Definitions

Here is a brief set of definitions, as well as quick facts, relevant to our journey toward a sustainable Algonquin College.

ACCC (Colleges and Institutes Canada) Pan-Canadian Protocol for Sustainability
Brundtland Commission, Our Common Future
Carbon Neutral
Cradle to Cradle
Ecological Footprint
ESCO
Greenhouse Gas Protocol
LEED®
Life Cycle Assessment
3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (and Rethink)
Talloires Declaration
The Natural Step
Triple Bottom Line
VLO – Vocational Learning Outcomes

ACCC Pan-Canadian Protocol for Sustainability

In 2007, the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC), and since renamed as Colleges and Institutes Canada hosted a symposium on Environmental Sustainability that enabled the sharing of best practices on incorporating sustainability principles in vision statements, missions, core values, strategic plans, priorities, policies, operations, procurement strategies and ethical investments, as well as student and staff engagement. The event produced the Pan-Canadian Protocol for Sustainability, through which signatory institutions commit to provide sustainability leadership to their internal and external communities, and to maximize their contribution to an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable future. Algonquin College signed the Pan-Canadian Protocol for Sustainability on Earth Day 2009.

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Brundtland Commission, Our Common Future

The Report of the Brundtland Commission, Our Common Future, was prepared under the auspices of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987. The Commission was chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, a former Prime Minister of Norway, and Canada was represented by Maurice Strong. The publication of Our Common Future and the work of the WCED laid the groundwork for the convening of the 1992 Earth Summit and the adoption of Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration, and to the establishment of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in 1992.

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Carbon Neutral

Carbon neutral (or having a net zero carbon footprint) refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a given amount of carbon emissions released with an equivalent amount sequestered (typically a carbon sequestration project, i.e. reforestation) or offset through a renewable energy project that displaces fossil fuel-based energy or through buying carbon credits to make up the difference. An Algonquin College graduate, and Emmy-winning Hollywood producer and director of the TV series “24,”, Jon Cassar is credited with directing the first-ever carbon neutral television production.

In the Algonquin College 50+5 College Strategic Plan 2017-2022 the long term goal of carbon neutrality is identified with the text: “Algonquin College is committed to reducing its environmental impact – with the ultimate goal of becoming carbon neutral and serving as a leader in the education, research and exchange of environmentally sustainable practices.”

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Cradle to Cradle

Cradle to Cradle is an approach to the design of products and systems that models natural processes with no negative effects on the natural environment. The 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, written by Michael Braungart and William McDonough, is a manifesto for cradle to cradle design that details how to achieve a model in which materials are used in continuous cycles as the same product without losing their integrity or quality. These materials can be used over and over again instead of being ‘downcycled’ into lesser products, ultimately becoming waste. Cradle to Cradle is referenced in the Sustainability Education elearning materials: Introduction to Sustainability, Part II, along with other terms such as regenerative design.

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Ecological Footprint

The ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the earth’s ecosystems. It is a standardized measure of demand for natural capital that may be contrasted with the planet’s ecological capacity to regenerate resources and provide services such as clean air, clean water and biologically productive land and marine areas. Ecological footprints are often contrasted with the carrying capacity of the Earth, with the aim of raising awareness of over-consumption and altering personal and institutional behaviors.

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ESCO

ESCO is an acronym for Energy Services Contract or Energy Services Company. ESCO is used at Algonquin College for projects for energy and utilities savings achieved under an Energy Services Contract with a company specializing in building systems and energy performance. Energy savings is guaranteed, and is used to pay back the capital investment in the systems over the defined payback period. Algonquin College has used the ESCO model for two different projects: a $7M energy savings project, initiated in 2007, with a 10-year payback period that is designed to deliver more than $600,000 in annual energy savings. Based upon the success of that project, starting in 2013, the College initiated ESCO2, a second project aimed at energy conservation measures in all areas of the College that meet a 20-year payback schedule.

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Greenhouse Gas Protocol

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSB) is a tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify and manage greenhouse gas emissions. Reporting frameworks, such as the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) STARS, provide guidance to report greenhouse gas emissions following the GHG Protocol’s Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions accounting framework.

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Greenwashing

Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on the term ‘whitewashing’) is product or service marketing that promotes the perception of an environmental benefit without proof or validity in the claim. The term greenwashing was coined in 1986 in an essay regarding the hotel industry’s practice of placing placards in each room promoting reuse of towels to ‘save the environment’, when the real motivation was cost savings. Ottawa-based TerraChoice (now UL) has published guidelines for marketers of environmental products to assist them in avoiding the ‘seven sins of greenwashing’.

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LEED®

LEED® is a third party certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. All planned future Algonquin College facilities will be built to LEED Gold standards.

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Life Cycle Assessment

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a technique to assess the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product, process or service. Elements include an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases, evaluation of potential environmental impacts associated with identified inputs and releases, and an interpretation of results.

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3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (and Rethink)

The 3 R’s commonly refer to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and represent a hierarchy of behaviour related to material use and disposal that can minimize environmental impacts. A fourth R, Rethink, is often added as a reinforcement to curb overconsumption of consumer goods. Related terms include Upcycle (converting low-value materials into high-value products) and Downcycle (converting valuable products into low-value raw materials).

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Talloires Declaration

Created in 1990 at an international conference in Talloires, France, this is the first official statement made by university administrators of a commitment to environmental sustainability in higher education. The Talloires Declaration (TD) is a 10-point action plan for incorporating sustainability and environmental literacy in teaching, research, operations and outreach at colleges and universities. It has been signed by more than 350 university presidents and chancellors in more than 40 countries. Algonquin College was the first Canadian College to sign the Talloires Declaration, making this commitment to sustainability in 2007. In November 2017, Algonquin College profiled a number of its sustainability performance achievements aligned with the spirit of the Talloires Declaration.

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The Natural Step

The Natural Step (TNS) is the author of the openly published “Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development”, a comprehensive model for planning in complex systems. Based on systems thinking (recognizing that what happens in one part of a system affects every other part), it is used by different organisations around the world to integrate sustainable development into their strategic planning. The Framework defines sustainable development with four sustainability principles, and is summarized in a short 2-minute video.

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Triple Bottom Line

Triple bottom line (abbreviated as TBL or 3BL, and also known as people, planet, profit) was first coined in 1994 by John Elkington, the founder of a British consultancy called SustainAbility. It describes values and criteria for measuring business performance inclusive of economic, ecological and social factors and impacts. It implies that when companies measure their social and environmental impact, the outcome will be socially and environmentally responsible organisations. Other similar concepts and terms include full cost accounting, natural capital and human capital, and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

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VLO – Vocational Learning Outcomes

Vocational Learning Outcomes are defined for every course and program at Algonquin College. In embarking on its initiative to embed sustainability in the curriculum, the College elected to insert sustainability within the program VLOs for all Ontario College Programs. From this outcome, all other curriculum elements (including learning and assessments) are mapped.

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