I guess its how you pitch the problem

it might go something like: 'evaluating the carbon footprint of selected structures', then tell them what its about. They live in formats, in this case like a report, introduction, body, conclusion. The intro is the problem wholem the body is the work fleshed out within parameters, the conclusions are pretty much what they write.

Probably the most useful would be those at the intersect of design disciplines, the Industrial Designers as they would have the greater understanding of structures etc. However in a pinch engineers in mixed disciplines and environmentalists can fulfill what you need.

Usually the university will encourage group work, their problem is in absorbing the project as a part of the curriculum, which may well be widely hatched out. But they all have trouble funding stuff and value adding the universities work in a real world setting.

Environmental sustainability is pretty much the default position for university level education in anything, and a project such as this lends itself to varying levels of scope because it hits all the sensitive nerves in environmental management and a university exporting its expertise as a gift to our lesser skilled neighbors, and all that means.

So it could be a project involving materials research in the desktop environment, or obviously very much wider. I think if it was me (and it isnt) I'd try to keep it tight so that the results are easier to manage and on a fast track, its usual for uni's to take forever in doing stuff, they dont live in a real world with commercial pressures we have.

Lastly, you could ad a sweetener like some kind of prize, consider it an incentive.