Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 49.53
Liaison Tanja Srebotnjak
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Harvey Mudd College
EN-5: Outreach Campaign

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Louis Spanias
Sustainability Program Manager
Hixon Center for Sustainable Environmental Design
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution held at least one sustainability-related outreach campaign during the previous three years that was directed at students and yielded measurable, positive results in advancing sustainability? :
Yes

Has the institution held at least one sustainability-related outreach campaign during the previous three years that was directed at employees and yielded measurable, positive results in advancing sustainability?:
Yes

1st Campaign 

Name of the campaign:
5C PowerDown Competition

A brief description of the campaign, including how students and/or employees were engaged:
PowerDown is an annual energy conservation challenge between the 5Cs. Before the competition begins, a 2-week baseline of energy consumed on each campus is taken. Using this data, the goal of the competition is to reduce electricity consumption by the largest percentage. A $500 monetary prize is given to the college dorms that reduced consumption by the most. The Hixon Center invites students from across the residence halls to become a part of Harvey Mudd’s PowerDown Team, which will be responsible for coordinating electricity conservation efforts at their own residence halls. Students were engaged through a number of student-run campus and cross-campus events centered on the competition, and were regularly provided updates on the performance of the campus and the residence halls throughout the competition.

A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
At its best, Harvey Mudd College's residence halls have produced electricity consumption reductions of over 5% from the baseline period. The competition also yielded increased engagement in other campus sustainability events, including the staple spring semester "Black, Gold and Green" Speaker Series. PowerDown has also created opportunities for students to have a conversation about energy consumption at the college, which have included brainstorming sustainable practices to decrease energy consumption in the residence halls.

The website URL where information about the campaign is available:

If reporting a second campaign provide:

2nd Campaign

Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Green Office Program

A brief description of the campaign, including how students and/or employees were engaged (2nd campaign):
The Green Office Program is an initiative facilitated by the Hixon Center for Sustainable Environmental Design. Offices and departments across campus are invited to apply to be recognized by the Hixon Center as a Green Office, based on how environmentally sustainable their practices and purchases are. They can also achieve varying levels of certification including Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Copper. Individuals within the office take a comprehensive survey that asks about a variety of sustainable practices that span across six key areas including recycling and waste, energy, water, transportation, culture and learning, health and wellbeing, and innovation.

A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
The departments of biology and Engineering, as well as the Dean of Faculty's office, have been certified. More offices are in the process of being certified, and the currently certified offices have shown serious improvements in waste reduction and culture and learning that will likely yield higher certifications in the upcoming year(s).

The website URL where information about the campaign is available (2nd campaign):

Optional Fields 

A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns, including measured positive impacts:
There is also a Shareware Program on campus, run by the Hixon Center for Sustainable Environmental Design, which offers a number of reusable plates, utensils, and cups for usage by the campus community. The program is meant to discourage users from using disposable dishware and dining items, since the Shareware program is a free service. The program has saved nearly 1,000 disposable plates, cups, and utensils from being purchased, used, and disposed of during campus events and meetings.

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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