Universities are increasingly leveraging their campuses as sustainability “living laboratories” where solutions to real-world challenges — often developed by students in partnership with faculty and staff — are piloted and scaled. Despite the growing popularity of these programs, relatively few institutions have developed robust metrics to assess their impact. Incorporating assessment is both beneficial for enhancing and refining program quality, while also supporting STARS 3.0 credit AC 4.1.C asking for “processes or tools in place to assess the success of the applied learning projects.” The very question of what constitutes success in a university living lab program invites a wide range of perspectives. Should success be measured by student learning outcomes, operational savings, greenhouse gas reductions, research outputs, community partnerships, policy influence, or broader cultural transformation?

This session brings together four universities with established living lab programs — each with distinct institutional priorities, governance structures, and definitions of success — to explore how institutions are measuring impact and evolving their evaluation frameworks. Panelists representing Columbia, Duke, Rice, and the University of Southern California will share the metrics they currently use, the challenges they have encountered, and the lessons learned from attempting to quantify outcomes that often span academics, operations, internships, and community engagement.

Following brief presentations, the session will include interactive round table discussions where attendees will compare their own definitions of success and identify practical metrics that could be adapted to their institutions. Participants will leave with templates and tools from the presenters as well as insights into developing a flexible framework for assessing living lab impact, ideas for potential metrics, and strategies for tailoring evaluation approaches to different institutional contexts.

Whether attendees are launching a new living lab initiative or refining an established “Campus as Lab” program, this session will provide practical tools and peer insights to help institutions better define, measure, and communicate the impact of campus-based sustainability innovation.

Resources from this session can be accessed at bit.ly/AASHE_LL