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Estimating the carbon emission of a university is a key step towards carbon neutrality in the education sector and in contributing to the national greenhouse gas emission (GHG) inventory. Following the guidelines of the Philippine Climate Change Commission (CCC), this study examined the university GHG profile using the University of the Philippines Cebu (UPC) as a case study. The main goals were to create a GHG inventory that could serve as a model for other educational institutions in the Philippines and evaluate mitigation strategies that could potentially reduce emissions. Total emission of UPC in 2018 was estimated to be 1,520.6 tCO2e, equivalent to 1.1 tCO2e/capita/yr. The highest contributor to the UPC emission was student mobility, which accounted for 47.2% (717.5 tCO2e) of the total. As the university progressed through the K-12 transition years and assuming a business-as-usual scenario, it was projected that GHG emission had increased by 9.1% (151.4 tCO2e) in 2019 and by 13.6% (238.3 tCO2e) in 2020. If UPC had mitigated its emission in 2018 such as reducing its purchased electricity consumption to 7.5% by shifting to solar energy, total emission could have been reduced by 1.8% or 27.4 tCO2e. If there had been 10% less travels such as by opting to videoconferencing, UPC could have reduced its emission by 0.3% or 5.2 tCO2e. Finally, if UPC had reduced 10% of its solid waste disposal to landfills such as by recycling, carbon emission would have been lessened by 0.3% or 4.7 tCO2e. Through this research, UPC is the first national university in the Philippines to measure its carbon emissions using CCC guidelines. An understanding of the university carbon footprint could significantly raise awareness among stakeholders of their roles and responsibilities in creating a sustainable campus. Moving forward, it is recommended that the inventory would be continued for the succeeding years.

Here we evaluated the effect of using water retentive pavement or WRP made from fly ash as material for main street in a real city block. We coupled computational fluid dynamics and pavement transport (CFD-PT) model to examine energy balance in the building canopies and ground surface. Two cases of 24 h unsteady analysis were simulated: case 1 where asphalt was used as the pavement material of all ground surfaces and case 2 where WRP was used as main street material. We aim to (1) predict diurnal variation in air temperature, wind speed, ground surface temperature and water content; and (2) compare ground surface energy fluxes. Using the coupled CFD-PT model it was proven that WRP as pavement material for main street can cause a decrease in ground surface temperature. The most significant decrease occurred at 1200 JST when solar radiation was most intense, surface temperature decreased by 13.8°C. This surface temperature decrease also led to cooling of air temperature at 1.5 m above street surface. During this time, air temperature in case 2 decreased by 0.28°C. As the radiation weakens from 1600 JST to 2000 JST, evaporative cooling had also been minimal. Shadow effect, higher albedo and lower thermal conductivity of WRP also contributed to surface temperature decrease. The cooling of ground surface eventually led to air temperature decrease. The degree of air temperature decrease was proportional to the surface temperature decrease. In terms of energy balance, WRP caused a maximum increase in latent heat flux by up to 255 W/m 2 and a decrease in sensible heat flux by up to 465 W/m 2 .

The Philippines entered its most prolonged lockdown in 2020 when the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) became a pandemic. Additionally, there has been a shift from physical to online classes at all education levels. Against this backdrop, the restrictions imposed on the education sector could have environmental impacts, including on the carbon emission structure. Here, we compare the carbon footprint before and during the pandemic, determine how the pandemic changed the activities that directly affected carbon emissions, and present reduction methods to minimise emissions in the new normal. We calculated emissions before and during the pandemic to achieve these goals, using the data obtained from University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu. The total CO2 emissions of UP Cebu in 2019 were estimated to be 1420.7 tCO2e, which did not significantly differ from the 2018 emissions. In 2020, the total CO2 emissions were estimated to be 555.8 tCO2e, equivalent to a 60.9% decrease from the 2019 emissions. The per capita emissions in UP Cebu for 2019 and 2020 were estimated to be 0.9 tCO2e and 0.3 tCO2e, respectively – both below the national average. The pandemic caused a significant decrease in emissions per activity, except for emissions from fuel, which increased 305.8%. In the post-COVID-19 world, especially when in-person classes return, UP Cebu must consider concrete strategies to curb its emissions. Specific decarbonization methods for each activity were simulated and discussed. The results and reduction strategies presented are relevant to UP Cebu and other higher education institutions in the Philippines and Asia with the same characteristics.