Thammasat has several initiatives toward promoting and implementing a more sustainable commuting, hence, has set the targets and measures for our achievements throughout the years. 

Highlights:

1. Commitments, Targets and Measures for Sustainable Commuting
2. Low Emission Support Scheme Project – a reduction of 8,587.44 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, received a certificate of recognition for its support of greenhouse gas reduction.
3. The construction and improvement projects for walkway, main roads, pedestrian bridge, bicycle bridge, and parking lot around Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus.
4. Free EV Shuttle Bus Services – 100% Conversion since 2022
5. Bike Sharing for Green Campus – Reduction of Carbon Emission
6. Electric Car Rental Service and Charging Stations
7. 100% of Public Buses Entering Campus as Electric Vehicles in 2030

Our commitments and initiatives include:

• Manage the public transport system (public bus and motorcycle taxi) to cover the whole area of campus and near by locations.
• Provide free EV shuttle bus services connecting from dormitory areas to all university’s faculty and buildings.
• Provide EV car rental service stations in Rangsit and Tha Prachan Campus.
• Increase EV charging stations around campus area, both in Rangsit and Tha Prachan Campus.
• Continue to promote the use of bicycles as non-motorized transport by adding bicycle lanes and increase bike service stations to facilitate commuting around Rangsit Campus.
• Promote “Walkable City” campaign to encourage walking in the pedestrians provided when commuting in a short distance.
• Reconstruct and improve the pedestrians walk way, especially for the people with disabilities and bicycle lanes to separate and safe from cars and buses.
• Implement TU Around application to search and access information on the shuttle bus routes and stations around Thammasat University Rangsit Campus
  Life @Thammasat Rangsit – Facebook

Our targets and measures are:

• 100% conversion of all free shuttle bus to EV shuttle bus by the end of 2022.
• 100% of public buses and vans entering the campus as electric vehicles by the end of 2025.
• Increase the number of EV charging stations to 10 stations around campus area, both in Rangsit and Tha Prachan Campus by the end of 2025.
• Reconstruct and improve ALL of the pedestrians walk way in Rangsit Campus, especially for the people with disabilities and bicycle lanes to separate and safe from cars and buses by the end of 2030.
• Track the carbon emissions reduction from implementing these “Smart Energy” projects on a yearly basis.
• Reduce carbon emissions through “Smart Energy” projects up to 35,000 tones by the end of 2030.

Low Emission Support Scheme (LESS)

Thammasat University actively promoted environmental sustainability through its Low Emissions Support Scheme (LESS). The initiative aimed to reduce the campus’s carbon footprint by encouraging low-emission practices and raising awareness about climate change and sustainable behaviors within the university community. Thammasat recognized the crucial role of educational institutions in addressing environmental issues and committed to substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, setting a strong example in Thailand’s academic sector.

Key components of the LESS program included energy efficiency improvements, adoption of renewable energy sources, and sustainable campus operations. The university encouraged the use of energy-saving appliances, enhanced waste management practices, and promoted alternative transportation methods to reduce carbon emissions. For instance, it supported cycling and the use of electric vehicles on campus, helping to minimize air pollution and dependency on fossil fuels.

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Mechanism_Certificates of Recognition for LESS Projects_Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus

Through these three activities, a total of 8,587.44 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions have been reduced in 2023, as recognized by the Greenhouse Gas Management Organization. The project also received a certificate of recognition for its support of greenhouse gas reduction activities, as detailed in the attached document.

โครงการ-LESS_Report-2566

Furthermore, Thammasat integrated climate action into its curriculum and research, providing students with opportunities to study sustainability and participate in projects related to renewable energy and carbon reduction strategies. Through various workshops, seminars, and community engagement activities, the university educated both students and faculty on the significance of reducing emissions and adopting greener lifestyles.

The construction and improvement projects for walkway, main roads, pedestrian bridge, bicycle bridge, and parking lot around Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus.

The construction and improvement projects around Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus, include the construction of a pedestrian bridge over the student activity canal, a bridge and bicycle paths at the Puey Ungpakorn School of Development Studies, repairs to Yung Thong Road, repairs to the parking lot for the Faculty of Law, and many other initiatives.

The Rangsit Campus Administration has managed the relocation of obstructive signs to facilitate easier passage and has installed new signs in appropriate locations to avoid blocking walkways while ensuring that the pathways remain clearly visible.

Free EV Shuttle Bus Services – 100% Conversion by 2022

As one of the services provided for students and staffs who live on-campus and around campus area, Thammasat University provides FREE shuttle bus connecting from dormitory areas to the University’s buildings, food courts, and Thammasat Hospital since 2005. The 10 buses were still using diesel fuel.  In 2010, the University has increased the number of buses to 20 buses and converted them into NGV to comply with the “green university” policy as the first steps toward reducing the carbon emissions.

Our commitment and initiatives:
Thammasat University had a plan to change all 20 shuttle buses serviced in Rangsit Campus from Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) to be Electric Bus in 2021. At the end of the year 2022, 100% of these shuttle buses were completely migrated to electric buses. The University will also provide electric vehicle charging station where the electricity will come from both solar cell and electricity grid.

Target and measure:
The goal was to convert 100% of shuttle buses to service students and staffs on and off-campus to electric buses by the end of 2022. Currently, Thammasat has 25 EV shuttle buses servicing around campus and 10 EV buses to service staffs and students who lived outside campus. By using EV buses, the carbon emission could be reduced up to 366 tons per year.

Bringing clean energy such as solar energy to use inside the building through “Solar Rooftop”, the usage of electricity instead of fossil fuels for “EV Shuttle Bus” and “AnyWheel” bicycle covering all areas of campus can tremendously reduce the amount of carbon emissions at Thammasat University – Rangsit Campus. 

Thammasat University has adopted the concept of a “sustainable smart city” to help reduce global CO₂ emissions. This includes initiatives in several areas: Smart Energy, by using clean energy sources like solar power in campus buildings; Smart Environment, through community-focused waste management; and Smart Mobility, by providing EV shuttle bus transportation services both within and outside the university

Bike Sharing for Green Campus – Reduction of Carbon Emission

Since 2012, Thammasat has launched the program to reduce the number of cars and motorcycle used in university and increased the number of sharing bicycles, bicycle routes, and length of bicycle lane.

Our commitment and initiatives:
Thammasat University signed an agreement of cooperation with “Anywheel” to promote the use of shared bicycles to allow the students, staff, and visitors in actively contributing to reduce the use of fossil fuel powered vehicles within the campus. Since 2021, there were more than 1,000 AnyWheel rental bicycles and 73 service stations all over Thammasat University Rangsit Campus. Each service station offers 15-28 public bicycles that can be rented through their mobile application. During 2024, there were around 1,500-1,800 bicycles per month available.

Target and measure:
Transportation-based carbon emissions within the University were reduced around 82,690 kg.CO2e in 2023. During the year 2024, the University was able to reduced the carbon emissions up to 92,220 kg.CO2e. The total travel distance of all the shared bicycles were increased from 230,834.5 km in 2022 to 812,515 km. in 2024.

The target in 2024 was to increase the number of rental bicycles by 50% and to start providing rental electric scooter service in order to encourage everyone on campus to choose modes of transportation that do not create air pollution. The goal for the total distance used by AnyWheel bicycle and electric scooter users in 2024 was 800,000 km. which is equivalent to CO₂ emission reduction of approximate 83 tons.

For more information on bike sharing, please visit these websites and facebook.

1. Bike Lanes at Rangsit Campus – Smart Mobility Campaign
2. Reducing Carbon Emission Within the University through Shared Bicycles
3. Bike Sharing for Green Campus
4. Thammasat Launches Bike Sharing Service for Green Campus
5. Maps of Thammasat University

Thammasat University regularly inspected and repaired the bicycle lanes throughout the campus, especially in front of the faculties and public buildings.

Electric Car Rental Service and Charging Stations

Thammasat University cooperates with Haup Car, an electric car rental company, to provide rental electric car service at Rangsit Campus. In the beginning, there were 2 rental stations on campus which also offer charging service for other electric cars in order to encourage those who travel to Thammasat University to adopt the use of electric cars.

Our commitment and initiatives:
The University provides 4 electric vehicle charging locations in Rangsit Campus and one station at Dome building, Tha-Prachan Campus. The University has installed three rental and charging stations in 2021 and five additional rental and charging stations at Rangsit Campus in 2022.

Target and measure:
By the end of 2025, the University will completely install the three additional rental and charging stations at Rangsit Campus to complete our targets of ten stations. The University will publicize the use of Haup electric cars to travel to and from other areas near Thammasat University such as shopping malls and flea markets in order to increase the total distance to more than 50,000 kilometers.

For more information on EV cars, please visit these websites and facebook.

1. EV Sharing at Thammasat Rangsit
2. https://www.haupcar.com/forum/station-location/echaarth-iiwii-pthumthaanii-aakhaar-thikaarbdii-mth-rangsit-tu-gymnasium-6
3. https://www.facebook.com/haupCAR/posts/3502671683290764/
4. https://sdgs.tu.ac.th/2021/11/19/thammasat-corporates-with-four-electric-car-companies-developing-thammasat-smart-city/
5. https://tu.ac.th/thammasat-251120-haup-ev-car-sharing

100% of Public Buses Entering Campus as Electric Vehicles

Thammasat University Rangsit Campus has a 3000-square-meter public van station which can handle up to 40 vans at once. Each van covers as far as a 40-kilometer distance per trip. The number of public van users is as many as 3,500 people per day.

Target and measure:
A daily trip of 80 kilometers is equivalent to 4.38 tons CO₂ emissions per year (1-km car ride releases about 150 grams of CO₂); therefore, if all these 3,500 people used private cars for travelling, it would cause CO₂ emission of 15,330 tons per year.

The public van service can transport up to 13 people at a time, so the use of public van to and from Rangsit Campus can reduce CO₂ emission by 13 folds, equivalent to a reduction of 14,150 CO₂ tons per year.

Thammasat Policy on Solid Waste management committed to track and measure the amount of waste and its management. In 2019, Thammasat University enacted a Policy on Solid Waste management to advance the university towards becoming a sustainable university. The policy provides a direction on systematic and effective waste management within the university and is applied to all parties of the university from students, staff, store owners, as well as individuals who perform other activities related to waste creation in the university area.

The item 6 of this policy stresses that “The University will need to be able to track and check the method of waste disposal during waste delivery to the disposal destination to note the amount of each type of waste that has been recycled and the amount of waste that has been taken to landfill, so that the university can appropriately promote activities that help increase waste recycling and reuse waste going to landfills.

The table below shows the amount of waste produced by Thammasat University in 2020 – first half of 2022. General waste refers to non-recyclable waste, which the university passes on to local municipality. It is unclear though how the municipality deals with the waste. It is therefore assumed to be managed by sending to landfill. Recyclable waste refers to recyclable waste dealt with by Thammasat University’s facilities.

According to the data, the total amount of waste in 2021 (2,439.6 tons) was reduced from the level of 2020 (3,175.3 tons). More importantly the proportion of recyclable waste has increased significantly relative to 2020, from 20.96 percentage in the second half of 2020 to 27.01 and 30.04 percentages in the first and second half of 2021 respectively.

Amount of waste	Jan-Jun 2020	Jul-Dec 2020	Jan-Jun 2021	Jul-Dec 2021	Jan-Jun 2022
General waste (Tons)	1050.00	1425.00	920.00	825.00	810.00
General waste (Percentage)	76.51	79.04	72.99	69.96	68.28
Recyclable waste (Tons)	322.31	377.99	340.43	354.17	376.35
Recyclable waste (Percentage)	23.49	20.96	27.01	30.04	31.72

Despite the increase in the proportion of recyclable waste, Thammasat University still has much to do to increase the proportion of recyclable waste. The university may need to track how its waste is dealt with by the municipality and how to support the municipality to manage the waste more sustainably.

Thammasat University has several outstanding buildings that are recognized as the highly energy-efficient buildings that adhere to the building design principle for energy conservation such as the “Wisit-Auksorn” Building which has won the “Energy Saving Building Design Awards” in 2016, the “Siriwitthayaluck” Building of the Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education which flawlessly combined the energy-efficient principle with the concept of universal design, the “Thammasat Secondary School” which received an IFLA AAPME Awards 2020, and last by not least, the “Puey Centenary” Hall.

คณะสถาปัตยกรรมศาสตร์และการผังเมือง มหาวิทยาลัยธรรมศาสตร์ ได้รับรางวัลสำนักงานสีเขียว (Green Office) ระดับดีเยี่ยม (เหรียญทอง) ประจำปี 2566 จากกรมการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศและสิ่งแวดล้อม กระทรวงทรัพยากรธรรมชาติและสิ่งแวดล้อม (Sep,2023)

Latest in 2023, Thammasat University’s Faculty of Architecture and Planning has earned the prestigious Green Office Excellence Award (Gold Medal) for 2023, awarded by the Department of Climate Change and Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. This recognition highlights the faculty’s commitment to sustainability in various forms, including energy-efficient building designs, the installation of solar panels to generate renewable energy, and initiatives like the TDS Freecycle Rack, a space for sharing and exchanging materials for model-making to promote reuse.

The design for the International Education Building (อาคารวิศิษฏ์อักษร), executed by the Center for Design and Research Innovation (CIDAR) within the Faculty of Architecture and Planning at Thammasat University, was certified under a crucial sustainable construction standard. As announced on January 17, 2024, this design passed the assessment for new construction and renovation projects (TREES-NC) and achieved the Gold level certification from the Thai Green Building Institute. This assessment utilized the ‘Standard criteria for assessing energy and environmental sustainability’ (TREES-NC), and the recognition aligns with the university’s broader goals for Thammasat Sustainability, Thammasat SmartCity, and Future CampusLife at the Rangsit campus.

Another achievement recognizing sustainable practices occurred on August 29, 2024, when the Faculty of Architecture and Planning received the Green Office (G-Green) Award at the Excellent G Gold level. Assistant Professor Asahan Suwanrit, the Dean of the Faculty, was the representative who accepted the award, which was conferred by the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion. This G-Green award is given to organizations that demonstrate environmental management, emphasizing the efficient and worthwhile use of resources, commitment to energy saving, and explicit consideration of environmental impacts

Looking ahead, the faculty is focused on adopting Net Zero and Carbon Neutral strategies. Through collaborations with external agencies, they are working to develop future-ready models for sustainability in organizational practices, positioning themselves as a leader in environmentally responsible development. This ongoing dedication underscores the faculty’s commitment to sustainable design and practices for an eco-friendlier future.

For more information on the building design, please refer to these websites:
1. Thammasat Policy for Energy-Efficient Renovation and Building
2. Energy Efficient Renovation and Building at Thammasat University

All new buildings at Thammasat University have been constructed under this design guideline and the “Policy for Energy Conservation Management and Access to Modern Sustainable Energy”. The policy ensures that all new buildings and/or renovations are following energy efficiency standards and use the most optimized way in planning for energy consumption in all buildings.  It stretches throughout the policy, especially in item #2, #4, #7 and #9, that all constructions, renovations and expansion of the building in Thammasat University must adhere to the “building design principle” for energy conservation.

Policy on Energy Conservation Management and Access to Modern Sustainable Energy

1.-Policy-on-Energy-Conservation-Management-and-Access-to-Modern-Energy

Item #9 stated that “Construction and renovation of all buildings within Thammasat University will adhere to the building design principle for energy conservation and must take into account energy efficiency as a primary factor, following the minimum “Certified” rating from TREES (Thai’s Rating of Energy and Environmental Sustainability).

Under the “Policy on Environmental Management”, the University also stretches the important of the design and development of all new building to follow sustainable building standards.  Item #2 stated that “Perform design and physical development while following sustainable building design principles.  All new build developments will be required to achieve a minimum “Certified” rating from TREES (Thai’s Rating of Energy and Environmental Sustainability)”. There are four level of certifications: certified, silver, gold, and platinum.

Policy of Environmental Management

3.-Policy-on-Environmental-Management

Building Design Principles
New buildings according to the updated Thammasat University’s master plan must be designed to reduce the use of energy and exhaustible natural resources. The design and construction of new buildings must consider the environment and sustainability issues. The building plan and building envelope design must utilize environmentally friendly materials that meet the national or international green building standards.  For Thailand, TREES (Thai’s Rating of Energy and Environmental Sustainability) is the national standard.

Following the building design principles, the shapes the building must facilitate the use of natural light.  The design must also include sunshades to reduce glare with an appropriate window-to-wall ratio for each direction to avoid overheating, as well as natural light monitoring and artificial light dimming systems to optimize the energy use.

The design of the artificial lighting system must complement the natural light to provide luminance that follows the standard of each area with the lighting power in accordance with Energy Conservation Promotion Act (No. 2) B.E. 2550 (2007). The artificial lighting system must contribute to the conservation of energy using various methods, such as using energy-efficient light bulbs and setting automatic lighting schedules.

“Siriwitthayaluck” is the name of the school building of the Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education. Thammasat University, a 4-storey building located near the university’s learning center. The overall design focus on being energy-efficient building, using the high ceiling to improve the air circulation inside the building which significantly reduce the use of air conditions around the learning areas. The transparent roofs were installed to allow the natural sunlight to pass through the hallways, walkways and the oval area on the 1st floor of the building.

For more information on the building design of the Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education, please refer to these websites:
1. Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education Building – Energy-efficient Design
2. Green Faculty “Gold Award” – Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education (Sep,2022)
3. Green Office Award – Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education (Sep,2022)

In summary, all new buildings at Thammasat University have been constructed under this building design principles.  The most recent new building which received an IFLA AAPME Awards in 2020 was the buildings of Thammasat Secondary School.

Environmental Design Building – Thammasat Secondary School received IFLA AAPME Awards 2020

Thammast Secondary School is one of the 27 Awards of Excellence for projects that have successfully promoted climate change adaptation, responsible practices, and the pursuit of joint efforts to address isuues of resilience building under the category “Analysis & Master Planning”.

Related articles and websites:
1. Arsomsilp Community and Environment Architect – Thammasat University
2. Arsomsilp Architect – Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education Building
3. Arsomsilp Architect – Thammasat Innovation Hub
4. Arsomsilp Architect – Puey Ungphakorn Centenary Hall, Thammasat University