Comparative Systems for Evaluating Campus Sustainability: smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference

Three different organizations presented a concurrent session on new systems of evaluating campus sustainability efforts:


AASHE STARS System
This program is intended to provide a frequently-updated guide for advancing sustainability in all sectors of higher education. By enabling meaningful comparisons across and within institutions and creating incentives for improvements, AASHE hopes this system will build a stronger, more diverse campus community.

STARS uses common concepts:
-simultaneous consideration of environmental, economic and social issues in all decisions
-intergenerational equity
-healthy environments, thriving communities, meaningful livelihoods.

Elements of the rating will include a two-tiered systems checklist of indicators with thresholds of achievement. All campus sectors are included in assessments, and the process is completely transparent. Ratings will apply for three years. The pilot version is already operating with campuses participating, and version 1.0 will be released in 2009.

One unique function of the program is that STARS can be used as an assessment or OR a rating system. The first is a tool for self-evaluation that makes it possible to compare individual metrics without aggregating results. In contrast, using the system as a rating means that it is possible to aggregate metrics and assign point values, coming up with a total score. Since STARS is voluntary, every step is transparent, and only recognizes positive factors, rather than a closed and simplistic ranking hierarchy. So far, measurements are being taken in three major divisions: Education & Research; Operations; and Administration & Finance.

Check out www.aashe.org/stars for more information or to participate in the pilot.



The College Sustainability Report Card by the Sustainable Endowments Institute
A major difference here is that the Institute chooses the 200 schools that are rated, without a voluntary opt-in or opt-out. Data is collected by some self-reporting surveys as well as publicly available sources. Information is shared with schools before it is published, to give schools a chance to comment or correct.

By profiling schools that are below average as well as all-stars, the Sustainable Endowments Institute hopes to motivate action on under performing campuses. While that kind of assessment can be bullish, it is sometimes a really helpful mover of the sustainability agenda. Campuses who aren't motivated to climate action on its own merits might begin to do so as part of a PR campaign.

Presenter Mark Orlowski didn't give too many details on the specific factors rated, but check here for more info: www.endowmentinstitute.org/sustainability/



The National Wildlife Federation's Report Card on Environmental Performance
This program, called State of the Campus Environment, was founded back in 2001. That initial report was created to model sound, sustainable practices. Intended to transcend the anecdotal and identify performance numbers and trends, it covered most elements of campus planing and research. By highlighting good practices and programs, NWF hoped to start a database for press and other universities. NWF's Campus Ecology team is now collecting information for a 2008 updated edition.

The survey is Web-based and will be distributed in two separate modules to almost 4,000 colleges nationwide. Once completed, the survey will be free and downloadable in report form on the Web. By contrasting the 2008 report to the 2001 results, we're hoping to see dramatic upswings in performance, climate staffing, research, and environmental programs and coursework. Check out the 2001 version here: www.nwf.org/campusEcology/resources/HTML/stateofthecampusreport.cfm

This report lacks the constant updating of the AASHE system, but is rather a comprehensive overview, and is completely voluntary unlike the SEI Report card.

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These are all important projects, and as they develop will give good benchmarks to universities. A true rating system takes a lot of the guesswork and thought energy out of university planning. Often, campus sustainability coordinators have more work and information than they can handle, and these systems will do some of the "thoughtwork" for them by establishing best practices and tracking trends.

However, in the comments/Q&A session, a lot of frustration was expressed in regards to the amount of surveys the campuses are already expected to respond to, particularly those with new or small programs. It was suggested that the three organizations work together better to standardize their assessment systems and then pull from one central bank to calculate their own data, according to their interests. While some of the testing factors used are similar, the platforms are different, and requires repetitive reporting from colleges. Representatives are also concerned with the meaning of these ratings, and if they are worth the additional work required, especially given the different platforms.


**I'm Xarissa Holdaway from the Campus Ecology team at the National Wildlife Federation. I'm live-blogging the UMD Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference, and will be checking in every few hours over the next two days to tell you what I'm learning. Please forgive any spelling/grammar typing mistakes, I'm doing this on the fly and will be returning to edit later!