UH EARNS SILVER STARS RATING FOR SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES


UH gains ground in its quest to become a greener campus, earning a sustainability rating of silver using the AASHE STARS self-reporting tool. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) administers the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) which is a self-reporting tool for universities to publicly collect and report their sustainability performance.

UH registered as a charter participant in the STARS program last semester and worked to collect data for many months in order to determine the rating. AASHE�s STARS acts as a guide for UH in reaching the next level of sustainability. Led by the efforts of the Sustainability Task Force, the university is able to recognize areas we have excelled in our sustainable efforts as well as areas where we can improve.

�The completion of UH�s STARS report is the culmination of years of work,� said Emily Messa, Assistant Vice President for University Services and campus sustainability officer. �Three years ago when we began our journey as a task force, we visualized the day when we would submit this report, a formal documentation of years of effort by many. Congratulations to the Task Force for their commitment and dedication. Also, my congratulations and thanks to Rahil Shah, our research assistant, for dutifully documenting these efforts.�

Institutions report their achievements in three overall areas: Education and Research; Operations; and Planning, Administration and Engagement. UH earned a total score of 53.64 with its highest points in Planning, Administration and Engagement.

The silver rating is valid for three years with expectations that the university will make a good faith effort to maintain its status. AASHE�s STARS is open to all institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada. It can be used by both institutions with established sustainability initiatives looking for long-term goals as well as institutions taking their first steps toward going green.

For more information about the University of Houston�s green efforts, visit www.uh.edu/green.