Factors contributing to institutions achieving environmental sustainability

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine what factors contributed to three universities achieving environmental sustainability.Design/methodology/approach – A case study methodology was used to determine how each factor contributed to the institutions' sustainability. Site visits, fieldwork, document reviews, and interviews with administration, faculty, staff, and students from the participating institutions were employed as primary data collection strategies.Findings – The six factors identified in the literature as contributing to environmental sustainability were present at all three institutions: green campus operation measures; campus administration, organization, and leadership; teaching, research, and service; campus‐wide actions and activities; institutional assessment of campus sustainability measures; and established methods for overcoming barriers.Research limitations/implications – This study was delimited to the six factors that were identified in the literature and the three insti...