Weber State earns gold for sustainability achievements
OGDEN, Utah — Weber State University’s commitment to sustainability has reached a new milestone, earning the Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System’s gold rating.
STARS is a self-reporting system from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education that helps institutions track and measure their progress across five areas: academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration, and innovation and leadership.
Since 2011, STARS has been essential in providing Weber State 
with guidelines on how to make the institution more sustainable. Earning a gold rating puts Weber State a year ahead of its goal to earn gold by 2025.
In 2007, Weber State made a commitment to transition away from fossil fuel use — a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and poor air quality — and become carbon neutral. Since making that commitment, WSU has shifted over 40% of its buildings to all-electric heat-pump-based heating ventilation and air conditioning systems, transitioned over 13% of the fleet to electric vehicles, and installed several ground source and solar renewable energy systems. These changes, along with others, have cut WSU’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 40%.
“We’re all familiar with the poor air quality conditions that we frequently experience along the Wasatch front," said Jennifer Bodine, WSU’s energy & sustainability manager. “Weber State has significantly reduced its impact by cutting emissions and committing to become carbon neutral by the year 2040.”
Bodine noted how earning the STARS gold rating isn’t just leading to positive outcomes for the planet, it’s also benefiting the university economically.
“Going green actually saves green,” Bodine said. “We’ve saved the university over $27 million in utility costs by transitioning to more efficient and carbon-free systems.”
Weber State has also incorporated sustainability into curriculum, with 110 courses across all colleges including or focusing on sustainability. Just over 60% of all departments now offer at least one sustainability course. These courses, along with engagement opportunities, allow students and the public to help create more sustainable communities, said Alice Mulder, director of the Sustainability Practices and Research Center at WSU.
“Weber is equipping students with the understanding and skills needed to address the interconnected challenges we face, whether that’s related to clean energy, air, water, healthy communities or healthy economies,” Mulder said. “As students enter the workforce, they take that knowledge and experience with them and apply it in a variety of contexts, be that government, private companies, non-profits or other institutions.”
Weber State’s STARS report is publicly available on the STARS website.
Erika Gonzalez, Marketing & Communications
801-626-7948, erikagonzalezlara@weber.edu- Contact:
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Bryan Magaña, public relations director
801-626-7948, bryanmagana@weber.edu