| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 48.37 |
| Liaison | Michelle McCollum |
| Submission Date | Nov. 18, 2014 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
George Brown College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Stephanie
Foster Green Team/Sustainability Coordinator George Brown College |
Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee, office, and/or officer that focuses on sustainability broadly and covers the entire institution?:
A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the committee(s), office(s), and/or officer(s) during the previous three years:
GEORGE BROWN COLLEGE GREEN PLAN REPORT CARD
Green Plan Phase 1 Issue Phase 1 Target: 2012 Results
Waste Mgmt & Recycling Goals: 70% Diversion Diversion:63%
Energy Management: No GHG increase Reduced GHG by 19%
Paper Consumption: Reduce by 15% Reduced per Capita: 23%
Green Policies & Practices: Green Purchasing Policies, Sustainability Guidelines
for FF&E and paper purchasing
Housekeeping & Green Cleaning: 95% Certified Green Products Achieved
Curriculum: Sustainability in Curriculum Audit Achieved
Green Building: Minimize eco-footprint of new buildings Waterfront Campus (LEED Gold)
The Green Team has made tangible contributions in shaping the development and implementation of the College's Green Plan. The Green Plan moves the College forward with its 2020 Strategy to create a college experience that enhances student satisfaction by ensuring resources are used as responsibly, ethically and efficiently as possible. The results produced to date closely align with the College’s core value of accountability: “We hold ourselves responsible to ensure the future sustainability of GBC, academically and fiscally.”
The Green Team’s contribution includes collaboratively identifying and implementing innovative ideas to operate facilities as efficiently as possible, reduce waste and conserve resources. The Green Team has also been a catalyst to promote integration of environmental, economic and social sustainability issues in College curricula.
Subcommittees of the Green Team have been formed to address different areas for improvement including: policies and green procurement, paper use, food services, sustainable transportation, communications and awareness, and sustainability in the curriculum..
The Green Team has created numerous new ways for staff and students to think about and act upon sustainability issues. Examples of new ways of doing things at the College that have been catalyzed by the Green Team include:
• Active modes of transportation – The Green Team’s Transportation Sub-Committee is working on strategies to reduce the College’s transportation carbon footprint by encouraging use of “active” modes of transportation like biking and walking instead of use of single occupancy vehicles.
• Water consumption – Washroom renovations at St. James and Casa Loma campuses included installation of automatic sensors for taps and toilets.
• Water and Waste management – The College installed water bottle filling stations to reduce the consumption of bottled water on campus and increase use of refillable water bottles.
• Waste management – A comprehensive new recycling system and signage with progress monitored annually. There is expanded collection of organics (food waste) including food waste from college run cafeterias and Tim Horton’s at St. James and Casa Loma campuses.
There is monthly tracking of waste and recycling including special waste/recycling streams: scrap metal, used electronic equipment, used batteries and printer toner cartridges, light bulbs, wood waste and saw dust. Left over food products from the Culinary Arts program and The Chef’s House restaurant are donated on a regular basis to Second Harvest where the food is re-distributed to community agencies in Toronto. Bakery waste collected as part of the organics stream does not go to compost, - it is repurposed and sold as Bakery Waste Dehydrated Meal for agricultural purposes. Electronic waste is collected twice a year and sent for recycling. Used vegetable oil is collected and reused as an additive for chicken feed stock at Wardlaw Farms. Used furniture from office relocations or renovations is collected and sent to a company that re-distributes it for re-use.
• Green purchasing – The Green Team has developed Green Purchasing Guidelines and as well as Sustainability Guidelines for Purchase of Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment that have been endorsed by the College’s Finance Department. As a result of the Paper Purchasing Guidelines, the College has switched to photocopy paper which has 30% Post Consumer Waste (PCW) recycled content and is either certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Sustainable Forests Initiative (SFI).
• Food services – The Green Team developed a Green Meeting Guide that is used a resource by the College community in planning events and functions with minimal impact on the environment.
• Green Food Services – The use of Styrofoam in college food services has been eliminated; take out containers and coffee cups in college run cafeterias are now biodegradable.
• Green cleaning – 90% of the cleaning products used by the College are certified “green” products. New steam vapour vacuum cleaners use no chemicals and are excellent for cleaning carpets, upholstery and difficult to clean surfaces like elevator tracks.
• Sustainability in athletics – Men and women’s teams travel together to offsite games in order to limit their environmental impact, and Styrofoam is banned from home games.
Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee?:
The charter or mission statement of the committee(s) or a brief description of each committee's purview and activities:
Mission Statement
The goal of the George Brown College’s Green Team is to promote the use of environmentally sound practices campus-wide and ensure the alignment of college-wide green initiatives with the college’s strategic plan.
Roles
Specific accountabilities include to:
• identify short-term horizon “greening” initiatives to reduce the College’s environmental impacts (ecological footprint) by ensuring that facilities operate as efficiently as possible, reducing waste and conserving resources;
• develop a longer-term plan for taking environmental sustainability principles into account in campus policies and practices, facilities and operations, including a plan for tracking and measuring progress over time;
• identify opportunities for transforming the College’s campi into learning laboratories for demonstration of sustainable technologies;
• Support faculty in developing curricula to prepare students with skills required to tackle the challenges of a sustainable society;
• establish and manage sub-committees to study specific environmental issues as required, to gather stakeholder input and ideas, and to build accountability and buy-in for recommended solutions and policies to address specific environmental issues;
• define tactics and goals for integrating environmental sustainability into the College’s culture, including engaging and educating the College community in conservation and demand management practices;
Members of each committee, including affiliations and role (e.g. staff, student, or faculty):
Updated September 2014
George Brown College Green Team
Name: Title: Division / Company:
Co-Chairs :
Mark Nesbitt Vice-President , Corporate Services
Nancy Sherman Dean, Centre for Construction and Engineering Technologies (CCET)
Members:
Sameen Ashraf , Coordinator, Public Safety and Security Public Safety and Security
Joanna Friend, Disability Consultant, Student Affairs
Dale Cameron, Manager of Merchandising, Campus Stores, Corporate Services
Terry Comeau, Executive Director Waterfront Campus Development
Diane Fantinato, Executive Assistant to the President, President's Office
Paul Falcitelli Assistant Campus Manager, Waterfront Campus,
Hooman Farhangnia Campus Manager, St. James Campus
Joanna Friend Disability Consultant, Disability/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services
Patti Gowing Manager, Chartwell's Food Service
Ryan Guest Country Manager - East Asia, International and Immigrant Education
Robert Guisti Institute without Boundaries, Arts and Design
Mandy Heer Assistant to the Chair, School of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Wray Hodgson Purchasing Manager, Finance Department
Andrew Johnston Professor, Culinary Arts & Hospitality Studies
Chris Kane Occupational Health & Safety, Human Resources Dept
Alena Konovalova Project Manager, Applied & Institutional Research
Mary Lawson Member of the GBC Foundation President of Dalerose Country Homes
Deepak Naik Professor, Denturism Program Community Services and Health Sciences
Sandra Neill Curriculum Specialist, Academic Excellence
Paul Ruppert Chief Information Officer, Presidents Office
Eric Schneider Campus Manager, Casa Loma Campus Facilities Management
Shaun Shepherd, Community Services Coordinator, Student Association
Milton Safos, Campus Manager, Waterfront Campus
Anthony Scarlato, Assistant Campus Manager, St. James Campus
Geoff Swift, Senior Manager. Finance Department
Allan Thomson, Operation Manager, Centre for Continuous Learning
Helene Vukovich Associate Dean, Business
Shelagh Taber-Walsh Coordinator, Education Projects, Community Partnerships Office
Joanne Williamson, Training and Development Associate, Staff Development
Annie Zurakowsky, Assistant to the Director Marketing and Communications
Stephanie Foster GBC Green Team/Sustainability Co-ordinator Fostering Sustainability
Admin. Support:
Fatima Gata, Executive Assistant to the VP of Corporate Services, President's Office
Julia Bondarenko, Assistant to the Dean, CCET
The website URL where information about the sustainability committee(s) is available:
Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent (FTE) employee?:
A brief description of each sustainability office:
Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
The website URL where information about the sustainability office(s) is available:
Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Name and title of each sustainability officer:
A brief description of each sustainability officer position:
• Track and report on implementation of Phase 2 of the College’s Green Plan (2012-2017);
- Working with the Green team, catalyze action and recommend initiatives, programs, practices and/or policies to accelerate achievement of Phase 2 Green Plan goals and if possible exceed targets.
• Support four to five GBC Green Team meetings and work with the Green Team Sub-Committees on a range of greening initiatives within the College.
• Support the Director of Facilities, Campus Managers, Manager of Housekeeping and others in implementing measures to support the College’s Green Plan goals with respect to waste management and recycling, energy management/greenhouse gas reduction, greening food services, housekeeping/green cleaning goals and green purchasing.
• Provide support to the Office of the President and the Co-Chairs of the College’s Green Team on institutional and policy issues, and strategic initiatives, related to environmental sustainability.
• Provide input to the Finance Department as needed in developing Requests for Proposals and other documents that reflect the College’s Green Plan commitments and in implementing the Green Purchasing Policy.
• Work with the Communications and Marketing Department to raise awareness of the Green Plan goals and initiatives within the College community and outside, via the public web-site, In-Site, Staff Weekly Update, the E-Bulletin, and other communications and print publications.
• Support the development of a Green Plan Report for the President, including Executive Summary, each year.
• Provide environmental advice to other stakeholders within the College community on an as-needed basis and represent the Green Team at meetings and events such as Student Orientation and Service Fairs, new Employee Orientation, College Council, Inter-Session PD Days, and special environmental events throughout the year.
• Research potential funding opportunities to support future Green Plan projects and related initiatives.
The website URL where information about the sustainability officer(s) is available:
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.