Stanford University
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

The Sustainable Development Study, completed in 2009 as a condition of Stanford's General Use Permit, acts as the university's overarching growth plan, approved by the Board of Supervisors of Santa Clara County. Sustainability is integral to to this plan.

Additionally, the Provost's Committee on Sustainability compiled the Sustainability 3.0 Strategic Plan, which is updated with new goals each academic year. This represents the university's Sustainability Plan, uploaded below. Generally, the Provost's Committee on sustainability has been charged with bringing key leaders on campus together to focus on sustainability as a core value at Stanford. The goals of this committee are to encourage and promote collaborations among sustainability programs across schools, institutes, the Office of Sustainability, and students; exert leadership across campus by engaging deans and the cabinet and advising the Sustainability Working Group; and bring campus-wide issues on sustainability to the attention of the Provost and President.

1) R&DE Stanford Dining Sustainable Purchasing Standards - not published online but can be referenced in the Sustainable Dining credit
2) Habitat Conservation Plan - http://hcp.stanford.edu/
3) Water Plan - https://lbre.stanford.edu/sites/all/lbre-shared/files/docs_public/FINALStanfordConservation_Recommended_Plan10_16_033[1].pdf

Stanford currently offers nearly 1,000 sustainability courses and courses that include sustainability, but the Sustainability 3.0 Strategic Plan aims to increase that number further. It specifically states that one objective of the Provost's Committee on sustainability is to ensure that sustainability continues to be integrated into classes beyond environmental studies. To date, members of the Provost's Committee have accomplished this goal by implementing interdisciplinary problem-solving courses on sustainability issues, from introductory "Thinking Matters" courses, which are taken by all freshmen, to freshman seminars, to "helix" sets that are linked and coordinated across the university. Additionally, planning for a sustainability co-term Master's program was underway throughout 2015. The core curriculum for this Master's program includes systems thinking, leadership, and a course at Stanford's d.school. Planning is also underway for a sustainability minor through the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences.

The original Sustainability 3.0 Strategic Plan lays out several objectives for its expansion of sustainability-focused and practical research activities. The specific actions are listed below:

1) Expand Stanford's solution-oriented research activities and link them firmly with decision-making in the university and beyond
2) Develop cross-university collaborations for research and teaching
3) Engage in sustainability research and problem solving around the world

The original Sustainability 3.0 Strategic Plan lays out several objectives for its expansion of community engagement initiatives focused on sustainability. The specific actions are listed below:

1) Enhance annual sustainability publication
2) Integrate interdisciplinary approaches to student life in dorms
3) Engage the broader Stanford campus through new types of outreach
4) Develop and implement training efforts for Stanford residential lease holders
5) Develop and implement training programs for all employees
6) Develop and implement residence-based training programs
7) Enhance sustainability activities during New Student Orientation
8) Develop and implement "best practices" for events
9) Establish an annual sustainability event

Each of these objectives has been addressed to date to varying extents. For instance, in 2016, the Office of Sustainability hosted the fifth annual Celebrating Sustainability event on Earth Day, an event that was derived from objective (9) above. Additionally, the Office of Sustainability developed a robust Green Events program, discussed in the Exemplary Practice portion of this report, to address objective (8) above. Lastly, Stanford now offers a series of sustainability trainings through both Stanford's STARS training program and the Health Improvement Program, as discussed in the Staff Professional Development credit.

One of the objectives of the Sustainability 3.0 Strategic Plan is to increase the promotion of Stanford's sustainability initiatives in external media and publications through joint messaging between Stanford's academic and operations departments on vision, rankings and results and to specifically demonstrate how students are benefiting from Stanford's interdisciplinary education and culture. The Stanford Energy Systems Innovations (SESI) project is a great example of academics and operations divisions at Stanford joining forces in this way. For example, docent-led tours of the facility are available to the public on a biweekly basis.

The Office of Sustainability has worked closely with the Haas Center for Public Service to make sure sustainability offerings are integrated into each component of the new Cardinal Service initiative: Cardinal Quarter, Cardinal Commitment, Cardinal Courses, and Cardinal Careers. The Cardinal Quarter component is meant to help students design a full-time summer or quarter-long public service experience with Stanford support. Many of the available placements are in public service positions that focus on sustainability. The Cardinal Service program aims to have 500 Cardinal Quarter placements by 2020.

Cardinal Courses helps students enroll in courses that apply classroom knowledge to address real-world societal problems, including sustainability challenges. The Cardinal Service program aims to work with faculty to offer 350 courses that include service as a component by 2020, which will be specifically tagged as "Cardinal Courses." The Haas Center for Public Service has several Directors of Community Engaged Learning, including one whose entire focus is Environment and Sustainability, who work with faculty to encourage and facilitate the integration of service into the classroom experience.

The Cardinal Commitment component asks students to make and sustain a significant service commitment tied to their Stanford experience. Finally, Cardinal Careers allows students to explore career opportunities in the public service and sustainability sectors and emphasizes the ability to integrate service into any career.

Stanford's original Energy and Climate Plan was released in 2009, establishing the three key areas of focus for energy and emissions reductions: new construction, existing buildings, and the campus energy system. The plan was subsequently updated in 2013 and 2015 as state and national policies changed and Stanford adapted its policies and practices in these three key areas. A summary of the Stanford Energy System Innovations (SESI) project, which is the primary component of the Energy and Climate Plan that addresses Air & Climate, is provided below. Summaries of the other two components (new construction and existing buildings) are provided in the Buildings category.

STANFORD ENERGY SYSTEM INNOVATIONS (SESI)
Between 1987 and 2015, Stanford relied on a natural gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant for virtually all its energy demand. Although efficient, its fossil-fuel based source caused the CHP to produce 90% of Stanford’s GHG emissions and consume 25% of the campus’ potable water supply. As a result, Stanford’s GHG reduction strategy focused primarily on transforming the university’s energy supply through a new Central Energy Facility (CEF).

The new CEF, which came online in April 2015, includes three large water tanks for thermal energy storage and a high voltage substation that receives electricity from the grid. A key feature of the CEF is an innovative heat recovery system that takes advantage of Stanford’s overlap in heating and cooling needs. In addition to the CEF, the SESI project converted the heat supply of all buildings from steam to hot water. This new system is 70% more efficient than the CHP plant. The efficiencies gained from the new CEF and hot water conversion, along with Stanford’s commitment to procure much of its electricity from solar, will reduce the university’s overall GHG emissions by 68%.

As described in the Energy and Climate Plan, two of Stanford's key strategies for reducing campus energy consumption pertain to the construction of new high-performance buildings as the campus continues to grow and retrofits to existing buildings through a number of retrofit and recommissioning programs. Both are described in more detail below.

HIGH-PERFORMANCE NEW BUILDING DESIGN
Given the university’s significant growth plans, constructing high-performance new buildings to minimize the impacts of growth on campus energy systems and GHG emissions is a key strategy highlighted in the Energy and Climate Plan. The Guidelines for Sustainable Buildings, originally published in 2002 and updated in 2008, in combination with the Guidelines for Life Cycle Cost Analysis and the Project Delivery Process Manual, provide the framework for minimizing energy demand in new construction and major renovation projects on campus. Programs in place to maximize energy efficiency include:
1) Optimization of current space through Stanford’s Space Planning Guidelines. Before undertaking any building project, Stanford first conducts a rigorous space utilization study to see if renovation of existing buildings can create space for new needs.
2) Mandatory efficiency standards for new buildings, which must use less energy than the benchmark energy use of peer buildings.
3) Core sustainability features, including natural ventilation, sophisticated controls systems, and maximization of daylight
4) Continual innovation in learning through building design by applying successful concepts from one high-performance building project to future projects

ENERGY CONSERVATION IN EXISTING BUILDINGS
Since the 1980s, Stanford has employed building-level energy metering of all its facilities to understand how and where energy is used in order to facilitate strong energy efficiency programs. Reducing energy use in existing buildings is crucial to creating a sustainable campus. The university has substantial programs to improve campus energy efficiency, including:
1) The Energy Retrofit Program, which improves building energy efficiency and has led to cumulative annual energy savings of over 300,000 MMBtu between 1993 and 2016.
2) The Whole Building Retrofit Program, which targets the campus’ most inefficient buildings for retrofits. Seventeen projects have been completed as of spring 2016, and 5 more are underway. The program has already achieved $4.9 million in annual energy savings.
3) The Energy Conservation Incentive Program, which gives schools and administrative units a financial incentive to use less electricity by setting caps on energy use, over which the department must pay an additional fee
4) Plug Load Energy Reduction programs, which reduce the energy consumption of the biggest “energy hogs” of equipment identified by Stanford’s campus-wide plug load inventory. These include IT equipment, lab equipment, and space heaters.
5) Efficient building operation, with a focus on scheduling, advanced control sequences, excessive use monitoring, and HVAC recommissioning
6) Review and adoption of emerging technologies, such as high efficiency transformers, room temperature biological sample storage, phase change materials, outdoor LED lighting, and automated fault detection and diagnostics software

All three key components of the Energy and Climate Plan (new construction, existing buildings, and the campus energy system) address reductions in energy use on campus. Refer to the summaries in the Air & Climate and Buildings categories for descriptions of the specific strategies and objectives that fall within each of these categories.

The R&DE Stanford Dining Sustainable Purchasing Standards guide all purchases for Stanford dining halls and catering services. These are reviewed on an annual basis by the Sustainable Food Program Manager. The following strategic objectives are published for the Sustainable Food Program: develop additional food-related curricula with faculty that explore theoretical frameworks through the lens of meaningful, practical, and hands-on experiences; continue to design awareness events and ongoing sustainability campaigns that align with and support the program’s strategic partners; expand opportunities for students to design, implement, and manage Sustainable Food Program initiatives; establish an ongoing initiative with faculty, researchers and student groups to implement creative design solutions that promote and encourage healthy and sustainable eating habits and behaviors in dining halls; fully integrate culinary standards and sustainable food purchasing metrics into internal reporting processes; and achieve 100 percent transparency for all food purchases, including origin, production method, ownership structure and labor practices. https://rde.stanford.edu/dining/sustainable-food-program

Additionally, a master plan for campus restaurants, cafes, and retail food services at Stanford was developed in 2006 based on a study performed by a consultant on the current situation of campus restaurants, cafes, and retail food services at Stanford. The goals of the master plan were to (1) understand the impact of adding new retail locations as desired by various academic constituencies; (2) improve resource utilization
(space & capital); and (3) provide a “level playing field” and platform for service provider success. Key findings in performing market research for the master plan were that the campus community (especially faculty, staff, and graduate students) were looking for healthier and less expensive food options. Accordingly, the Advisory Committee, reporting to the Provost, was formed to provide outreach,
education, management tools, and contract guidelines to the campus community. In 2014, the Provost’s Committee on Sustainability evaluated methods of integrating standardized recycling and composting protocols into these café contracts. Visit
http://lbre.stanford.edu/sites/all/lbre-shared/files/docs_public/DCPSM_mpfinalreport_Revised_v1
.pdf

Stanford's Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), completed in December 2011 and formally released with the final National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document in November 2012, establishes a comprehensive conservation program that protects, restores and enhances habitat areas; monitors and reports on covered species populations; and avoids and minimizes impacts on species and their habitats. The HCP also provides major new commitments of land protection, personnel, and resources dedicated to habitat conservation. The goals of the HCP include: (1) comply with the federal Endangered Species Act; (2) support Stanford's mission as a research and teaching institution; (3) coordinate multiple conservation actions; and (4) provide a 50-year framework to plan for future land use and to promote all phases of conservation. Stanford's habitat conservation strategies include: (1) concentrate conservation efforts in high-priority areas; (2) establish long-term habitat protection; (3) protect and restore riparian areas; (4) enhance habitat areas; (5) implement a conservation credit system; and (6) perform monitoring and adaptive management practices. http://hcp.stanford.edu

The R&DE Stanford Dining Sustainable Purchasing Standards guide all purchases for Stanford dining halls and catering services. These are reviewed on an annual basis by the Sustainable Food Program Manager and new purchasing objectives are added each year accordingly.

Additionally, the Sustainable Purchasing Policy continually guides sustainability initiatives in Stanford's Procurement department. For instance, the Office of Sustainability has worked with Procurement to set goals around office paper purchasing, recycled toner cartridges, and ultra-low temperature lab freezers and will continue this endeavor in other spend categories in 2016-17.

The Sustainable Development Study, in conjunction with Stanford's General Use Permit, puts forth a plan for "no net new trips" to and from Stanford's campus during peak commuting hours in order to reduce congestion on campus and within the surrounding area. To accomplish this major objective, Stanford's Parking & Transportation program has established a robust Transportation Demand Management program that focuses on implementation of bike programs, promotion of alternative transportation, and the ongoing Commute Club for employees who do not drive alone to work. These programs are described in more detail in the Support for Sustainable Transportation credit.

Within the context of long-term transportation planning, Stanford is also expanding its relationships with the region’s public transit providers, with the objective of improving service coming to campus as well as advocating for long-term funding and system improvements. This proactive approach will help encourage greater use of public transit by the university’s commuting population while enhancing the availability of public transit service for the entire Bay Area. As an example of how the university is pursuing this objective, Stanford is a founding member of the Caltrain Commuter Coalition, which is working to stabilize operating funds for Caltrain and build support for Caltrain’s electrification program.

Stanford has set the goal of 75% waste diversion by 2020. There are many programs currently in place to support this goal, as discussed in the Waste Minimization and Diversion credit.

The Sustainability 3.0 Strategic Plan identifies some of the key areas on campus where waste issues should be addressed, such as events, which spurred the launch of the Green Events program in 2014. The 2015-16 update to the Sustainability 3.0 Strategic Plan also introduced expansion of the Sustainability in Athletics program and associated waste minimization efforts as a new goal, along with new sustainability considerations in campus procurement to reduce the amount of waste that arrives on campus in the first place.

The Water Conservation, Reuse and Recycling Master Plan was developed in 2003 based on a comprehensive study of Stanford’s water use trends. It considers domestic water from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Stanford’s Lake Water System, and reclaimed water availability, and it considers both existing water conservation programs at the time and projected water use trends both campus-wide and by department to determine appropriate future water conservation, reuse, and recycling measures. The master plan lays out a total of 14 feasible water efficiency measures, many of which have been implemented to date. For instance, ultra-low flush toilet replacement, showerhead retrofits and urinal replacement were the top three recommendations, all of which have been implemented by Stanford and have contributed to the 47% decrease in potable water consumption since 2000. Additional steps in the master plan include Faculty/Staff Housing Water Audits and converting the football practice fields to lake (non-potable) water irrigation, a measure that is currently being considered.

The Diversity and Access Office works collaboratively with managers and human resources staff to cultivate and promote a respectful and inclusive work environment, and provides technical assistance, consultation and resources to individuals and departments within the Stanford community. The office works with each of those departments to set achievable hiring goals. The director of the Diversity and Access Office also assists Stanford in developing the annual Affirmative Action Plan (AAP). The AAP describes policies, practices and procedures that Stanford implements to ensure equal employment opportunity.

The university has developed social and environmental proxy voting guidelines which cover and address many current issues, including environmental sustainability. Where it has decided upon such a guideline, the University’s Statement on Investment Responsibility directs that the University will normally “vote according to existing University Investment Responsibility Proxy Voting Guidelines.”

In the investment context, Stanford's existing proxy voting guidelines adopted by the Board of Trustees mandate that the university vote "yes" on proxy resolutions asking companies to adopt sustainability principles, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the energy efficiency of their operations.

As part of the sustainable investment strategic plan, Stanford hired a Director of Investment Responsibility Stakeholder Relations in 2016 to enhance the university's ability to manage and engage with the campus community on issues of investment responsibility. Visit http://irsr.stanford.edu to learn more.

The Sustainability 3.0 Strategic Plan specifically calls for collaboration with the BeWell Program pertaining to the creation of the sustainability action network. This action network follows BeWell's model of giving a diagnostic survey to each individual that provides personalized recommendations based on survey responses. The Office of Sustainability has partnered with BeWell program staff to ensure that synergies exist between these two engagement programs.

Additionally, as a leading university wellness program, BeWell sets its own improvement goals on a regular basis. For instance, BeWell offers many activities that count as "berries." After the accumulation of 6 berries, employees receive an added financial incentive. One of BeWell's strategies for improvement is to continually reevaluate its berry options to give employees credit for new healthy behaviors and allow them to focus on the healthy lifestyle choices that most interest them. For instance, berries were recently added in the 'Commit to Community" category, where there are options such as "Environmental Class" and "Environmental Self-Report." Additonally, the BeWell staff collect surveys after each class or activity to evaluate the effectiveness of each option and set improvement goals for future years based on participant feedback.

BeWell also continually reevaluates the structure of its overarching program to meet its objectives. A recent development in this area in the 2014-15 academic year was an added "Engagement" section of the BeWell program platform. This engagement requirement includes coaching, action, and reflection, and is now a mandatory component of each individual plan in order for individuals to receive their BeWell incentives.