Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 72.66
Liaison Megan Litke
Submission Date March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

American University
PRE-2: Points of Distinction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete N/A Megan Litke
Sustainability Manager
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s featured sustainability program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Carbon Neutrality

A brief description of the institution’s featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
American University became the first university in the country to announce carbon neutrality in Spring 2018. The accomplishment was verified through Sightlines and confirmed by Second Nature.

Which of the following impact areas does the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Air & Climate

Website URL where more information about the accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
OP-2

A photograph or document associated with the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Name of a second highlighted sustainability program/initiative/accomplishment:
Energy Efficiency

A brief description of the second program/initiative/accomplishment:
In September 2018, American University received the Alliance to Save Energy's Chairman's Award. AU has made a continual effort to improve energy efficiency on campus. Despite the campus footprint increasing, energy use per square foot has decreased over the past number of years.

https://www.usgbc.org/articles/usgbc-member-companies-recognized-stars-energy-efficiency

Which impact areas does the second program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Energy

Website URL where more information about the second program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the second program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
OP-5

A photograph or document associated with the second program/initiative/accomplishment:
Name of a third highlighted program/initiative/accomplishment:
American University Experience (AUx)

A brief description of the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
The American University Experience (AUx)is a full-year AU Core Curriculum course specially designed for first-year and transfer students transitioning into their first year of college at AU. Students complete AUx1 in their first semester and then complete AUx2 in their second semester.

AUx2 specifically focuses on identifying historical structure of power, privilege, and inequality, and touches on topics such as intersectionality, anti-racism and anti-oppression, and other topics related to social justice and equity. AUx2 teaches students to explore and model ways of communicating and living in a diverse society and address divergent opinions on challenging topics.

Completion of a full year of AUx ensures that 100% of AU students are able to explore their own identities and learn about bias, structures of power, privilege, inequality, and how to become a part of a diverse community.

https://www.american.edu/ucm/news/20180517-aux2-facilitators.cfm

https://www.theeagleonline.com/article/2018/08/what-you-need-to-know-about-american-university-new-mandatory-general-education-program

Which impact areas does the third program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Diversity & Affordability

Website URL where more information about the third program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the third program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
PA-5

A photograph or document associated with the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.