Decisions are made every day on a college campus, from how to renovate student housing to breaking ground on new buildings, to buying new equipment and supplies. How can the greening of purchases for those decisions foster sustainability?

A new research project underway at American University aims to find ways that AU’s employees can make greener choices in purchasing. Taking a systems approach, researchers will study how to boost employee engagement and examine the interplay of staff, vendors and the university’s sustainability office in decision making. The research outcomes will also be shared with other universities working toward their sustainability goals.

“The project is a great example of how research can have a positive impact on campus,” said Megan Litke, director of AU’s Office of Sustainability. “By better understanding where the opportunities exist within the purchasing chain, we can engage our community to make decisions that will drive down AU's emissions and continue to deepen AU’s progress in sustainability.”

As a sustainability issue, procurement has many links to carbon impact, social justice and equity. According to the Climate Disclosure Project, procurement accounts for 92 percent of an organization's total climate emissions. An organization’s decisions about materials, transportation, and packaging significantly impact its greenhouse gas emissions. Complex modern supply chains also affect human rights, such as if an organization purchases goods that tie to a region where labor laws are weakly enforced.

Kogod School of Business Assistant Professor Garima Sharma will lead the research of the team, which includes Sarah Iverson, assistant professor of sociology in AU’s College of Arts and Sciences, and Nicole Darnall, professor, Arlene R. and Robert P. Kogod Eminent Scholar Chair in Sustainability, and a leading scholar of sustainable procurement. Research methods will include interviews with university employees and gathering relevant archival data, including vendor descriptions and reports. Data-created “systems maps” will allow for visualizing challenges to sustainable procurement, and the team’s findings will culminate in actionable recommendations for AU’s Office of Sustainability.

This project is funded by a Faculty Research Incubator Grant from AU’s Center for Environment, Community, & Equity.

“The CECE Faculty Research Incubator Grant Program supports emergent interdisciplinary environmental research projects at American University,” said Professor Dana R. Fisher, CECE director. “Through this program, we aim to encourage the type of cross-disciplinary research necessary to solving the environmental issues plaguing our society today.”

AU continues to make progress on its longstanding commitment to sustainability. Out of 50 colleges, AU is ranked No. 2 on Princeton Review’s 2025 Green Colleges List.

Earlier this year, the university broke ground on the Alan and Amy Meltzer Center for Athletic Performance, a part of AU’s Student Thriving Complex. The Meltzer Center, as it is also referred to, is the first net-zero building at AU, as well as the first net-zero building at a university in the region.

As a net-zero building, the Meltzer Center will be fully powered by renewable energy from on-site renewable sources. Additional sustainability features include a green roof space, bioretention basin to capture stormwater, and the first geothermal heat pump system of its kind to be deployed at AU. This renewable source of heating and cooling is part of the design that makes the building net zero and certified LEED Platinum.