Virginia Tech receives second silver rating in national sustainability program
Virginia Tech has achieved its second silver rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) in recognition of sustainability achievements through its Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) program.
Virginia Tech received an overall score of 63.30, an increase from its first rating of 61.91 in 2011. Virginia Tech’s score is the highest achieved to date by any college or university in Virginia and is the third highest score among Atlantic Coast Conference institutions.
STARS is nationally recognized as the primary management tool for benchmarking progress toward becoming a more sustainable campus. Virginia Tech’s Office of Energy and Sustainability has the lead for implementing sustainability initiatives at Virginia Tech and manages the university's involvement in the STARS program.
“The STARS program helps Virginia Tech track progress towards sustainability goals and demonstrates our commitment to being a leader in campus sustainability.” said Denny Cochrane, Virginia Tech’s sustainability program manager. “We are proud to have again achieved a STARS Silver Rating and to have increased our overall score for our sustainability accomplishments. We look forward to watching our sustainability efforts grow and improve."
The STARS program is designed to:
- Provide a framework for understanding sustainability in all sectors of higher education.
- Enable meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed by participation from the campus sustainability community.
- Create incentives for continual improvement toward sustainability.
- Facilitate information sharing about higher education sustainability practices and performance.
- Build a stronger, more diverse campus sustainability community.
"Sustainability is an important issue for Virginia Tech and we are proud to have accomplished this rating," said Sherwood Wilson, vice president for administration. "This program compliments our participation in other sustainability initiatives such as Tree Campus USA and the Green College Honor Roll, and reflects our efforts to be a leader in campus sustainability," said Wilson.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
