STARS: Building, Dining, Purchasing
STARS analysis_Buildings, Dining Services, Purchasing (click PDF)
Fall 2011
Team members: Aneesha Baharani, Regina Davis, Henry Spethmann, Ashley Taylor
Our project addresses several issues related to the operations of services in the School of Architecture at UVA. The purpose of this project is to analyze how the School of Architecture may become more sustainable in accordance to the guidelines set forth by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS). Specifically, our group is focusing on the “Building, Dining Services, and Purchasing” categories which includes the operations of the Fine Arts Cafe, the purchasing and allocation of computers and paper supplies, and the use of cleaning supplies on the premises. Our community partner, Dean Tanzer, and several other faculty and staff from the School of Architecture are interested in pushing the Architecture School to become more sustainable so it can serve as an effective model for other schools/departments on grounds.
The long term goals of this project are to implement composting and food donation programs in the Fine Arts Café, centralize paper purchasing, make the switch from regular office paper to recycled content paper, and develop a public and comprehensive green purchasing policy that encourages the purchase of green products throughout the school. One of our main short-term goals is to create a database of sustainable businesses, materials, and food that can be acquired in the Charlottesville area. This will act as a useful tool in the regulation of purchasing methods and urge people to take advantage of the local resources available in the city.
After further investigation and research we have ranked our Best Management Practices (BMPs) based on our Indices of Performance. Additionally, we have done a preliminary STARS rating assessment of the current sustainability levels of Campbell Hall and a potential sustainability level estimation, assuming the implementation of our BMPs.
The next phase of our project will involve more in depth research and data collection to obtain more accurate STARS sustainability ratings. We will also further analyze the annual facility summaries of Campbell hall, from our community partners, to determine consumption trends and identify unsustainable areas that can be improved.
Finally, we plan to publicize our findings through extensive advertising so that we can increase sustainability awareness and in turn, hopefully increase the support of sustainability efforts.