While strategies to reduce carbon emissions normally require significant time and financial investment, the research suggests that this kind of schedule change could offer a simple and low-cost way to reduce carbon emissions.
“This approach does not really require any significant investment,” said Wei Sun, an energy system researcher and author on the paper. “We just need willingness from staff and students to be open to the changes in semester dates.”
The team monitored how more than 20 universities are currently managing their energy consumptions on campus, including their semester schedules. They then looked at heat and energy usage for the University of Edinburgh (where some of the researchers work) over the course of the year. This helped them propose the most environmentally friendly semester schedule for the university.
They found that by starting a new semester on the second week of September, followed by a 12-week winter learning semester and...