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An Introduction to Campus Environmental Sustainability Indicators

An Introduction to Campus Environmental Sustainability Indicators. Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium Indicators Working Group. Gioia Thompson, University of Vermont (Chair) Connie Leach Bisson, Middlebury College Mary Jensen, Keene State College Ramsay Huntley, Tufts University

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An Introduction to Campus Environmental Sustainability Indicators

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  1. An Introduction to Campus Environmental Sustainability Indicators Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium Indicators Working Group Gioia Thompson, University of Vermont (Chair) Connie Leach Bisson, Middlebury College Mary Jensen, Keene State College Ramsay Huntley, Tufts University Melissa Garcia Lamarca, Concordia University Keisha Payson,Bowdoin College Julie Newman, Yale University Intern: Heather Leibowitz, UVM ’05 Created for Campus Consortium for Environmental Excellence, September 2005

  2. Environmental Indicators in the Context of Sustainability Sustainability is: "..development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" World Commission on the Environment and Development, 1987 Question: How will our communities and economic systems survive into the future?

  3. Sustainability in Higher Education/Campus Greening • Ensure that critical activities are ecologically sound, socially just, and economically viable • Emphasize these concepts in curriculum, research, outreach • Prepare students to contribute as working citizens • Support surrounding community • Create institution that functions as sustainable community

  4. Greening Campus Operations • Land use • Transportation, parking, fleet • Landscaping • Water use • Food • Purchasing • Hazardous waste management • Solid waste management • Energy use and sources

  5. Sample Assessment Resources • Campus Consortium for Environmental Excellence C/U Self Tracking Tool • Sierra Youth Coalition’s Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework • Good Company’s Sustainable Pathways Toolkit • Campus Sustainability Assessment Project • Clean Air-Cool Planet greenhouse gas inventory

  6. Types of Reports • Comprehensive sustainability assessments • Environmental reports • Other reports • Individual building performance report • Ecological footprint analysis • Greenhouse gas inventories

  7. Sample Comprehensive Reports • University of Florida: qualitative, covers research, education, operations, outreach, personnel, policies and practices • Michigan State University: 16 social, economic, environmental indicators; 76 graphs and tables • Concordia University (Montreal) multi-stakeholder process, 171 indicators on social, economic, environmental impact, 100+ students involved Social/community Environmental Economic

  8. Sample Environmental Reports • Bowdoin College • Environmental Impact Audit, December 2000 • Middlebury College • Climate Neutral Working Group report • Tufts University • Tufts Climate Initiative website, activities • University of Vermont • Tracking UVM: Environmental Report Card 1990-2000 • Yale University • Yale University Environment Report: 1997-1998 through 2003-2004

  9. Example: Tracking UVM: Environmental Report Card 1990-2000 • Land, water, energy, air, waste indicators 1990-2000 • Best management practices, community comments, next steps • Audience: students, staff, faculty, trustees, legislature, community • Excerpted, adapted for educational projects • Key findings: energy use, solid waste up despite best practices University of Vermont Environmental Council December 2002

  10. Track management practices in operations Strategic planning Master planning Compliance assessment Comparison with other institutions Campus, community stakeholder education and engagement Using Your Indicators

  11. Sample Educational Uses Ex: To promote awareness in residence halls: • Electricity use reduction competition—Oberlin College • % of trash that could have been recycled (EcoRep waste sort results) —Vermont • Total recycled / resident student, and Total trash / resident student—Recyclemania

  12. Considerations: Purpose • Academics: engage intellectual resources of faculty and students in sustainability • Campus education: awareness, understanding, motivation, behavior change • Decision-making: support clear decisions, set priorities, engage stakeholders • Visibility: create pressure on institution from internal and external sources

  13. Considerations: Constraints • Money: financial, in-kind, investments in data systems • Time: data and labor availability, reporting schedules • Relevance: quality of data, culture, pressing issues, collaborations

  14. Considerations: Potential Pitfalls • Coordinator • Burnout • Time sink • Data don’t exist in form they “should” • Danger of poor interactions with stakeholders • Institution • Reluctance to look bad • Perceived confidentiality issues • Difficulty in comparing school to school • Danger of drawing the wrong conclusions

  15. Recommendation: Start with key environmental indicators • Solid waste & recycling, composting • Tangible, measurable, understandable • Energy—heating, electricity, transportation, and associated emissions • Collectively largest financial and environmental impact • Water—water use and wastewater treatment • Significance depends on region Available from C2E2.org

  16. Measuring Now, and Maybe Later Sample energy and waste measures: • Probably measuring now • kWh, Btus, square feet • Tons waste to landfill, recycling (?) • Number of students, faculty, staff • Financial data • Might want to measure • Greenhouse gas emissions • Energy sources • How much of trash could have been recycled • Construction and demolition waste

  17. What’s Next • Creative educational uses of indicators • Focus on key indicators (depth) and/or … • Expansion to larger numbers of indicators • Perhaps formal reporting systems as part of Environmental Management Systems, ISO 14001 • Suites of Indicators • Integrate into campus reporting systems

  18. Suites of Energy Indicators Example: • Energy use from heating, electricity, transportation combined into one unit (terajoules or BTUs) shows relative environmental impacts—often heating and electricity about the same, transportation much lower • Cost of energy use from heating, electricity, transportation shows relative costs, return on investment—electricity usually highest • Greenhouse gas emissions from energy uses show climate change impacts

  19. Sample: Energy Indicators Suite

  20. Integrating Indicators into Planning, Reporting, Surveying Systems Examples: • Campus Master Plan: impervious surfaces • Transportation Plan: single occupancy vehicle rate, commuter choice options • Utilities Plan: emissions, greenhouse gases • Contracts: recycled content in copier paper, local food served by dining services • Reports: Env Health & Safety: IAQ complaints • Surveys: awareness, attitudes (Student Government, Statistics classes)

  21. RESOURCES • Organizations • Reports • Tools • Articles • Miscellaneous slides

  22. 1. ORGANIZATIONS • Campus Consortium for Environmental Excellence www.c2e2.org • Education for Sustainability-West www.esfwest.org • University Leaders for a Sustainable Future www.ulsf.org • National Wildlife Federation www.nwf.org • Clean Air-Cool Planet www.cleanair-coolplanet.org

  23. Campus Consortium for Environmental Excellence (C2E2) • College & University Sector Program www.c2e2.org • See also: • Environmental Management Systems (EMS) 32 institutions involved • EPA Best Management Practices (BMP)

  24. 2. REPORTS • Comprehensive • University of Florida • Michigan State • Concordia University (Montreal) • Environmental • Bowdoin College • Tufts University • Yale University

  25. University of Florida University of Florida Sustainability Task Force – Final Report (2002) • Qualitatively focused report looking at a wide range of indicators for a sustainable institution: • Research • Education • Campus Operations(including: Land Management & Biodiversity, Buildings, Energy and Resource Use, Transportation, Waste Management, etc.) • Community Outreach and Integration • Campus Community: Personnel • Organizational Policies and Practices

  26. Michigan State University • Campus Sustainability Report (2003) • Extensive report including 76 representational graphs and tables • Social, Economic, and Environmental Indicators (16 total) • Findings provide data on a wide range of campus issues – from intramural sports to research funding to air emissions

  27. Concordia University

  28. 171 Indicators organized in 10 areas Concordia University Eco-subsystem People Subsystem

  29. Concordia University Sample Health & Wellbeing Indicators

  30. Tufts Climate Initiative (TCI) • Tufts University has committed to reducing GHG emissions by 7% below 1990 levels by 2012 – this translates to a real reduction of about 30%. • Carbon is the key metric for measuring the impact of construction, transportation, energy efficiency, personal action, and clean electricity. • TCI’s work is funded by grants. University dollars fund efficiency and other investments. • TCI’s focus is on efficiency, new construction, electricity procurement, and personal action.

  31. Carbon emissions updated annually (www.tufts.edu/tci ) A focus on improving electrical efficiency has leveled electricity and decreased emissions on the main campus.

  32. University of Vermont Report Card Results 1990-2000 More sustainable: + Energy sources + Radioactive waste + Water use + Storm water management Little change or inadequate data: ~ Land use~ Air pollution from heating~ Recycling~ Hazardous waste • Less sustainable: • Commuting miles • CO2 emissions • Energy use • Trash generation

  33. 3. TOOLS • College Consortium of Environmental Excellence (and EPA) • Colleges & Universities Self Tracking Tool http://www.c2e2.org/cgi-admin/navigate.cgi • Environmental Protection Agency • Sector Programs: College & University Sector http://www.epa.gov/sectors/colleges/ • Sierra Youth Coalition • Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework http://www.syc-cjs.org/index.php • Good Company • Sustainable Pathways Toolkit http://www.goodcompany.com/lib/documents/ • Campus Sustainability Assessment Project CSAP • Online Database http://csap.envs.wmich.edu/pages/res_csa.html

  34. C2E2/EPA Colleges & Universities Self Tracking Tool • Colleges and Universities Self Tracking Tool, developed by EPA College and University Sector’s Performance Measurement Workgroup http://www.c2e2.org/tracking_tool/index.html online tool to collect and analyze data on campus environmental impacts. • Tracks and benchmarks environmental indicators against aggregated data from other schools of similar size and type.

  35. Good Company’s Sustainable Pathways Toolkit • Assessment tool for university and college customers: 20 core indicators and 10 supplementary, each with performance benchmark. (ex. UNC-Greensboro) • Compact and focused still with some depth of sustainability issues and coverage of human and ecosystem dimensions. • Involves limited consultation of and involvement of campus community.

  36. The Campus Sustainability Assessment Project (CSAP) The Campus Sustainability Assessment Database is an extensive, searchable record of CSA projects throughout the United States, Canada, and several other countries. It contains information on over 1,100 projects and assessments of all types. http://csap.envs.wmich.edu/pages/res_csa.html

  37. Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework (CSAF) A sustainable campus community acts upon its local and global responsibilities to protect and enhance the health and well being of humans and ecosystems. It actively engages the knowledge of the university community to address the ecological and social challenges that we face now and in the future. Sierra Youth Coalition

  38. Greenhouse Gas Calculators • Tufts Climate Initiative used own spreadsheet in 1999, prior to World Resources Institute (WRI) method http://www.tufts.edu/tci • WRI tool is used by Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), often used for businesses: http://www.rggr.us/registriesbackground.html • Ralph Torrie software through ICLEI often used for cities: http://www.cacpsoftware.org/ • Clean Air–Cool Planet calculator for higher education: http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/toolkit/content/view/43/124/ • DOE software: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/frntvrgg.html

  39. 4. Articles • Cole, Lindsay (2003). ‘Assessing Sustainability of Canadian University Campuses: Development of a Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework.’ Victoria, Canada: Royal Roads University. • Graedel, T.E. (2002) ‘Quantitative sustainability in a college or university setting’ in International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education Vol.3 No.4, pp.346-358 • Shriberg, Michael (2002). ‘Institutional assessment tools for sustainability in higher education: strengths, weaknesses and implications for practice and theory’ in Higher Education Policy 15, p 153-167.

  40. 5. Miscellaneous • Ecological Footprint • Sustainable Development • Sustainable Community Indicators • Benchmarks • NEG/ECP climate pledge • Global Reporting

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