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comment Universities Gain New Sustainability Reporting Tool
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has released a draft of its Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) and is hoping to start a pilot phase of the system in January 2008.
Based on what you have seen and read about this project, how would you grade it? Use the stars below to indicate your assessment, five stars being the highest rating.
A self-certifying system, STARS allows colleges and universities to track and report on various aspects of sustainability, including both environmentally and socially responsible goals. The system covers everything from energy-efficient campus buildings to socially responsible labor and food purchasing practices, and includes credits for courses on topics related to sustainability. Judy Walton, the director of strategic initiatives for AASHE, said that the organization is getting “a little bit of pushback” in early comments and from pilot participants on the social aspects of STARS but noted that the system “is about all three spheres of sustainability”: economic, social, and environmental considerations.
STARS is in an expert comment period, and AASHE hopes to release it for public comment before the end of 2007.
More information is available at: www.aashe.org/stars/.
This article was produced by BuildingGreen, Inc.- www.buildinggreen.com
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