| Project | Description | Award Amount |
| Recreational Sports Transition to All-Electric Equipment | Awarded to Recreational Sports staff to replace gas powered equipment used in outdoor field maintenance operations at the Berry M. Whitaker Sports Complex and Clark Field. | $40,000 |
| UT Battery Buffer Digital Twin | Awarded to Discovery to Impact and Utilities Energy Management staff to evaluate if battery storage can reduce fuel use and emissions, lower operating costs, and improve system stability and resilience. | $49,952 |
| Sustainability Communication Scholars Program | Awarded to Moody College of Communication faculty to establish a cohort of undergraduate students to design, implement, and evaluate a semester-long sustainability-focused communication project that benefits the UT Austin campus. The Scholars Program will provide structured training and mentorship to provide student-led campus sustainability projects. | $28,950 |
| SEED (Sustainability Education and Enterprise Development) Summer Scholars | Awarded to McCombs School of Business Global Sustainability Leadership Institute staff in the Department of Finance to expand its sustainability venture competition’s impact by launching a competitive summer stipend called SEED Summer Scholars. | $10,000 |
| PARK-ITECTURE: Designing for Sustainable Mobility | Awarded to Center for Sustainable Development staff in the School of Architecture to create a unique design competition for students to create a functional, expressive, and sustainable solution to Goldsmith Hall bicycle parking. | $25,000 |
| Mapping air quality through lichen diversity: A comparative, student-led survey of the UT Austin main campus and the Brackenridge Field Laboratory | Awarded to Department of Integrative Biology faculty to create a student-led comparative survey of campus lichens as lichens are sensitive to atmospheric pollution and can be used as bioindicators of air quality. The project creates undergraduate research opportunities. | $28,000 |
| Raising the Roof on Sustainability: Robotic Deconstruction of Ceiling Tiles | Awarded to Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering faculty in the Cockrell School of Engineering to develop and demonstrate an autonomous robotic system for selective deconstruction and recovery of suspended ceiling tiles and grid systems in ageing UT Austin buildings. This project creates graduate and undergraduate research opportunities and addresses a key implementation gap: the lack of safe, efficient, and scalable methods for interior material salvage. | $64,772 |
| U-share-iT: UT’s Laboratory Equipment and Instrument Reuse and Sharing Platform (Phase II) | Awarded to Environmental Health and Safety staff in partnership with Maseeh Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering faculty to expand and improve U-share-iT, an online platform designed to streamline and facilitate the rehoming and sharing of lab equipment among UT researchers. Phase II aims to expand U-share-iT by improving the platform, quantifying its environmental benefits, and increasing adoption across campus. It will also provide hands-on learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in website management, data analysis, and life cycle assessment. | $46,050 |
| From Nitrile Gloves to Fuel: Evaluating Hydrothermal Liquefaction for Zero‑Waste Plastics Diversion at UT Austin | Awarded to Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering faculty in the Cockrell School of Engineering to evaluate hydrothermal liquefication as a viable pathway to divert nitrile plastic gloves and expanded polystyrene by co-processing them with sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants, converting the mixture into biocrude (a precursor to transportation fuels) plus an aqueous phase and solid residue. The project will provide hands-on training for graduate and undergraduate students in resource recovery, analytical methods, and data driven sustainability planning. | $50,714 |
| Jester Garden Mindfulness Garden | Awarded to University Housing and Dining staff to create a dedicated space for mindfulness, reflection, and wellness grounded in sustainable gardening practices. Student employees and volunteers will install garden features, seating, plantings, and student-created art. Supported long-term by University Housing and Dining, the garden will serve as a permanent campus resource for sustainability education and student well-being. | $33,794 |
| Real-Time Monitoring of UT Austin Air Quality | Awarded to McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering faculty in the Cockrell School of Engineering to measure and create maps of the concentration and composition of fine particulate matter and other air pollutants on and near the UT Austin campus. Undergraduate and graduate students will collect, measure, and analyze the data. | $39,592 |
| Establishing Long-Term Monitoring and Research Observatory of Groundwater and Surface Water Resources for UT Campus Sustainability | Awarded to Earth and Planetary Sciences staff and Jackson School of Geosciences faculty to study the hydrologic processes and dominant water quality mechanisms (e.g., mineral-solution reactions, fluid mixing, and environmental pollution) associated with groundwater and surface water on the UT Austin campus. Results could inform water management and remediation strategies as well as construction planning on campus, while engaging students in comprehensive research and establishing sustainable relationships between faculty and UT Facilities. | $48,533 |
| CNS Solar Table | Awarded to students in partnership with College of Natural Sciences staff to purchase and install a solar-powered charging station intended to serve the campus community by providing basic needs: a place to study, relax, socialize while keeping their electronics charged. The table will provide shade and renewable energy without infringing on the university’s existing electrical infrastructure. | $16,690 |
| Living Conditions: Sustainability and Adaptation Amidst Evolving Climate Change | Awarded to Department of Art and Art History staff in the College of Fine Arts to produce the "Living Conditions" publication, an interdisciplinary initiative that brings artists and scientists together to translate climate research from UT’s Planet Texas 2050 network into an accessible, art, and academic resource documenting collaborative strategies for environmental adaptation across Texas. | $40,000 |
| Custodial Sustainability Coordinator | Awarded to Custodial Services and Resource Recovery staff to create a pilot Custodial Sustainability Coordinator position and implement projects during the position pilot period. | $51,520 |
| Integrating Sustainability Learning and Implementing Sustainable Practices in Teaching Laboratory Spaces in Engineering | Awarded to Chemical Engineering faculty in the Cockrell School of Engineering to explore best practices to implement a more sustainable learning experience in engineering teaching laboratories in the UT Austin campus. Faculty and student researchers will evaluate the use of resources, the integration of circular processes, the optimization of laboratory processes, and the incorporation of sustainability frameworks within the existing learning experience in chemical engineering. In addition, researchers will study the ways in which students engage in a curriculum developed to intentionally integrate sustainability practices. | $35,000 |
| Turning Data into Shade: A Campus Heat Mapping Initiative to Mitigate Hotspots Across the Forty Acres | Awarded to Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering faculty in the Cockrell School of Engineering to develop a detailed map of outdoor heat exposures for pedestrians and the campus community across the Forty Acres. This work will integrate real time heat data collected by students with ongoing digital twin models to provide a detailed pedestrian-level map of heat exposures across the campus. Collected data could be used by campus planners to effectively mitigate excessive heat exposure and improve the walkability and safety of the UT Austin campus. | $43,700 |
| Creekside Convo | Awarded to Freshman Research Initiative Urban Ecosystems students and faculty in the College of Natural Sciences to produce a podcast to disseminate accessible and accurate research-based sustainability news relevant to the UT Austin campus community. | $19,400 |
| Building a network of environmental sensors across the Texas Field Station Network | Awarded to Texas Field Station Network staff to purchase and install mounted sensors on The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the Hill Country Field Station, two of the seven Texas field stations, to collect standardized ecological data in parallel between stations. The project will provide in-the-field learning experiences, a unique dataset and long-term research opportunities for students, faculty, and staff. | $49,568 |
| Affordable, Circular, Repeatable Solutions for the Inaugural Housing Innovation Challenge | Awarded to Materials Lab faculty in the School of Architecture (SOA) to fund a graduate student in support of the recent invitation for SOA students to participate in the Housing Innovation Challenge, a national design-build competition that pairs academic teams with industry build partners to provide innovative affordable housing solutions realized through Industrialized Construction (prefabricated) methods. The UT Austin submission, with a priority on sustainable design and construction, was one of ten teams selected during Phase One of the competition. | $29,000 |
| UT Building Retrofit Intelligence Tool: Dat-Driven Decision Support for Campus Energy Efficiency | Awarded to a School of Architecture graduate student to develop a web-based decision-making tool that could enable UT Austin staff to systematically prioritize building retrofit investments for maximum energy savings and carbon reductions. | $5,000 |
| Justicia Para Todos: Solar Energy and Low-Income Housing in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley | Awarded to a School of Architecture graduate student to conduct qualitative research on colonia residents’ perceptions of the effectiveness of residential solar energy in addressing community needs. | $5,000 |
| Evaluating the Potential Solar Photovoltaic Carport Canopies in UT Parking Lots | Awarded to a School of Architecture graduate student to evaluate UT Austin parking areas on their technical, economic and regulatory feasibility of deploying photovoltaic carport structures. | $5,000 |
