Climate Action Clinic for Partners

A carbon footprint analysis helps an organization understand how much greenhouse gas pollution it is producing and what activities are driving that pollution – thereby empowering the organization to target cost-effective reduction strategies. Carbon footprint management was a $9 billion global industry in 2020, and is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. This means carbon accounting expertise is an increasingly marketable professional skill, and you don't be a scientist or mathematician to learn it! Carbon footprints are also referred to as “greenhouse gas inventories.” 

In-depth knowledge is not required, although can be extremely helpful. We will teach you high-level concepts and your student group will help you work through the in-depth analysis and help clarify any outstanding items.

The work and scope of projects vary from each group and client organization. There is an hourly weekly virtual meeting with your student group, plus any additional follow-up work shouldn’t exceed 1-3 hours per week.

We do ask you to come in person if possible two times during the semester: 

• Client Kick-off: Clients present their organization and goals for the semester to the student consultant teams.
• Final Presentation Showcase: Each team shares their completed work and the lessons they learned from the Clinic in a 10-minute presentation to clients, UNH faculty and staff, family and friends, followed by time for networking

We do request clients to:

• Identify a single point person within your organization to serve as a primary contact with the student team and commit at least 1 hour per week to the Climate Action Clinic. This person must commit to weekly video calls with their student consultants. 
• Collect activity data sets for all relevant activities. We recommend calculating a baseline footprint for 2019 and 2021 including all direct emissions (scope 1), public utility indirect emissions (scope 2), and, if possible, some indirect emission sources (scope 3: business travel and commuting). The data sets required for this calculation include the following: 
  • Scope 1: Quantities of all stationary fuel consumption (e.g., natural gas), mobile fuel use for leased/owned vehicles, on-site fertilizer application, and refrigerant/chemical use. 
  • Scope 2: Total purchased electricity, steam, and chilled water; and any market transactions associated with purchased electricity (e.g., renewable energy credits). 
  • Scope 3: Employee commuting information (e.g., number of commuters, commute mode, trip distance), and business travel information (e.g., travel mode, distance by trip). 

Typical team size is 3-5 students, across all majors. We strive for interdisciplinary teams and each team is led by a Peer Mentor, who is a student that has been through the Clinic at least once before and is your main point of contact.  

Weeks 1-3
Students are introduced to the basics of Carbon Accounting, choose teams and start to become familiar with their client.

Week 3
Clients meet their student team for the first time, and the first order of business is to create a consulting agreement of what the expected deliverables will be at the end of the semester, as well as allowing student access into the client assessment.

Weeks 4-12 
Teams work through your data set, verification of your baseline footprint and scenario analysis of reductions as applicable to your organization or municipality.

Weeks 13-15
Teams wrap up all final deliverables and provide the client with documentation, and finally, present their work at our final showcase event.

We have space for five clients per semester; applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Once an application is submitted, we will reach out to schedule a brief call to hear more about your organization and goals, and we will offer positions based on best fit.  

Thanks to a generous grant from the Thoreau Foundation, there is no fee for clients through 2024.

Please reach out to Fiona.Wilson@unh.edu for any additional questions.  

Clients receive a 1 year subscription to SIMAP and all final worksheets including:

• Data tracking template​
• Normalizations spreadsheet​
• Scenarios spreadsheet​
• Carbon footprint “how to” guide​
• Final presentation slides