Solar panels atop Old Main helped TRU win a silver STARS rating as did panels atop the Food Training Building and the Campus Activity Centre.
Thompson Rivers University has been named a STARS Silver Institution by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
STARS, an acronym for the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, & Rating System, is a green-rating a system created by sustainability directors and other university and college administrators to provide a nuanced and honest assessment of where post secondary institutions across North America are doing well and where they need to improve in sustainability. The rating system includes a wide variety of activities including academic research and teaching, energy and water use and student participation.
“TRU is committed to environmental sustainability in both its academic and operating programs,” said Dr. Alan Shaver, TRU President and Vice-Chancellor. “The recently developed academic plan identifies sustainability as a theme to guide future academic programming, and it has been one of seven goals of our strategic plan.”
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Read the full report
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Coordinated by Dr. Tom Owen, TRU Director of Environment and Sustainability, TRU scored well above the minimum 45 required for a silver rating, but with some room to improve to reach 65 points and gold.
“The data we collected for this report has given us a very broadly based opportunity to access our current situation with respect to sustainability on campus,” said Dr. Owen. “We also now know the key areas where we can improve going forward. The silver rating is a validation of the combined efforts of faculty staff and students in making TRU more environmentally sustainable.”
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Learn more about
Sustainability initiatives at TRU
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TRU is a leader in the field of environmental sustainability in British Columbia, Chairing the BC Campus Sustainability working groups and representing the higher education sector on the provincial Carbon Neutral Committee. TRU is also one of only two Canadian universities to qualify as members of the Founders Circle of the Billion Dollar Green Challenge which was launched at the 2011 AASHE conference.
Submitted in December 2011, the STARS assessment is valid for three years.
THE REPORT IN BRIEF
The following bulleted list indicates the four categories TRU was scored in. Click on each to see subsections.
In the Innovation category, TRU was awarded points for:
- Participation in the construction of the EQuilibrium 2010 Y Dream Home
- Donating materials to Habitat for Humanity that resulted in $10,000 in sales for the not-for-profit
- Formation of the Thompson-Shuswap Chef Farmer Collaborative by Culinary Arts instructor Ed Walker
- Creation of the Campus Sustainability Action Plan through the cooperation of TRUSU, CUPE 4879, TRU Faculty Association, Alumni Association, and administration.
For more information please contact:
Dr. Tom Owen, TRU Director Environment and Sustainability
(p) 250-852-7199
(e) towen@tru.ca
