| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.14 |
| Liaison | Bremen Leak |
| Submission Date | July 10, 2024 |
Brigham Young University
PA-2: Sustainability Planning
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 4.00 |
Bremen
Leak Associate Director Sustainability & Continuity |
Part 1. Measurable sustainability objectives
Academics
A list or sample of the measurable sustainability objectives related to academics and the plan(s) in which they are published:
2030 desired outcomes:
- Inspired learning across the natural, built, social, and spiritual environments
- Collaborative scholarship for solutions to socio-ecological challenges
2030 objectives:
Integrate faith-based principles of earth stewardship across the curriculum
- University core: develop general education and/or religion course on earth stewardship
- Course designations: catalog all courses and learning outcomes relating to earth stewardship
- Service learning: offer course on stewardship for student development
- Advance inspiring learning, mission-focused scholarship, and collaboration for earth stewardship
- Sustainability office: support student-led initiatives
- Stewardship lab: coordinate for interdisciplinary scholarship
- Research deveopment: offer interdisciplinary research grants on socio-environmental challenges
- Annual stewardship conference: celebrate research and creative works
See BYU Sustainability for targets and key performance indicators.
Engagement
A list or sample of the measurable sustainability objectives related to engagement and the plan(s) in which they are published:
2030 desired outcomes:
- A personal and collective commitment to earthly stewardship and accountability for blessings
- Support for human flourishing through service and education
2030 objectives:
Create a campus and culture that cultivates lifelong stewardship.
- Assessment: conduct sustainability surveys of the predominate student body
- Outreach: integrate sustainability programming into employee orientation, new student orientation, professional development trainings, and other campus events
- Visibility: use signs, maps, and demo spaces to showcase commitments and raise awareness
- Peer-to-peer education: pilot student and employee programs
- Stakeholder engagement: Leverage the Student Sustainability Initiative and other campus partnerships to increase dialogue and collaboration
- Grants: Provide support for student-led sustainability projects tied to BYU operations
Prioritize partnerships and community efforts to address socio-environmental challenges
- Community service: Strengthen collaboration and reporting to advance stewardship
- Civic engagement: Sustain ongoing partnerships at the city, county, and state level
- Continuing education: Expand stewardship-related offerings; leverage summer programs
- Ecological restoration: Protect Provo's canyons, foothills, rivers, trails, and lake
- Thought leadership: lead out on faith-based solutions; continue to leverage BYU fora and devotionals
See BYU Sustainability for targets and key performance indicators.
Operations
A list or sample of the measurable sustainability objectives related to operations and the plan(s) in which they are published:
2030 desired outcomes:
Institutional pursuit of sustainable operations:
- Natural resource conservation: energy, water, land
- Materials management: purchasing, consumption, waste
- Mobility enhancement: transportation, air quality
- Infrastructure improvement: buildings, grounds, systems
2030 objectives:
- Conserve energy
- Track ongoing occupancy scheduling, retrocommissioning, automation, and LED lighting replacements campus-wide to quantify energy savings
- Conduct feasibility study on renewable energy, including on-site and off-site generation
- Conserve water
- Audit all fixtures, appliances, and sprinkler systems for efficiency
- Audit grounds by landscape type to identify opportunities for water savings
- Meter all secondary water
- Develop water conservation plan
- Conserve land
- Reassess campus for biodiversity and ecological health.
- Ensure that off-campus properities (Lytle Ranch, etc.) meet these same criteria.
- Develop sustainable purchasing guidelines.
- Develop waste reduction plan and set ambitious diversion rate targets.
- Extend recycling to BYU-contracted housing, in partnership with landlords.
- Integrate surplus sales into sustainability reporting
- Expand recycling education efforts, in partnership with the Sustainability Office.
- Develop sustainable dining targets that address the following:
- Plastic, styrofoam and other food packaging
- Food waste collection
- Food recovery
- Plant-forward dining
- Local sourcing
- Meat and dairy consumption
- Create a transportation master plan that address the following:
- Public transit, including BYU's UTA partnership
- Microtransit, including parking, storage, charging, repair, and safety
- Walkability, including access and safety
- Campus shuttles
- Vehicle fleet
- Charging infrastructure for university fleet
- Charging infrastructure for all other vehicles
- Prioritize initiatives that result in cleaner air
- Electrification of grounds equipment
- Electrification of university vehicles
- No-idling policies, red air day policies, and incentives for alternative transit
- Develop sustainable building standards that address the following:
- Envelopes, windows, doors, rooftops
- Heating and cooling
- Building materials
- Create decentralized versions (for colleges, departments, etc.) of the above plans.
See BYU Sustainability for targets and key performance indicators.
Administration
A list or sample of the measurable sustainability objectives related to administration and the plan(s) in which they are published:
2030 desired outcomes:
- Institutional accountability for sustainability through enhanced governance, planning, and assessment
- Support for human flourishing through belonging, wellbeing, and self-reliance
2030 objectives:
- Planning and assessment: create and publish master plans for the following operational areas:
- energy and emissions
- water conservation
- waste management
- transportation
- dining
- procurement
- events, including athletics
- grounds, including pest management
- Data: use sustainability dashboards and maps to visualize progress toward objectives
- Certifications: engage academic units and academic support units in workplace sustainability
- Governance: Enhance coordination with campus planning and other decision-makers
- Human flourishing:
- Belonging: Align with BYU's strategic objectives on belonging:
- Promote a sense of belonging among all members of the campus community consistent with BYU’s Statement on Belonging.
- Regularly assess the campus climate for belonging.
- Develop a comprehensive plan based on gospel principles to establish and support campus-wide belonging efforts.
- Develop a plan based on gospel principles to establish and support belonging across the student life cycle—from the university’s initial outreach through students becoming lifelong alumni.
- Promote a sense of belonging among all members of the campus community consistent with BYU’s Statement on Belonging.
- Wellbeing: Align with BYU's objectives on wellbeing, as set by Campus Life:
- Inspire learning through department services and extracurricular activities
- Foster a culture of unity within Campus Life and across the university
- Advance belonging
- Encourage continued employee engagement and excellence
- Enhance data-informed decision making
- Promote student and employee wellness
- Self-reliance: Ensure that BYU's financial stewardship and earth stewardship are in harmony.
- Belonging: Align with BYU's strategic objectives on belonging:
Note that the wellbeing of students is supported by Counseling and Psychological Services, which is part of Student Development Services. The strategic objectives of CAPS are as follows:
- Given our desire to better serve our diverse student body, we strive to hire and retain diverse faculty trained as scientist/practitioners
- Expand primary prevention work (teaching, outreach)
- Provide effective individual and group therapy, crisis work, and stress management (biofeedback and services)
- Provide training of graduate student clinicians consistent with meeting APA training guidelines
- Provide outreach and consultation to university community
- Conduct scholarly research and provide mentorship opportunities in scholarly pursuits
The wellness of employees are set by the BYU Wellness Program, created by Human Resources to support the health and wellbeing of employees and their spouses and to promote a work culture that fulfills the mission of the university, fosters growth and belonging, and allows employees to thrive and bring their best selves to work each day. Resources are available to help meet physical, emotional, financial, social, intellectual, and spiritual needs.
See BYU Sustainability for details.
Part 2. Sustainability in institution’s highest guiding document
The institution’s highest guiding document (upload):
Website URL where the institution’s highest guiding document is publicly available:
Which of the following best describes the inclusion of sustainability in the highest guiding document?:
Optional Fields
Website URL where the institution's sustainability plan is publicly available:
Does the institution have a formal statement in support of sustainability endorsed by its governing body?:
The formal statement in support of sustainability:
At BYU, we commit to sustaining the Earth for all God’s children and creatures. We magnify this divine stewardship through our individual and institutional conduct, leading by example, and inspiring worldwide learning and service. (This statement was approved by President's Council in January 2022 and shared with the campus community in March 2022.)
The institution’s definition of sustainability:
As beneficiaries of God’s creations, we have a divine stewardship to care for one another and the Earth; in doing so, we meet the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures (Doctrine and Covenants 104:13).
Is the institution an endorser or signatory of the following?:
| Yes or No | |
| The Earth Charter | No |
| The Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) | No |
| ISCN-GULF Sustainable Campus Charter | No |
| Pan-Canadian Protocol for Sustainability | No |
| SDG Accord | No |
| Second Nature’s Carbon Commitment (formerly known as the ACUPCC), Resilience Commitment, and/or integrated Climate Commitment | No |
| The Talloires Declaration (TD) | No |
| UN Global Compact | No |
| Other multi-dimensional sustainability commitments (please specify below) | No |
A brief description of the institution’s formal sustainability commitments, including the specific initiatives selected above:
Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability planning efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.