Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 69.69
Liaison Deborah Steinberg
Submission Date Feb. 7, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Carnegie Mellon University
EN-4: Outreach Materials and Publications

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Barbara Kviz
Environmental Coordinator
Facilities Management Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have a central sustainability website that consolidates information about the institution's sustainability efforts?:
Yes

A brief description of the central sustainability website (optional):

Carnegie Mellon University offers an online portal for environmental sustainability information, Environment at CMU (link below). This site includes links to a variety of the institution's environmental sustainability efforts: energy and water; recycling and waste management; campus design; transportation, and our campus environmental commitments.

One of the links on the website above connects to CMU's Steinbrenner Institute for Education and Research. This Institute seeks to facilitate connections and coordinate environmental sustainability research initiatives, to promote and build the strengths of Carnegie Mellon University's environmental research centers, and to advance emerging and interdisciplinary interests in environmental education and research. The website provides information about campus-wide initiatives and findings of student and faculty groups, sustainability research, and other publications.

This website is created and maintained under the direction of CMU's Environmental Coordinator, one of the Chairs of the campus Green Practices Committee (GPC). The GPC is comprised of staff, faculty and students and seeks to address and continue improving environmental sustainability at CMU, including campus operations, planning, research and education. In 2018, the GPC re-established annual goals for committee work to address campus resource use and building metering, wastewater reclamation and reuse, further increases in recycling and composting to reduce landfill volume, renovate the Sustainability Room in CMU's University Center, and improved campus-wide communications about and awareness of environmental sustainability.

With respect to the broader range of sustainability goals and topics, there are links and references throughout this submittal. See, for example, PA-13.


The website URL for the central sustainability website:
Does the institution have a sustainability newsletter?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability newsletter:

The Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research, mentioned above, publishes a newsletter to inform the University community about sustainability efforts around and outside of the campus.

As described in EN-9 and PA-13, there are additional newsletters to address a range of sustainability topics, such as health and wellbeing, diversity, and gender equity.

Consistent with general publishing trends and with CMU's focus on reduced paper consumption, many campus newsletters are now online publications, announced via email and accessible on the campus web.


The website URL for the sustainability newsletter:
Does the institution have social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, interactive blogs) that focus specifically on campus sustainability?:
Yes

A brief description of the social media platforms that focus on sustainability:

As indicated in AC-1 and AC-9, the majority of academic departments at CMU address sustainability in their course offerings and research and all of these departments circulate information through multiple platforms, e.g, Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In.

In addition, students use a host of social media platforms. Although we have not addressed the range of sustainability topics here, we provide a link below to the Facebook site for the most active undergraduate student group addressing environmental sustainability, Sustainable Earth. Students also use weebly website to share environmental sustainability information. http://cmusustainability.weebly.com/


The website URL of the primary social media platform focused on sustainability:
Does the institution have regular coverage of sustainability in the main student newspaper, either through a regular column or a reporter assigned to the sustainability beat?:
No

A brief description of the regular coverage of sustainability in the main student newspaper:
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The website URL for regular coverage of sustainability in the main student newspaper:
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Does the institution produce a vehicle to publish and disseminate student research on sustainability?:
Yes

A brief description of the vehicle to publish and disseminate student research on sustainability:

The Steinbrenner Institute for Education and Research publishes and disseminates student research from their Doctoral Fellowship Student and Seed Grant programs.


The website URL for the vehicle to publish and disseminate student research on sustainability:
Does the institution have building signage that highlights green building features?:
Yes

A brief description of building signage that highlights green building features :

Each building that is LEED rated have USGBC plaques mounted in a prominent locations.


The website URL for building signage that highlights green building features :
Does the institution have signage and/or brochures that include information about sustainable food systems?:
Yes

A brief description of the signage and/or brochures that include information about sustainable food systems:

Carnegie Mellon University Dining Services vendor posts on Instagram, twitter and Facebook and has signage in the dining venues that offers information about purchases from local farms and vendors to tips on healthy sustainable lifestyle. They also provide healthy dining, exercise, and lifestyle tips for students throughout the year. Please see OP-9 for more detail.


The website URL for food service area signage and/or brochures that include information about sustainable food systems:
Does the institution have signage on the grounds about sustainable groundskeeping and/or landscaping strategies employed?:
No

A brief description of the signage on the grounds about sustainable groundskeeping and/or landscaping strategies employed:

We do, however, offer a this information on the web at the Sustainable Landscapes link below.


The website URL for the signage on the grounds about sustainable groundskeeping and/or landscaping strategies employed:
Does the institution produce a sustainability walking map or tour?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability walking map or tour:

CMU's Green Practices Committee and the Steinbrenner Institute created a Campus Environmental Walking Tour map that guides visitors through the campus's environmentally significant and sustainability-related sites. The tour includes, but is not limited to, LEED resident halls and academic buildings, green roofs, environmental research centers, the Recycling Education Center, and the central chiller plant. The map is linked to the website shown below.


The website URL of the sustainability walking map or tour:
Does the institution produce a guide for commuters about how to use more sustainable methods of transportation?:
Yes

A brief description of the guide for commuters about how to use more sustainable methods of transportation:

Carnegie Mellon University Parking & Transportation Services offers "Transportation OPTIONS". The "Transportation OPTIONS" informs the Carnegie Mellon community about alternative methods of travel to campus. Information includes biking, busing, carpooling, Zipcar, shuttle/escort service, van-pooling or walking.


The website URL for the guide for commuters about how to use more sustainable methods of transportation:
Does the institution produce navigation and educational tools for bicyclists and pedestrians (e.g. covering routes, inter-modal connections, policies, services, and safety)? :
Yes

A brief description of the navigation and educational tools for bicyclists and pedestrians:

CMU is a Bike University USA award-winning campus. The website below contains a Google map that shows where bike racks are located, how many, and if under cover.

In addition, CMU has a Bicycle/Wheeled Transportation Policy. The purpose of this policy is to provide regulations for a safe and convenient environment for bicycles and other wheeled transportation permitted on campus walkways (e.g., skateboards, in-line skates and motorized carts), while at the same time providing for the safety of all members of the campus community. The regulations do not apply to transportation for persons with disabilities (e.g., wheelchairs). See
http://www.cmu.edu/student-affairs/theword/comm_standards/bicycle.html


The website URL for navigation and educational tools for bicyclists and pedestrians:
Does the institution produce a guide for green living and/or incorporating sustainability into the residential experience?:
No

A brief description of the guide for green living and incorporating sustainability into the residential experience:
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The website URL for the guide for green living and incorporating sustainability into the residential experience:
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Does the institution produce other sustainability outreach materials or publications not covered above?:
Yes

A brief description of these materials or publications:

WEF-GULF ISCN 2018 Report: Educating with Purpose

Universities around the world share best practices and this report includes a case study about Carnegie Mellon's Sustainability Weekend.


The website URL for these materials or publications:
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.