2017 Greenest Campuses in Canada methodology

corporate knights

 

 

KPI Methodology
Building Area Management Total Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions (tons) / Gross Floor Area of Building Space (square feet)
Clean Air Management a)    Nitrogen Oxides Concentration: Nitrogen Oxides (tons) / Gross Floor Area of Building Space (square feet)

b)    Sulfur Oxides Concentration: Sulfur Oxides (tons) / Gross Floor Area of Building Space (square feet)

c)     Particulate Matter Concentration: Particulate Matter (tons) / Gross Floor Area of Building Space (square feet)

Green Certified Building Space Green Certified Existing Floor Area Building Space / Gross Floor Area of Building Space
Environment Friendly Dining Certification Categories under “Dining Services” (i.e. Fair Trade Campus status, Certification under Green Seal Standards, Marine Stewardship Council Certification, and Signatory of Real Food Campus Commitment) with a status showing “Yes” or “No”
Clean Energy Produced Clean and Renewable Energy (in gigajoules) / Total Building Energy Consumption (in gigajoules)
EPEAT Assessment

(EPEAT = Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool)

Expenditures on EPEAT-registered electronics* / Total Expenditures on electronics*

(* Electronics such as desktop and laptop computers, displays, thin clients, televisions, and imaging equipment etc.)

Green Purchases on Cleaning Products Expenditures on Cleaning and Janitorial Products with Green Labelling* / Total Expenditures on Cleaning and Janitorial Products

(* Green Labelling such as Green Seal and/or UL Environment (EcoLogo) and any other, etc.)

Green Purchases on Office Paper Expenditures on Office Paper with at least 50% post-consumer* environmental friendliness / Total Expenditures on Office Paper

(*At least 50% post-consumer recycled, agricultural residue, and/or FSC certified content)

Green Transportation Number of Vehicles in Institution’s fleet that are Green / Total Number of Vehicles at Institution
Smart Commuting a)    Student Sustainable Commute: “Total percentage of students that use more sustainable commuting options”

b)    Employee Sustainable Commute: “Total percentage of the institution`s employees that use more sustainable commuting options”

Waste Management ( Materials Recycled + Materials Composted + Materials Reused, Donated or Re-Sold) (tons) / Total Waste (Recycled + Composted + Reused & Donated + Landfill) (tons)
Water Management Water Recycled and/or Reused on campus (cubic metres) / Total Water Use (cubic metres)
Investing Sustainably Value of Holdings in Sustainable Investments / Total Value of the Investment Pool

 

Weighting for each KPI

KPI Weight (%) Reason
Building Area Management 12.5 ·      Feel it needs to have the highest weight as it deals with the overall university/college perception.

·      The goal of this KPI is seeing how the school can reduce any impact

Clean Air Management 7.5 ·      Def: the amount of nitrogen oxide, sulfuric oxide, and particulate matter that gets accumulated by the gross floor area of the building space.

·      A lot of the machinery that schools are using have filters in them and that enables minimizing the amount of air pollutants and improving indoor air quality.

Green Certified Building Space 12.5 ·      The benefit of having a green certified building space allows a better indoor environmental quality

·      I.E. building has been LEED approved.

·      Involving LEED, the impact it can have on the university is that it can be cost effective and improvement on employee/student satisfaction.

Environment Friendly Dining Certification 5 ·      Def: Is the university/college certified in being environmentally friendly in terms of their meal plans?

·      The opportunities to be able to “Go Green” varies upon what people choose to do sustainably. Options can be supporting on local foods, sustainable seafood, the promotion on recycling programs, and the use of waste management.

·      With the use of the above options, people on campus are most likely reduce the harmful effects of animals and fair trade.

Clean Energy Produced 10 ·       Def: the amount of renewable energy produced per total energy consumption.

·      The amount of energy that is consumed at universities/colleges not only releases a substantial amount of emissions but also increases operational costs. With the use of renewable energy (i.e. solar panels), costs will decrease and the energy that is taken back to the grid will serve the people who are in need (i.e. low-income residents in the city).

EPEAT Assessment

(EPEAT = Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool)

5 ·      Def: EPEAT is a method of purchase to evaluate the effect of a product on the environment.

·      Evaluating how the purchase of electronic products such as registered desktop and laptop computers, displays, thin clients, televisions, and imaging equipment use an EPEAT Assessment and see whether they meet criteria and reducing environmental impact (i.e. corporate performance, packaging, reduction/elimination of environmentally sensitive material, design for end of life, etc…).

Green Purchases on Cleaning Products 5 ·      How environmentally friendly are universities/colleges becoming with their cleaning products.

·      Based on the universities/college’s control, the importance in making sure that the cleaning products are marked with a green label represents that they want to reduce the amount of emissions.

·      Purchasing Green Cleaning products reduces the amount of chemicals which in turn, will make it safer for the people in the area.

·      Another importance is based on packaging, a lot of these cleaning products are either very slow to biodegrade or isn’t biodegradable at all.

Green Purchases on Office Paper 5 ·      How environmentally friendly are universities/colleges becoming with office paper purchase?

·      Being able to use double sides on paper usage or going paperless is what is considered as “Going Green” with the awareness that trees are being saved.

·      Purchasing recycled paper has also become more cost-effective than regular paper.

Green Transportation 5 ·      Def: the amount of university/college vehicles that are “green” versus the total amount of university/college owned vehicles.

·      Even if the number of vehicles of the fleet increases, the importance of making them green is that it lowers the operating cost on fuel, it gives an improvement on local air quality, and is more efficient route planning.

Smart Commuting 7.5

(2 x 3.75)

·      The control isn’t given by the university/college

·      Even though the number of student sustainable commutes exceeds the amount of employee commutes in terms of the data information, I feel that giving the equal amount of weight would be ideal.

·      Similarly to how the fleet is important in “going green,” it would raise an impact on the amount of students and employees that can commute to school. Such as biking, car share, walking, etc…

·      The importance of smart commuting enables less traffic and to help make a difference on climate change.

Waste Management 7.5 ·      Def: how the universities/colleges are promoting the ways of reducing/reusing/recycling waste.

·      We have seen how waste can either end up in soil, water or cause air pollution each being contaminated and can be difficult to clean.

Water Management 7.5 ·      Def: how universities/colleges are promoting saving water.

·      The amount of fresh water consumption is considered high in a lot of areas which in turn, leaves an impact on the amount of contaminated water on the environmental and economic well – being of that area.

·      By promoting the use of water sustainability (i.e. using storm water instead of fresh water), the impact on having contaminated water can be avoided.

Investing Sustainably 10 ·      Def: the idea of investing sustainably is to “bring social change considering financial return and social good.”

·      The use of responsible investing, not only helps schools financially but also helps in terms of the students/employees who are part of the university/college.

·      With the inclusion of responsible investing, it is more likely for employee turnover to be reduced as the schools are actively motivated to accumulate knowledge of community development and clean tech portfolios.

 


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