Boston College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

The STARS Sustainability Survey committee originated from the Campus Sustainability Advisory Panel that had been formed to assure broad coverage of interested parties during the implementation of the Institutional Master Plan. The STARS committee has representatives from multiple campus departments to review BCs current state of Sustainability on campus and what we all can do to continue to make improvements to our sustainability practices across campus.

The panel includes representatives from departments including the Sustainability Office; Earth & Environmental Sciences; Facilities Management; Environmental Health & Safety; Dining Services; Auxiliary Services; Capital Projects Management; Institutional Research, Planning & Assessment; Procurement Services; and Governmental & Community Affairs. Everyone is involved in their respective areas.

The Sustainability Office is a hub for the many green initiatives on campus. Our successful efforts are a result of the shared commitment among individuals and groups across our community and the formation of partnerships that work toward developing a more sustainable campus. We create sustainable initiatives per our Institutional Master Plan and promote and educate our campus community about the importance of being sustainable. We collaborate with faculty on the creation of speaker forums and our sustainable programs.

The office presented three virtual events to engage with the campus community.
the first event was on the best hiking trails in the Boston area. The second and third events hosted professionals from the Sustainability field to speak about how their positions are in line with the United Nations Sustainability Development Goal 15.

Our Tree Campus USA program created a scavenger hunt to create awareness about the various trees on our campus. We used social media to engage with the participating students and prizes were awarded.

We partnered with the Save OHNO organization to assemble teams of students to compete against each other by posting sustainable acts on the Save OHNO web portal. Pries from Patagonia were awarded to the winning team.

The Sustainability & Energy Management Specialist will lead the Facilities Management Department on all matters pertaining to Sustainability and Energy Management. The Specialist will advocate for sustainability initiatives and consult with appropriate departments on which conservation and other related programs would be implemented at BC. S/he will track the effectiveness of the measures and will act as a liaison between all University departments and Facilities Management to promote and garner support for sustainability initiatives. The Specialist will supervise student employees or student volunteers. S/he will work closely with the Energy Manager and Director of Environmental Health and Safety in matters relating to sustainability and in ways to effectively reduce Greenhouse gas emissions and reduce our Carbon Footprint. The Specialist will manage the metering system under the guidance of the Energy Manager with the goal of positively impacting the University’s energy footprint. Create, implement and manage projects or initiatives as assigned. Engage with students by attending environmental club meetings, and creative social media posts promoting our sustainable initiatives. Create energy spreadsheets with the consumption of energy and water of buildings on campus and prepare data for energy audits. Collaborate with colleges on campus and community elementary schools on campus initiatives that impact the environment. Develop programs with our environmental clubs during the Fall event called Harvest Fest and the Spring event called Earth Week.