Portland Community College
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

2030 Objective: Increase sustainability throughout academic curricular and co-curricular programming at PCC in collaboration with the PCC Curriculum Office, the Learning Assessment Council (LAC) and other PCC entities
2016 Action Items
• Implement the Sustainability Practices and Academic Resources for Curriculum (SPARC) Council’s “7 Green Outcomes” into current and newly develop- ment courses at PCC;
• Design and implement a search capability through Courseleaf to easily identify courses with green content;
• Continue development of distinguishing “focused” courses and and “related” courses parallel with AASHE STARS reporting;
• Provide continued support to faculty in curriculum development to ensure the creation of new or revised sustainability courses at PCC;
• Award the Sustainability Focus Award to students who have completed coursework with a sustainability focus;
• Support professional development and capacity building related to sustainability curriculum for faculty;
• Build sustainability into student, faculty and staff orientations to support curriculum initiatives at the college;
• Design a sustainability curriculum packet to include in materials for various faculty orientations;
• Collaborate with the LAC in assessment strategies and examples through the addition of the “7 Green Outcomes” to CCOGs; and
• Through PCC’s Core Outcome #2,create collaborations with the Internationalization Committee, the Diversity Council, the Service-Learning program and community partners to address global environmental awareness, environmental justice, social equity, and food security in sustainability curriculum

2030 Objective: Increase focused educational programs and options to meet green workforce needs
2016 Action Items:
• Explore the development of an academic Sustainable Agriculture Program;
• Explore offering LEED certification education and establish partners with businesses working in this field; and
• Explore new opportunities to create focused educational programs in coordination with the State of Oregon 40-40-20 Initiative and the US Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic (STEM) movement

Published in PCC's 2013 Climate Action Goal

2030 Objective: Increase awareness of PCC’s sustainability programs and initiatives internally

2016 Action Items:
• Work with other PSC subcommittees to identify specific communication needs, and advise and facilitate the promotion and awareness of their sustainability activities and accomplishments to the PCC community, if staffing and budget permits;
• Provide engaging forums for the PCC community to share ideas, resources and news about sustainability at PCC; and
• Develop a plan to publicize PCC’s sustainability efforts with College Advancement

Published in PCC's 2013 Climate Action Goal

2030 Objective: Utilize state of the art control systems district-wide to maximize energy efficiency

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

2030 Objective: Reduce our energy consumption 50% per square feet below 2006 levels

2016 Action Items:
• 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 consultant to gauge building energy usage, in real time
• Build increased awareness and outreach of energy use by engaging PCC staff and faculty to decrease energy consumption
2030 Objective: Produce 20% of our own energy onsite using renewable energy technology
2016 Action Items:
• Initiate a district-wide task force to develop a strategic plan around building energy usage with the assistance of outside consultants

Published in PCC's 2013 Climate Action Goal

2030 Objective: Increase sustainability throughout
academic curricular and co-curricular programming at PCC
in collaboration with the PCC Curriculum Office, the Learning
Assessment Council (LAC) and other PCC entities.

2016 Action Items:
• Through PCC’s Core Outcome #2, create collaborations with the Internationalization Committee, the
Diversity Council, the Service-Learning program and
community partners to address global environmental
awareness, environmental justice, social equity, and
food security in sustainability curriculum

We Are Still In

PCC is in the process of updating plans college wide. Among the plans that include sustainability are college's strategic plan, the 2021 Climate Action Plan (which will be finalized this spring) and the Phase II Facilities Management Plan. All of the goals will be updated. The 2021 Climate Action Plan contains a strong focus on climate equity and supports the college's strategic plan's new theme "Belonging," which pertains to diversity equity and inclusion.

The plan will be finalized this spring.