History

In August 2006, the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC), an informal network of higher education associations with a commitment to sustainability, issued a call for a campus sustainability rating system (pdf). The statement described a system that "would of necessity address all the dimensions of sustainability (health, social, economic and ecological) and all the sectors and functions of campus, including curriculum, facilities, operations, and collaboration with communities." HEASC called for "AASHE to convene all relevant stakeholders in a collaborative process to develop such a system."

Over the next year and a half, AASHE gathered feedback from workshop participants at several campus sustainability conferences and events. These discussions provided the groundwork for the first publicly available draft version, STARS 0.4 (pdf), released in September 2007. Experts from throughout the sustainability and higher education communities provided feedback on the draft system.

AASHE processed this feedback to develop the Pilot version of STARS, released in two phases in 2008. Nearly 70 colleges and universities participated in the pilot project. These institutions tested the system – from gathering data to reporting results – and provided extensive feedback about their experiences (pdf). While the pilot project was underway, AASHE released another draft version, STARS 0.5 (pdf), which again generated thoughtful feedback and suggestions (pdf) from diverse higher education stakeholders.

STARS 1.0 incorporates feedback, suggestions, and lessons learned from the three-year development process. While STARS is the most thoroughly vetted and extensively tested campus sustainability framework for North American institutions, there is still plenty of room for improvement. To that end, we plan to continue improving the system over time. STARS 1.0 is intended to stimulate, not end, the conversation about how to measure and benchmark sustainability in higher education. AASHE welcomes your feedback and participation in continuing to refine and shape the system.

Previous draft versions, public comments received, and other key documents from the STARS development process are available online.

View a timeline showing the history and development of STARS.