A Look at How Our Community Earned A Second STARS® Gold
The University of Alberta uses the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System™, known as STARS®, to measure our sustainability performance. It is the world’s most widely recognized framework for sustainability reporting in higher education — 420 institutions have been rated, and over 800 from six continents have used the reporting tool.
Three years ago, the university received a gold rating for the first time. This summer, we submitted to the newer, more challenging version 2.1 of STARS. We just learned that the U of A has again received a gold rating.
How did we maintain our standing?
It took lots of growth in all areas, including academics, student life and operations. Hopefully, it’s growth that you’ve noticed yourselves over the past three years.
For example, the university has made huge strides in enabling students to do applied research connected to campus-based sustainability. Thanks to Community Service-Learning, the Undergraduate Research Initiative, and Sustainability Scholars, undergrads and graduate students have made valuable contributions to the university’s plans for green buildings, sustainable food systems and more. Sustainability Scholars, in particular, is singled out in our STARS report for an innovation credit.
The way we operate campus buildings and maintain the grounds is extremely important for reducing the university’s ecological and climate impacts. Living in a region that has moderate-to-high risk of water stress and scarcity, it’s doubly important that the university conserve water. Since as far back as the 1970s, Facilities & Operations has made incredible reductions to the university’s water consumption. This STARS report focuses on the years from 2005–16, over which time Facilities & Operations has built several water recovery cisterns, planted drought-resistant landscaping, and installed low-flow fixtures in many newer buildings. As a result, the university is using 24% less potable water per capita in 2016 compared to a decade earlier. While we have added almost 300,000 m2 of space, potable water use has nevertheless declined 32% per m2.
It’s clear from the university’s guiding documents, including For The Public Good, that sustainability is a priority. But how is sustainability communicated to a community of 50,000 students, faculty and staff? More importantly, how do we get people involved in campus sustainability? That’s where peer education comes in. STARS credits peer-to-peer education programs, and one of the university’s most interesting programs is U of A Ambassadors. These 70–80 students give their time to show new and prospective students around campus. Up to 15 ambassadors are trained to give sustainability campus tours, highlighting green buildings, energy saving operations, urban gardens and more. Thanks to these student volunteers, over 875 people have taken the tours since 2014.
As I hope these examples highlight, the University of Alberta’s STARS Gold rating was achieved because of the huge interest and engagement in sustainability across many university departments and academic disciplines, and campus life.
If you too would like to get your office or department involved in tackling a sustainability challenge, we are here to help. Please get in touch, and we’ll find a way to get your project off the ground.
Trina Innes — Chief Sustainability Officer
Trina has been the University of Alberta’s inaugural Chief Sustainability Officer since 2009. She serves on the board of directors for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and the Alberta Emerald Foundation. She holds a Masters in Forestry from the University of New Brunswick and a Masters in Business Administration from Athabasca University. When she’s not at work, she enjoys spending time in her garden with her two rescue dogs.
