University of North Carolina, Greensboro
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

Climate Action Plan contains a robust section on Academics and Outreach that was created with faculty student and staff input. The UNCG Sustainability Matrix also has academic goals and metrics.

By 2015, achieve the following:
1. Recruit and hire an Academic Coordinator for Sustainability.
2. Institute a culture of sustainability through education, outreach, and marketing and inculcate the principles and values of sustainability throughout the curriculum both inside and outside of the classroom.
By 2018:
• Training, ongoing consultation and mentorship to guide faculty in their efforts to introduce sustainability into their courses
• Create and implement a mandatory on-line course on sustainable practices at UNCG. Students would be required to watch the course and pass a follow-up exam before beginning classes.
• Incorporate at least one lecture on sustainability and its relationship to the subject matter into each General Education core course.
• Offer a guest lecture or similar separate teaching module to provide teaching materials on sustainability (e.g. a Powerpoint file, blackboard exercises) that start with the mission and definition, explain the need for sustainability in general, and then describe case studies and solutions.

The UNCG Sustainability Coordinator and Office of Sustainability, the Head of Environmental and Sustainability Studies, the Academic Sustainability Coordinator, and the Chief Sustainability Officer.

Development of the Clover Project for Sustainability in the Arts, with a focus on creating a campus Sustainability Research Network to support research in this area. Concept developed in a "green paper" by the UNCG Academic Sustainability Coordinator.

Beginning in 2014, the UNCG Clover Project seeks to create a public profile for UNCG around the “fourth leaf”— sustainability in the arts, culture, and creativity — through the following efforts:

• professional development activities in sustainability for faculty and staff;
• a faculty research network in sustainability with an emphasis on the “fourth leaf”;
• curricular and extra-curricular activities with an emphasis on the “fourth leaf”;
• external and internal sustainability dialogues (i.e. public conferences and other efforts, such as Green Drinks, etc.) with an emphasis on the “fourth leaf”; and
• active marketing and publicity revolving around UNCG’s special contributions.
The resulting increases and improvements in research and education at UNCG will contribute to achieving a more just, healthy, and beautiful society together with a broadening of the global discussion around sustainability.

Academic Sustainability Coordinator; Office of Sustainability and the Sustainability Coordinator; Provost; the Head of Environmental and Sustainability Studies; and the Chief Sustainability Officer.

The UNCG Climate Action Plan addresses Campus Engagement in the Academics and Outreach section. Social and conventional media strategies, engaging students as volunteers and employees, and peer-to-peer outreach are major points of the approach UNCG laid out in the CAP and is following in implementation.

Below are some of the objectives that are to be completed by 2018:
• Create a “green tour” of the campus that highlights LEED buildings and other sustainable infrastructure.
• Develop a series of videos on sustainability topics and programs to be made available on the Office of Sustainability website.
• Establish regular features in Campus Weekly, WUAG, and The Carolinian for campus sustainability spotlights and energy data.
• Develop a comprehensive sustainability pledge to be posted on the website that tracks feedback and automatically triggers follow-up e-mails and reminders on a regular basis. In the process, the current energy conservation pledge will be woven into a larger commitment.
• Support awards for leadership and excellence in sustainability for faculty, staff, and students to be awarded by the Sustainability Council.
• Work with University Relations to develop a campus wide awareness effort including high profile activities such as green flags for College Ave and Spring Garden Street.
• Establish and EcoReps program to encompass all 28 residence halls.
• Work with the Sustainability Council and Chancellor to establish sustainability as a primary theme for an academic year.
• Work with admissions to include sustainability into recruiting materials.
• Strengthen and expand the Creative Sustainability Initiative. Increase the number of participants, and seek funds to implement winning projects when possible.
• Encourage and fund attendance of UNCG student sustainability leaders at conferences for campus sustainability, including AASHE and the Smart and Sustainable Campuses.
• Create Green Teams in the Facilities shops.

Sustainability Education and Outreach Specialist, Sustainability Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Coordinator, and the Chief Sustainability Officer.

The UNCG Climate Action Plan addresses Public Engagement in the Academics and Outreach section: "Building on the successes OLSL and ICEE have made in helping students work on the social aspects of sustainability in the Piedmont community, the University should look to create opportunities for students in all areas of sustainability. Collaboration... could lead to beneficial co-curricular and experiential educational programs, including urban ecology or the intersections between public health and the environment. Fostering collaboration with other universities in these efforts would allow students greater breadth of opportunities and create a more cohesive academic community working on sustainability in Greensboro."

Academic Sustainability Coordinator, Office of Sustainability, Chief Sustainability Officer, Sustainability Coordinator, Office of Leadership and Service Learning.

The primary purpose of creating the UNCG Climate Action Plan was to establish a comprehensive strategy to reduce and eventually eliminate the carbon emissions that cause climate damage.

UNCG projects that based on the actions it has set forth in the CAP that its GHG emissions will decrease 37.5% between 2013 and 2025. Climate neutrality is the goal for 2050.

Sustainability Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Coordinator, the Chief Sustainability Officer, and the Facilities Department.

The University has pledged to complete all new buildings and major renovations to LEED-NC Silver Standards. In the Climate Action Plan, UNCG lays out new Energy Use Intensities for new building projects to meet that represent a 30% reduction from ASHRAE 90.1-2010 standards. Further, the CAP addresses energy conservation measures in existing buildings and has used the CAP as a launching pad for the first steps towards its second ESCO project. Finally, the UNCG Sustainability Matrix established LEED-related objectives for new construction.

UNCG plans to Incorporate these new Energy Use Intensities into construction by 2018. They have already been added to the UNCG Construction Guidelines. Further, the University could save as much as 10% of energy use in existing buildings by implementing relatively low-cost ECMs such as the following:
• Retro-commissioning to retune buildings
• Motion switches and other lighting controls
• Energy management system expansion and optimization
• Lighting upgrades

The Sustainability Council set forth goals to investigate the feasibility of adopting LEED-NC Gold certification for all new construction and major renovations and Review and to update construction guidelines to reflect LEED criteria, including minor renovation projects. The latter was accomplished in 2014.

Facilities Design and Construction Director, Sustainability Coordinator, Chief Sustainability Officer, Facilities Department.

Most of the discussion in the CAP regarding Dining Services focuses on waste reduction. However, the UNCG Sustainability Matrix also address local purchasing and constructing the Dining Hall renovation to LEED standards.

UNCG has established a goal of 50% diversion of all campus waste from landfills by 2017, and another for zero-waste by 2050.
Short term (by 2018) tactics include:
• Establish a reusable food container program (e.g., Eco-clamshell) that Food services customers could use in place of disposable versions. Dining is also moving toward purchasing more foods in dry form rather than wet form to reduce packaging.
• Dining Services will work with Pepsi to incorporate reusable soft drink (Pepsi) syrup boxes for fountain drink supply.
• Build on the participation in the NC 10% program to purchase more local and regional foods (UPDATE: over 12% in FY13-14).
• Provide educational programs about waste reduction to students.

Executive Director of Dining Services, Marketing Director of Dining Services, Director of Auxiliary Services, Sustainability Coordinator.

Beyond the strategies for new construction noted above, the CAP and Sustainability Matrix establish objectives for alternative energy installations, incorporation of energy efficiency technology, and energy conservation behavior campaigns.

The CAP establishes several objectives to be achieved by 2018:
- Steam distribution system improvements
- Steam plant upgrades, including:
• Reduce number of boilers in hot standby during summer and shoulder seasons
• Replace two damaged economizers
• Add Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) to boiler forced-draft fans
• Add VFDs to boiler feedwater and transfer pumps
• Replace or repair water treatment system components
• Add insulating blankets to major valves
- Chiller Plant Improvements:
• Incorporate variable flow control on condenser water pumps
• Convert to variable primary pumping and control primary pump flow to match secondary pump flow (NOTE: Although variable flow control was recently installed, it is only being used to control pressure across the chillers. Additional savings could be realized by controlling flow)
• Improve condenser water temperature and tower fan optimization, lowering condenser water supply temp when possible
Renewables were investigated, but did not prove to be financially feasible at the time.

The Matrix established by the Sustainability Council called for research into the feasibility of on-campus alternative energy production, then produce 2% of campus energy needs through on-site renewable energy by 2015. Based on the CAP research and economic conditions in NC, this goal must be postponed.

For behavior change, the Matrix called for implementation of a pilot behavioral-based energy conservation campaign, with a goal of a 5% reduction in energy use per building, with 6 buildings in the pilot program. This was to be conducted by Spring of 2011. A program was piloted in Spring 2012, resulting in a 7.5% reduction in participating buildings. The CAP built on this program and set forth ideas for behavior change including:
o Housing could establish residence hall sustainability “champions,” students who educate their peers about energy conservation and other sustainability issues. Residence hall staff would also receive training on energy efficiency.
o The Student Government Association should also be engaged in sustainability initiatives.
o Create departmental sustainability champions to serve much as the proposed student sustainability champions.
o Expand, update and promote the existing Green Office certification program.
o Provide marketing and education through the Faculty and Staff Senates.

Facilities Operations Director, Facilities Design and Construction Director, AVC for Facilities/ Chief Sustainability Officer, Sustainability Coordinator, Sustainability Education and Outreach Specialist.

Per the UNCG Climate Action Plan, by 2018 the university will eliminate the use of yard waste landfills by sending this waste to a composting facility. Composting landscape waste would result in a reduction of almost 5% of the UNCG waste designated for landfills. Grounds also plans to improve its irrigation practices through automated and weather-informed systems and will phase in the installation of more native and drought tolerant plant species.

By 2018:
- Divert all landscape waste to composting site.
- Install a more comprehensive weather-informed and centrally-controlled irrigation system.
- Landscape more areas with native and drought tolerant species to remove permanent irrigation systems from more of the campus.

Assistant Director for Grounds, Facilities Operations Director, Facilities Design and Construction Director, AVC for Facilities/ Chief Sustainability Officer, and Sustainability Coordinator.

The creation and implementation of institutional purchasing practices guided by social justice and environmental stewardship is one of the overarching goals of the Sustainability Matrix. Purchasing practices are also addressed in the Materials Management section of the CAP.

The Matrix established that by 2015 UNCG will:
- Educate the campus on the benefits of buying "green."
- Continue to promote Spartan Swap as one of the most sustainable purchasing options for university departments. UNCG Surplus collects unwanted and aged furniture, equipment, computers, and supplies from the campus. This surplus is sorted and any items that are deemed to have remaining life are placed in Spartan Swap where departments can have it transferred to their department for free. Other surplus items are then sold to the public through a retail sale.
- Work to source products that utilize recycled content, minimize the use of hazardous materials and enable more efficient operations. Products will be featured in eMarketplace and noted with an appropriate icon that makes it easy for purchasers to spot.
- Continue to work with the UNCG HUB office to identify and promote the use of HUB suppliers.
- Track purchasing spent in eMarketplace on HUB suppliers and 'green' products.

The CAP 2018 goals include:
• A partnership between Purchasing and the Sustainability Office to promote Environmentally Preferred Purchasing once that policy is finalized.
- Campaigns to educate students and employees about the impacts their choices have financially, environmentally and socially. Convenient alternatives to disposables will be presented.
- Establish green procurement standards.

Senior Director Campus Enterprises, Materials Management Director, Sustainability Education and Outreach Specialist, Sustainability Coordinator, Chief Sustainability Officer.

An entire section of the CAP is dedicated to transportation strategies to reduce carbon emissions. Further, UNCG has developed a Transportation Master Plan (2012) and a Bicycle Master Plan (2008). The Sustainability Matrix also establishes several transportation goals.

Some of the short term (by 2018) goals for transportation from the CAP and Matrix include:
- Establish a vehicle maintenance policy.
- Establish a vehicle purchasing policy to emphasize higher efficiency vehicles.
- Diesel vehicle anti-idling retrofits.
- Expand the existing Facilities Operations Idling Policy to become a campus-wide Vehicle Operations Policy.
- Develop electric vehicle charging station campus policy.
- Increase carpooling to 10% of commuters
- Telecommute/flex work
- Expanded education & marketing of TDM programs
Longer Term Planning Considerations:
- Outsource campus transportation services if doing so would reduce impacts.
- Encourage development of affordable housing for employees and students with families within walking distance of campus.
- Require all new construction to be high density.
- Work with the City to create bike lanes on Glenwood Avenue between the existing bike lane on Florida Street and the Spartan village along Lee Street.
- Develop a rail stop on campus near the Spartan Village underpass.
- Close the Greenway gap at Chandler Concrete to improve bike connectivity to/from campus.
- Construct no more new parking spaces.
- As parking decks are paid off, replace with academic buildings or other non-parking facilities.
- Develop guidelines and safety protocols for skateboards and other alternative vehicles.

AVC Facilities, Associate Director of POCAM, Director Facilities Design and Construction, and the Sustainability Coordinator

The UNCG CAP addresses waste management in many areas, focusing first on waste reduction and then on to disposal. The Sustainability Matrix addresses the recycling of materials almost exclusively, with the exception of some areas within the Purchasing section.

UNCG has established a goal of 50% diversion of all campus waste from landfills by 2017, and another for zero-waste by 2050. Short term tactics to help achieve the first goal include:
- Continued participation in and improved marketing of Recyclemania.
- Engagement with athletics, SGA, and others to promote waste minimization and recycling initiatives and events.
- A partnership between Purchasing and the Sustainability Office to promote Environmentally Preferred Purchasing once that policy is finalized.
- Campaigns to educate students and employees about the impacts their choices have financially, environmentally and socially. Convenient alternatives to disposables will be presented.
- The default settings for all University printers will be set to print double-sided and to use a font that uses less ink. Examples include Ecofont, Century Gothic, or “draft” settings.
- Discourage plastic bag use on campus by working with vendors to institute a UNCG campus fee for disposable plastic bags and beverage cups.
- Improved recycling bin labeling and placement.

The Manager and staff of the Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling; the Sustainability Coordinator and the Office of Sustainability; the Director of Facilities Operations; the Chief Sustainability Officer / AVC for Facilities.

The CAP has an entire section devoted to water conservation, and the Sustainability Matrix a section on sustainable water use.

UNCG plans to reduce its water consumption by 10% by 2025. To achieve this, the university will:
- Complete the retrofits and replacements of toilets and faucets with higher efficiency models. Approximately 10-15% of the campus fixtures remain to be updated.
- Include these high efficiency models in all new construction.
- Install a more comprehensive weather-informed and centrally-controlled irrigation system.
- Education campaigns.
- Expand the use of native and drought tolerant species in the landscape.
- Develop water-capture technologies such as rain water collection and gray water reuse to replace some of the non-potable water needs of the campus.

AVC Facilities/Chief Sustainabillty Officer, Facilities Design and Construction Director, Facilities Operations Director, and Sustainability Coordinator for Operations.

From the 2013-14 final report of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion:

Beginning with the 2013-14 academic year, the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee for Equity, Diversity and Inclusive Excellence established their own goals and objectives for the year. The 2013-14 committee was also divided into three sub-committees charged to conduct a final review and provide recommendations on the following areas:

1) Employee Recruitment and Hiring Process;
2) Faculty Recruitment, Retention, and Promotion and Tenure; and
3) Undergraduate and Graduate Student Recruitment, Retention and Graduation.

Based upon the findings of the sub-committees (See Attached Sub-Committee Reports), the committee unanimously voiced their desire for administration and the university community to engage and take action to move their recommendations regarding diversity and inclusive excellence initiatives forward. The committee felt strongly that engaging the campus community in the diversity/inclusive excellence objectives was critical for the success and continued evolution of the university in the local, state and global marketplace. Reflecting upon past recommendations as well as those included in the current 2014 sub-committee reports, attached is a listing of all committee recommendations to the university outlining whether the suggested recommendations were acted upon or tabled for future implementation. It is also recommended that the university place all recommendations which it intends to act upon into the master plan (or institutional strategic plan) to ensure resource allocation and appropriate start dates for each initiative are established.

Recommendations from Student Recruitment, Retention, and Graduation Sub-Committee:

Future research needs to be conducted to discover why the White student population enrolment rates at UNCG are decreasing, and what efforts need to be undertaken to recruit, retain, and support a White student population.

Employment - Recruitment and Hiring Process Subcommittee Recommendations:

It should be a requirement that ALL Executive AVC, Department Deans and assigned Hiring Managers attend training classes to enhance the awareness of diversity hiring and their guidelines to diversified workplace.
We recommend working with the Staff Senate to develop and offer open dialogue meetings with staff about communication across campus, including the possibility of special speakers. We recommend the review of and discussion about the current process of communicating and marketing available programs and services UNCG. We recommend the inclusion of a strong diversity message in the strategic plan the Chancellor is currently developing.
If there is underrepresentation of one or more of the federally protected groups (women,
minorities, disabled persons, veterans), in the applicant pool, AND, there is an underutilization in that particular, job group, recruitment efforts should be expanded to include additional advertising in additional diverse recruiting sources. All postings should be posted externally to in at least two diversity recruitment resources at the
onset. Create a Human Resources dashboard to measure the health of UNCG. Establish HR metrics, national, regional, and peers benchmarks to be identified. Recommend the hiring of Chief Diversity Officer like sister universities.

Administrative & Supervisory Hiring Practices Sub Committee:

All administrative searches would integrally involve consultation with an HR Liaison,
including open positions that involve internal or external candidates. At least one HR Liaison, someone with expertise in diversity enhancement and promotion, would provide consultation as a full member of each search committee for positions at the Dean level and above; this individual(s) would be consulted and participate at all stages
that involved decision points in the process.
Training would be provided to three groups, each for unique purposes: (a) HR Liaisons
obtain training in how to best advise search committees on preparing position announcements, enhancing inclusiveness in the applicant pool, and consideration of inclusiveness in the interview process; (b) Existing administrators obtain diversity training; (c) Leadership workshops targeted for UNCG faculty and staff of underrepresented groups to encourage leadership skill development within our existing
UNCG community.

Members of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion
Faculty Senate
Staff Senate
Chancellor Linda P. Brady
Vice Chancellor & Chief of Staff Bonita Brown
Provost David Perrin
Vice Provost J. Alan Boyette
Office of the Chancellor
Office of the Provost
Dean’s Council
Division of Student Affairs
Human Resources
School of Education
School of Nursing
School of Health and Human Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences
University Library
Office of Sustainability

HealthyUNCG is the campus wellness program. A member of the UNCG Sustainability Office has been a part of the HealthyUNCG Advisory Board since 2011, developing partnerships in programming and marketing to educate the campus on the relationships between human health and sustainability. This partnership between the offices is briefly addressed in the CAP and has grown stronger since the CAP was written, though no further formal plan has been constructed.

In the transportation section of the CAP, a goal to create a partnership among POCAM, HealthyUNCG, and the Office of Sustainability to promote the health, financial and environmental benefits of walking and cycling by 2018 to reach the entire campus is established. The campaigns would incorporate a variety of media, including print, video, electronic, and social.

HealthyUNCG Director, Sustainability Office, Human Resources Department.

The creation and implementation of institutional investment practices guided by social justice and environmental stewardship is a goal of the Sustainability Matrix.

To improve transparency and prioritize investments in more sustainably-focused funds, UNCG called for the following actions by 2015:
- Make endowment holdings available to anyone who asks.
- Explore the ability to make proxy votes by fiscal agents more accessible.
- Explore ability to make proxy votes held by Weaver Fund more accessible.
- Clearly define "sustainable" investment
- Work with the Weaver Fund faculty adviser to explore investments in renewable energy, community development funds.
- Document "sustainable" investments held by the UNCG affiliated entities.
- Explore demand, costs, and other administrative challenges of allowing donors to direct their endowment gifts to be invested in sustainable and socially responsible investment options.
- Assemble a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff to develop general guidelines that would be used to guide proxy votes for shares held by investment managers. These guidelines should be written such that shares held by the Excellence Foundation on behalf of the Weaver Fund (in the Bryan School) are included. The guidelines will require approval of the UNCG I.F. Board and the Excellence Foundation Finance Committee.
- Notify the Bryan School faculty representative of upcoming votes regarding the Weaver Fund and request students develop general guidelines for the votes of the shares owned by this fund as well as vote them.

VC for Business Affairs, Assistant VC Foundation Finance, Sustainability Coordinator, and Chief Sustainability Officer.

UNCG defines sustainability as "academics, operations, and outreach... conducted with careful attention to the enduring interconnectedness of social equity, the environment, the economy, and aesthetics."

UNCG Tomorrow, the Strategic Plan for the University, lists five (5) core values of UNCG. Sustainability is named as one of these core values. The Plan defines sustainability as "academics, operations, and outreach... conducted with careful attention to the enduring interconnectedness of social equity, the environment, the economy, and aesthetics." This value is echoed throughout the document. UNCG Tomorrow also notes that the University is a "source of innovation and leadership meeting social, economic, and environmental challenges in the Piedmont Triad, North Carolina, and beyond."

CAP, Strategic Plan Matrix, Master Plan, TMP, Bicycle MP