CoolClimate Network

Chris Jones is Director of the CoolClimate Network, a university-government-industry partnership at the University of California, Berkeley. He also serves as faculty lecturer in the Haas School of Business, and Program Chair (12th year) of the Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Conference.

Jones is a leading expert in carbon footprint analysis, the design of behavior-based programs and regional climate policy. In 2005, he published the first comprehensive carbon footprint calculator, which accounts for the greenhouse gas emissions of all transportation, energy, food, goods and services purchased by U.S. households. Versions of CoolClimate software have since been adopted by governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations throughout the United States and internationally. The research underlying these tools (Google Scholar Profile) helps inform community and state-level climate policy. CoolClimate also develops and evaluates programs to engage, educate, motivate and empower individuals to take climate action. Examples include the Cool Campus Challenge and the CoolCalifornia Challenge. Through research, tools, education, outreach, and networking CoolClimate seeks to help shift talent and resources to the most promising climate solutions.

Jones, Christopher M (2020). Consumption Based Greenhouse Gas Inventory of San Francisco from 1990 to 2015. Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute. Available at eScholarship

Jones, C., Wheeler, S., & Kammen, D. (2018). Carbon Footprint Planning: Quantifying Local and State Mitigation Opportunities for 700 California Cities. Urban Planning, 3(2), 35-51. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/up.v3i2.1218

Vine, Edward L., and Christopher M. Jones. "Competition, carbon, and conservation: Assessing the energy savings potential of energy efficiency competitions." Energy Research & Social Science 19 (2016): 158-176.

Christopher M. Jones, Kira Stoll, Jewel Snavel, Janika McFeely and Sara McKinstry. Cool Campus Challenge 2015 Program Summary and Evaluation. University of California, May 2016.

Christopher M. Jones and Daniel M. Kammen. A Consumption-Based Greenhouse Gas Inventory of San Francisco Bay Area Neighborhoods, Cities and Counties: Prioritizing Climate Action for Different Locations. Report prepared for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. December 15, 2015.

Christopher M. Jones. Guide to Effective Messaging Strategies For Greenhouse Gas Reduction Competitions. University of California. November, 2015.

Edward Vine and Christopher M. Jones. A Review of Energy Reduction Competitions: What Have We Learned?Report prepared for the California Public Utilities Commission. 2015. 167 pp.

Miehe, R., Scheumann, R., Jones, C. M., Kammen, D. M., & Finkbeiner, M. Regional carbon footprints of households: a German case study. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 1-15. 2015

Christopher M. Jones. Enabling Low Carbon Communities: The Roles of Smart Planning Tools and Place-Based Solutions. Ph.D. Dissertation. Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley. 2014.

Christopher M. Jones and Daniel M. Kammen. The CoolCalifornia Challenge: A Pilot Inter-City Household Carbon Footprint Reduction. Report prepared for the California Air Resources Board under contract 10-325. November 2014. 90 pages.

Christopher M. Jones and Daniel M. Kammen, Spatial Distribution of U.S. Household Carbon Footprints Reveals Suburbanization Undermines Greenhouse Gas Benefits of Urban Population Density. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2014, 48 (2), pp 895–902.

Max Wei, James H. Nelson, Jeffery B. Greenblatt, Ana Mileva, Josiah Johnston, Michael Ting, Christopher Yang, Chris Jones, James E. McMahon, and Daniel M. Kammen. Deep carbon reductions in California require electrification and integration across economic sectors Environ. Res. Lett. 8 014038

Christopher M. Jones, Wes Sullens, Amy Dryden and Joe Kantenbacher. Measuring the Climate Impact of Residential Buildings: GreenPoint Rated Climate Calculator Version 2. Report prepared for the California Air Resources Board under contract 09-344. September, 2012. 122 pages.

Shirley, R., Jones, C.M., Kammen, D.M., Shirley, R., et al., A household carbon footprint calculator for islands: Case study of the United States Virgin Islands, Ecological Economics 80 (2012) 8–14

Christopher M. Jones, Daniel M. Kammen, Gang He, Corinne Reich-Weiser, Devon Lake, Chris Erickson. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduction Opportunities In Pacific Gas & Electric Company's Products and Services Supply Chain. Unpublished report. 69 pps. January 2012.

Christopher M. Jones and Daniel M. Kammen, Quantifying Carbon Footprint Reduction Opportunities for U.S. Households and Communities. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2011, 45 (9), pp 4088–4095

Christopher M. Jones, 2009. Headwinds for Climate Change Policy. Latin American Studies Review. Fall 2009. University of California, Berkeley

Jones, C.M., Kammen, D.M., McGrath, D.T., 2008. Consumer-oriented Life Cycle Assessment of Food, Goods and Services. Berkeley Institute of the Environment. Energy and Climate Change.

Jones, C.M., 2005. A Lifecycle Assessment of U.S. Household Consumption: The Methodology and Inspiration Behind the "Consumer Footprint Calculator. University of California International and Area Studies. Breslauer Symposium. Paper 8.

Jones, C.M., 2005. Emissions of CO2 and Criteria Pollutants from U.S. – Mexico Overland Freight. Masters thesis. Latin American Studies, University of California, Berkeley.

Ph.D. in Energy and Resources, University of California, Berkeley

M.S. in Energy and Resources, University of California, Berkeley

M.A. in Latin American Studies University of California, Berkeley

B.A. in Politics, University of California, Santa Cruz

Jones, C.M., Curriculum Vitae (June 2021)

Staff Research Associate, Berkeley Institute of the Environment 2006- 2009