Campus Sustainability Toolkit

No two universities are exactly alike and the development of campus sustainability programs will inevitably reflect institutional and regional issues/priorities.

This toolkit is based on the experiences of the IARU members in creating and maintaining a sustainable campus. It is especially useful for universities that are beginning their sustainability journey. Most importantly, it highlights the importance of active participation of staff and students for the achievement of sustainability goals.

This is not an exhaustive list but the content below offers a framework for integrating sustainability into the organization.

1. Mapping and Development

2. Goals and Strategy

3. Environmental Plan

4. Integration

5. Education

6. Best practices

Best practice case studies

As part of the IARU goal to provide the university sector with information that can assist those beginning the journey towards campus sustainability, this section provides links to case studies on various projects being undertaken by member institutions.

Waste and recycling

Transportation

Energy saving

Green buildings

Water saving

Leadership

5. Education

Education and awareness

Campus sustainability is a product of engineered solutions and behavior change. The policy and planning framework mentioned earlier provides a foundation for the operational and cultural changes that are needed to mainstream sustainability.

In an addition to technical and infrastructural upgrades, there is also a need to identify issues that may actually be blocking meaningful changes. For example, environmental infrastructure (recycling bins, air conditioning controls, reporting procedures of environmental problems) must be easy to use and procedures well understood by the community.

The community needs to understand the environmental impact of individual and corporate decisions and how alternative decisions would substantially improve that performance. Various strategies can assist in building this awareness including annual reporting, direct access to online information about energy use and hardcopy and electronic media (posters, websites, published papers etc.).

An informed and ecologically literate campus community will support and even drive institutional change. The intent is to go from making community members aware of environmental issues to educating them about how they can influence environmental performance through their own behavior. An ecologically literate community also understands the holistic nature of environmental issues and therefore the variety of impacts that come from simple decisions related to purchase, travel, technology and personal comfort.

STEP I. Develop strategies for creating an aware and ultimately educated community.

How can relevant information be transmitted to the university community?

Assess the current level of campus eco-literacy
Staging of community activities (sustainability fairs, swap meets, days celebrating sustainability, ride-to-work days, etc.)
Include sustainability briefings in induction programs
Create formal (and informal) education programs for staff (ranging from role-specific workshops to postgraduate studies in campus sustainability)
Public reporting on university environmental performance and achievements against set goals and making this information comprehensible and easily accessible

STEP II. Develop strategies for improving participation of the campus population in environmental sustainability.

How can the Sustainability Team encourage individual involvement and action?

Create a recognizable image for the Sustainability Team (through a logo, etc.) to brand material released by the office thus increasing legitimacy for the initiatives
Distribute information about ways to minimize energy use, water consumption, waste, etc.
Advertise sustainability initiatives effectively through social media, emails, posters, etc.
Set up direct access to hardcopy and electronic resources
Acknowledge success through awards, internships and public recognition

Case studies and useful resources

4. Integration

Integrating campus activities

The benefits of integrating campus activities are numerous, ultimately allowing for a holistic approach to campus sustainability. Such integration should follow naturally from the above two points as campus sustainability can only fully be achieved when everyone is involved and the approach is an active, ‘grassroots’ one combined with a ‘passive’ one from higher management in the form of regulations, etc.

Such integration means embedding sustainable practices into all campus sectors and activities and establishing cross-community collaborations – campus operations must be tied into the fabric of and supported by the campus community including general and academic staff, researchers and students.

Academic research and education

Identify sustainability-related research taking place and work towards applying the results on campus and/or collaborating with researchers to tailor the research to campus needs
Develop and fund new research projects tailored to campus sustainability needs
Create sustainability-oriented course options and academic programs

General staff

Allow operational staff to share their expertise through participation in teaching activities
Provide incentives by acknowledging successes and overall contribution through awards and public recognition
Mainstream environmental management into contracts and build a relationship with contract staff

Student activities

Support specific student-led sustainability-related organizations, programs and other endeavours
Establish fellowships/internships to capitalize on student enthusiasm
Provide incentives by acknowledging successes and overall contribution through awards and public recognition

Case studies and useful resources

3. Environmental Plan

Developing an Environmental Management Plan

Once an environmental management structure is in place and you have begun to integrate this structure with as many campus sectors and activities as possible, the next step towards working towards a sustainable campus is the development of an Environmental Management Plan (EMP), or at the very least an Energy Management Plan. This can be done in several smaller steps, each of which will most likely require a substantial period of time for development, implementation and review.

The first of these steps however, is identifying all key activities across the overarching categories of carbon (energy and transport), water and waste that impact negatively on the university environmental footprint and measure the level of the impact of each of the overarching categories (the key indicators of environmental performance). Once baseline values have been measured and established for each indicator, these data will be critical in identifying the key areas for improvement and building strategies based on needs to ultimately, create a comprehensive EMP.

STEP I. Determine what will be measured.

Which ecological and social quantitative indicators give insight into the university’s environmental impact?

Natural resources

Energy: greenhouse gas emissions, electricity and gas consumption, green energy
Water use: potable water use, percentage recycled water and water capture
Procurement and waste: waste reduction, recycling and re-use, waste to landfill, total purchases and percentage of green purchases

Infrastructure

Buildings: current ratings from certification schemes for buildings, green loans
Sustainable landscapes: watering systems, carbon sequestration, native vs. foreign species
Sustainable transport: green commuting, bicycle parking, air travel and vehicle emissions and offsets

Community

Outreach: contact, commitments
Training: professional development and information transmission
Events: levels of participation
Projects: project time and audits

STEP II. Conduct environmental audits, including assessments of current carbon (energy and transport), water and waste volumes.

How will the measurements be made, when and by whom?

It may be most cost-effective to use existing systems and work out how to maximize the benefits (e.g. using electricity, water and gas bills and embed electronic billing in contracts and training existing staff to collect data in their departments on a regular basis and enforce it through contracts)
Look for opportunities to streamline and/or standardize measurements to aid in later analysis

STEP III. Analyse and organise the data

Which are the best quantitative units and what presentation format will be employed?

Keep the following in mind: ease of use, relevance/effectiveness for spurring change, long term consistency, variables’ ability to cut through the “noise” (eg. carbon emissions vs. time, population, floor area or research funding)
Put the data analysis together in a report, keeping the following in mind:
- Who is the main audience of the report and consequently what is the best format for it?
- Will this format still be applicable in years to come for future reports?
Develop a reporting structure, including public reporting, and present the information on sustainability performance to University management and the whole university community on a regular basis.

Case studies and useful resources

2. Goals and Strategy

Determining goals and a strategy for the process

Once the current situation has been established and opportunities identified, developing an underlying policy framework that articulates the University’s overall commitment to environmental improvement and leadership is needed. This plan then sets the stage for the next step, creating an Environmental Management Plan, outlined in step 3.

STEP I. Develop and underlying policy or vision that cements the University’s dedication to a sustainable campus.

What is important to the university community and what format is most comprehensible?

Broad vs. specific

Broad – notes for example that taking reasonable steps towards best practice environmental management is needed
Specific – outlines the key focus areas identified such as energy, water and waste

Stages of sustainability planning

Early – understanding environmental impacts and possibilities
Mid – mainstreaming environmental management
Mature – establishing international leadership

STEP II. Identify goals (short-term) and targets (long-term) for the key performance indicators.

What can be changed/improved on now and what needs long-term development?

Consider:

Which areas are the most critical in terms of environmental impact?
Which areas are the most critical in terms of money spent and potential savings?
Which areas have the best benefit vs. time ratio?
Which items have the greatest level of current public attention?

Take into account:

Existing technology and how this can lead to reasonable achievements
Goals of other universities
National and international requirements/laws etc. with regards to sustainability
Financial and human capital and organizational limitations