Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 60.20
Liaison Jonathan Rausseo
Submission Date March 29, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Ottawa
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.60 / 4.00 Alexandra Baril
Manager, Community Engagement
Office of the Vice-President Academic and Provost
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Air & Climate 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Air & Climate?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Air & Climate:
Students in the capstone course ADM4317 were instructed to create a business case for campus initiatives. One group was instructed to create a business case for the school of Management to reduce their GHG emissions. Students analyzed the hard costs of GHG emissions to the faculty, the impacts to reputation, and the possible technological and sociological solutions they could implement.

Buildings  

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Buildings?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Buildings:
Students in the capstone course ADM4317 were instructed to create a business case for campus initiatives. One group was instructed to explore alternative uses for underutilized space on campus roofs. Taking into account building charactertisics, financial feasability, and environmental impact, the students created a sustainable roofing planning model for which campus development projects can use fpr decision making regarding roof usage.

Energy 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Energy?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Energy:
With the intention of creating a more sustainable food system on campus, a student led project was initiated to bring more affordable organic food on campus. The project involved reducing food insecurity on campus. The program was run as part of an exchange program with a University in France and the uOttawa International Office. The end result of the project was in implementation of a CSA on campus involved the partnership of several services and a local farm.

Food & Dining 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Food & Dining?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Food & Dining:
With the intention of creating a more sustainable food system on campus, a student led project was initiated to bring more affordable organic food on campus. The project involved reducing food insecurity on campus. The program was run as part of an exchange program with a University in France and the uOttawa International Office. The end result of the project was in implementation of a CSA on campus involved the partnership of several services and a local farm.

Grounds 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Grounds?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Grounds:
As part of the University of Ottawa's UROP program, exchange students from Brazil worked on a community consultation to revitalize a disused space on campus. The students gathered information from the community and implemented a rooftop garden as part of a pilot project. The students created a report and submitted it to the uOttawa planning team to help with the revitalization of the space.

Purchasing 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Purchasing?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Purchasing:
As part of a Master's project, a program to purchase reusable water bottles and place them in vending machines was initiated. The program was designed to support the 'Bottled Water Free Campus' initiative by providing affordable reusable bottles to the community. Hundreds of bottles were purchased with the criteria of being food safe, sweat free, and complying with all the size requirements of the vending machines on campus.

Transportation 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Transportation?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Transportation:
Students in the capstone course ADM4317 were instructed to create a business case for campus initiatives. One group was instructed to create a business case for additional electric car parking spots. Students analyzed the costs of GHG emissions from students/faculty commuting to campus via fossil-fueled vehicles compared to the costs of installing a charging station on campus.

Waste 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Waste?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Waste:
Students in the capstone course ADM4317 were instructed to create a business case for campus initiatives. One group was instructed to explore ways to create a circular economy on campus. Since the University of Ottawa is moving towards becoming a zero-waste campus, student were instructed to find cost effective and feasible programs to use unwanted materials on campus.

Water 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Water?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Water:
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Coordination & Planning 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Coordination & Planning?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Coordination & Planning:
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Diversity & Affordability 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Diversity & Affordability?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Diversity & Affordability:
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Investment & Finance 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Investment & Finance?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Investment & Finance:
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Public Engagement 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Public Engagement?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Public Engagement:
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Wellbeing & Work 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Wellbeing & Work:
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Other Impact Areas 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to other areas (e.g. arts & culture or technology)?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to other areas:
Students took part in a program to use social media as a means to track pro-enviironental behaviour. The program involved tracking sentiment towards sustainability programs and seeing if social media could be used to track opinions at the inception level. Students worked to create stories that would cause reactions in the community and study the development of community sentiment.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.