Portland Community College
PAE-4: Sustainability Plan

PCC's Climate Action Plan (CAP) serves both this credit and the Climate Action Plan credit, as the CAP covers goals for reducing Scope I, II, & III emissions; and increasing sustainability in education and community outreach. The Sustainability Leadership Team is a council comprised of staff representing the college's different departments, faculty, and student representatives. The SLT meets monthly to develop/edit the CAP each year, report on progress, and devise strategies to meet the CAP goals.

Based on the revised 2016 Climate Action Plan, the plan’s measurable action items are broken down below by sub-committee:

Scope I sub-committee (encompasses natural has, district fleet, refrigerants and stationary fuels) 2016 Action Items:
• Retro-commission DDC control systems to achieve tighter control parameters, resulting in a decrease in energy use;
• Hire an Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Technician to assist with district-wide utility efficiency upgrades;
• Upgrade all remaining pneumatic control systems to DDC controls to more tightly control systems, thereby driving down energy use;
• Require a minimum of LEED Silver standards for all new (Bond) construction.

Scope II sub-committee (encompasses purchased electricity)
• Reduce electrical use by upgrading lighting to energy efficient types suited for the application;
• Install light sensors and motion sensors, district-wide;
• Replace failed equipment with energy efficient equipment;
• Engage an outside energy consultant to gauge building energy use, in real time;
• Build increased awareness and outreach of energy use by engaging PCC staff and faculty to decrease energy consumption;
• Require a minimum of LEED Silver standards for all new (Bond) construction.

Scope IIIa sub-committee (encompasses air travel and commuting)
• Increase student shuttle ridership to 8.5% and employee shuttle ridership to 4.5%;
• Increase student public transportation ridership to 24% and employee public transportation ridership to 13%;
• Increase student and employee bike commuters to 6%;
• Increase student carpool/ridesharing to 12% and employee carpool/ridesharing to 6.5%;
• Increase technology use for student services commuting to 8%;
• Increase number of employees using flex hours and telecommuting to 6.5%;
• Increase use of telecommuting, wikis and video chat for cross-campus meetings;
• Increase shuttle ridership of people between campuses;

Scope IIIb sub-committee (encompasses solid waste and supply chain)
• Increase recovery rate of waste materials by a minimum of 50% from the baseline year (2006) of 7.45%. By 2030, the Scope IIIb sub-committee is charged with accomplishing a minimum district diversion rate of 75%; and
• Reduce demand and need for waste disposal by decreasing per capita (FTE) waste generation from baseline year (2006) by 25%.
• Purchase 35% of all food from local vendors (within 250 miles), with 3% sourced from the Portland-metro area, if it’s not cost prohibitive for the consumer.

STARS is our method of measuring progress as well as our annual greenhouse gas inventories and progress reports for ACUPCC.