Overall Rating Reporter
Overall Score
Liaison Chelsea Hamilton
Submission Date March 4, 2022

STARS v2.2

Vanderbilt University
EN-4: Outreach Materials and Publications

Status Score Responsible Party
-- Reporter Chelsea Hamilton
Sustainability Outreach Program Manager
Environmental Health, Safety, and Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have a central sustainability website that consolidates information about the institution’s sustainability efforts?:
Yes

Website URL for the central sustainability website:
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu

Does the institution have a sustainability newsletter or social media platform that focuses specifically on campus sustainability?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability newsletter or social media platform:

The SustainVU email newsletter is published monthly, highlighting sustainability stories and upcoming events relative to the Vanderbilt Community. Other social media pages are used to disseminate information on a more frequent basis including: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google+.


Does the institution have signage that highlights sustainability features on campus?:
Yes

A brief description of the signage that highlights sustainability features on campus:

An educational kiosk – “The Green Screen” – in the lobby of The Commons Center gives members of the Vanderbilt and Nashville communities an opportunity to learn about the green features of the building and the entire Commons community. There is signage throughout the building with information about the green features, as well as a brochure and a tour that is available for download onto an iPod or MP3 player. Additionally, each of the ten first-year residence halls have “Green Lights” screens which connect to Vanderbilt’s energy dashboard, energyvu.vanderbilt.edu, and alert the students and visitors of the energy usage of the building they are in. The “Green Lights” screens also notify students as to whether they are above or below their targeted energy usage for the day.


Does the institution provide a sustainability walking map or tour?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability walking map or tour:

A video/audio walking tour is also available for download for Mac and Windows-based mp3/iPod-type devices. This building tour will take you to highlighted LEED features around The Commons Center’s accessible areas.

Vanderbilt hosted the annual conference of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) in 2015 for a sustainability campus tour. The group of 100 was led throughout campus by members of the Sustainability and Environmental Management Office and Plant Operations. Talking points from the tour are available online. https://www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu/wp-content/uploads/sites/69/NACUBO-General-Talking-Points.pdf

SEMO is developing a recycle map app. The goal of recycle map app project is to create a light-weight, mobile ready map of recycling locations on the Vanderbilt campus. It will provide members of our community an easily accessible, technology-based point of interaction with recycling options on our campus.

Vanderbilt is an arboretum and has a tour available to showcase the University’s trees and shrubs, http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/arboretum.htm, and also has an online virtual tour, http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/tour/go.


Does the institution produce a guide for green living and/or incorporating sustainability into the residential experience?:
Yes

A brief description of the guide for green living and/or incorporating sustainability into the residential experience:

Vanderbilt Student Government (VSG) partners with SEMO to promote the Think Gold Act Green (TGAG) initiative on campus. TGAG offers tips to students to help reduce energy and water usage, recycle, travel smarter and reduce waste, among other things. http://studentorgs.vanderbilt.edu/vsg/services/think-gold-act-green/

The Ingram Commons has an online LEED overview, which is also available via touch screen in The Commons Center. This overview provides 12 tips to live sustainable in a LEED building. http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu/thecommons/

Vanderbilt has an educational program specific to energy conservation at VU termed the ThinkOne energy conservation program. This program encourages energy conservation through behavioral change and was developed in collaboration with the Department of Psychology and the Center for Evaluation and Program Improvement based on peer-reviewed academic research from other areas of behavioral change, such as recycling and weight loss literature. This program seeks to reduce energy consumption at Vanderbilt by 10% through behavioral change alone.

The Sustainability and Environmental Management Office (SEMO) has also published several green living guides to provide guidance to residential students, including for Sustainable Events and Sustainable Holidays, that provide tips for reducing environmental impacts.

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu/thinkone
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu/thecommons/
http://studentorgs.vanderbilt.edu/vsg/services/think-gold-act-green/
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu/resources/greening-guides/sustainable-event-greening-guide/
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu/resources/greening-guides/sustainable-holiday-greening-guide/


A brief description of other comprehensive sustainability outreach materials and publications not covered above:

MyVU is a bi-weekly email newsletter that is sent to all Vanderbilt faculty and staff. The Sustainability and Environmental Management Office regularly contributes stories and articles to this publication, which reaches the VU community. The stories are also posted on the MyVU websites. VU News and Public affairs also has a public information officer who is assigned to the sustainability beat.


Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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.