In this special episode of the podcast, we present a recording of Podcasting for Sustainability in Higher Education from AASHE’s 2020 Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education. Dave Karlsgodt, Katie Boyle and Brian Campbell talk about what it’s like to run a podcast and how they utilize their shows to further the conversation on energy and sustainability. All three delve into the missions behind their podcasts, as well as how and why they pick topics to cover. In this episode that explores podcasting as a tool for sustainability in higher education, our hosts aim to aid participants and listeners in learning how to frame their sustainability efforts in stories, making them compelling to a variety of audiences, from students to senior leaders, academics to alumni.
What can a higher education institution learn from an international bank? In this episode, we talk to Brailsford & Dunlavey’s own Ron Herbst, whose long and varied career in energy eventually led him to work with Deutsche Bank establishing and managing their Eco Performance Management Office (PMO.) An EcoPMO is a team that coordinates all of the functions needed to achieve an organization’s sustainability goals.As the son of a blue-collar inventor, Ron felt drawn to the energy and sustainability world from a young age and wanted to be what he calls a “building energy efficiency doctor.”Ron discusses his time at Deutsche with Dave how he applies what he learned about balancing institutional needs with sustainability goals to colleges and universities. In addition, we also discuss how to balance the needs of various institution stakeholders in order to reach those goals.
Co-executive directors of the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET), Zeyneb Magavi and Audrey Schulman both entered the climate change fight as mothers concerned for the futures of their children. In this episode, they share the history of their work on fixing super-emitting natural gas leaks in their neighborhood and across the state of Massachusetts. They tell the story of building relationships with natural gas utility executives to make a meaningful reduction in GHG emissions which led to the next major challenge: What is the future of a natural gas systemin a world that needs to eliminate the use of fossil fuels? We discuss HEET’s role in developing the geo micro district, a neighborhood-scale renewable energy network for heating and cooling buildings. They explain the technology but also how its alternative business model offers a cost-effective path forward for our utility companies and their workers as we replace our aging natural gas infrastructure.
In this episode, Kaia talks with Abena Sackey Ojetayo, chief resilience officer and director for the City of Tallahassee, Florida. We talked about her childhood in Ghana and her sustainability projects in Florida. We also discussed code-switching and the ways that age, race and gender can place pressure on people in the workforce.
Krista Murphy has long had a passion for engineering. She studied architectural engineering in school, honed her skills in project management and now works as a principal at Affiliated Engineers, Inc., in San Francisco. Her experience as a leader in the engineering field led her to take on leadership in another aspect of her life, one where she speaks up for other women in the workplace.In this episode, host Kaia Findlay and Krista talk about the challenges that women and other minorities face in the field, how to deal with the uncomfortable situations that arise because of those challenges, and how mentors that advocate for their mentees can play a crucial role in keeping women in the field.
With the new year in full swing and a new decade ahead, what better time to explore a cache of sustainability-related podcasts? In this episode, the Campus Energy and Sustainability Podcast partners with the Modern Energy Management Podcast to highlight some of the great stories being shared about the climate, energy and sustainability in the podcast world. This episode features interviews with sustainability podcast hosts Chris Nelder of the Energy Transition Show and Stephen Lacey of The Energy Gang and The Interchange. We also feature several recommendations from our listeners, including Brian Campbell of Central College, Kori Armstrong of University of Southern Mississippi, and Spencer Turk of 3P Partners. Recommendations from other listeners who reached out to us can be found as a PDF in the show notes. We hope you come out of this episode inspired to explore and learn what podcasters across the nation have to share about sustainability.
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Great episode! I could sense the Scandavian approach to collaboration and sound engineering.