Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 53.79
Liaison Leslie North
Submission Date March 5, 2020

STARS v2.2

Western Kentucky University
PRE-2: Points of Distinction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete N/A Jennifer Tougas
Director
Parking and Transportation
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s featured sustainability program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Green Restaurant Certification through Green Restaurant Association

A brief description of the institution’s featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:

Fresh Food Co received its Green Certification in December 2019. Fresh was the first university in KY to receive it as well as the first restaurant in the city of Bowling Green. This was a great accomplishment that featured a lot of people working together with dining services (Aramark) and the university (WKU).


Which of the following impact areas does the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Campus Engagement
Public Engagement
Food & Dining

Website URL where more information about the accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
IN-8

A photograph or document associated with the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Name of a second highlighted sustainability program/initiative/accomplishment:
GCBI ParkSmart Certification for PS3

A brief description of the second program/initiative/accomplishment:

Parking Structure 3 is the first parking structure in Kentucky to receive the ParkSmart certification from GCBI. The bronze level ParkSmart certification was announced at the June 2019 IPMI conference in Anaheim, California. Key sustainable features include LED lighting and controls, local materials and labor, and a transportation hub used by campus residents, commuters and event attendees.


Which impact areas does the second program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Air & Climate
Energy
Transportation

Website URL where more information about the second program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the second program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
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A photograph or document associated with the second program/initiative/accomplishment:
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Name of a third highlighted program/initiative/accomplishment:
Reducing Post-event Traffic Congestion and Bus Transit Time

A brief description of the third program/initiative/accomplishment:

Parking & Transportation Services has partnered with Athletics, WKU Police Department and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to improve post-event traffic flow following events at Diddle Arena. New traffic flow from Parking Structure 2 includes exiting traffic onto an adjacent sidewalk away from the event location onto a campus road and down to a traffic light to exit campus. We are able to control the traffic light to allow for a long "green" for event traffic. This effort has reduced the amount of time to exit traffic by half, from 1 hour to 30 minutes. This results in a 50% traffic related emissions reductions for every event held in Diddle Arena from this season forward.

The Emmett Connector was built to connect the South Campus parking lot to Emmett Drive. This has improved WKU transit efficiency by reducing the length of the route and time to complete the route for one trip. The number of buses on the Hilltopper Route was reduced from 6 buses to 4 buses while still providing the same frequency of service to our students. This 30% reduction in the number of buses on the road directly translates into reduced fuel consumption and carbon emissions due not only to a shorter route, but reduced idling times at traffic lights no longer on the route. These are permanent reductions that are realized each year going forward. In addition, campus vehicles traveling between main and south campus realize the same savings.


Which impact areas does the third program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Air & Climate
Energy
Transportation

Website URL where more information about the third program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
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STARS credit in which the third program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
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A photograph or document associated with the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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