how sustainability creates value and underpins broad campus outcomes dave newport director...
TRANSCRIPT
How Sustainability Creates Value and Underpins Broad Campus Outcomes
Dave Newport
Director
Environmental Center
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado BoulderEnvironmental Center
How Sustainability Creates Value and Underpins Broad Campus Outcomes
Dave Newport
Director
Environmental Center
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado BoulderEnvironmental Center
Dave Newport, Director of the Environmental Center, University of Colorado at Boulder (CU)Dave Newport is Director of the Environmental Center at the University of Colorado at-the nation’s first, largest, and most accomplished sustainability enterprise of its kind. Dave also Chairs the University’s Carbon Neutrality Working Group, led the creation CU’s climate action plan, and is a Faculty Associate in the Environmental Studies where he teaches the nation's first course in Carbon Neutrality Planning for Higher Education. Dave is Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), and is one of the three original co-creators of the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Ratings System (STARS) that is as "higher education’s gold standard for assessing campus sustainability," according to the Chronicle for Higher Education. Dave led the University of Colorado’s team that last year compiled the nation’s first STARS Gold sustainability assessment award. has also been ranked as the nation’s #1 Green campus by Sierra magazine (2009).
Today’s Discussion
Phases of campus sustainability Definition of campus sustainability
Definition = X How does sustainability create value?
Value drivers = Y What does a campus do?
Support activities = Z What is Total Sustainability?
Total Sustainability = X+Y+Z Conclusions
Efficiency, Cost Control and
Full Cost Evaluation
Curricular and Co-Curricular
Education
Branding & Marketing
Strategic Mapping,
Planning and Public
Commitment
THE SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAPacademicimpressions.com/events/sustainability/
CU Environmental Center Founded Earth Day 1970
>120 student-staff, 10 professional staff Nation’s oldest, largest, and most
accomplished center STARS-Gold Sierra #1 Green Campus SEI-Sustainability Leader
Many campus sustainability firsts Recycling program Bus pass for all fac/staff/students Renewable energy purchase Carbon neutrality pledge Zero waste athletics
CU national sustainability research leader (#1 NSF funded). Overall College Sustainability
Leader
#1
Phases of Sustainability
“Managers can no longer afford to ignore sustainability as a central factor in their companies’ long-term competitiveness… Megatrends require businesses to adapt and innovate or be swept aside.”
“The Sustainability Imperative”
Dave Lubin and Dan Esty
Harvard Business Review (2010)
Phases of Campus Sustainability
Integration
Visionary Leadership
Business Case
Grassroots Advocates
Grassroots champions
advocate for various
sustainability-related services
and policies—and campus leadership
either resists the requests or is only
minimally responsive. In
response, advocates then
organize and launch their own
ad hoc efforts.
Campus leadership accepts some – but not all—aspects of the business case for sustainability. Leadership easily sees the value of efficiency programs that inspire cost savings and improve campus reputation.
Campus leaders—including the highest level
executives—openly promote a
sustainability vision and rally behind it
as a central value of the administration’s goals and strategic
plan. There is full executive
leadership on sustainability, a
keen understanding of its tenets, and a
vision for the future.
Engaged, visionary leadership and an integrated approach enhances educational outcomes by synergizing them with sustainability-related operations, student life, staff, and community engagement activities. Systems-thinking and interdisciplinary cooperation are the central mission of all campus departments. Sustainability operations, curriculum, student activities, and community partnerships are coordinated, coherent, and high quality.
What is sustainability?
The X Factor
What is sustainability? "Sustainability is an economic state where the
demands placed upon the environment by people and commerce can be met without reducing the capacity of the environment to provide for future generations"
-- Paul Hawken, "The Ecology of Commerce", 1993
"Then I say the earth belongs to each . . . generation during its course, fully and in its own right, no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence."
-- Thomas Jefferson, September 6, 1789
Three legs of the stool
environment
fiscal social
2.5 legs of the stool?
environment
fiscal social
How to embed the social dimension?
environment
fiscal social
What is STARS?
A voluntary, self-reporting framework A guide for advancing sustainability in all
sectors of higher education. A common standard of measurement for
sustainability in higher education. A tool that promotes a
comprehensive understanding of sustainability that includes its social, economic and environmental dimensions.
Three STARS categories
1) Education & Research– Co-Curricular Education; Curriculum;
Research
2) Operations– Buildings; Climate; Dining Services;
Energy; Grounds; Purchasing; Transportation; Waste; Water
3) Planning, Administration & Engagement– Coordination & Planning; Diversity and
Affordability; Human Resources; Investment; Public Engagement
Summary: The practical definition of campus sustainability is represented in the sum product of STARS categories. STARS represents the scope and breadth of activities, policies, and interests that bound and highlight the systems that integrate and define campus sustainability.
In short: Definition of Campus Sustainability = STARS = X
How Does Sustainability create value?
The Y Factor
How does sustainability add value (create benefits) for a campus?
Is it just: Cost savings from energy
conservation? Green marketing and branding? Student recruitment? Cutting carbon?
Summary of Aramark study Students are aware of sustainability
Over two-thirds (77%) have some awareness
Students “Walk the Walk” with Green Very important among factors for choosing a college.
Students report that their schools are not doing enough Nearly half (45%) of schools have weak movements
toward sustainability 11% of students claim their institution has no action
on sustainability.
Driving factors in college selection
21
Where to focus efforts
22
How does sustainability add value (create benefits) for a campus?1. Efficiency and Innovation
Resource & people productivity and synergies
2. Marketing and Branding Reputation, competitiveness & social license to
operate
3. Full Cost Evaluation Life cycle costing, integrated externalities, total
cost of ownership
4. Inclusion, Transparency & Public Commitment
Stakeholder intel and buy-in, transparency, metrics, courage to commit to tangible goals = credibility & legitimacy, informed decision making, reduced risk
Sustainability’s Value Drivers & Causal MechanismsValue driver Value/benefits Caused By:
Curricular & co-curricular education
Increases campus intellectual/social capital & relevance; Enhances student recruitment, engagement & retention; Enhances faculty recruitment & retention; Service activities improve town/gown relations, enhances student learning;
Marketing & Branding
Green image improves student recruitment Green image enhances community support Green image increases development/fundraising potential Green brand enhances ethical “license to operate” Green brand may improves taxpayer willingness to support public institutions
Efficiency, Cost Control & Full Cost
Evaluation
Resource conservation decreases costs Resource conservation hedges against future cost risks Sustainability commitment improves conservation program’s performance/savings Front line staff engaged, motivated and innovative Reduces spending on materials that generate waste—and costs associated with waste disposal Improves system performance, reduces O&M costs Hedges against downside reputational risks Higher quality capital projects decrease deferred maintenance backlogs Improves recognition of systems-thinking approach ; thus decreasing barriers to action
Strategic Mapping, Planning,
Inclusive Goal Setting, & Public
Commitment
Insures consistency with societal, technological, and resource realities Targets fiscal and human capital to relevant campus activities Engages broad stakeholder support and engagement towards common vision Provides consensus campus execution plan with maximum support Improves campus intelligence; make more informed decisions Inclusion builds trust, legitimacy, and support for the campus among disparate stakeholders Inclusion informs of risks and downsides beforehand; allows hedging Public commitment builds support, confidence in campus leadership Transparent goal setting and monitoring increases trust in campus
Drivers of organizational capacity
Driving sustainable value
Tomorrow
Today
ExternalInternal Sustainable Value
Efficiency & Innovation
Full Cost Evaluation
Inclusion, Transparency &
Public Commitment
Marketing & Branding
Value Drivers = Y
Campus SUPPORT activities
The Z Factor
Creating More Effective Institutions: How Sustainability Underpins Campus Support Systems in Service of Core Mission and Outcomes
Mission Outcomes
Scholarship & Discovery; Local & Regional Economic Development; Wholly Educated Student; Environmental Stewardship; Community Service & Development
Core Mission
Education, Research & Service
Support Activities
Cost ControlRecruitment,
Retention, Enrollment
Auxillary Services & Revenues
Development and Alumni
Relations
Risk Management & Abatement
Student Support and
Retention
Faculty Support & Retention
Safe & Healthy Campus
Operational Excellence
Leadership and
Professional Development
Community & Stakeholder
Relations
STARS Sustainability
Initiatives
Buildings Waste Climate Diversity & Affordability Transportation
GroundsCoordination &
Planning Energy Purchasing Dining
Water Human Resources Curriculum Co-curricular Public Engagement
Investment Research
Campus Support Activities
Stakeholder Impacts
• Leadership & Professional Development
• Community & Stakeholder Relations
Financial Stability
•Cost Control•Recruitment, Yield, Enrollment•Auxiliary Services & Revenues•Development & Alumni Relations•Risk Management & Abatement
Academics & Learning
• Student Support & Retention
• Faculty Support & Retention
Operational Impacts
• Safe & Healthy Campus
• Operational Excellence
Support Activities = Z
Influence of STARS Sustainability Activities on Core Campus OutcomesCategories rated 0 to 3 0 = no effect 1 = little effect 2 = some effect
3= significant effect
Coloring 0 1 2 3
Financial Stability Academics & Learning Operational Impacts Stakeholder Impacts
STARS Sustainability Categories Cost Control
Recruitment, Retention, Enrollment
Auxiliary Services & Revenues
Development and Alumni
Relations
Risk Management & Abatement
Student Support and
RetentionFaculty Support
& RetentionSafe & Healthy
CampusOperational Excellence
Leadership and Professional
Development
Community & Stakeholder
Relations
Co-curricular 0 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 3
Curriculum 0 3 2 2 0 2 3 1 1 1 2
Research 0 1 1 2 0 1 2 1 2 1 1
Buildings 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 2
Climate 3 2 1 2 3 1 2 2 3 2 3
Dining 0 2 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 1
Energy 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 2 3 2 2
Grounds 1 3 1 2 3 2 2 3 3 1 2
Purchasing 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 2 3 2 2
Transportation 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3
Waste 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 3 3 2 3
Water 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 2 1
Coordination & Planning 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Diversity & Affordability 1 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 3 3
Human Resources 1 1 1 1 3 2 2 3 1 3 3
Investment 1 1 0 2 2 1 1 1 1 3 2
Public Engagement 1 1 0 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 3
Where does sustainability show up?
Auxilla
ry S
ervi
ces & R
even
ues
Educa
tion
& R
esea
rch S
tren
gth
Cost Con
trol
Studen
t Suppor
t an
d Ret
ention
Facu
lty
Support & R
eten
tion
Dev
elop
men
t an
d Alu
mni R
elat
ions
Recru
itm
ent, R
eten
tion
, Enro
llmen
t
Risk
Man
agem
ent & A
batem
ent
Lead
ersh
ip a
nd Pro
fess
ional
Dev
elop
men
t
Safe
& H
ealthy
Campus
Oper
atio
nal E
xcel
lence
Comm
unity
& S
take
holder
Rel
atio
ns0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Value driver gap analysis
Curric
ular
& co-
curricular
edu
catio
n
Efficien
cy &
Cos
t Con
trol
Mar
ketin
g & B
rand
ing
Stra
tegic Map
ping
& P
lann
ing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Gap Analysis of Sustainability Value Drivers vs Campus Capac-
ity (% of Possible)
total sustainability
X + Y + Z =
+Total
Sustainability
Efficiency, Cost Control and
Full Cost Evaluation
Curricular and Co-Curricular
Education
Branding & Marketing
Strategic Mapping,
Planning and Public
Commitment
THE SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAPacademicimpressions.com/events/sustainability/
conclusions
Sum Product
Conclusions
Sustainability helps drive campus outcomes across the board Only a few of sustainability’s benefits can
be monetized—but they all add value Identifying those broad pathways brings
new singers to the choir—and helps integrate sustainability principles and practices across all campus communities
Phase 4 campus not possible without sustainability influences and benefits recognized across all support activities.
Conclusions
STARS enables Total Sustainability STARS defines the measurable range of
campus sustainability impacts STARS systematically embeds social
dimension as foundational, not an after thought
A systems integration approach adaptable to whatever implementation stage a campus may be in
Conclusions
The Sustainability Megatrend is here to stay. STARS/Total Sustainability approach
presents higher education with a studied, deliberative planning and execution model and system.
Campuses that embed sustainability into core mission and leadership will flourish, others may not.
“The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
Alvin Toffler
How Sustainability Creates Value and Underpins Broad Campus Outcomes
Dave Newport
Director
Environmental Center
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado BoulderEnvironmental Center