Energy Sustainability at Universities
and Its Contribution to SDG 7:
A Systematic Literature Review
Amanda Lange Salvia and Luciana Londero Brandli
Abstract Considering the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), especially SDG 7, focused on “Affordable and Clean Energy”, universities have the role of promoting sustainability through combining sustainable energy
with the processes of knowledge transmission and research. Although sustainability
at universities has been thoroughly investigated, there is a lack of comprehensiveness
in identifying and categorising the university role in energy sustainability and efficiency. In this context, the aim of this paper is to perform a systematic review of the
literature on this topic and relate the university role in sustainable development to its
contribution to SDG 7. Using the databases ScienceDirect and Web of Science, the
review resulted in an analysis of 545 articles from various perspectives, published in
the last 10 years regarding energy efficiency and sustainability at universities. This
enabled an improved understanding of how universities have been contributing to
sustainable development in the energy context and the possibility of exploring scenarios and visions for future actions by educational institutions aiming to comply
with SDG 7.
Keywords Sustainable energy · Energy efficiency · Sustainable development
goals
1 Introduction
The energy dimension of sustainability is one of the most complex challenges currently (Allouhi et al. 2015; Peñalvo-López et al. 2017; Petinrin and Shaaban 2015),
since energy is directly related to national and international security, environmental
problems (such as air quality and climate change), as well as the ability to meet
A. L. Salvia (B) · L. L. Brandli
Graduate Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil
e-mail: amandasalvia@gmail.com
L. L. Brandli
e-mail: brandli@upf.br
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_3
29
and Its Contribution to SDG 7:
A Systematic Literature Review
Amanda Lange Salvia and Luciana Londero Brandli
Abstract Considering the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), especially SDG 7, focused on “Affordable and Clean Energy”, universities have the role of promoting sustainability through combining sustainable energy
with the processes of knowledge transmission and research. Although sustainability
at universities has been thoroughly investigated, there is a lack of comprehensiveness
in identifying and categorising the university role in energy sustainability and efficiency. In this context, the aim of this paper is to perform a systematic review of the
literature on this topic and relate the university role in sustainable development to its
contribution to SDG 7. Using the databases ScienceDirect and Web of Science, the
review resulted in an analysis of 545 articles from various perspectives, published in
the last 10 years regarding energy efficiency and sustainability at universities. This
enabled an improved understanding of how universities have been contributing to
sustainable development in the energy context and the possibility of exploring scenarios and visions for future actions by educational institutions aiming to comply
with SDG 7.
Keywords Sustainable energy · Energy efficiency · Sustainable development
goals
1 Introduction
The energy dimension of sustainability is one of the most complex challenges currently (Allouhi et al. 2015; Peñalvo-López et al. 2017; Petinrin and Shaaban 2015),
since energy is directly related to national and international security, environmental
problems (such as air quality and climate change), as well as the ability to meet
A. L. Salvia (B) · L. L. Brandli
Graduate Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil
e-mail: amandasalvia@gmail.com
L. L. Brandli
e-mail: brandli@upf.br
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_3
29