Carnegie Mellon University
ER-15: Sustainability Research Identification

Going beyond the slogan of sustainability requires interdisciplinary analysis, problem solving, and invention. At Carnegie Mellon, we are developing a path to an environmentally sustainable society, building on our interdisciplinary culture and our internationally recognized strengths in environmental technology, science, and policy. Environmental research at Carnegie Mellon focuses on two principal themes within the general theme of transitioning to an environmentally sustainable society: (1) urban infrastructure and sustainable cities, and (2) energy transition strategies and the environment. Our research is problem-driven, interdisciplinary, and conducted collaboratively with government, corporate, and foundation partners. The institutional themes are promoted and disseminated by the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research.

Carnegie Mellon University conducted university-wide strategic planning in 1998 and 2008, and environment was a strategic theme in both cases. Following the 1998 strategic planning, a number of new initiatives in support of environmental research were developed, including expansion of the Green Practices Program in part for use of the campus as an experimental test site to support environmental sustainability research, and establishment of the endowed, university-wide Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research. Carnegie Mellon has 20 research centers with activities pertaining to environmental sustainability. The Steinbrenner Institute promotes the activities of these research centers and facilitates information sharing among them. A complete list of the environmental research centers at Carnegie Mellon is maintained at the Steinbrenner Institute web site, with links to each center. Individual research projects are highlighted on the Steinbrenner Institute web site and described in the Steinbrenner Institute newsletter. Inventories of active projects in each research center are available at the web sites of the individual research centers.

An inventory of environmental and sustainability research at Carnegie Mellon in fiscal year 2011 (July 1, 2011- to June 30, 2011) was conducted by the Steinbrenner Institute. This effort involved a compilation of research expenditures FY2011. Departments submitting data included History, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering and Public Policy, Material Science and Engineering, the Tepper School of Business, Chemistry, Architecture, among other departments covering all seven colleges of Carnegie Mellon University. The total research expenditures in FY2011 were approximately 8.5 million dollars. http://www.cmu.edu/environment/research/index.html