| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 70.93 |
| Liaison | Ezra Small |
| Submission Date | Jan. 31, 2014 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Massachusetts Amherst
PAE-5: Climate Action Plan
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Victoria
Rosen Sustainability Communications & Marketing Manager University Relations |
Does the institution have a plan to mitigate its greenhouse gas emissions that meets the criteria for this credit?:
A brief summary of the climate plan’s long-term goals:
The UMass Amherst Climate Action Plan 2.0 establishes a timeline and specific strategies to become climate neutral by 2050. In 2012, the UMass Amherst Sustainability Manager and the Chancellors Sustainability Committee published and released the "Climate Action Plan 2012 2.0: A Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality." This document identified carbon mitigation strategies (within a "wedge" format) that will help reduce overall campus emissions as the campus continues to physically grow at a historic rate. (See strategies below.)
A brief summary of the climate plan’s short-term goals:
The 2012 Climate Action Plan 2.0 document identifies both overall campus sustainability goals and strategies with metrics as well as specific mitigation strategies for meeting state and campus emission reduction targets and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 even during a time of historic growth. These specific mitigation strategies can be found within Overall Campus Goal 2 below.
The overall campus sustainability goals are:
Goal 1: EDUCATION/ENGAGEMENT: Integrate and expand sustainability into all aspects of the curriculum and campus life.
Strategies include:
-Extend sustainability learning outcome requirements to a majority of majors and degrees
-Offer more sustainability focused and related academic courses.
-Conduct assessments of sustainability literacy of all students focusing on knowledge of topics, not values or beliefs
-Increase student engagement in residence halls and campus activities and increase faculty and staff engagement in classroom and administrative offices
-Renew the ACUPCC: Reaffirm leadership and recommit the University to the goals within the commitment text
-Restructure and grow EPAC to include members from University Relations, Budget office, -Student Affairs and Residence Life, Diversity Office, Alumni & Development, and Athletics
-Place a spotlight on research that is contributing to a just and sustainable future; begin tracking the financial commitment to sustainability related research to highlight how it can potentially offset campus emissions
Goal 2: ENERGY/EMISSIONS/BUILDINGS: Reduce overall energy usage and carbon emissions, convert to renewable energy sources, green existing buildings, and grow net-zero
Strategies include:
-Develop a campus renewable energy plan to produce electricity from 30% renewable energy sources by 2020 (EO484), ultimately reducing campus emissions by 25-30%
-Develop a Reduce Your Use Campaign, including the piloting of innovative energy management technologies, reductions in individual energy consumption through student energy competitions and green office programs, reducing energy usage and campus emissions 5-10% by 2020
-Continuous commission existing buildings across campus to improve energy efficiency, yield an average of 16% energy costs per building, reduce energy usage and emissions 10-25% by 2020
-Develop campus wide sustainable development policy for carbon neutral growth, which recovers the costs of greening new and existing buildings through energy efficiency measures
-Preserve the E+ Energy Efficiency Program by continuing to improve the project selection process and ultimately the effectiveness of the program
Goal 3: FUNDING: Fund sustainability advancement through student fees, revolving loan funds, and external partnerships
Strategies include:
-Seek approval for a student green fee to help finance objectives 1 and 2 above by funding
highly visible projects on campus chosen by students that improves the quality of campus life and increases the opportunities for hands-on learning for all students
-Appoint a taskforce to report on the advantages and drawbacks of establishing a revolving loan fund (RLF) to finance our energy efficiency upgrades
-Bring in sustainability funding through external partnerships and alumni support
Year the climate plan was formally adopted or approved:
An indication of whether institution has made a commitment to reduce GHG emissions a specific amount by a target year:
List which emissions (scope 1, 2, and/or 3) are included in its GHG emissions commitment:
The reduction level (percentage) institution has committed to:
The baseline year the institution used in its GHG emissions commitment:
The baseline emissions level institution used in its GHG emissions commitment:
The target year the institution specified in its GHG emissions commitment :
The website URL where information about the climate plan 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.