Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 52.63
Liaison Amy Kadrie
Submission Date Jan. 6, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Rochester
IN-4: Innovation 4

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Kristine Shanley
Associate Director
Athletics and Recreation
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Title or keywords related to the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:
Athletics

A brief description of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:

The University of Rochester's athletics program strives to be as sustainable as possible. For example there are several machines in the fitness center, such as ellipticals, stair climbers, along with other machines that are self powered. The person using the machine creates enough energy by using it to power the machine, creating a net balance of using no electricity.

The athletic department tries to purchase self sustaining machines as much as possible. When purchasing new equipment the University always looks at how the machine was made and what materials were used, they like to order machines that have been made out of recycled materials.

The Aquatic Centers Mechanical Room was completely remodeled in 2012 to allow the machines to work more efficiently, in return making the Aquatic Center more sustainable.

The Athletic Center is never warmer than 69 degrees in the winter and never cooler than 72 degrees in the summer. This is also a campus wide regulation that allows for great energy savings across the institution.

The Athletic Center has many recycling programs for items you wouldn't normally think to recycle. For example they partner with NIke to collect old sneakers that will be recycled into tracks and athletic fields (Reuse-a-Shoe). Sneakers are difficult to recycle because there are so many different types of materials that are used to create a pair, this is why items like this are often called "monstrous hybrids". Old tennis balls are donated to elementary schools in the area to be put on the bottom of chairs to quite them as children get in and out to decrease distractions in the classroom. The Athletic Center also recycles the metal basketball hoops whenever they buy new ones.

All of the lights in the Athletic Center use sensors and shut off when no one is in the room. This helps to save energy throughout the entire complex.


A brief description of any positive measurable outcomes associated with the innovation (if not reported above):

Energy is saved throughout the Athletic Center by having caps for heating and cooling, motion sensor lights, self powering equipment, as well as several nonconventional recycling programs.


A letter of affirmation from an individual with relevant expertise:
Which of the following STARS subcategories does the innovation most closely relate to? (Select all that apply up to a maximum of five):
Yes or No
Curriculum No
Research No
Campus Engagement Yes
Public Engagement No
Air & Climate Yes
Buildings Yes
Dining Services No
Energy Yes
Grounds No
Purchasing Yes
Transportation No
Waste No
Water No
Coordination, Planning & Governance No
Diversity & Affordability No
Health, Wellbeing & Work No
Investment No

Other topic(s) that the innovation relates to that are not listed above:
---

The website URL where information about the innovation 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.