At the Future of Sustainability conference, ANU was recognised for its exceptional environmental initiatives in the Australasian Green Gown Awards. Two ANU programs were recognised as finalists in the climate action category: the ANU Carbon Smart Travel Program and our work to transition our campus buildings to carbon-neutral heating.

The ANU Carbon Smart Travel Program won the highly commended award, highlighting the program’s comprehensive and impactful approach to supporting organisational change and empowering communities to reduce emissions from travel. The ANU approach was recognised as distinctive for its participatory nature, involving staff and students in co-designing measures and fostering a sense of ownership.

This program, which aims to balance the necessity of travel with the need to reduce negative environmental impacts, has been in progress since 2021.

Highlights of the program that were considered in this award include:

• Developing tools and resources, such as the Travel Emissions Tracker app and the Carbon Smart Travel guide, which provide practical guidance and transparency, to empower staff and students to make informed travel decisions.
• Forming the ANU Travel Emissions Working Group (2021-2022) consisting of ANU academics, professional staff and students to share perspectives on strategies and tools to support the University and our community to reduce emissions from travel.
• Creating the ANU Travel Lab (2023-2024), bringing together interdisciplinary researchers to develop strategies for reducing travel emissions.
• Working with the ANU Travel Services team to incorporate sustainability goals into the ANU Travel Policy and Handbook.
• Conducting a staff survey in 2024 where 97 per cent of respondents said they had taken at least one action to reduce travel emissions.
• The same survey showed that 77 per cent supported the emissions reduction target to reduce travel emissions by 50% by 2025 based on the 2019 baseline, indicating strong community engagement and support.
• Reduction of 9,000 tonnes of CO₂e in 2023 compared to 2019 levels, thanks to post-pandemic shifts in travel behaviour and the adoption of low-carbon travel options.
• Collaborations with various organisations, including ACTS, the CSIRO, the Australasian Universities Air Travel Consortium and the International Alliance of Research Universities, to share knowledge and best practices.

Watch this 2-minute video with Carla Alzamora from the ANU Environmental Sustainability team talking about the ANU Carbon Smart Travel Program. Read about the full program on the ANU Sustainability website.

The University’s heat pump work showcases our commitment to innovative and sustainable solutions in building management and climate action. This project has been underway since 2021 and is working to replace gas heat pumps across campus with energy-efficient electric heat pumps.

The installation of these electric pumps reduces the University’s carbon footprint by 900 tCO₂e per annum, 6.5% of the University’s total emissions from gas. It also emphasises the reuse of existing infrastructure and retrofitting buildings, which conserves resources and minimises waste. 

There were three top learnings from this project:

• Transitioning existing buildings from fossil gas heating presents multiple technical, financial and social challenges
• Existing cold climate buildings can be converted successfully to all electric using novel design approaches
• An integrated approach is required ensuring different disciplines (e.g. mechanical and electrical engineers) collaborate closely

Interested in more? Check out a short video on our campus decarbonisation program by transitioning our buildings to carbon-neutral heating.