How should we select a reporting timeframe or performance year for STARS credits?

Each credit in STARS has a specific timeframe from which the reported information must be drawn.

The majority of STARS credits use the following two timeframes; however, you should reference the Credit Checklist and Technical Manual to determine the specific timeframe for each credit because there are some exceptions:

  • Report current information as of the anticipated date of submission. 
  • Report the most recent information available from within 3 years prior to the anticipated submission date. 

Some STARS credits are qualitative, which makes it fairly easy to identify the most up to date information, for example, policies, programs and initiatives that are (or will be) active on the anticipated date of submission. Other credits, such as the Water Use credit, require that you specify a performance year. The years you choose will depend on when you plan to submit your report and the data that is available for each credit.

You are welcome to report data from calendar years, academic years and/or fiscal years and you are not required to use the same baseline/performance years across all STARS credits.

For instance, if you plan to submit a report in January 2021, it’s perfectly acceptable to use FY19 for some credits, 2020 calendar year for others, and to report on a current program that launched in December 2020 for another credit.

When submitting a subsequent report, it may not be necessary to update every credit as long as the information being reported is still valid at the time of submission (for example, a program claimed in your last report that is still active).

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