Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 72.58
Liaison Tom Twist
Submission Date June 12, 2020
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Bates College
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Tom Twist
Sustainability Manager
Facilities
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Is the institution an active member of a national or international sustainability network?:
Yes

The name of the national or international sustainability network(s):

AASHE
Tom Twist, Sustainability Manager for Bates, sits on the AASHE Advisory Board.

Bates College is an AASHE Mentor to Connecticut College, another AASHE member.

Bates College is an American College and University President's Climate Commitment Signatory, with a 2020 Carbon Neutrality goal.


Is the institution an active member of a regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network?:
Yes

The name of the regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network(s):

Green Campus Consortium of Maine
NNECERAPPA
Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium
Solar Energy Association of Maine
Drive Electric Maine Board


Has the institution presented at a sustainability conference during the previous year? :
Yes

A list or brief description of the conference(s) and presentation(s):

AASHE 2019 Conference - "Carbon Neutrality in a Cold Climate"

Green Campus Consortium - electric charging infrastructure opportunities, solar PPAs

Maine Resource and Recovery Association - Zero Waste Challenge - behavioral change dynamics

NNECERAPPA - Carbon emissions monitoring, and fuel switching from heating oil to a biomass liquid fuel.

Presentations by our Sustainability and Energy Managers - John Rasmussen and Tom Twist.


Has the institution submitted a case study during the previous year to a sustainability awards program that is inclusive of multiple campuses? :
Yes

A list or brief description of the awards program(s) and submission(s):

Approved poster session at AASHE 2017 - on Renewable Fuel Oil in a central steam plant.


Has the institution had staff, students or faculty serving on a board or committee of a sustainability network or conference during the previous three years? :
Yes

A list or brief description of the board or committee appointment(s):

Tom Twist, Bates College Sustainability Manager is an Advisory Board Member of AASHE.


Does the institution have an ongoing mentoring relationship with another institution through which it assists the institution with its sustainability reporting and/or the development of its sustainability program?:
Yes

A brief description of the mentoring relationship and activities:

AASHE Mentor for Connecticut College


Has the institution had staff, faculty, or students serving as peer reviewers of another institution’s sustainability data (e.g. GHG emissions or course inventory) and/or STARS submission during the previous three years?:
Yes

A brief description of the peer review activities:

Reviewed GHG inventory for Maine Green Campus Consortium member colleges


Has the institution participated in other collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year, e.g. joint planning or resource sharing with other institutions? :
Yes

A brief description of other collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year:

Bates collaborates with the other colleges in Maine through the Green Campus Consortium - by hosting events, being, with Bowdoin, the administrator of our web presence, and helping to keep colleges abreast of ongoing opportunities. Bates is leading the effort to create a coalition of Maine and some northeastern colleges to pursue the Volkswagen settlement money, in order to help advance electric charging infrastructure on campuses. We are also working with peer colleges, as Bates transitions from fossil fuels to a biomass-based, liquid fuel, to share information on costs, payback, vendors, and timeline for this conversion. To date, we are the only college or university in the nation to take this step and use this particular fuel. As a result, we are trying to share our information as broadly as possible with other schools, to help them make informed decisions with their own central heating plants.

We host events to highlight best practices among our other partner colleges - most recently hosting speakers from College of the Atlantic and University of Southern Maine to speak with our Sustainability Office, at the most recent APPA event. We work with several local colleges to collectively address recycling best practices, procurement leverage, and local food sourcing. We also have worked with other NESCAC and Maine colleges to disseminate information on our new front of the house waste stream collection system, which now incorporates streams for liquid and food waste. As mentioned earlier, Bates is a very active member of Maine's Green Campus Consortium (GCC), as well as the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium (NECSC - an alliance of college and university sustainability coordinators in New England). We meet quarterly with the GCC, and meet annually with the NECSC. We are in contact with both organizations regularly, and reach out via email with questions or opportunities for the group.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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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.