Emory University
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

AASHE STARS SPLC I2SL CSHEMA

Georgia Organics, Georgia Campus Sustainability Network, Southeast Campus Sustainability Network

At the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) Annual Meeting, Emory Campus Services staff members presented posters on the impact and technologies of the WaterHub at Emory, a water reclamation facility, and on the energy efficiency programs employed by Emory University and Healthcare. The NACUBO annual meeting equips CBOs with the education, networking opportunities, and resources to build strategic collaborations and alliances within their campus community. At AASHE's Annual Conference, Emory staff presented on a Pollinator Protection Panel with Friends of the Earth to outline the many threats to pollinators, especially from the application of neonicotinoids, and to describe how Emory University created and implemented a comprehensive Pollinator Protection Policy; campus engagement around strategic planning for sustainability with University of Alberta, Canada; and Climate Action Plans Revisited with University of Maryland, which shared both the process for revising a university Climate Action Plan as well as engagement strategies utilized to inform a climate action plan revision. Emory staff presented at the 2016 Southeast Campus Sustainability Network meeting about creating sustainability for sustainability professionals. Emory students and faculty presented at both COP 21 and COP22 about their research and curricular efforts related to climate change. Emory staff presented at the 2016 Georgia Campus Sustainability Network conference on the many threats to pollinators, especially from the application of neonicotinoids, and described how Emory University created and implemented a comprehensive Pollinator Protection Policy. The GCSN aids those across Georgia in higher education to reach their sustainability goals. The annual conference brings together leaders from a variety of campuses in Georgia to present and answer questions about their initiatives. The presentation outlined the many threats to pollinators, especially from the application of neonicotinoids, and described how Emory University created and implemented a comprehensive Pollinator Protection Policy. At the 2016 International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) Conference, Emory presented about Landfill Diversion in Research and Clinical Laboratories with University of Colorado Boulder and Cleveland Clinic. This symposium presented challenges, opportunities and strategies for landfill diversion with a focus on upstream sources, downstream initiatives, and on-site operational and behavior change programs. At the 2016 Georgia Department of Natural Resources Climate Conference, an Emory faculty member presented on the Georgia Climate Project, and an Emory staff member presented a poster on Emory’s Climate Action Plan.

Emory submitted a case studies to DOE and USGBC for the Water Hub at Emory. Emory also submitted a case study for the Water Hub to the Green Gowns awards program and was the only North American finalist in 2015. Emory won multiple awards from Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge (DOE program) two years in a row for hospitals and campus buildings as the largest participant in the program and for multiple buildings achieving the 20% energy or water reduction ahead of the 2020 goal. Emory also submitted a case study to the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council on Emory University’s Sustainable Food Initiative that won the award for best case study that year.

Ciannat Howett, Director of Sustainability, served on the AASHE Board of Directors until last year. Ms. Howett also serves, or has served during the past three years, on the Boards of Grants to Green, One Hundred Miles, Turner Environmental Law Clinic, and the President's Council of the Southern Environmental Law Center. Taylor Spicer, Sustainability Programs Coordinator, serves on the following: Generation Green of the Georgia Conservancy; Atlanta Regional Commissions Millennial Board (ended July 2016); Georgia Campus Sustainability Network Conference; Next South Conference

The Georgia Campus Sustainability Network provides a framework for the mentoring of institutions just beginning their sustainability initiatives. Because Emory has one of the longest-running programs in the metro-Atlanta area, our Office of Sustainability Initiatives spends a great deal of time sharing best practices and lessons learned. Also, Emory's Piedmont Project, which is a nationally-renown faculty development program to integrate sustainability into the curriculum and the longest-running program of its kind in the U.S., expanded to include faculty from other metro-Atlanta colleges and universities (e.g., Agnes Scott, Georgia Tech, Georgia State). This allowed other schools in the area to gain the benefits of the program without duplication of resources and even in the absence of a trained faculty facilitator on their campus.

In 2016, students from Emory's Rollins School of Public Health conducted a peer review of the City of Atlanta's Climate Action Plan, assessing each action commitment for public health implications. Emory College students also assisted the City of Atlanta with conducting its first Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. We are unsure whether or not these efforts fit the intention of this question, so answered "no" because the City of Atlanta is not higher education institution and/or member of AASHE.

Ciannat Howett, Director of Sustainability, serves on the Sustainable Atlanta Round Table planning committee, has been involved in the City of Atlanta's resiliency planning, and is a member of the Clifton Community Partnership external advisory committee.

Data reported for academic years 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016.