Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 60.54
Liaison Sarah Fortner
Submission Date March 6, 2020
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Carleton College
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Alexandra Miller
Sustainability Program Coordinator
Energy and Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Is the institution an active member of a national or international sustainability network?:
Yes

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

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, AASHE

Association for Energy Engineers, AEE

Solid Waste Association of North America, SWANA

Second Nature, Presidents Leadership Carbon Commitment


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):

Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability, UMACS

Greater Northfield Sustainability Collaborative, GNSC

Climate Action Plan Advisory Board, City of Northfield, MN


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):

UMACS (Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability) conference, Carleton College hosted the 2019 conference and had a variety of presentations and tours offered. The full list is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wRioCAiuMcytaLuN-cjMCM-Q6WAa6M9Dm79cXUP7bME/edit?usp=sharing

Larson, Martha (2019, July). How to drive collaborative initiatives within higher education energy and sustainability departments. Webinar panel presentation.

Larson, Martha. (2019, May). Facilities/IT Energy and Sustainability Collaboration. Presentation for Minnesota CIO Meeting at Carleton College. Northfield, MN.

Larson, Martha. (2019, May). Sustainability at Carleton. Presentation at Carleton Alumni Admissions Representatives meeting at Carleton College. Northfield, MN.

Larson, Martha. (2019, April). Earth Day Keynote Speech. Presentation at 10th Annual Northfield Earth Day Celebration. Northfield, MN.

Larson, Martha. (2019, March). Women in Green Power Breakfast. Panel discussion hosted by the Minnesota Chapter of the United States Green Building Council. St. Paul, MN.

Larson, Martha and Rogers, Fred and Spehn, Steven. (2019, February). Reimagining District Energy for the 21st Century. Presentation at the Second Nature Climate Leadership Summit. Tempe, AZ.

Larson, Martha. (2019, September). Carleton Connects Lecture Program. Webinar presentation broadcast via the Carleton College Alumni Relations Office. Northfield, MN. https://apps.carleton.edu/alumni/learn/connects/schedule/?event_id=1743782

Larson, Martha. (2019, September). Carleton College Utility Master Plan: District Energy in the 21st Century. Presentation at the Minnesota ASHRAE/AEE Energy Expo. Bloomington, MN.

Larson, Martha and Miller, Alex. (2018, October). Transitioning a 100-year Legacy of Campus Steam to 21st Century Geothermal. Presentation at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Annual Conference. Pittsburgh, PA.

Miller, Alex. (2018, October) “Sustaining Ourselves: A Collaborative Treat for Sustainability Professionals” AASHE workshop co-led by Alex Miller with the University of MN Twin Cities and Macalester College

Miller, Alex (2018, October) UMACS Networking Session, AASHE

Rogers, Fred (2019, July), Why Hot Water is a Win-Win, NACUBO


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):

National Association of College and University Business Officers, NACUBO, Excellence in Sustainability Award for UMP. Martha, Fred, and Steve accepted in Austin, TX on July, 13, 2019

Association of Energy Engineers, AEE, Region III Energy Innovator of the Year Award. Martha accepted this award in Washington DC on September 24, 2019.


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):

The Sustainability Program Coordinator sits on the steering committee for UMACS, the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability. Carleton hosted the 2019 conference in September 2019.

The Sustainability Program Coordinator and the Manager of Campus Energy and Sustainability sit on the GNSC, the Greater Northfield Sustainability Collaborative. This group works with St. Olaf College (the other college in Northfield), community members, and city council to advance community sustainability. They both served on the Climate Action Plan Advisory Board from Jan. 2017-November 2019 for the City of Northfield.


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:

Minnesota has a strong regional network of sustainability professionals who meet regularly and do an annual retreat to discuss best practices and new ideas. We maintain our relationship throughout the year. Carleton also specifically advised St. Olaf College on their composting and EV charging stations. We have also fielded numerous calls and done presentations for fellow liberal arts colleges on our steam to hot water and geothermal utility conversion. We have developed a website and an online presentation, specifically aimed at guiding these discussions with our peers. We hosted a pre-conference workshop on Carleton's campus on this topic to mentor and give tours of our new facility.

Utility Master Plan Website: go.carleton.edu/geothermal


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?:
No

A brief description of the peer review activities:
---

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:

An annual gathering called Sustaining Ourselves is a networking retreat for sustainability staff in the greater Minnesota area. Ideas, resources, etc. are shared at this event.

The Sustainability Program Coordinator co-presents with representatives from Macalester and the University of Minnesota on the above-mentioned retreat.

We visited Swarthmore in 2017 for a knowledge-exchange and presented on the Utility Master Plan.

Carleton also gathered with facilities directors and managers throughout the twin cities are for a discussion and tour at Macalester college in 2018.

Carleton also invited over 50 campuses to Northfield, MN for the 2019 UMACS conference and held a pre-conference workshop specifically on our Utility Master Plan.


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

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

We do not have a specific website dedicated to cross-campus collaboration since it is embedded within many of our campus sustainability activities. Carleton's sustainability website also references partnerships with various on-campus departments and organizations including:

- Environmental Studies
- Carleton Arboretum
- Custodial Management
- Facilities Department
- Center for Civic and Community Engagement (CCCE)
- Registrar's Office
- Career Center
- Students Organized for Protection of the Environment (SOPE)
- Farm Club, Farm Interns
- Engineers Without Borders
- CANOE (outdoors group)


We do not have a specific website dedicated to cross-campus collaboration since it is embedded within many of our campus sustainability activities. Carleton's sustainability website also references partnerships with various on-campus departments and organizations including:

- Environmental Studies
- Carleton Arboretum
- Custodial Management
- Facilities Department
- Center for Civic and Community Engagement (CCCE)
- Registrar's Office
- Career Center
- Students Organized for Protection of the Environment (SOPE)
- Farm Club, Farm Interns
- Engineers Without Borders
- CANOE (outdoors group)

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.