Environmental action plans

Administrators, Curriculum and learning, Environment, Leadership and management, Lesson plan, School heads, Science

The following examples show how five independent schools that I have worked with, have moved forward in terms of developing and implementing their own environmental sustainability action plans. Each example demonstrates different approaches and tactics that have helped them to move forward with their efforts to become green schools.

The schools profiled are Branksome Hall, Hillfield Strathallan College, Ridley College, St. Andrew’s College and Upper Canada College.

Leadership commitment

Both Branksome Hall and St. Andrew’s College have gone the next step by establishing a school creed or statement of belief related to environmental sustainability to complement their mission statements:

St. Andrew’s College Environmental Creed:
“We believe that all Andreans should cultivate ecological citizenship, and thereby inspire positive environmental change for sustainable living within our school community and beyond.” This Creed complements the College’s mission statement with its focus on the concept of citizenship and the school’s commitment to “the development of the complete man, the well-rounded citizen.” This philosophy extends to the concept of graduating young men who are good citizens in all senses of the word: working for the betterment of our world, locally and globally.

Branksome Hall Sustainability Creed:
“We foster global citizenship and environmental stewardship, and encourage inquiry and critical thinking about sustainable development. We are committed to maintaining and valuing a harmonious relationship with nature that ensures we live within the capacity of all ecosystems.”


Climate change leadership

The following are examples of two schools that are well on their way to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of fossil fuels, increasing energy efficiency and using renewable energy.

UCC’s Energy Management Plan:
Upper Canada College’s Green School Master Plan set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy from renewable resources. To develop its Energy Management Plan, UCC took advantage of Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency’s Energy Innovators Initiative, to help fund a comprehensive energy retrofit. (Note: a revised version of this program now exists as part of the federal Eco-Energy Program.) Although an initial energy audit was required, that cost was offset by financial incentives received from the government for the energy retrofit. The Energy Management Plan was phased in over a five year period at the end of which the school had realized an energy reduction of 35 per cent.

In terms of sourcing energy from renewable energy sources, UCC took two tacks. One, it decided to purchase a portion of its energy from renewable sources through Bullfrog Power, a 100% green electricity choice. By powering the College’s boarding houses and residences on campus, green power now comprises almost five per cent of the school’s electricity consumption. Secondly, it installed a geothermal system under its football field, which is providing heating and cooling for a new twin pad arena. While the up-front costs associated with putting the system in place was high, the payback period was reasonable and the long-term environmental benefits are more than worthwhile.

Ridley College’s Sustainable Energy Plan:
Ridley College participated in a pilot program sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Energy in partnership with a local energy management firm, to develop a Sustainable Energy Plan (SEP) using a Performance Scorecard approach. As part of this process, Ridley College staff participated in “Energy Coach” training sessions to help them assess existing energy management efforts and “score” performance in five key focus areas including energy data management, energy supply management, energy use in facilities, equipment efficiency and organizational integration. The Energy Coach approach provided a framework and technical support that was invaluable in helping Ridley to develop its SEP, at no additional cost to the College. The total cost for the Energy Coach Program was $10,000 with a $5,000 Enbridge rebate; however, they saved well in excess of the cost in their first year. At the time of writing this article, Ridley College is in its second year of an energy management plan which has the target of reducing energy consumption by 33.5 per cent over five years.

Taking a systems approach

The following are three examples of schools that have taken a systems approach, all of which have resulted in clear and measurable action plans with environmental targets that can be tracked over time.

UCC Green School Master Plan:
Upper Canada College’s Green School Master Plan and associated Green School program are good examples of how to take a systems approach. Unlike a typical Master Plan which focuses on the bricks and mortar aspects of maintaining buildings and expanding campuses, the Green School Master Plan included an assessment of the school’s ecological footprint. (Simply put, an ecological footprint measures how much nature we consume, whether it’s food, energy, water or goods and services, and how much waste we generate in the process.) In addition to planning for how the school can grow in the most environmentally friendly manner, the Green School Master Plan also made recommendations for how the school could reduce the environmental impacts of its existing facilities and operations, including energy and water systems, transportation, air quality, grounds and waste management. It also made a commitment to build or renovate to LEED standards going forward.

The Master Plan was complemented by the Green School initiative which focused on ways to integrate environmental sustainability considerations into the school’s organizational behaviour, school community and curriculum.

Hillfield Strathallan College’s Carbon Footprint Analysis:
As climate change is one of the most pressing environmental issues facing our planet today, Hillfield Strathallan College commissioned an Environmental Audit Report to evaluate its carbon footprint, i.e., greenhouse gas emissions associated with the College’s consumption of energy and water, fuel, paper, generation of waste and recycling. Other environmental impacts associated with the College’s facilities and operations are also included, such as number of trees harvested to produce paper and paper products.

The analysis informed the school about its current environmental performance, based on which it can develop plans to reduce the College’s carbon footprint. This Carbon Footprint approach has the added benefits of providing a wealth of information that can be used in different courses, ranging from math, science, geography, physics, environmental systems and civics.

Ridley College Sustainability Master Plan:
Ridley College’s Sustainability Master Plan outlines a range of practices that the Physical Plant Department is taking to reduce the College’s ecological footprint, from reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency measures, reducing waste and increasing recycling, conserving water, renovating older buildings and constructing new buildings that significantly reduce their environmental impacts. One notable development is the College’s commitment that all new buildings will be constructed to achieve a minimum of Silver certification by the Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

Another important element of the plan was to show how the school community can help to “Make It Happen” by being aware of how their personal choices can contribute towards a sustainable future. As such, their plan also included environmental sustainability goals as a part of school life, including in the student leadership, residential life and community service programs.

The plan also suggests ways to encourage more collaborative initiatives across academic and administrative departments, for example, by fostering the building of partnerships and increased dialogue among the Physical Plant Department, students who want to have a say in the environmental programs on campus and teachers who want to be able to use the school buildings as teaching tools.
Building buy-in

Branksome Hall Environmental Sustainability Steering Team:
To develop its Branksome Environmental Sustainability Action Plan (BESAP), the school created a part-time Sustainability Coordinator position to help guide the process, to be a resource to the school on sustainability issues and to help foster a culture of sustainability among students, faculty and staff. In addition, a Steering Team was created, comprised of faculty, staff and students who represented different parts of the school, but who also understood the realities and challenges of running the school on a day-to-day basis. They were assigned the task of coming up with recommendations for greening the school in terms of community, resources and curriculum. The Steering Team meetings also provided a chance for people who didn’t interact on a regular basis during the school year to get to know each-other better.

Branksome Hall also made the effort to involve its food services and housekeeping contractors actively in developing the school’s Environmental Sustainability Action Plan. By doing so, it was able to tap into the expertise in these companies and access resources that would not have been readily available otherwise. Both companies came to the fore in proposing constructive ideas and strategies for reducing the environmental impact of the aspects of the school’s operations for which they were responsible.

Since completing the BESAP, the school has made consistent efforts to engage the school community in thinking about how it can continually improve and build on its sustainability efforts. For example, this was done through dialogue in student advisory meetings, assemblies, professional development sessions and with special guests and events. It has also created a new Sustainability Council made of two student representatives from each senior school class, which in part is responsible for ensuring that the BESAP is on track and updating students on progress.

Hillfield Strathallan College’s Green School Steering Committee (GSSC):
To develop its Green School Plan through their strategic planning mandate, Hillfield Strathallan College created a Green School Steering Committee. The committee is comprised of representatives from each of their four schools, administration and operations to provide a link and foster engagement with the various constituent groups of their organization. The committee will facilitate the “greening” of the school to include communications, enhancing the integration of sustainability into the curriculum, connections and partnerships with the greater community and provide a framework for organizational sustainability through all aspects of operations. The committee was instrumental in commissioning their carbon footprint analysis and will look to forward its recommendations through active and future program development. The College’s annual August ‘Links to Learning’ professional development session offered a green school workshop presented by the committee to engage cross-school faculty in ongoing sustainable initiatives and “green” strategic planning.

Creating leadership opportunities

Integrating Sustainability into Student Life at Upper Canada College:
In the Upper School, a Sustainability Steward (Prefect) has responsibilities for promoting sustainability, internationalism and diversity, and student Green School Committee members carry out special projects, interact with the Facilities Department on greening efforts and organize special environmental events.

In the Middle School, through the Eco Warriors program (Grade 7), students work on active inquiry and problem solving related to environmental issues at the school and in the community. Notably, upon graduation from the Middle School these boys are given special lapel pins that recognize their efforts, with the same stature of other athletic and academic recognition awards. In Grade 6, through the Eco-Ambassadors program, boys take on special green leadership initiatives and are expected to be a resource to the school community on green issues. In the Prep School, the Green Team (Grades 4 to 5) engages in hands-on learning especially in the Learning Garden, and the Sprouts, in Grades 2 to 3 learn about environmental sustainability through hands-on crafts and storytelling.

St. Andrews College House Eco-Rep Program:
Like many schools, St. Andrew’s College has an environmental club in the Upper School, the St. Andrew’s Green Environmentalists (SAGE), as well as a Green Team in the Middle School. Both groups work to promote environmentalism by organizing special activities and communications programs aimed at increasing energy efficiency, reducing food waste, improving recycling, conserving water, reducing paper consumption and adopting greener policies school wide.

In addition, as an effort to build environmental stewardship into the school’s Residential Life Curriculum, a House Eco-Rep Program has been put in place. Two boys in each of the residences vie to become the House Eco-Reps who have the responsibility to act as a resource to their peers to promote environmentally responsible behaviour and to take on programs for further greening of the residences. One strategy for raising awareness will be House competitions to see which is the most successful at reducing energy, water consumption and waste.

Hillfield Strathallan College Summer Marine Ecology Sustainability, Leadership and Peer Support Course:
HSC has partnered with the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) in Little Cayman to train a new generation of leaders and researchers along with resource and policy managers in an authentic setting. The program’s mission is to improve our youth’s appreciation and understanding of the human connection to the marine environment.

Through investigating endangered species such as sea turtles, coral reef communities and fish populations, students grow to better understand major conservation issues facing Earth today. The program provides field-oriented marine ecology and conservation education so that students gain an understanding of critical issues facing tropical marine ecosystems.
To build on HSC’s strategic initiative for developing student leadership, the participants in Grades 8 and 9 will help organize a special project to support the mission of CCMI and will undertake actions to off-set their carbon footprint resulting from the journey to Little Cayman.

Special sustainability projects
Here are three examples of projects that demonstrate how special sustainability projects can grow into community building projects as well.

UCC Learning Garden:
Upper Canada College’s Learning Garden at the Preparatory School was created with the goal of instilling in young boys a feeling of stewardship for the environment and to provide a hands-on educational experience. Teachers and students at all grade levels and in several subjects take advantage of learning in the garden. Art students sketch and paint in the garden, kindergarten and Grade 5 students do their botany lessons in the garden, and students use the garden in their science classes to study pollination, germination and food webs. The First Nations traditional “Three Sisters” planting of corn, beans and squash was perfect for social studies lessons. Even language arts lessons take place in the garden, with some wonderful poetry resulting.

The garden also serves the purpose of teaching the boys about healthy eating, as they learn to make snacks such as dips and salad with the food that the garden produces. The garden is also entirely organic, which teaches the student’s alternatives to the pesticides and harmful fertilizers that they might use at home. The Prep Learning Garden also teaches the boys about extending their stewardship into the community. Every year, produce from the garden is donated to local food banks. The Prep Learning Garden has enjoyed immense success. The students have a much greater awareness and appreciation for the natural setting around them, and the garden has created a habitat for insects, butterflies and birds.

Looking forward, UCC will be building and new complimentary learning garden at the Upper School to integrate with science and environmental sciences as well as an outdoor classroom.

Branksome Hall Solar Panels:
Teaching students about the solutions to climate change is an important part of the senior school curriculum. As part of the school’s Sustainability Action Plan it wants to reduce its eco-footprint, and this extends beyond greening of operations and buildings to demonstrating technologies that will become the basis of a new, sustainable society.

As a result, thanks to funds raised by a parent-run event called Plaid Tidings, the school installed a three kW solar electricity (photovoltaic) system to showcase renewable energy technology. It will make a visible statement about Branksome’s commitment to sustainable living (versus other greening actions on campus that are far less obvious).

The system includes a web-based energy monitoring display that will show information about energy production and greenhouse gas savings. From a teaching perspective, the topic of renewable energy and how photovoltaics work can be woven into the curriculum at all grade levels. From an environmental perspective, by generating green power on-site, Branksome can reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and reduce the school’s ecological carbon footprint.

Hillfield Strathallan College’s Naturalization Project and Proposal:
The Senior Environment club has begun a project of planting native trees, grasses and wildflowers on the slopes between playing fields, to create a more natural savannah environment. Savannah is a now rare habitat type in southwestern Ontario. The long term goal is to create linear patches of savannah that could be connected by a running or walking trail, adding depth and a more natural feel to the campus. This new natural setting will encourage birds, butterflies and other wildlife, provide colour during flowering seasons, allow for some ecological studies within walking distance of classrooms, and make running on campus a much more aesthetic (less urban) experience.

Students are considering Collegebased fundraising opportunities, building relationships with potential donors and partnerships with community organizations i.e., Royal Botanical Gardens and Hamilton Forestry.

The Junior School is proposing to leverage Earth Day activities within this initiative, through an on-campus planting day in the spring that would involve as many students as possible, and would accomplish a fairly extensive planting of native plants over several hundred metres of what is now unused lawn between fields. As a student-centred initiative, the proposed classroom planting project will include at least one grade in each school, to provide many of the native grasses and prairie wildflowers that will be planted.