Higher Education Clean Energy Projects Map

Developed by Second Nature as part of our policy and advocacy efforts, the following map views display over 700 clean energy projects across higher education institutions nationwide. The vast majority of projects showcased here are from 2021 onwards, and to the best of our knowledge, could have qualified for or had used the Elective Pay (also known as Direct Pay) provision from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)*. They show a cross-section of the volume, scale, and diversity of the sector’s leadership in creating impactful climate solutions. While many of the federal investments and the IRA’s incentives and tax credits that support a clean energy transition are sunsetting, we hope this map tool can serve as a resource for higher education sustainability professionals to make the case for continued investment in climate action projects, attract new funding streams for these types of projects, and support clean energy advocacy efforts at the federal, state, and local levels.

Second Nature developed this tool with support from Invest in Our Future

Research and Map Development: Juliana Vidal

ALL PROJECTS: This map view displays all projects in the database including projects (i) identified through original research conducted by Second Nature, (ii) Grist Direct Pay Tracker, and (iii) the Climate Program Portal (CPP). The ‘Other IRA/BIL Projects’ project type refers to projects identified by CPP or Grist.

DECARBONIZATION PROJECTS: This map view displays all projects identified through original research conducted by Second Nature. We limited the search to clean energy projects that could or did qualify for the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) clean energy tax credits.

OTHER IRA/BIL PROJECTS: This map view displays projects identified by CPP or Grist. They range from research and workforce development to environmental justice and climate resilience. NOTE: Projects from both sources were pulled in the summer of 2025 and will not include status updates from either source since then.

119th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT PARTY: This map view provides a swipe tool for users to better visualize the 119th Congressional District party associated with each clean energy project. The Activate Swipe Tool option above the map filters on the right can be turned on for an animated visualization of the congressional district data.

NOTE: Various Systemwide projects denote large university systems that have multiple clean energy projects across various campuses.

For more information, please read our data sources and methodology section below the map.

*The dataset for this map tool was created in the summer of 2025 with the information available at that time. Federal funding opportunities have continued to evolve since then, and our intent is for the resource to co-evolve with user input and feedback as we learn more about existing and future projects. For more information, see our data sources and methodology section below.

Data Sources:

Methodology:

This map tool was designed to identify clean energy projects at higher education institutions that could have qualified for or had used the Elective Pay (also known as Direct Pay) provision from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The scope was expanded to include projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

The vast majority of projects showcased here are from 2021 onwards (though a small number took place earlier). When available, project details will include relevant information related to the IRA and the BIL, including funding source, award announcement date, and funding amount.*

Using this guidance document outlining elective pay eligible tax credits, Second Nature was able to determine the technology types with the most relevance to higher education institutions that could qualify for energy generation and clean vehicle tax credits, among others. Project categories included solar, geothermal, HVAC, EVs and EV charging, microgrid, and energy storage. Advanced search operators were then used to identify articles related to the projects in these categories.

* The dataset for this map tool was created in the summer of 2025 with the information available at that time. Federal funding opportunities have continued to evolve since then, and our intent is for the resource to co-evolve with user input and feedback as we learn more about existing and future projects.

We welcome your feedback, questions, project updates, and thoughts on how this resource may be helpful in your climate action initiatives. You may also request a copy of the Second Nature dataset. Please use this form to get in touch with our team.

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