University of Wisconsin students in the Urban and Regional Planning 551 class last spring developed a report with recommendations to make the campus fleet greener.

Eighteen undergraduate and graduate students in Professor Carey McAndrews’ “Climate Action Planning: Sustainable Transportation” course were given the opportunity to apply the class content to their own college campus, according to UW News.

After learning about the fundamental concepts of climate action planning and sustainable transportation, students worked with the UW Office of Sustainability and Transportation Services to create plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from travel.

The class worked with data provided by Transportation Services to create an inventory of UW’s vehicles. Students then used the Argonne National Laboratory’s Alternative Fuel Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Transportation (AFLEET) Tool to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions from the fleet on campus, according to UW News.

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UW Office of Sustainability Assistant Director Nathan Jandl in said in an email statement this was an example of a real-life application of in-class learning.

“It is especially exciting to receive input from students when it is rooted in-classroom experience and specifically connected to campus units,” Jandl said.

The students used the fleet to consider ways in which the UW campus could reduce its carbon footprint through fleet management. The students provided multiple recommendations for a greener fleet including alternative fuels, electrifying the fleet and reducing trips in their final report.

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According to Jandl, this is a big step in the right direction.

“The university is a large, complex institution that is embedded in a local landscape, community, state and so forth,” Jandl said. “Green fleet initiatives are an important part of our overall strategy, but it is critical that we work on many fronts at once to achieve our sustainability goals – from equity and wellness to waste management and energy use.”