Colorado School of Mines
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

The measurable sustainability objectives are found in the 2019-2024 Sustainability Strategic Plan.A sample of the measurable objectives for academia in the five-year plan are

 Increase the number of and promote both undergraduate and graduate sustainability courses and degree programs
o Create an academic sustainability committee made up of faculty that offer existing sustainability courses that reports to the Sustainability Committee or invite the Sustainability Coordinator to attend academic committee meetings (e.g., Faculty Senate) to research underrepresented sustainability topics and courses and develop an accepted definition of sustainability for curriculum
o Add sustainability focus areas to the existing BSE degree program (could be additional focus area)
o Explore developing sustainability course(s) within each department
o Create a Sustainability Design Team or Studio for students wanting to work on sustainability design projects on and off campus (virtual)
o Explore the creation of a “Sustainability Minor” that will serve as centralized location for all sustainability related coursework to make it easier for students to find sustainability related courses and augment traditional degree programs (e.g., degree in mechanical engineering with minor in sustainability studies)
o Provide funding to send faculty member(s) to Sustainability Education Summit.

A sample of the measurable engagement sustainability objectives in the five-year plan are:

 Create a culture of sustainability on campus

o Engage new students and staff on sustainability through the People Power Planet campaign and other projects during student and staff orientation events
o Engage students in sustainability during high visibility events such as E-Days, International Days, and athletic events by ensuring these events are zero waste
o Create centralized communication on sustainability that includes newsletter, social media, website, etc., and promote successes through them
o Make visible the value of sustainability to the campus community including positive impacts to their personal lives, and careers
o Actively engage student participation on the Green Team (Use this 500-plus member team to complete key components of the AASHE STARS performance areas)
o Using the Sustainability Committee and administrative support to develop detailed action plans to implement this Strategic Plan
o Add interpretive signs for all LEED buildings that includes top 5 things that make it LEED to raise visibility of green building technologies and projects on campus
o Add solar powered trash receptacles on Kafadar Commons to engage students on recycling and increase participation in a high use/high visibility area
o Create a Green Labs Award Program with support from President and High-level administrative staff
o Implement some PAC12 sustainability measures for the athletics department and engage student athletes to promote sustainability campaigns (e.g., recycling video)
o Host a solar challenge competition for students and faculty and announce winners on Earth Day 2020
o Host annual Earth Day Fairs
o Use Green Move In/Move Out campaigns to educate and engage students on waste
o Distribute Campus Sustainability Starter Kits at new student orientation events.

A sample of measurable sustainability objectives related to operations are:

 Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by buildings by 10% over 2014/2015 baseline by the end of FY 2022-2023 and set long-term goal to become carbon neutral by 2050

o Seek and apply for energy efficiency grants
o Offset 10% of all energy consumed by campus buildings through renewable energy generation or power 5% of buildings with renewable energy, including solar energy and geothermal energy
o Install a solar garden at Mines park and/or purchase energy from the City of Golden’s solar garden (when completed)
o Create an energy resiliency plan to evaluate campus growth, explore low carbon energy sources, and identify needs, costs, and supply and management strategies
o Increase the efficiency of heating and cooling plants on campus
o Develop a process for converting kitchen oil into biodiesel for backup generators
o Research the Second Nature Carbon Credit offset and purchasing program as a viable option for carbon offset and funding https://secondnature.org/carbon-credit-purchasing-program/
o Consider purchasing carbon offsets to increase LEED points for buildings to raise rating from Silver to Gold or Platinum (e.g., http://www.b-e-f.org/environmental-products/carbon-offsets/) OR http://www.carbonsolutionsgroup.com/gb.html.

 Reduce total energy consumption in campus buildings by 15% BTU per square foot over the 2014/2015 baseline by the end of FY 2022-2023 (normalized for weather and adjusted for growth)

o Use an Energy Performance Contract to achieve energy and water savings
o Set a sustainable thermal set-point standard for campus buildings by 2025
o Continue to use LEED design for new buildings as required by Colorado State Law to implement energy efficiency standards and programs within the buildings and infrastructure design and operational process.
o Explore using the EPA Portfolio Manager software to benchmark building energy use and make utility data transparent to the Colorado Energy Office to support local benchmarking and transparency ordinances
o By December 15th of each year, prepare a sustainability report card for the CEO showing progress towards these goals.

Goals & Objectives

 Continue to offer professional development funds to faculty, staff, and students for sustainability continuing education

o Develop and pilot sustainability trainings and workshops for faculty and staff
o Sponsor student/faculty to attend sustainability related conferences such as AASHE, Sustainable Labs, or USGBC Green Build.
o Fund student/faculty projects with Green Fund

 Create annual report to benchmark progress and provide transparency on activities
 Achieve a STARS Gold or Platinum rating from AASHE and publicize with press release and other methods of promotion
 Define standards for sustainable purchasing and integrate into vendor guidelines by 2025
 Offer sustainable purchasing options in vendor contracts
 Increase accessibility to the Sustainability Office by students, faculty, and staff by establishing a Sustainability Center in a centralized location on campus
 Create a student work study program to hire student Eco-Reps to help with student sustainability outreach
 Create funding mechanism to expand sustainability infrastructure and programs on campus (e.g., create a student green fee, work with Mines Foundation and donors, etc.)
 Develop a nature-based stress reduction initiative for students (e.g., weekly hikes, indoor botanic garden or bio-dome project, greenhouse, etc.) that can be incorporated into academic and/or research studies
 Reduce carbon emissions from commuters to and from campus by increasing remote working conferencing and other working tools and flexible work arrangements, which reduce carbon emissions from transportation and utility bills/rent for space
 Make the campus smoke free in five years via an anti-smoking and vaping campaign and phase out designated smoking areas over 5 years
 Ensure the campus has an occupational health and safety management plan for employees
 Conduct an annual anonymous survey that allows employees to give feedback on management
 Create policies to support underrepresented groups on campus, including creating a diversity and inclusion committee
 Environmental sustainability serves as a guiding principle in planning and decision making
 Host a Sustainability Summit for students, faculty, and staff with speakers, workshops, and awards ceremony (e.g., could be part of Earth Day Week)
 Expand sustainability training for managers
 Establish an Alumni Sustainability Committee
 Establish more regional and national sustainability organization partnerships
 Integrate sustainability objectives into performance plans for employees
 Work with departments to develop department-specific sustainability plans
 Support planning of sustainable events across campus
 Increase the amount of sustainable investments and make investments more transparent
 Explore a living wage and affordable housing initiative for all employees
 Host or support a formal body through which external stakeholders can have a voice in institutional decisions.