Action Plan for a Sustainable Campus

1. Campus Culture

Programs and strategies that foster sustainable behavior and decision-making by providing educational resources, generating excitement, and raising awareness around issues of sustainability in our living, learning, and working environment.

2. Curriculum and Learning

Initiatives that provide an exceptional liberal arts education through the lens of sustainability and climate action and preparedness.

3. Campus Operations

How we go about our day-to-day business has large ramifications for our ecological and carbon impacts. Energy and buildings, transportation, waste, and water use strategies are specified in this section.

4. Purchasing

The goods and services that Colgate purchases have lifecycle environmental and social impacts far beyond campus.

5. Food and Dining

Strategies that promote environmentally sound dining operations and procurement of local and sustainable foods while supporting our local economy.

6. Ecosystems and Land Stewardship

Respecting and protecting our natural heritage and physical resources is vital to both our academic mission and attachment to place. How is Colgate caring for its land?

7. Financing

Sustainability at Colgate is a good investment. While many projects have short paybacks, some may be capital intensive and require creative financing strategies. 

8. Climate Ready

Resilience and Adaptation. Is Colgate prepared for climate change? These strategies will help us evaluate risks and build resiliency for the future.

9. Carbon Offsets

Achieving carbon neutrality by 2019 will require investments in carbon offsets.

10. Campus Participation and Reporting

This section highlights specific actions under each strategic area that together will propel sustainability at Colgate University.

1. Campus Culture

While our recent progress and achievements are exciting, Colgate’s high-level sustainability goals and aspirations need to achieve broader commitment and support at every level of decision-making at the university. Opportunities to foster a sustainable mindset exist throughout Colgate’s culture, governance structures, and overall decision-making processes. 

Student Engagement

As a leading liberal arts institution, it is critical that Colgate engage and inspire students to practice a sustainable and socially conscious lifestyle from the moment they arrive on campus until they graduate. The Office of Sustainability provides internships to interested students who, in turn, engage and educate their peers on issues of sustainability. These interns also manage the Sustainability Representatives (S-Rep) Program that provides students interested in sustainability with valuable leadership skills so that they can be change-makers during their four years on campus. Through peer-to-peer programming, sustainability-minded students have engaged fellow classmates, friends, and teammates to influence student culture on campus. While these achievements are important for the university, we must further integrate sustainability throughout the student experience at Colgate.

Commitment: Continue to integrate sustainability within new-student orientation to emphasize its importance from a student’s first day on campus by:

• Eliminating single-use plastics at all orientation events by 2023.
• Educating all new students on waste minimization and recycling by working within
• the residential commons by 2023.
• Further incorporating sustainability into Link-staff training by 2023.
• Providing orientation materials through electronic means by 2023.

Lead responsibility: Dean of the College Division, Assistant Director of Sustainability, and Facilities

Orientation is a critical time for new students to acclimate to campus culture and an opportunity to build new lifestyle habits. New-student orientation has increased focus on peer-to-peer sustainability education since 2017. The Assistant Director annually trains Community Leaders (CL), Link Staff, and Outdoor Education leaders and provides them with tools to empower new students (and all students) they lead. The Office of Sustainability also hosts a “meet-up” each year for new students learn more about sustainability at Colgate and get to know each other. In 2020, there was a sustainability module on the new-student orientation Moodle site that provided information about waste, recycling and other sustainable living practices. Our community also provided additional recycling receptacles and waste minimization information to reduce waste during move-in and orientation. Colgate should be proud of the work so many across campus have done to integrate sustainability into orientation; however, there is still room for growth. Eliminating waste and educating the student body during this foundational experience will further sustainable behavior on campus and bolster the success of this plan.

Commitment: Institute optional graduation pledge for class of 2022 by December 31, 2021.

Lead responsibility: Assistant Director of Sustainability.

Implementing an optional graduation pledge for Colgate seniors provides students an opportunity to make a symbolic commitment before representing themselves and Colgate University in their communities, workplace, and/or any post-graduation affiliations. The Graduation Pledge Alliance has already created language for Colgate to consider: “I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work.” A graduation pledge like this, adapted to express Colgate’s values, would support our campus DEI and sustainability goals, and remind students to live out sentiments in the 13 Goals of a Colgate Education throughout their careers.

Commitment: Continue to link sustainability to on-campus living, learning, social, and athletic communities by:

• Reviewing and revising the Sustainability Representatives (S-Rep) program to better align with the Residential Commons’ values and goals by July 2022.
• Formalizing a student sustainability committee with student stakeholders across campus by July 2022.

Lead responsibility: Assistant Director of Sustainability, Dean of the College Division, Student Government Association

The student experience is enhanced when concepts taught in the classroom are combined with campus involvement and governance opportunities. Over the last few years, Colgate has prioritized student involvement in capital projects, the Sustainability Council, the carbon offset decision-making process, and various other campus initiatives such as Colgate’s annual greenhouse gas inventory. These unique opportunities enrich the student experience and improve campus and the environment and are valuable experiences for the students involved. Updating the S-Rep program and formalizing a student sustainability committee will create more opportunities for students across campus to develop important leadership skills and act as engaged scholars on Colgate’s campus. Already there are student-led sustainability groups in Athletics and Greek Life Organizations and bringing these groups together to share best practices and collaborate will lead to greater engagement and programming among the student body.

Commitment: Promote a culture of alternative transportation by expanding the Green Bike fleet by four bikes each year for the next five years.

Lead responsibility: Assistant Director of Sustainability

The Green Bikes program provides zero-emission transportation to Colgate community members for an affordable monthly rate. However, this cannot be sustained long-term without external financial support. For $15 a month, renters receive a working bike, a bike helmet, and a bike lock. Since demand for the program has been higher than we can meet with our current fleet (25), particularly in the Fall and Summer rental cycles when the weather is conducive to biking, we would like to increase our fleet size gradually over the course of the next five years.

Employee Engagement

As part of the university’s job description project, every job description now includes a set of key behavioral competencies that are expected of all employees. Sustainability was one of those behavioral competencies.  The inclusion of sustainability in job expectations will further promote employee engagement with sustainability and report on it as part of the annual review process. The language for the behavioral competency in sustainability reads as follows:

Understand the impact of decision-making and personal behavior in achieving the university’s commitment to a sustainable and carbon neutral campus; supports and advances the university’s sustainability initiatives; influences others to use sustainable practices.”

In order for staff to successfully achieve competency in sustainability, programming must be developed to facilitate staff learning and engagement opportunities. One example includes the sustainability passport program.

Commitment: Develop a Sustainability Passport Program that allows staff to succeed at fulfilling the sustainability behavioral competency that is part of every job description by September 1, 2017.

Lead responsibility: Director of Sustainability.

The Sustainability Office in collaboration with Human Resources and other key departments will create, support, and organize a suite of educational programming that advance the employee’s knowledge of sustainability at Colgate while promoting pro-environmental behaviors on campus. Through the Sustainability Passport Program, employees will register for sessions of their choice, earning “credits” for each program they participate in. Once enough credits are earned, employees will receive recognition for their competency in sustainability at Colgate and beyond.  This professional development program will create better environmental stewards and advocates for sustainability on campus further supporting our sustainability and carbon neutrality goals.

Alumni Engagement

Commitment: Leverage connections with alumni engaged in sustainability by organizing at least one annual alumni event that focuses on sustainability and climate issues by September 1, 2017.

Lead responsibility: Office of Alumni Relations.

Strengthen connections with the Common Good Network. The mission of the Common Good Network is to build a community of Colgate alumni in similar industries to create greater engagement with the university, while building professional on-ramps for undergraduates through the Center for Outreach Volunteerism and Education (COVE).

2. Curriculum and Learning

Colgate’s curriculum and co-curriculum include many offerings that relate to sustainability including academic courses, co-curricular programming, internships, and diverse aspects of student life. Interestingly, sustainability continues to be the domain of Environmental Studies, rather than being a shared curricular responsibility across departments and divisions. We work to challenge this misconception. Our faculty and student populations consist of a substantial minority who are knowledgeable proponents of sustainability, alongside a much larger majority who are less aware of and invested in the importance of sustainability as a central component of our educational mission. We serve the needs of the first category quite well both within the curriculum and co-curriculum; therefore, our central challenges involve the second group.

The recent Carbon Neutrality of the University as well as the inclusion of sustainability in the third century plan as one of the foci of the University along with DEI, Athletics, Financial Aid, and the Middle Campus will elevate the issue among students, staff, and faculty; however, its inclusion in the CORE Revision as a Liberal Arts Practice: Inequity and Climate Change will integrate sustainability throughout the curriculum and will transform the curriculum.

Sustainability on the Curriculum

Commitment: Identify and encourage courses on sustainability and climate change in the curriculum, ongoing.

Lead responsibility: Sustainability Council Curriculum Subcommittee

Every few years as part of AASHE STARS, we assess the number of classes in the curriculum that are Sustainability Focused and Sustainability Intensive. Most of the courses with a primary focus on sustainability are housed in Environmental Geography, Environmental Biology, Environmental Geology, Environmental Economics, Environmental Studies (ENST), Geography, Geology, and Biology.

The importance of sustainability to our curriculum was recognized in the adoption of “The Goals of a Colgate Education” approved by Colgate’s Academic Affairs Board, Faculty and Trustees in 2010. Goal 11 of the 13 Goals call for Colgate students to “Respect nature and the diversity of life on earth: recognize their individual and collective responsibilities for the stewardship of the Earth's resources and the natural environment.” In addition, goals 6 and 10 relate to sustainability through the perspectives of scientific inquiry and social justice. Goal 6 calls upon students to “Examine natural phenomena using the methods of science, and understand the role of science in contemporary society.” Goal 10 calls upon students to “Be engaged citizens and strive for a just society: embrace their responsibilities to local, national, and global communities; use their influence for the benefit of others.” While it is clear that our curriculum is successful in engaging those already committed to sustainability, the Goals are consistent with the need to engage the more general population of faculty and students in issues related to sustainability and climate literacy.

The curriculum subcommittee of the Sustainability Council works continuously to integrate sustainability into the curriculum through both formal and informal means as well as to inform faculty and students about sustainability and climate change issues locally, Colgate and Hamilton, and beyond.

Commitment: Continue working towards inclusion of sustainability in the CORE Revision by September 2021.

Lead responsibility: Sustainability Council Curriculum Subcommittee

The Core Curriculum is a required component for all Colgate students and one of the primary vehicles for achieving The 13 Goals of a Colgate Education. Faculty members on the Sustainability Council and beyond have worked tirelessly to include sustainability and conservation into the CORE Revision. The most recent draft of the Core Curriculum was exciting because of the addition of a Liberal Arts Practice titled: Current Crises: Inequity and Climate Change. In one move, students would be required to take a course that meaningfully addressed inequity or climate change, both pillars of sustainability and urgent and important issues today. As stated in the revision: “Climate change threatens both human and nonhuman life on Earth. Social inequity—on the basis of categories such as race, ethnicity, class, gender, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, first language, age, religion, or physical, emotional, and developmental (dis)ability—is similarly urgent, impacting lives from the individual to the global level. Courses fulfilling this Practice will have as a main point of emphasis at least one of these two topics. Such courses already appear in departments and programs across the curriculum. As a Practice, this curricular addition specifically reflects Goal 10 of The 13 Goals of a Colgate Education, for students to be engaged citizens, strive for a just society, and embrace their responsibilities to local, national, and global communities.” Although the recent CORE Revision was rejected, by a very small margin, the Sustainability Council’s Curriculum Committee is committed to continuing its efforts to include Climate Change and Social Inequity as an element of the CORE revision.

Commitment: Increase faculty awareness of teaching to sustainability, ongoing.

Lead responsibility: Sustainability Council Curriculum Subcommittee.

Should the CORE revision be adopted, accounting for classes that teach to sustainability will be easily quantified and tracked. In addition, we expect that interest in teaching related courses to increase. In the meantime, various opportunities exist for encouraging awareness of teaching sustainability across the curriculum, which can be leveraged more effectively. Annually we use Teaching Tables in the Center for Learning Teaching and Research, Sessions at White Eagle in the spring, and new faculty dinners each semester to build community around shared interest, expertise, and values. At these events we discuss how to incorporate sustainability into teaching. We have also had seminar series such as the Climate Change series developed by Professor Ana Jimenez which was incorporated into each of the Residential Commons over the 2019-2020 school year. This series included participation from faculty across campus, and addressed topics like “Why is the Amazon burning,” “What can YOU do to stop climate change?” “How is climate change affecting the Arctic?” and lastly, a presentation hosted in the Hancock commons “What exactly is climate change?” All of these were "standing room only" indicating incredible student, faculty and staff interest.

Formal Co-Curricular Programming

The long-standing Environmental Studies Brown Bag Program brings visitors to campus and remote seminars during the pandemic to address a broad range of sustainability-oriented topics on Fridays throughout the fall and spring semesters. The program is funded sufficiently to provide appropriate honoraria for our guests, as well as “brown bag” lunches for those attending. Attendees include students, faculty, staff and occasionally local residents. Recent topics include: arctic change, local food issues, urban development, and deer overpopulation. The Sustainability Council will work with ENST to broaden the outreach of these Brown Bags as a way of attracting greater participation by faculty and students for whom sustainability has been a peripheral, rather than a central, concern.

Commitment: Enhance co-curricular education/experiential learning that foregrounds sustainability, ongoing.

Lead responsibility: Sustainability Council

Experiential Learning

The ENST junior seminar -- Environmental Studies 390: Community-based Environmental Issues -- explicitly focuses upon experiential learning. All ENST and ENST-cognate majors are required to take ENST 390. As stated in the catalog: “This project-based, interdisciplinary course examines current environmental issues in the context of community-based learning. Topics for investigation are selected by faculty, usually in conjunction with the campus sustainability coordinator, the Upstate Institute, or directly with local and regional agencies or organizations. Students get practical experience working in interdisciplinary teams to examine environmental issues with a goal of developing relevant recommendations.” The Sustainability Council will continue to explore the ways in which student projects can benefit the university’s overall sustainability efforts, as well as enhance our cooperation with the local community on sustainability-related matters.

Sustainability Interns

Each year, Colgate’s Office of Sustainability hires a dozen or more paid interns. These interns contribute to on and off campus sustainability efforts in many ways. Colgate's Assistant Director of Sustainability hires and supervises the successful applicants after a highly competitive process. It is a year-long internship. The interns are trained by staff in the Office of Sustainability and a variety of campus partners.

Outdoor Education

The mission of Colgate Outdoor Education is to provide Colgate students with leadership, wellness, personal growth, sense of place, and community-building opportunities through outdoor and experiential programs. In addition, the Outdoor Education community values sustainability, diversity and inclusion, safety, and improvement and supports Colgate's mission to help students: “prepare for lives of leadership and productive citizenship,” “develop the skills to participate in a lifetime of healthy activity”, and “develop personal potential and experience the cohesion of shared purpose.”

Started in 1988, Wilderness Adventure (WA) is Colgate’s largest pre-orientation program. Currently, over 25% of incoming students participate in Wilderness Adventure. One of the five goals of WA is to help students “...develop a sense of place within Colgate, CNY, and the ADKs.” In addition, “sense of place” is one of the five learning outcomes of OE’s Physical Education classes and one of the six core topics of the Staff Training curriculum. Outdoor Education uses a slightly modified version of the NOLS Environmental Education Curriculum Matrix (O’Donnell, 2014) to break down sense of place into six topics: Science/Natural History; Cultural History; Place Attachment; Ethics; Policy, Management, and Sustainability; and Transference.

Leaders practice teaching lessons on these topics throughout the Staff Training program. They also learn and teach the seven principles of Leave No Trace. In order to prepare leaders to discuss sustainability during WA, staff from the Office of Sustainability present a session during the prep days ahead of the trips during which they talk with all leaders about Colgate’s sustainability efforts. There is also a strong connection between the OE student-staff and the Office of Sustainability and the Community Garden with at least 8 members of the OE staff having served as either Sustainability interns or Garden interns since 2017. In addition, OE and the Office of Sustainability partner to offer a sustainability themed WA trip called “ADK Conservation Adventure.”

The Sustainability Council will facilitate Outdoor Education program partnering with ENST and Biology faculty and students to increase the emphasis upon sustainability in the context of Wilderness Adventure and staff training. Currently, principles such as “Leave No Trace” are well-incorporated, but there is additional room to foreground sustainability in this area of the co-curriculum. One possible approach would be to designate certain Sustainability Interns to serve as links to Outdoor Education to work toward these ends.

3. Campus Operations

The Operations subcommittee of the Sustainability Council helps to track and monitor the impacts that operational practices have on the overarching sustainability goals and objectives established at Colgate University. How the university manages energy, construction projects and renovations, landfill waste and recycling, water, transportation fuels, purchasing and contracts, and fleet management are a few key operational areas that have profound impacts on campus sustainability. The subcommittee works to implement on-campus projects and practices that increase efficiencies, eliminate waste, and reduce Colgate’s overall carbon footprint.

The Facilities and Purchasing departments oversee and manage many aspects of campus operations and are directly responsible for much of the progress made in our campus sustainability program since the publication of Colgate’s 2017 Bicentennial Plan for a Sustainable and Carbon Neutral Campus. More specifically, the Facilities Department completed Colgate’s first comprehensive Energy Master Plan, fully integrated Green Building Standards into Colgate’s Building Design and Construction Standards, replaced fuel oil along Broad Street housing, and completed a number of building and lighting retrofits that significantly reduced Colgate’s energy consumption per square-foot. Likewise, the Purchasing Department has made progress in establishing a comprehensive Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy (see Purchasing section of the plan) and continues to work with our suppliers and contractors to ensure that sustainability options are readily available to the campus community. Over the past few years, the Operations subcommittee of the Sustainability Council has been comprised of various staff and students.

The Facilities and Purchasing Departments remain paramount to Colgate’s progress to advance sustainability on campus. Both departments, and the university in general, should remain open and responsive to best practices as new data and technology becomes available. Based on the current status of the campus, the Operations subcommittee recommends the following commitments to advance sustainability in campus operations.

Energy and Buildings

Commitment: Revise and improve the existing energy master plan by July 1, 2025.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Facilities, Director of Facilities Operations, Director of Sustainability

Now that the Energy Master Plan has been developed, the subcommittee would like to periodically review and update the plan. During review, the subcommittee will assess the feasibility and implementation of recommendations made within the plan.

Commitment: Implement projects that help reduce energy usage and create efficiencies in five buildings on campus by July 1, 2025.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Facilities, Director of Facilities Operations, Director of Sustainability

Some projects that might be considered and implemented include:

• Developing a Building Recommissioning Plan.
  • During the recommissioning process operational systems and equipment within buildings are reviewed and reset to ensure that the building is operating as designed. This process will help Facilities identify where there are opportunities for energy savings.
• Conducting Building Envelope Studies.
  • Assessment of building envelope systems can help identify areas where there are opportunities for improvements that create energy savings.
• Developing a Temperature Standard Policy.
• Reducing the heating plant MMBTU by creating a utility setback model for campus that
  would be implemented during times when campus occupancy is low.
• Reducing Fuel Oil #2 emissions by conversion of additional campus buildings to natural
  gas or electric boilers.
  • Increasing efficiency of electricity by:
    • Installing LED lights in Alumni Hall.
    • Installing occupancy sensors on lighting systems in campus offices.
    • Upgrading the lighting in Case-Geyer Library with LED lights, installing occupancy sensors on lighting systems and daylight harvesting sensors.
• Collaborating with Dining Services to reduce waste energy and water consumption in
  their processes.

Commitment: Continue with improved lighting controls and upgrades on an ongoing basis.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Facilities, Director of Facilities Operations, Director of Sustainability

Colgate has been replacing incandescent and fluorescent lighting throughout campus with LEDs. This process should continue whenever a renovation is planned or when a complete lighting upgrade makes sense as a standalone project.

Water Conservation

Commitment: Reduce water consumption in five buildings on campus by July 1, 2025.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Facilities, Director of Facilities Operations, Director of Sustainability

Over the years, we have made progress in water conservation through the installation of low-flow shower heads in a portion of campus, installation of a water metering system, and installation of a new watering system on Tyler’s Field. Expanding these efforts or implementing new projects that help us to further reduce water consumption will be assessed and considered.

Waste Management and Procurement

Colgate University has an ambitious goal to be a zero-waste and plastic-free campus by 2030. Additionally, the university will reduce its total volume of landfill waste from over 800 tons per year to 650 tons per year by 2025. These targets will require a university-wide commitment and buy-in from everyone on campus. These targets can be reached through increased composting of organic waste, less overall consumption and spending on material items, replacement of one-time use disposable items with reusable ones, improved overall recycling rates, and more consistent signage and communication regarding our recycling program.

Unfortunately, over the past few years, Colgate’s total volume of landfill waste has steadily increased to an all-time high of 855 tons in 2019.3 In the spring of 2020, Colgate students in Professor Frank Frey’s Environmental Studies 390 course conducted a semester-long research project exploring Colgate’s waste generation and disposal practices. Some of their high-level conclusions were:

• Contamination in recycling bins remains a big challenge. When recycling is contaminated with non-recyclables or trash, then the entire load is landfilled.
• Approximately 30% of food purchased by Colgate is wasted.
• Non-meat and non-dairy food waste on campus contribute ~130 tons of landfill waste per
  year.
• Special events and athletic events are large sources of waste production on campus. Better sourcing and recycling bins will reduce landfill waste.
• The customized Colgate Landmark recycling stations improved recycling rates and are preferred by custodians and students. Expanding these stations around campus would improve recycling rates.

Commitment: Develop campus-wide standardized signage for recycling and waste stations by July 1, 2022.

Lead Responsibility: Assistant Director of Sustainability, Director of Facilities Operations, Custodial Supervisors

Implementing successful recycling signage for university buildings, including residential, academic, and recreational buildings, is an important step toward minimizing waste and improving recycling quality. This initiative will provide clear and consistent signage for each recycling and trash bin across campus. Through a collaborative effort between the Communications Office, Facilities, and the Sustainability Office, Colgate-branded recycling labels will be designed and hung or posted in all areas with recycling and trash disposal infrastructure.

Commitment: Expand carry-in, carry-out classroom recycling program to six new buildings by July 1, 2025.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Sustainability, Director of Facilities Operations, Custodial Supervisor

Removing trash and recycling bins from inside the classrooms saves the university money in trash and recycling bins, plastic bags, and labor. Most importantly, the single blue recycling bin in many classrooms does not align with Colgate's two-stream recycling program where we have to separate bottles and cans from paper waste. This confuses students and other community members and results in contaminated recycling bins that end up going to the landfill (even if there are recyclables in the bins)

Over the past few years, Alumni, Lawrence, Lathrop, and McGregory Halls have successfully piloted a new carry-in carry-out waste management program. As part of this program, all trash and recycling bins were removed from inside the classrooms and seminar rooms. Signage was added to each room asking people to bring their trash and recycling to centralized and conveniently located stations in hallways and stairwells. In order to make this program work, Colgate needs to invest in new customized Colgate recycling stations that have been introduced as our campus standard. The buildings that have taken the lead in being the pilot for the "carry in-carry out" model were a success. During COVID-19, we backtracked from this program as we encouraged faculty and students to wipe and sanitize their desks and thus had to throw the wipe in a conveniently-located garbage can. The Sustainability Council and the Facilities Department aim to return to the carry-in, carry-out model and expand it to new buildings post-COVID-19. Specifically, Wynn Hall, Persson Hall, Ho Science Center, Hascalll Hall, The Center for Women's Studies and Olin Hall are likely candidates for expansion of the carry-in, carry-out program.

Commitment: Reduce landfill waste by the creation and implementation of a viable composting program on campus by July 1, 2022.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Sustainability, Director of Facilities Operations, Grounds Forepersons, Director of Dining Services

The recent NYS Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law (April 2019) will require large generators of food scraps, such as Colgate, to demonstrate they are making efforts to donate edible excess food and compost whatever food waste is not edible. Donating pre-consumer waste is not a viable option for Colgate at the moment given the relatively small quantity and lack of an organized source to receive such a donation.

Composting is a clear option for Colgate, given the relatively large amount of non-edible food waste we produce. However, Madison County places prohibitive fees on institutions that take waste outside of the county, and there are currently no off-site composting facilities in Madison County. There is hope that with the new 2019 law, there will be incentives and opportunities for establishing composting facilities in the county in the future.

In the meantime, on-campus, in-vessel digesters, are designed to handle all food scraps including meat and fish, using wood chips as the bulking agent. Appropriately sized in-vessel composters could potentially handle the estimated 50 gallons of food waste per day from Frank Dining Hall. Several higher education institutions have already implemented in-vessel composting with success and could serve as a good model for how Colgate could operate this program. According to the 2020 Spring ENST 390 student survey, 97 percent of students in Frank Dining Hall consider food waste a problem at Colgate and would support composting at the university.

Commitment: Continued development and implementation of the green cleaning program.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Facilities Operations, Custodial Supervisors, Director of Sustainability

In 2017, a Green Cleaning Program was developed and implemented in Benton Hall to be part of the LEED certification for that building. The main goals and objectives of the program were to reduce exposure of building occupants and maintenance personnel to potentially hazardous chemical, biological and particulate contaminants which can adversely impact air quality, health, building finish, building systems and the environment. As part of this commitment the Operations subcommittee plans to review the practices set forth in that program and extend them to other buildings on campus. This would include:

• Periodic review of cleaning products with a goal of utilizing as many sustainable products as possible.
• Review and implementation of sustainable entranceway systems where possible.
• Procuring sustainable cleaning equipment.
• Developing and implementing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for effective
  cleaning.
• Reviewing and updating practices related to handling cleaning chemicals.
• Developing training for staff on green cleaning practices.

Transportation

University Vehicles

Commitment: Take action to reduce Colgate’s vehicle fleet emissions by 15 percent from FY 2020 levels by July 1, 2025.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Facilities Operations, Director of Sustainability

Colgate continues its business partnership with Enterprise. As part of this arrangement, Colgate and Enterprise continuously monitor the usage and type of vehicles to determine opportunities to increase efficiency. The fleet is continuously evaluated to ensure it is “right-sized” to meet the needs of the Facilities Department and upgraded to more fuel-efficient options. Additionally, Colgate must continue to research and monitor the availability of electric, hybrid, and compressed natural gas-powered vehicles that will be able to meet our transportation needs while reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Likewise, Campus Safety will assess the feasibility of adding bicycle patrols.

Campus Cruiser

Commitment: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the Cruiser, on-demand service, and charter service by 15 percent from FY 2020 levels by July 1, 2025.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Purchasing, Director of Sustainability

The subcommittee would like to extend this commitment from the 2017 Bicentennial Plan. The Colgate Cruiser was responsible for approximately 260 tons emissions in Fiscal Year 2020 or 3.8 percent of Colgate’s total emissions. While the Cruisers’ overall emissions are minimal, its cost to the university is substantial. For this reason, the university needs to ensure that the Cruiser is operating in the most efficient way possible. Therefore, it is important for Colgate’s Purchasing and Contracts Department to continue collaborating with First Transit Inc (Cruiser and On-Demand Service) and Wade Tours and Hale Transportation (Charter Service) to emphasize low-carbon operations that reduce Colgate’s environmental and carbon impacts. Opportunities to improve sustainability while reducing carbon emissions include:

• Change fuel from gasoline and diesel to biodiesel, propane, electric, or compressed natural gas (CNG).
• Implement and enforce a no idling policy.
• Create efficient routes that maximize occupancy.
• Create maintenance schedules that prioritize fuel efficiency through routine tune-ups,optimal tire pressure, and well-cared-for equipment overall.
• Track fuel use, miles, emissions (especially greenhouse gas emissions) accurately and formalize how and when First Transit Inc. shares those data with Colgate.

Golf Carts

Commitment: Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Seven Oaks golf cart fleet by replacing current gasoline fleet with all-electric golf carts by July 1, 2025.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Facilities Operations, Director of Purchasing, Director of Sustainability

Colgate currently uses over 60 gasoline golf carts at Seven Oaks. Over the next few years, the university will explore the feasibility and cost of installing charging stations and replacing our existing fleet with all-electric cart fleet.

Student Engagement

Commitment: Expand opportunities to further link student work study, academic experiences and on-campus operational practices.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Facilities Operations

Colgate University, and especially the Facilities Department, should continue to build on recent success and expand the hiring and involvement of student work study positions. Likewise, Facilities staff should continue to work closely with students on academic research projects which focus on specific areas of campus operations including energy tracking and management, waste management and recycling, and projects important for greenhouse gas reductions. The student educational experience can be enhanced when concepts of sustainability taught in the classroom are combined with opportunities for students to get involved with campus decision-making processes. Specifically, Facilities and Purchasing have created opportunities for students to become engaged in Colgate operations such as building design and construction projects, purchasing decisions and contracts, investment opportunities, introducing new technologies and innovations on campus among others.

4. Purchasing

The goods and services that Colgate purchases have lifecycle environmental and social impacts far beyond campus. Colgate University budget managers and buyers are entrusted with the fiduciary responsibility to be good stewards of university funds while also supporting Colgate's longstanding commitment to environmental sustainability and carbon neutrality. Environmentally preferable purchasing guidelines help to ensure that the goods and services that we purchase balance cost and quality while exerting a positive influence on our environment, human health and well-being. Each purchasing decision presents an opportunity for Colgate community members to choose environmentally preferable products and services from vendors that support and are committed to environmental sustainability. The purchasing decisions the university makes can help support a more just and sustainable world and working environment.

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy

Commitment: Complete and fully communicate Colgate's environmentally preferable purchasing guidelines by July 1, 2022.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Purchasing, Director of Sustainability

Colgate's Purchasing Department in collaboration with managers and university buyers throughout campus, can work with vendors and suppliers to use our purchasing power to support a sustainable economy. Each purchasing decision presents an opportunity for Colgate community members to choose environmentally preferable products and services from companies that support sustainability.

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guidelines Include:

• Colgate University buyers should purchase Environmentally Preferable Products
  (including services) whenever they are of similar quality, cost, and perform at a
  satisfactory level always taking into account Life Cycle Cost.
• Colgate buyers should purchase products and services that are third-party certified or
  exceed environmental standards and specifications. Ecolabels, for example, help Colgate buyers identify and procure environmentally sustainable products and services that meet or exceed the university's sustainability goals and values. Sectors that offer sustainable third-party certified (ecolabels) products and standards include food service take-out containers and dinnerware, building and construction materials, custodial cleaners and disinfectants, computers and electronic equipment, landscaping fertilizers/pesticides and deicing treatments, office supplies and furniture, just to name a few examples.
• Colgate University’s Purchasing Department and Office of Sustainability will promote the use of Environmentally Preferable Products and services by working with office suppliers, food and dining service providers, transportation providers, contractors, and all other vendors to ensure that they offer high quality sustainable products and practices and communicate those options to all Colgate buyers in order to facilitate Environmentally Preferable Purchasing.
• Colgate's Purchasing Department prefers to secure contracts with suppliers and vendors that are environmental leaders in their respective markets.

A few examples of opportunities to purchase environmentally preferable products and services at Colgate include:

• Event Supplies: it is the university’s preference to purchase containers and dinnerware that are reusable and made with recyclable, compostable, and/or bio-benign (plant-based) materials. If disposable items must be used, then the material should also be recyclable, compostable, and/or made with bio-benign (plant-based) materials.
• Drinking-Water: the university recommends the use of filtered water fountains or stations rather than purchasing bottled water.
• Computers and Electronic Equipment: the university standard is to purchase Energy Star and/or EPEAT registered computers and other electronics.
• Printer and Copier Paper: whenever documents or information cannot be shared online or in digital format, the university recommends the purchase and use of post-consumer content recycled paper and/or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper. Printing should be avoided whenever possible and non-recycled (virgin) paper is discouraged.

Colgate University shall advance environmentally sustainable purchasing by following these guidelines and ensuring that Colgate’s supply of products and acquisition of services (including construction) are:

• Energy-efficient (ENERGY STAR® or Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)-designated);
• Water-efficient;
• Bio-based or plant-based;
• Environmentally preferable (e.g., EPEAT®-registered, or non-toxic or less toxic
  alternatives);
• Non-ozone depleting; or
• Made with post-consumer recycled materials.

Once Colgate's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guidelines are finalized, they need to be properly communicated to the campus community and all current and potential suppliers. As a part of this, the Purchasing website needs to be updated with the latest guidelines and then find additional ways to educate buyers across campus with these expectations.

Vendor Code of Conduct

Commitment: Complete and fully communicate Colgate’s vendor code of conduct by July 1, 2022.

5. Food and Dining

The Colgate University community recognizes the significant environmental, health, labor, animal welfare, and climate change implications of food production and consumption. As a result, our university is committed to sourcing our food in a sustainable manner.

In recent years, Colgate has made considerable strides to advance sustainability in dining services, and the effort is ongoing. During the summer of 2010, a student-led effort resulted in the establishment of a 0.5-acre organic community garden on campus and trayless dining. At the same time, there was increased demand from students and faculty for more transparency and information regarding our food procurement practices and increased accessibility to local, healthy, and sustainable food options. As the “real food” movement continued to grow on college campuses across the country and especially at Colgate, the University’s President charged a Sustainable Food Systems Working Group in August 2013 to coordinate this effort.

After extensive interviews and research, the group made a set of recommendations to the senior administration in February 2014. Specific recommendations included:

1. Forming an ongoing Advisory Group to monitor long-term progress and provide cross-departmental support in advancing sustainability in dining services.
2. Hiring a full-time manager of sustainability in dining services to evaluate, monitor, and advance sustainability in dining services.
3. Providing a complete assessment of Colgate’s local, community-based, and third-party certified food purchases and propose an institutional goal for purchasing sustainable foods.
4. Making sustainability an emphasis of dining services contract renegotiations in 2015, especially as it relates to direct, local procurement from farmers and producers.

The Working Group's proposal was well received and soon after we form the Advisory Group, hired a manager of sustainability in dining services, contracted a new dining services provider (Chartwells) to help us fulfill our sustainability goals, and began benchmarking and tracking our food procurement practices begun.

Over the last five years, the Advisory Group has evolved into various committees working on: food procurement tracking, waste related to catered events, and fostering partnerships with local farmers.

Food Procurement

Supporting sustainable food systems, Colgate and Chartwells can play a large role in combating global climate change and supporting more equitable and just working conditions around the world. To this end since 2016, Colgate and Chartwells have worked towards tracking sustainable food procurement practices.

Commitment: Begin a full, formal assessment of our sustainable food and beverage by August 1, 2021 and establish a goal to increase the purchase of sustainable food and beverage by 15% from our 2021 baseline by 2025.

Lead responsibility: Sustainability Liaison in Dining Services, Dining Services Advisory Groups, and Office of Sustainability.

Presently, Chartwells and the Office of Sustainability are realigning procurement goals to reflect AASHE STARS 2.2 guidelines, recommending the increased purchasing of:

• Sustainably or ethically produced food and beverage 
• Plant-based food 

Colgate's key metric for tracking sustainable food is U.S. dollars spent on aforementioned categories as a percentage of our overall food purchases. This metric is consistent with AASHE STARS 2.2 and many other institutions that are advancing local and sustainable food procurement on campus.

Waste

As outlined in the Waste Management and Procurement section, Colgate is working to become a zero-waste and plastic-free campus by 2030. To do this, Colgate and Chartwells are working together to reduce food waste and waste related to dining operations.

Commitment: Determine a food waste tracking system by August 2021 and implement programs to reduce food waste by 15% by 2025.

Lead responsibility: Sustainability Liaison in Dining Services, Dining Services Advisory Groups, Facilities, the COVE

While the introduction of composting (as outlined in the Waste Management and Procurement section) will help to reduce food waste sent to the landfill, we find it equally important to reduce food waste from its source. We plan to explore food recovery programs and examine campus dining operations to reduce the amount of safe and edible food that is composted or landfilled.

Commitment: Eliminate one-time use disposable plastics (including biodegradable plastics) in Dining Services and all catered events by August 2025 to align with plastic-free and zero waste goals.

Lead responsibility: Sustainability Liaison in Dining Services, Chartwells Catering Director, and Chartwells Purchasing Manager

In addition to reducing food waste, it is important to consider other forms of waste that result from campus dining operations. Single use plastic utensils, cups, and containers cannot be recycled and generate landfill waste and contribute to plastic pollution. Eliminating single-use disposable plastics from our dining operations will move our campus one step closer to our plastic-free and zero-waste goal.

Utilities and Operations

Dining operations are water and energy intensive. To do our part to mitigate this impact, Colgate and Chartwells will work together to assess utility usage at campus dining locations and increase energy and water efficiency wherever possible.

Commitment: Complete a sustainability audit of dining-related water and energy consumption by September 1, 2022 and work to reduce water and energy usage by 5% by 2025.

Lead responsibility: Sustainability Liaison in Dining Services and Office of Sustainability

When exploring energy and water reduction strategies, as well as other dining sustainability measures, Chartwells and Colgate will explore existing frameworks and standards such as the Green Restaurant Association, to guide decision-making.

Colgate Community Garden

The 2020 growing season marked six years since the garden was relocated to the Broad Street location from its original location at the Newell Apartments on College Street. Upon relocation, the land was owned by Colgate but has since been sold to the Good Nature Farm Brewery. To best serve its mission and educate the Colgate Community, it is essential to relocate the garden once again to a permanent home on Colgate property.

Commitment: Relocate Colgate’s Community Garden to a new on-campus location by April 1, 2022.

Lead responsibility: Director of Sustainability, Colgate Community Garden Manager, and Facilities

In order to fully meet the garden's mission, the following features and goals should help guide and plan the garden's relocation and new design:

• Expand composting at the garden that is further connected to students and Colgate community members potentially using food scraps from dining halls. Finished compost can be used to augment the garden soil or applied to campus landscaping.
• Foster a stronger and more formal connection with Colgate's curricular and co-curricular activities. An outdoor classroom, pavilion, or the house on property can be used as a "garden classroom" where faculty can utilize indoor or outdoor space. An experimental or research section of the garden can be allocated for faculty and classroom use.
• Showcase the garden as a living lab for environmental sustainability. The garden project should incorporate rainwater collection systems, a soil health monitoring program, green roofs and renewable energy when and where possible. The garden could be an experimental space for students, faculty, staff, and community members to come to learn about what options there are for small-scale gardening and sustainable ventures.

6. Ecosystems and Land Stewardship

Colgate owns more than 2,000 acres of land of which 553 acres include the campus proper, 1,059 acres are managed forests, and 389 acres are leased to local farmers. The campus proper includes Colgate’s buildings on upper, middle, and lower campus, Taylor Lake, the Seven Oaks Golf Course, and nearly 3,000 inventoried trees. The Chenango Valley provides a scenic backdrop for Colgate’s beautiful campus and historic stone buildings. According to the 2010, 2014, and 2015 editions of the Princeton Review, Colgate was ranked #1 for having the most beautiful campus in the country.

Colgate University recognizes the importance of well-managed forests (both locally and globally) in providing critical wildlife habitat, essential ecosystem services, and in addressing global climate change. As such, we manage our forests with care and environmental stewardship. Colgate's 2007 Forest and Open Lands Stewardship Plan and 2018 Forest Carbon Inventory and Projections report emphasize long-term sustainable forestry management that:

• enhances our academic mission through research and teaching;
• provides aesthetic value and ongoing recreational opportunities;
• provides revenue through timber and biomass energy production;
• provides essential ecosystem services such as clean air, water, and healthy soils;
• protects the diversity and health of the plants and animals that inhabit our forested lands;
  and
• increase rates of forest carbon sequestration.
   

Historically, existing forests have not been given serious consideration in addressing carbon neutrality goals on college and university campuses. At Colgate University, we recognized that carbon storage and annual sequestration is among the many assets provided by Colgate's forested lands. Quite simply, sustainable forest management and protection is critically important in overcoming the climate crisis. In 2014, Colgate's 1,059 acres of forested land received American Tree Farm System certification, verifying our high-level commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainable forest management. As a result of our forest stewardship and carbon sequestration work on campus, Colgate has emerged as a national leader in this field.

Likewise, Colgate recognizes the importance of maintaining our campus proper with sustainable practices in mind. Colgate's Grounds Department consists of 19 permanent employees who are mainly responsible for the maintenance of the main campus including upper and lower campus, the residential and Greek Letter Organization houses along Broad Street, and several outlying properties. This includes miles of roads, 2,500 parking spots, hundreds of acres of mowed lawn, flowerbeds, shrub beds, mulching, and campus trees. The Grounds Department is also charged with the maintenance of numerous Division I athletic complexes and fields including numerous turf and grass playing fields, three sports complexes with gymnasiums, outdoor tennis courts, a softball field, 5K and 8K cross-country trails, 400-meter outdoor track & field area, and an indoor turf and track complex. The outlying properties consist of the university bookstore, downtown administrative offices, the Bewkes conference center and lakefront grounds, Schupf Art Studio, the Murphy site along Hamilton Street, the trap range, and Beattie Reserve. Needless to say, our Grounds Department accomplishes an incredible amount of work and are some of the most skilled and hardest working people on campus. Advancing sustainable practices in regards to grounds maintenance, must consider impacts on our Grounds Department and involve the forepersons and facilities management in all decisions.

Some sustainable practices can reduce labor and free up resources. For example, as a result of our 2011 Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, Colgate introduced approximately 30 acres of campus grounds into a “no-mow” concept. This included parts of the old golf course, portions of the cross country ski trails and the old ski hill, and an area south of the Colgate Townhouses. As our Grounds team reduced the frequency of mowing, there was a reduction in labor hours and fuel usage. The reduction in mowing time resulted in a savings of roughly 20 gallons of fuel per week and hours of labor. This practice also reduced water runoff and flooding to lower campus from heavy rain events while at the same time increasing wildflowers, pollinators, and overall wildlife value.

Over the decades, Colgate lost most of its trees on the main campus to age and disease. Most of these trees were not replaced. Historic photos in and around our academic buildings offered a stark contrast to the lack of trees in modern times. Under President Brian Casey’s leadership, the university began the process of planting 461 trees between the spring of 2018 and 2020 to restore the tree canopy and historic beauty of Colgate’s campus proper. Over the years, these trees will offer more than grandeur and aesthetic beauty. They provide social spaces and will reduce heating and cooling costs for campus buildings. The trees also soak up water during heavy rain events and provide important habitat for native and migrating bird species and other wildlife.

These are just a few of the successes we can build upon in the years to come.

Forest Carbon Storage and Sequestration

Commitment: Complete a Re-measurement of Colgate’s Forested Lands For Carbon Storage and Sequestration by July 1, 2024

Lead Responsibility: Director of Sustainability, Campus Forester

In 2013, Colgate completed its first forest carbon inventory fieldwork and measurements. Permanent sample plots were established and tree measurements were taken to establish a baseline for future work. Then, in 2018, Colgate returned to each of the 174 sample plots created in 2013 to undertake a full re-measurement. Changes in forest structure and individual tree growth were recorded. We were able to calculate stored forest carbon and the annual rate of carbon sequestration by comparing the changes over the 5-year interval.

Through this research and corresponding field measurements, we determined that our 1,059 acres of forests contained 193,755 tons of stored carbon while sequestering an additional 3,785 tons of carbon annually. The goal of re-measurement is to update the annual rates of carbon sequestration in the permanent sample plots established in 2013 and in 2018. Our next re-measurement is scheduled for 2023.

Campus Tree and Land Stewardship

Commitment: Update Colgate’s Campus Tree Inventory by July 1, 2022.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Sustainability, Landscape Project Manager, Bartlett Tree Services

It’s been over 10 years since the nearly 3,000 trees on Colgate’s main campus have been inventoried. Without this work, we lack insight into proper tree care and management. The university also loses important educational value as the tree inventory provides a database of the number, species, age, condition, and value of each tree on campus. Most importantly, the updated Campus Tree Inventory should include the 461 trees recently planted for the Bicentennial Landscape Project as well as the trees planted with the construction of Benton, Burke, and Pinchin Halls.

Commitment: Establish a Grounds Maintenance Benchmarking and Tracking Tool by July 1, 2022.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Facilities Operations, Facilities Grounds Department, Director of Sustainability

Colgate currently tracks the amount of fertilizers used on campus grounds, athletic fields, and the Seven Oaks Golf Course through our annual greenhouse gas inventory. However, other grounds maintenance practices remain largely unknown by some managers and the broader campus community. For example, the amount, timing, and types of pesticide and herbicide use, soil health testing and management, the type and application of mulch, and the maintenance of campus trees. In the winter, the application of deicing treatments can have negative impacts on our landscape, watershed, campus vehicles, and roads and building infrastructure. Establishing metrics while creating an ongoing process for benchmarking and tracking these practices is a helpful first step to maintenance that balances labor, cost, safety, aesthetics, and environmental impacts.

Commitment: Establish a Soil Testing Program and Tracking System by July 1, 2022.

Lead Responsibility: Director of Sustainability, Landscape Project Manager, Bartlett Tree Services

Monitoring and improving soil health can significantly reduce labor and ongoing maintenance costs. Routinely testing soil conditions can help determine more precise biological and nutrient requirements and can potentially avoid widespread application of various treatments. Furthermore, healthy soils create deeper root systems and more resilient and vibrant plants. Understanding that soil health creates plant health is a solid guiding principle to help manage our campus grounds with efficiency and environmental sustainability in mind.

7. Financing

Achieving carbon neutrality in 2019 was a major accomplishment and milestone. Maintaining Colgate's commitment to carbon neutrality, however, requires ongoing investment. Colgate must continue to find creative and innovative solutions to finance campus projects that will reduce energy and resource consumption while lowering operating costs over time. The ultimate goal, of course, is to invest in projects and technologies that reduce and eventually eliminate Colgate’s campus carbon footprint. While sustainability has practical value, good projects are often delayed because of annual operating pressures and high implementation costs. These barriers can halt momentum and stall progress. Therefore, expanding established financial structures and actively pursuing new ones remains an important opportunity to advance sustainability on campus.

Over the last 10 years, Colgate has made significant progress in establishing mechanisms to finance sustainability. In September 2012, for example, the university created the Sustainability and Climate Action Reserve with an initial investment of $365,500. This money was used to help finance projects approved in Colgate's inaugural 2011 Sustainability and Climate Action Plan. The university added $85,000 to the Reserve the following year. The Reserve helped to finance lighting upgrades, recycling stations, a solar thermal array, and an electric vehicle charging station among other projects. However, savings from initial investments were never recouped and the Reserve’s balance lost value over time.

In 2017, the Sustainability Council completed Colgate’s Bicentennial Plan for a Sustainable and Carbon Neutral Campus, an update to Colgate's 2011 climate action plan. One of the key recommendations in the plan was to augment the Sustainability and Climate Action Reserve by creating the new Green Revolving Loan Fund (GRLF) at Colgate University.

The GRLF was officially launched in 2018 with an additional $800,000 contribution by the university to seed the fund. Colgate's newly created Green Revolving Loan Fund (GRLF) was specifically earmarked for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other sustainability projects that generate cost-savings over time while reducing Colgate's carbon and ecological footprints. Savings are tracked and reinvested into the fund so the next round of sustainability projects can be financed. The GRLF grows over time because each investment is repaid in full plus 20 percent.

The GRLF committee (a working group of the Sustainability Council) was formed to evaluate project proposals, determine which projects to fund, ensure that projects repay the GRLF from identified cost savings, and provide annual updates on the status of the fund and projects supported by the fund.

As the fund grows and becomes more established, the Green Revolving Loan Fund Committee may expand and change its structure.

Green Revolving Loan Fund Expenditures

Through FY 2020, after three full years of implementation, the GRLF has financed four projects with a total investment of $723,858. Projects included an upgrade to our biomass delivery and handling system, energy switching from fuel oil to natural gas in the Townhouses, and lighting upgrades in Starr Rink and Cotterell Court.

Since the inception of the GRLF, a combined total of $308,194 has been returned to the Fund from energy savings from the four projects.

FY 2020 began with a fund balance of $467,516. Adding FY 2020 inflows of $312,705 from gifts, energy savings returns, and project true-ups resulted in a year-end closing balance of $780,221.

Green Revolving Loan Fund Income

The GRLF has benefited from generous contributions from Colgate alumni and community members. Since its inception, a combined total of $218,878 has been gifted to the Fund.

Since the inception of the GRLF, a combined total of $308,194 has been returned to the Fund from energy savings from the four projects.

FY 2020 End-Of-Year Fund Balance

FY 2020 began with a fund balance of $467,516. Adding FY 2020 inflows of $312,705 from gifts, energy savings returns, and project true-ups resulted in a year-end closing balance of $780,221

Payback and Carbon Reductions

As stated above, a basic expectation of Colgate’s GRLF is to produce sufficient energy savings to repay project costs to the fund and to provide long-term relief to Colgate’s operating budget. At the same time, the Fund aims to finance projects that reduce our campus carbon footprint. To date, the average payback of those four projects is 6.0 years.

Finally, the four GRLF projects have resulted in a total reduction of 2,322 metric tons (MTeCO2) of greenhouse gases.

In addition to the GRLF, Colgate has also benefited from several opportunistic sustainability grants, rebates, and incentives available at the federal, state and local levels. For example, Colgate received rebates from the New York Municipal Power Authority (NYMPA) for lighting upgrades in Sanford Field House and Huntington Gymnasium, a grant to purchase custom-made Landmark recycling stations from the New York State Association for Reuse, Reduction, and Recycling (NYSAR3), as well as a New York State Energy, Research, and Development Authority (NYSERDA) grant that covered half the cost for the installation of the solar thermal array at 100 Broad Street and the installation of the electric vehicle charging station on Lally Lane.

Within the past year, Colgate received a grant from the Keep America Beautiful campaign to provide over 100 new recycling bins for campus events and the university received a grant from Second Nature to further develop local climate resilience and adaptation work. In total, these financing opportunities have provided us with extra incentive to implement projects and reduce our campus carbon footprint when it may not have been financially feasible otherwise.

The Path Forward

Building off these successes, the following strategies align with past efforts and will ensure future investments in sustainability are pragmatic, opportunistic, and self-sustaining.

Commitment: Continue utilizing the Green Revolving Loan Fund (GRLF) to finance campus sustainability projects.

Lead responsibility: Sustainability Council

The GRLF is at its best when the university is routinely investing in new projects while also receiving returns from savings from previous projects. This helps to ensure a healthy fund balance while also making an ongoing impact in operational efficiency and reduced carbon emissions. Additionally, the fund continues to benefit from alumni who donate to contribute to a more sustainable Colgate. Taken together, we anticipate that the GRLF will continue to grow and finance ever more projects in the years ahead.

It will be the work of the GRLF Committee in collaboration with other campus stakeholders to determine the best possible way to identify, evaluate, and invest in new projects in the years ahead. With this being said, the Sustainability Council and the GRLF Committee hope to expand the awareness of the GRLF and solicit project ideas from a broader range of campus stakeholders.

Commitment: Explore federal, state and local funding opportunities, ongoing.

Lead responsibility: Sustainability Council

Colgate’s robust and reputable sustainability program places us in a solid position to take advantage of existing and emerging grants, rebates, and incentives. In 2019, for example, New York State passed the Climate Leadership and Communities Protection Act, Plastic Bag Waste Reduction Law, and Food Donation & Food Scraps Recycling Law. These ambitious laws promise to unleash public and private financing opportunities and Colgate is well-positioned to take advantage of these. Similarly, as a result of the 2020 presidential election, the United States is recommitted and refocused on climate mitigation and adaptation. The Sustainability Council must remain vigilant to new financing opportunities that are sure to emerge, and the nation commits to climate action.

At the local level, there are potential projects in which it would make sense to partner with the Village and Town of Hamilton. For example, NYSERDA’s Climate Smart Communities Program encourages communities to create public-private partnerships and develop local sustainable growth strategies in such areas as carbon emissions control, energy efficiency, renewable energy, low-carbon transportation, and other carbon reductions. Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs are often targeted for municipalities and might provide opportunities for a partnership. Colgate must continue to explore carbon reductions where it makes sense to partner with our municipality.

8. Climate Ready: Resilience and Adaptation

Over the past few decades, Central New York has been hit hard by the impacts of climate change. Here in Madison County, for example, there have been 17 federally declared climate-related disasters since the year 2000.5 While averaging nearly one climate-related disaster in our county per year is staggering and certainly disruptive, there promise to be increased impacts in the years ahead. Why? Because the atmospheric greenhouse gases that cause climate change work on a time delay. In other words, the climate impacts that we are experiencing today are the result of emissions from decades ago.6 For this reason, we are locked into future and more intense impacts. Our climate of the future will be intensifying summer droughts punctuated by heavy rain events, flooding, heat waves, severe storms, and significant shifts in natural seasonal cycles. Our changing climate will impact life in Central New York and on-campus operations potentially disrupting our academic mission in profound ways. These include but are not limited to:

• Food supply systems and costs
• Emergency budgets and financing
• Buildings and infrastructure maintenance
• Energy/water supplies and power outages
• Infectious disease and human health
• Loss of ecosystems services, biodiversity, and impacts to our campus landscape
• Stresses to local businesses and the well-being of our regional economy

Assessing these impacts and preparing for climate change will not only buffer the degree to which Colgate is impacted but will also create new opportunities such as strengthening campus and community relations, building community resilience, and reducing ongoing risks and expenses. Preparing for near-future disruptions and long-term trends will help ensure that Colgate continues to thrive in an era of unprecedented climate change.

Climate resilience is commonly defined as the ability of a system or community to survive climate disruption and to anticipate, adapt, and flourish in the face of change.7 The main goal of climate resilience is to enhance adaptive capacity by being flexible, open to new ideas, inclusive, and operationally efficient. Therefore, the foundation of a strong climate resilience program must follow a solid framework, produce well-informed guiding documents, and be based in principle to aid current and future decisions. This is where Colgate excels as exemplified by our progress so far.

Progress and Recent Accomplishments

Fortunately, Colgate’s efforts in climate resilience and building adaptive capacity formally started several years ago. A few examples include:

• Reducing campus carbon emissions and climate resilience often go hand-in-hand. For example, switching to renewable energy, such as the installation of ground-source heat pumps in Chapel House, not only reduces our campus carbon footprint but also means we are less dependent on external supplies of energy. Likewise, when we use resources more efficiently, we buffer ourselves from the risk and vulnerability of resource supply chains and fluctuating prices. By advancing campus sustainability, Colgate has in effect, built up its institutional resilience to climate change.
• Colgate and the greater Hamilton community are dependent on one another to ensure a rich and vibrant future. The university and the community are both dependent on the same infrastructure and supply systems (energy, water, food, transportation, retail businesses and services, happy and healthy social structures, etc.) that allow each to thrive. When these systems are disrupted, the entire community, including Colgate, suffers. For this reason, both the university and the Town and Village of Hamilton are stronger when we cooperate and work together to build climate resilience. Recognizing this, Colgate University in partnership with Town and Village officials launched the Hamilton Climate Preparedness Working Group in April of 2016. The Working Group researches, plans, and promotes policies and programs in response to existing and future impacts of climate change. In the spring of 2020, both the Town and Village of Hamilton were designated Climate Smart Communities by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. This designation recognizes the impressive accomplishments our community has achieved in preparing for climate change.
• In the spring of 2019, students in Professor Ian Helfant’s ENST 390 course completed an initial vulnerability and climate resilience assessment for Colgate University. While more work needs to be done, this was a great step forward in completing a necessary and important assessment for the university’s climate resilience program.
   

Building community resilience takes time and is a long-term commitment. Despite these recent accomplishments, Colgate is still at the front end of being a climate resilient campus. Here we’ve identified the next steps in our journey.

Commitment: Sign Second Nature's Climate Resilience Commitment by April 22, 2021.

Lead responsibility: Office of Sustainability, Sustainability Council

Second Nature provides a solid framework, resources, and a strong network of collaborative leaders to support Colgate’s journey to climate resiliency. Besides providing structure, signing Second Nature’s Resilience Commitment will officially launch our public commitment to this work as we join dozens of other higher education leaders.

Commitment: Complete a final resilience assessment by April 22, 2023.

Lead responsibility: Office of Sustainability, Sustainability Council

Building resilience starts with assessing Colgate’s exposure and sensitivity to imminent climate change. Evaluating the degree to which our natural, social, and economic systems will be impacted and understanding our vulnerability to these changes is an essential step in evaluating our climate preparedness and overall risk. Besides identifying our current vulnerability, the resilience assessment should also establish metrics and indicators to track progress over time.

Commitment: Complete a comprehensive climate adaptation plan by April 22, 2024.

Lead responsibility: Office of Sustainability, Sustainability Council.

Once we complete our vulnerability and resilience assessments and have a better understanding of local risks associated with climate change, it is time to complete an adaptation plan. The adaptation plan should include specific actions that will help build adaptive capacity. Communities and institutions with high adaptive capacity minimize risk and are better prepared to deal with climate change impacts.

All of this work requires Colgate to work in partnership with the Town and Village of Hamilton.

9. Carbon Offsets

Carbon offsets are investments in off-campus projects that reduce, remove, or avoid greenhouse gas (MTeCO2) emissions. Offsets serve to counterbalance emissions from on-campus activities. Carbon offset projects come in many forms but generally fall into two broad categories: 1) projects that replace or avoid emissions, such as the construction of a solar or wind farm to replace a coal-fired power plant or an avoided deforestation project that prevents the release of stored tree carbon into the atmosphere, and 2) projects that sequester or remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere, such as reforestation that absorb atmospheric carbon as the trees grow.

While implementing on-campus projects that reduce Colgate's gross emissions remains Colgate's top priority, the university must also invest in carbon offsets to maintain the university's commitment to carbon neutrality. Significant sources of emissions such as air travel, commuting, ground transportation, and some forms of energy use are currently impossible to eliminate without extraordinary cost or disruption to our academic mission. Purchasing offsets demonstrates that the university accepts responsibility for its operational impact on global climate change. Investing in offsets also creates a financial incentive to reduce Colgate's emissions. This incentive could spur innovation and mitigation efforts on campus and reduce the need to purchase future offset on an annual and ongoing basis. By achieving carbon neutrality, Colgate acknowledges its contribution to climate change through its own operations and takes accountability for that impact by 1) reducing emissions on campus and 2) reducing emissions elsewhere, that is, investing in high-quality carbon offsets.

Even though Colgate’s campus carbon footprint has trended lower since our high of 17,821 MTeCO2 in 2009, it still fluctuates from year to year depending on campus operations, the severity of the winter, and many other factors. For example, a harsh winter coupled with a planned upgrade of our wood boiler caused an uptick of our campus carbon footprint in 2019 to 11,440 MTeCO2. Alternatively, our campus carbon footprint dropped in 2020 to 6,683 MTeCO2 due to the global pandemic and the nearly complete shutdown of campus operations. As a result, the number of carbon offsets needed annually also fluctuates.

There are hundreds of potential offset projects to invest in both domestically and across the globe. Projects vary by location, quality, type, environmental/social co-benefits, and vintage dates. Depending on these factors, offsets range in price from around $1 per ton to over $40 per ton. Either way, Colgate must remain within its annual budget for carbon offsets which is currently $80,000.

The Carbon Offsets Working Group and Recent Offset Purchases

Deciding what projects to invest in can be complex and nuanced. In order to help guide Colgate’s carbon offset purchases and remain transparent, the Sustainability Council formed the Carbon Offsets Working Group to research available options, communicate these options to the Colgate community, and solicit campus-wide feedback. Ultimately, the Working Group is charged to make a final recommendation to the Sustainability Council and Colgate's leadership based on their process and campus feedback. Over the past few years, the Working Group has been comprised of faculty, students, and staff.

In 2018 and 2019, the Carbon Offsets Working Group led an exhaustive process and outreach campaign that included, but was not limited to, campus-wide feedback surveys and open forums, small group discussions, interactive brown-bag seminars, student-led open forums, presentations at all-faculty meetings, semester-long research from students in ENST 390, feedback from offset brokers and consultants, and research from other institutions.

Based on this feedback, the Working Group recommended investing in a diversified portfolio of offset projects that include

• local, New York State-based projects;
• projects that include value-added co-benefits such as ecological, social, and
  community-based benefits; and
• a mix of project types such as forestry-based, renewable energy, and methane capture.

Throughout this process, the Carbon Offsets Working Group evaluated over 100 projects from nearly 20 different suppliers. To assist the Working Group in this process, project descriptions were provided by each supplier. Additionally, we asked suppliers to identify which of the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) their projects addressed. After screening these projects for location, project type, co-benefits (social, educational, and ecological), and cost, coupled with the feedback the Working Group received from the community, Colgate is able to make an informed decision about what projects to invest in. Based on these recommendations, the university made the following carbon offset purchases in 2019 and 2020.

The average cost per carbon offset purchased in 2020 was $3.98 per ton. The Carbon Offsets Working Group prioritized lower cost offsets in 2020 while also including environmental and social co-benefits. The emphasis on cost in 2020 was to help the university overcome the financial setbacks due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. More information about Colgate’s Carbon Offset Purchases can be found here.

The Path Forward

The Carbon Offsets Working Group, or a similar group of faculty, students, and staff, should continue its work for the foreseeable future. The Working Group should remain open and responsive to best practices, an ever-evolving offsets market, emerging trends, and changing protocols. Based on the Working Group’s extensive research, analyses, and community feedback highlighted above, the Carbon Offsets Working Group, the Sustainability Council, and the Office of Sustainability recommend the following approach and commitments for purchasing carbon offsets going forward.

Commitment: Carbon offsets should be purchased on an annual basis after Colgate’s GHG inventory is finalized for the previous fiscal year.

Lead Responsibility: Sustainability Council, Carbon Offsets Working Group, Director of Sustainability

In order to accomplish this goal, a request for information to offset suppliers should be sent during the early portion of the fall semester. Once offset options and pricing are received, the Carbon Offsets Working Group should begin the process of screening options preferable for Colgate. Ideally, offset purchases will be decided and contracts signed before the end of each calendar year in order to achieve carbon neutrality for the previous fiscal year.

Commitment: Purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) or green tags each year to offset 100 percent of Colgate’s annual electricity consumption.

Lead Responsibility: Sustainability Council, Carbon Offsets Working Group, Director of Sustainability

Renewable energy certificates (RECs) or green tags are specifically designed to mitigate (offset) scope 2 emissions from electricity generation and consumption. RECs are characterized by the creation of renewable electricity whereby clean energy production displaces or reduces demand for more traditional carbon-intensive forms of energy. More specifically, RECs represent the environmental benefits (or attributes) received by the displacement of conventional fuel use, such as coal, oil, or natural gas. One REC is representative of one megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity (1,000 kilowatt-hours) and allows the purchaser to support renewable energy production even though they themselves may not directly receive the renewable power generated. Purchasing third-party certified RECs (such as Green-e) is a best practice for institutions such as Colgate to mitigate their impacts associated with electricity consumption. They support renewable electricity generation while achieving carbon neutrality.

In 2019, for example, Colgate purchased 31,809 MWh’s of RECs through Greenlight Energy Group because they offered Green-e certified RECs at the lowest cost with the greatest carbon impact and social benefits. Greenlight was founded in 2011 as the first woman-owned renewable energy marketing company in the U.S.

Commitment: The Carbon Offsets Working Group should help lead an extensive campus-wide outreach and feedback process once every three years commencing again in the spring of 2022.

Lead Responsibility: Sustainability Council, Carbon Offsets Working Group, Director of Sustainability

Conducting campus-wide outreach and engagement every three years ensures that every student has the opportunity to provide feedback before they graduate. The frequency will diminish potential burnout in the process (e.g., survey and meeting fatigue) but frequent enough to take advantage of new and emerging opportunities in the offset market. This high level of engagement provides transparency into the process as well as an opportunity for the community to learn more about carbon offset markets and Colgate’s commitment to carbon neutrality.

In the years between broad campus outreach and engagement, the Carbon Offsets Working Group should continue to base their decisions on the feedback they received from the campus community.

Commitment: Use a portion of Colgate’s offset budget to invest in carbon offset projects here in Madison County or in the Town or Village of Hamilton before January 1, 2023.

Lead Responsibility: Sustainability Council, Carbon Offsets Working Group, Director of Sustainability

The Colgate community has expressed clear interest in investing in local carbon offsets projects, based on feedback the Working Group has received from surveys, discussion groups, and open forums. Fortunately, Second Nature’s Carbon Offset Guidance states that higher education institutions can purchase local, non-certified offsets to cover their scope 3 emissions up to 30 percent of their total campus carbon footprint. These guidelines present an opportunity for Colgate to invest in projects that benefit local residents or businesses in our own community. Organizations like the Finger Lakes Climate Fund help identify low-to-moderate income families who would benefit from renewable energy or home energy efficiency projects in our community. Families benefit from increased comfort and reduced home energy bills and Colgate would benefit by obtaining the credits for the carbon reduction. Another added benefit is improved community relationships by investing locally.

As the Carbon Offsets Working Group considers future investments in offsets, every effort should be made to find and invest in at least one local project.

Commitment: Maintain and continuously update a carbon offset website for communication and transparency.

Lead Responsibility: Assistant Director of Sustainability, Director of Sustainability

Colgate’s Office of Sustainability has already created a carbon offsets website with information on our approach and purchases of carbon offsets. This website should be updated and maintained on a regular basis.

10. Campus Participation and Reporting

As emphasized throughout this document, Colgate is working hard to transition from an emergent program to an integrated one. Accomplishing this will require commitment and participation from diverse stakeholders across the university. Because sustainability at Colgate is a true campus-wide initiative, we will only be successful if our community is engaged and invested in our overarching shared goals, this includes senior leadership as well as all members of our community.

For these reasons, each plan, including the Bicentennial Plan for a Sustainable and Carbon Neutral Campus is a beginning. As we work to accomplish each commitment and objective, we remain open to new ideas and opportunities so that everyone has a voice as we strive to advance sustainability and resilience of our campus.

Commitment: By December 31 of each year, Colgate will formally update the faculty, students, and staff on our progress through presentations at staff and faculty meetings, our annual greenhouse gas inventory, and an annual sustainability report. During these engagements, sustainability leaders will prioritize feedback and create vehicles for continued input.

Lead Responsibility: Office of Sustainability