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Sustainability Rating Systems for Universities. Are they useful? – A case study from the initial implementation of STARS at Washington University in St. Louis

Forsberg, Nicole LU (2010) MVEK02 20101
Studies in Environmental Science
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to present experiences and lessons learned from the initial implementation process of the rating system STARS at Washington University in St. Louis: mainly the strengths/opportunities can be used to overcome the weaknesses/threats that the STARS implementation may entail. Strengths and opportunities such as increased student involvement in processes such as assessing sustainability-contents of courses through evaluation-forms, internships etc. and cost-reductions due to reduced energy and purchasing costs, may reduce the threat of high STARS-participation cost. Also, a structured datasheet for easy tracking and follow-up of performance and mapping out in what areas to prioritize improved environmental performance... (More)
The aim of this thesis is to present experiences and lessons learned from the initial implementation process of the rating system STARS at Washington University in St. Louis: mainly the strengths/opportunities can be used to overcome the weaknesses/threats that the STARS implementation may entail. Strengths and opportunities such as increased student involvement in processes such as assessing sustainability-contents of courses through evaluation-forms, internships etc. and cost-reductions due to reduced energy and purchasing costs, may reduce the threat of high STARS-participation cost. Also, a structured datasheet for easy tracking and follow-up of performance and mapping out in what areas to prioritize improved environmental performance enables good scoring as efficiently as possible. Forming a sustainability awareness committee may enable STARS- nvolvement of faculty members across the institution. The fact that not all institutions have to be rated in STARS, may cause the STARS- articipating institutions to generally be the ”best in class” ones and create high competition. Although, belonging to the group of ”best in class” institutions is an advantage in itself - therefore communicating STARS participation is important for gaining valuable recognition. Based on findings in the analysis, as well as general experiences from the process, a discussion on whether the intended outcomes of STARS were lived up to in this case, it was shown that most of the intended outcomes were fulfilled. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Forsberg, Nicole LU
supervisor
organization
course
MVEK02 20101
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
language
English
id
3053412
date added to LUP
2012-09-14 16:55:08
date last changed
2012-09-14 16:55:08
@misc{3053412,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this thesis is to present experiences and lessons learned from the initial implementation process of the rating system STARS at Washington University in St. Louis: mainly the strengths/opportunities can be used to overcome the weaknesses/threats that the STARS implementation may entail. Strengths and opportunities such as increased student involvement in processes such as assessing sustainability-contents of courses through evaluation-forms, internships etc. and cost-reductions due to reduced energy and purchasing costs, may reduce the threat of high STARS-participation cost. Also, a structured datasheet for easy tracking and follow-up of performance and mapping out in what areas to prioritize improved environmental performance enables good scoring as efficiently as possible. Forming a sustainability awareness committee may enable STARS- nvolvement of faculty members across the institution. The fact that not all institutions have to be rated in STARS, may cause the STARS- articipating institutions to generally be the ”best in class” ones and create high competition. Although, belonging to the group of ”best in class” institutions is an advantage in itself - therefore communicating STARS participation is important for gaining valuable recognition. Based on findings in the analysis, as well as general experiences from the process, a discussion on whether the intended outcomes of STARS were lived up to in this case, it was shown that most of the intended outcomes were fulfilled.}},
  author       = {{Forsberg, Nicole}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Sustainability Rating Systems for Universities. Are they useful? – A case study from the initial implementation of STARS at Washington University in St. Louis}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}